NL West

Speculation about Theo Epstein's future has picked up in the wake of Ron Fowler reportedly stepping down as executive chairman of the San Diego Padres. 

Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Fowler has stepped down and Peter Seidler will take over as the team's control person. 

USA Today's Bob Nightengale noted Epstein "has told friends he'd love to be involved in ownership and has had eyes on San Diego."

On Tuesday, Epstein stepped down as president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. Jed Hoyer, who has been the team's general manager since October 2011, will take over Epstein's role. 

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, Epstein told family and friends in a letter that he plans to sit out the 2020 season with a plan to get back in Major League Baseball at some point. 

"I do plan on having a third chapter leading a baseball organization someday, though I do not expect it to be next year," Epstein wrote.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark of The Athletic, Epstein could attempt to form an ownership group "with like-minded people and/or longtime associates, then attempt to purchase a club."

There have been increased rumors that teams with an opening in their front office, including the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, could make a play for Epstein now that he's a free agent. 

One executive told Rosenthal and Stark that Epstein is "the obvious name" for both teams.

The New York native, who grew up in Massachusetts, is one of the most highly regarded front-office executives in Major League Baseball. The 46-year-old was the chief architect in building the rosters for the World Series-winning Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007 as well as the 2016 Cubs team that ended the franchise's 108-year title drought. 

During his nine-year run with the Cubs from 2011-20, the franchise made the playoffs five times. 

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger will likely miss the 2021 MLB season because of Tommy John surgery.

General manager A.J. Preller announced Monday that Clevinger will undergo the procedure. The two sides also agreed to a two-year contract that will cover the right-hander's remaining arbitration years.

MLB.com's AJ Cassavell provided the details:

Mike Clevinger is undergoing Tommy John surgery in Cincinnati tomorrow, the team announced. He’s also agreed to a two-year, $11.5 million deal that will buy out his arb years. Clevinger will make $2M in ‘21, $6.5M in ‘22 with a $3M deferred bonus, plus performance bonuses in ‘22.

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) November 16, 2020

This is the second time the 29-year-old will have had Tommy John surgery, undergoing the procedure in 2012 as a prospect within the Los Angeles Angels' organization.

The Padres acquired Clevinger from the Cleveland Indians in August as they prepared for the stretch run and postseason. He made four starts, allowing six earned runs and striking out 19 batters in 19 innings.

As the playoffs approached, his availability was thrown into significant doubt because of a lingering elbow problem. He returned for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers but exited after making 24 pitches.

Losing Clevinger is a big blow for the Padres as they attempt to take another step forward in 2021 after getting swept by the Dodgers. Between 2018 and 2019, he ranked 12th among starters in WAR (8.7) despite only making 53 starts, per FanGraphs.

San Diego already needed to address the back end of its rotation, and that's especially true now.

Even with the questions that will linger about Clevinger in 2022 and beyond, buying out his final year of arbitration makes sense. Assuming he's fully recovered by then, the Padres will have an entire season to determine whether they're prepared to offer him a long-term extension.

Clevinger's $6.5 million salary could prove to be a massive bargain, and it won't put a huge dent in San Diego's payroll if he's unable to recapture what made him one of the American League's best pitchers with Cleveland.

Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda is hospitalized in the intensive care unit of a California hospital, the team announced Sunday.

"Lasorda, 93, was admitted and he is in intensive care, resting comfortably. The family appreciates everyone’s thoughts and prayers; however, they request their privacy at this time," the statement read.

Further details on Lasorda's condition have not been made available at this time.

Lasorda attended the Dodgers' World Series Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays last month, which gave the franchise its first championship since he was managing the club. The Hall of Famer managed the Dodgers from 1976-96, compiling a 1,599-1,439 record and winning two World Series trophies.

Aside from a short stint with the Kansas City Athletics as a player, Lasorda has been with the Dodgers his entire career in baseball.

He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1997. 

Right-hander Kevin Gausman is staying with the San Francisco Giants and accepting the club's $18.9 million qualifying offer for one year, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan:

Right-hander Kevin Gausman will accept the qualifying offer and return to the San Francisco Giants, a source familiar with the situation tells ESPN. Gausman, who had a breakout 2020 after joining the Giants, will make $18.9 million on a one-year deal.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 11, 2020

The 29-year-old made 12 starts for the Giants in 2020, tossing 59.2 innings with a 3.62 ERA and 1.106 WHIP with 79 strikeouts on 16 walks. 

