Cal Ripken Jr. and Grant Hill are part of the investor group that has agreed to buy the Baltimore Orioles, and so are former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke.

The group is headed by Baltimore native David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group. Additional investors were revealed in a news release Wednesday announcing the agreement between Rubenstein and the Angelos family.

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. has been named the cover athlete for this year's edition of MLB The Show.

MLB The Show traveled to Guerrero's hometown in the Dominican Republic in December to film a special documentary in honor of him being named the 2024 cover athlete.

Vlad Guerrero, Sr. was on the cover of MLB 2006 -- the predecessor to MLB The Show -- which was the final edition of the video game before it became "The Show."

The San Diego Padres have hired Craig Stammen in a player development role.

The former reliever will work as an assistant to both the coaching staff and baseball operations department at the Minor and Major League levels.

Stammen spent six of his 13 Major Leagues seasons with the Padres.

On Tuesday, firefighters found the burned remnants of a prized bronze statue of Jackie Robinson that was stolen last week from a public park in Kansas, according to authorities.

The Wichita fire department received a call around 8:40 a.m. about a trash can on fire at Garvey Park in the southern part of the city and discovered what appeared to be pieces of the statue. It was described as "not salvageable."

The statue, which was cut at the figure's ankles, went missing last week. It honors the first player to break Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947.

The New York Mets and Adam Ottavino have finalized a one-year, $4.5 million deal.

Ottavino spent the past two seasons with the Mets, going 1-7 with a 3.21 ERA and a career-best 12 saves in 66 appearances last year. 

In early November, the reliever declined a $6.75 million player option for 2024 that included $4 million that would have been paid from 2032-35, reducing the present-day value to an estimated $4.4 million.

John Angelos has agreed to sell the Baltimore Orioles to a group led by Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.

The transaction reportedly values the Orioles at $1.725 billion.

Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, reportedly will take over as the team's controlling owner. He has assembled an investment team that includes Ares co-founder Michael Arougheti.

Major League Baseball still must approve the sale. Owners are scheduled to meet next week in Orlando, Florida.

The Texas Rangers have internally discussed signing Brandon Belt, according to a report.

Belt is familiar with Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who he spent time with as a member of the San Francisco Giants.

The 35-year-old hit .254/.369/.490 with 19 home runs in 404 plate appearances for the Toronto Blue Jays last season.

Justin Turner remains a free agent, but the veteran is "increasingly likely" to join a new team this week, according to a report.

Turner has been linked to several teams over the course of the offseason, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.

The Minnesota Twins saved some money in Monday's trade that sent Jorge Polanco to the Seattle Mariners in a five-player deal.

Overall, the deal saved the Twins $5.25 million this season.

Lead baseball executive Derek Falvey says the Twins will reallocate those savings into the roster. He suggested the club was likely to look for help on the position player side after acquiring a reliever and a rotation option in the Polanco trade.

The Chicago Cubs are signing reliever Richard Lovelady to a deal.

The contract is presumably a Minor League pact with an invitation to Major League spring training.

Lovelady, 28, is a former 10th round pick of the Kansas City Royals.