EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- Japanese pitcher Koyo Aoyagi was posted to Major League Baseball teams and will be available to sign as a free agent through 5 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 17.Aoyagi, a 5-foot-11 right-hander who turns 31 on Wednesday, was 2-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 12 games this year for the Pacific League's Hanshin Tigers during…

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMykalai Kontilai, the broadcast executive-turned-entrepreneur who bought Jackie Robinson's first major and minor league contracts and used them to launch a sports memorabilia/auction business, was sentenced Wednesday night in Las Vegas to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.1 million in restitution stemming from his yearslong fraud scheme.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission started investigating Kontilai…

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsRight-hander Luis Severino and the Athletics are in agreement on a three-year, $67 million free agent contract that is the largest guarantee in the franchise's history, sources told ESPN on Thursday.Coming off a bounce-back year in which he threw 182 innings with a 3.91 ERA for the New York Mets, Severino landed a deal that exceeded industry expectations…

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPHOENIX -- National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes was elected to the Major League Baseball Players' Association eight-man executive subcommittee Wednesday just six months after his big league debut.Also new to the committee are American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth, Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks and…