Geaux Giants!! 🌉🌉🌉 @SFGiants

— Kevin Gausman (@KevinGausman) November 11, 2020

The move gives San Francisco a fourth starter under contract alongside Johnny Cueto, Logan Webb and Tyler Anderson. 

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked Gausman the 10th-best free agent this offseason, noting his age and a thin market for top-line starters made him an attractive option for teams. He becomes the second high-profile free-agent starter to accept a qualifying offer on Wednesday following Marcus Stroman's decision to return to the New York Mets. 

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Fox Sports, Gausman received multiple multiyear contract offers from potential suitors before accepting his qualifying offer. 

In return, the Giants get a pitcher who can slot in anywhere from the No. 2 to No. 4 role in the rotation and help push along a rebuild that proved slightly ahead of schedule last season. 

San Francisco finished 29-31, good for third in a surprisingly competitive National League West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. 

MLB announced Wednesday that longtime Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully will narrate a documentary about the team's 2020 World Series championship season.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times noted it's the fifth time Scully, who retired from play-by-play duties after the 2016 season, will lend his voice to the commemorative film. He previously did so after the Dodgers' titles in 1959, 1963, 1965 and 1981.

This year's will include over an hour of highlights and interviews about L.A.'s season, which culminated with a six-game triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

"It was 32 years since the Dodgers won a World Series and the seventh in the history of the organization, bringing great joy to their fans and the city of Los Angeles in particular," Scully said in a statement. "This is their winning story against the Tampa Bay Rays, and it's an honor for me to recount just how they did it."

Although Scully is no longer a daily presence in the Dodgers broadcast booth, a role he'd filled since 1950, he's continued to bestow upon fans his musings about baseball and all other topics via his Twitter account:

Hello everybody. October 2nd is an important day for me, marking both a significant moment from my childhood, and one from the end of my broadcasting career. I’d love to share the story with you. #dodgers #mlb #giants pic.twitter.com/dPtG1S1Qua

— Vin Scully (@TheVinScully) October 2, 2020

The Dodgers' championship documentary will be available Dec. 8.  

Los Angeles Dodgers outfield Mookie Betts is celebrating his World Series championship with a new home. 

According to Variety's James McClain, the 28-year-old shelled out $7.6 million to become the owner of a 9,267-square-foot mansion with nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms that was sold by former NFL head coach Chip Kelly. 

Kelly, who is now the coach of UCLA after leading the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers from 2013-16, purchased the home for $7 million in August 2018. 

Betts, who signed a 12-year, $365 million contract extension months after the Dodgers acquired him from the Boston Red Sox, will live a few doors down from Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson.

Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Mac Williamson has filed suit against the team stemming from a concussion he suffered when tripping over the Oracle Park bullpen mound in 2018.

Williamson was chasing down a foul ball when he fell and hit his head against the wall along the third-base line.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman, the 30-year-old is arguing the franchise "maintained a dangerous risk for players by having the mounds on the field and did not move them to a safer spot even after players got hurt."

Schulman shared a statement from the Giants:

"MLB and its clubs have a longstanding practice of addressing claims arising from player injuries through the collectively-bargained grievance procedure and the worker’s compensation system.

"Williamson’s claims are properly resolved through these processes, not through the courts."

The concussion came in San Francisco's 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals on April 24, 2018. He missed a little over a month before returning to the field.

Still, he contends in the suit he "hasn't been the same since suffering the injury."

"The concussion ended my career and left me with lifelong injuries that have also taken a significant toll on my personal life," he said. "I suffer nausea, trouble sleeping, mood swings, and other issues.

“I wake up every day hoping that today is a better day and that I will get closer to how I felt before the injury."

Per Schulman, Williamson claimed he had a conversation with former Giants owner Peter Magowan about the bullpen. Magowan, who died in 2019, said then-commissioner Bud Selig thought the mounds were unsafe when the Giants first opened Oracle Park in 2000, but the team kept them in anyway.

Last December, the Giants announced they were moving their bullpens and placing them behind the wall in center field:

OFFICIAL: The #SFGiants announced today the bullpens at Oracle Park will move from an on-field location in foul territory to a new location behind the centerfield wall in 2020.

🔗: https://t.co/Sm5oEcVzMB pic.twitter.com/V6dDUFLAB8

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) December 12, 2019

Following his concussion, Williamson made 38 more appearances for the Giants before he opted to leave in June 2019 after the team had placed him on waivers for a second time. He promptly signed with the Seattle Mariners but played in just 25 games over the remainder of the 2019 season before joining the Samsung Lions in South Korea's KBO League.

