MIKE FITZPATRICK

Cody Bellinger, Brian Anderson and Luke Voit were among 83 players who became free agents when their former teams declined to offer them contracts for next season.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has won the American League MVP award, and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt took the NL prize.

All-Star closer Edwin Díaz and the New York Mets have finalized their $102 million, five-year contract — the largest for a reliever in baseball history.

Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Yordan Alvarez are the finalists for American League MVP in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman delivered big hits and the Houston Astros advanced to the World Series again, finishing a four-game sweep of New York in the AL Championship Series with a 6-5 victory aided by another defensive gaffe from the Yankees.

With the Houston Astros one win from reaching the World Series again, Game 4 of the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees was delayed because of the threat of rain.

Back home for a must-win game, Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees generated more boos than base hits.

In the end, the Cleveland Guardians ran out of comebacks.

Josh Donaldson went into a home run trot too soon, and his latest failure to hustle turned into an embarrassing out in the playoffs.

Joe Musgrove brushed off chants of “Cheater!”.

Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save the New York Mets’ season with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece.

Josh Bell and Manny Machado smashed two of San Diego’s four home runs off Max Scherzer, and the Padres romped past the New York Mets 7-1 in their playoff opener.

For two teams that finished second fiddle in their divisions, the Padres and Mets bring an awful lot of star power into the playoffs.

Two months into the season, it looked like the New York Mets were headed for an NL East runaway.

Eduardo Escobar homered and drove in five late runs — including the game-winning single in the 10th inning — to rally the New York Mets past the Miami Marlins 5-4 and back into sole possession of first place in the NL East.

Aaron Judge remained at 60 home runs, one short of Roger Maris’ American League record, when the New York Yankees’ 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox was called after six innings because of rain.

Aaron Judge was held without a homer for the third straight game, keeping him at 60 for the season and one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record, and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4.

On a Roberto Clemente Day particularly meaningful to both of them, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco propelled the New York Mets past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 to extend their slim lead in the NL East.

Major League Baseball celebrated its 21st annual Roberto Clemente Day on Thursday, with festivities centered in New York where the Mets hosted the Hall of Fame outfielder’s former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Brandon Nimmo saved Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets with a breathtaking catch atop the center-field fence, and Edwin Díaz entered to Timmy Trumpet’s live horn at pulsing Citi Field before closing out the Los Angeles Dodgers for a scintillating 2-1 victory.

The first-place New York Mets have acquired outfielder Tyler Naquin and left-handed reliever Phillip Diehl from the Cincinnati Reds in a trade for two teenage minor leaguers.

Starling Marte singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and the New York Mets beat the crosstown Yankees 3-2 for a two-game sweep of their Subway Series.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom pitched four innings Wednesday for Triple-A Syracuse, finishing strong after a shaky start in what is expected to be his last minor league rehab outing before rejoining New York’s rotation.

The New York Mets have retired Keith Hernandez's number 17 jersey in a pregame ceremony at Citi Field.

New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom is finally ready to begin a minor league rehab assignment.

Max Scherzer pulled himself from a start with discomfort in his left side before the New York Mets finished off an 11-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mets ace Max Scherzer removed himself from a start with an apparent injury against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Aaron Judge hit a mammoth three-run drive in the ninth inning for his first walk-off home run in the major leagues to give the New York Yankees a 6-5 comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

New York Mets manager Buck Showalter was suspended for his team's 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves after Major League Baseball determined reliever Yoan López intentionally threw at Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber the previous night.

Robinson Canó has been cut by the New York Mets with nearly $45 million remaining on his contract, ending an ill-fated marriage and possibly signaling the end of his decorated major league career.

The major leagues celebrated the 75th anniversary of the day Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with a celebration of his life and an evaluation of how much farther the sport still must go.

Francisco Lindor homered from both sides of the plate to back another stingy start from newcomer Chris Bassitt, and the New York Mets routed the sloppy Arizona Diamondbacks 10-3 in their home opener.

A long-awaited statue of pitcher Tom Seaver has been unveiled by the New York Mets in a 40-minute ceremony that began about 2 1/2 hours before their home opener against Arizona.

Mets outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha have been placed on the injured list after a New York coach tested positive for COVID-19.

Free-agent slugger Nick Castellanos and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a $100 million, five-year contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt, who made a remarkable recovery from a frightening line drive to the head last year, has been traded by the Oakland Athletics to the New York Mets for a pair of minor league right-handers.

Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points and keyed an overwhelming blitz that sent Creighton into the Big East championship game with a stunning 85-58 blowout of No. 11 Providence in the semifinals.

Michigan coach Juwan Howard returns from a five-game suspension as the Wolverines face Indiana at Indianapolis in a Big Ten Tournament game with major ramifications for both teams.

Buck Showalter has been hired as manager of the New York Mets, bringing him back to the Big Apple to take over his fifth major league team.

The New York Mets have bolstered their lineup with three free-agent deals, adding speedy center fielder Starling Marte to go along with Mark Canha and All-Star infielder Eduardo Escobar.

The New York Mets have hired Billy Eppler as their general manager, giving him a four-year contract.

The New York Mets are close to completing a deal to hire Billy Eppler as general manager, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Luis Rojas has been let go as manager of the New York Mets after two losing seasons.

Brandon Lowe hit three home runs and the Tampa Bay Rays rolled to a 12-2 blowout of the Yankees that prevented New York from clinching a playoff spot.

DJ LeMahieu has a sports hernia that will require offseason surgery, but the New York Yankees’ leadoff hitter will attempt to play through the injury in October.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each hit one of St. Louis’ four homers, and the Cardinals flashed some fantastic outfield defense in beating the New York Mets 11-4 for their fifth straight victory.

Edmundo Sosa hit the go-ahead single in a three-run 11th inning and the hard-charging St. Louis Cardinals climbed all the way back into playoff position with a 7-6 victory over the New York Mets.

Acting general manager Zack Scott has been placed on administrative leave by the New York Mets following his arrest on charges of driving while intoxicated.

Andrew Heaney pitched seven smooth innings, Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run single in his return from COVID-19, and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 to match a season best with their sixth straight victory.

Anthony Rizzo is back in the Yankees’ lineup after a bout with COVID-19, and closer Aroldis Chapman also was activated before New York’s series finale against the Boston Red Sox.