Williamson's last MLB game was Seattle's 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on July 14, 2019. He signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals this past January but couldn't make the Opening Day roster.

After MLB decided not to punish Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner for celebrating the World Series victory with his teammates on the field despite being previously removed from the game because of a positive coronavirus test, manager Dave Roberts spoke out about the incident.

"This is new to all of us," Roberts said in an appearance on KTLA 5 Morning News on Monday. "So, I think that emotions certainly got the best of all of us." 

"After the completion of the game tonight, we were informed by MLB that Justin Turner received a positive COVID test and that's why he was removed from the game." pic.twitter.com/EOxcMlNs5R

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2020

The man to Justin Turner’s right is a cancer survivor. JT tested inconclusive for COVID-19 Monday & positive Tuesday. He was asked not to go on field to celebrate, but insisted on it. I don’t get how the Dodgers or MLB will talk their way out of this one. pic.twitter.com/OpYDBmc02c

— Allie Berube (@allieberube) October 28, 2020

Turner was taken out of the game in the eighth inning and moved to isolation after the team became aware of his positive test. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred explained in a statement Friday that the responsibility did not fall solely on the 35-year-old, and that Turner believed he had permission from "at least one" team employee to return for the team photo, according to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times.

Turner also issued a statement Friday, saying that he intended to take a photo on the field with his wife and "assumed by that point that few people were left on the field":

"In hindsight, I should have waited until the field was clear of others to take that photo with my wife. I sincerely apologize to everyone on the field for failing to appreciate the risks of returning to the field. I have spoken with almost every teammate, coach, and staff member, and my intentions were never to make anyone uncomfortable or put anyone at further risk."

pic.twitter.com/so7yw1NMmH

— Justin Turner (@redturn2) November 6, 2020

Roberts, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010, sat next to Turner for the team photo, but he told KTLA 5 that he doesn't "apologize for that." 

"The main thing is Justin's healthy and we're moving past it," he said. "We can really celebrate the thing that we want, and that's a championship with the Dodgers." 

Nine members of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and one family member have tested positive for COVID-19, county health officials said Saturday (h/t NBC News' Minyvonne Burke).

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health initially listed Friday on its website that the organization had five cases.

Neither health officials nor the Dodgers have disclosed the names of those infected with the virus.

Los Angeles won the World Series on October 27.

Major League Baseball initiated an investigation into the Dodgers and third baseman Justin Turner after the franchise icon was removed late in Game 6 of the World Series for a positive test. Turner was isolated but then came back out onto the field to celebrate with his teammates once they clinched the club's first title since 1988.

Major League Baseball has completed its investigation of the events following the Los Angeles Dodgers Victory in Game Six of the World Series. The following statements from MLB, Justin Turner, and the Dodgers were released today. pic.twitter.com/cVu1E6g7lT

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 6, 2020

Turner received no punishment from the league with commissioner Rob Manfred calling the incident a "mistake" and accepting the infielder's apology.

"I will not make excuses for my conduct, but I will describe my state of mind," Turner said in a statement. "Winning the World Series was my lifelong dream and the culmination of everything I worked for in my career."

Players from both the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays went into self-quarantine after returning home from the neutral-location series in Arlington, Texas.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health revealed that five members of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization (plus one family member) have tested positive for COVID-19, per Josh Peter and Bob Nightengale of USA Today. 

"The Dodgers organization continues to work with us during this ongoing outbreak investigation," the department stated to USA Today.

The news dropped 10 days after Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner celebrated with his team after its World Series-clinching win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tues., Oct. 27 despite learning that he had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the evening.

Turner was removed from the Dodgers' 4-2 win before the eighth inning and isolated in a room at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where the entire World Series was held.

However, he got back on the field after the game ended and took off his mask at one point. MLB announced earlier Friday that he will not be disciplined for his actions.

Per Peter and Nightengale, it's unclear whether Turner is counted among the five Dodgers organization members to test positive for COVID-19. In addition, most of the people who tested positive were not quarantined in MLB's de-facto bubble in Arlington, Texas during the World Series.

MLB completed a 60-game regular season and 16-team postseason that lasted from July 24 through Oct. 27.

The campaign was not without its issues related to COVID-19 amid the pandemic, with the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals notably weathering outbreaks and being forced to play a revised schedule after their seasons were temporarily suspended.

On the flip side, MLB went through all of September and nearly the entirety of October without a new positive COVID-19 case before Turner's.

Next year's Opening Day is scheduled for April 1, 2021.