Joey Bart, once considered the likely successor to Buster Posey as the San Francisco Giants' catcher, was designated for assignment Sunday.

San Francisco made the move to open a roster spot for 28-year-old right-hander Daulton Jefferies, who started against San Diego in his first major league appearance since May 18, 2022, with Oakland.

Two games and two blowout losses led to a team meeting for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.

It's not how they drew up the start to their 2024 season, but new manager Ron Washington called it a necessary measure after Saturday's 13-4 road defeat to the Baltimore Orioles followed an 11-3 one in the team's opener.

"Just wanted to let them know they've played only two games and we can't get off track," Washington told reporters. "Our focus is on a 162-game championship season. Not two games. The two games haven't gone like we wanted, but we just got to make certain that we come to the ballpark ready to go."

The city of Oakland will present Athletics ownership with an offer to extend the team's lease that includes a five-year contract with an opt-out after three years, as well as a requirement the team pays a $97 million "extension fee," according to document obtained by ESPN and KGO in San Francisco.

The team and the city will meet on Tuesday, the third formal meeting between the two sides since the Athletics received unanimous approval from major-league owners to move the franchise to Las Vegas.

The Chicago Cubs placed left-hander Justin Steele on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain Saturday after their Opening Day starter was injured fielding a bunt against the Texas Rangers.

The Cubs recalled right-hander Ben Brown, 24, from Triple-A Iowa, with Brown in line to make his major league debut after getting two starts among five appearances in spring training.

Expectations are lower for the Mets entering this season. But owner Steve Cohen still has a specific achievement in mind.

"I think the goal is to make the playoffs. Pretty simple. Let's not overthink this," Cohen said Friday. "If we don't make the playoffs, obviously I'd be disappointed."

Wearing a Mets cap and jacket, Cohen held a news conference at Citi Field a couple of hours before the Mets played their opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, pushed back a day because of rain.

Thousands of Athletics fans gathered in the Coliseum's south parking lot before Thursday night's Opening Day game against the Cleveland Guardians to try out a new way of displaying their displeasure with the team's ownership: showing up but staying away.

In what might be the beginning of the team's final season in Oakland, fans waved hundreds of "SELL" flags, ate free tacos and listened to live music. What most of them didn't do was enter the stadium to watch the game, choosing to continue the party through the night by watching the game on a blowup projection screen. The announced crowd for the game -- 13,522.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday the league is committed to its investigation of the scandal surrounding Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and hopes it will take a "short" time to resolve.

Last week Ohtani's interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired after questions surrounding at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from the superstar's bank account to a bookmaking operation.

The Texas Rangers may not place Max Scherzer on the 60-day injured list to begin the season.

That may indicate that Scherzer could return earlier than expected in the aftermath of his offseason back surgery to repair a herniated disc.

Scherzer, 39, had originally been expected to miss the first couple months of the season. 

The Rangers acquired Scherzer from the New York Mets last trade deadline.

Miguel Rojas was bothered by recent comments from former teammate Jazz Chisholm, saying "you don't even know me," and implying that the Miami Marlins star should "respect everybody" in the clubhouse.

Rojas and Chisholm were teammates on the Marlins for parts of three seasons from 2020 to 2022, which were Chisholm's first three years in the Major Leagues.

During an appearance on "The Pivot" podcast, Chisholm referred to that period as the "worst three years of probably my life" and took multiple shots at an unidentified team "captain," an apparent reference to Rojas, who was the Marlins' de facto captain at the time.

"You can't be a team leader when you've got guys that's been in the clubhouse that's been in there nine or 10 years even though they suck," Chisholm said. "They've been there for nine or 10 years and the team calls them the team captain. But they're not a good captain, they're not a good person, you're not even a good athlete at this point. You're just here and you're bringing down the young guys that are supposed to be good."

Rojas spent parts of eight seasons with the Marlins before being traded last year to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The veteran infielder said Tuesday that Chisholm is "entitled" to his opinion of his playing abilities but bristled at the apparent attack on his character.

"Whatever you want to say about me as a player, you can have that opinion," Rojas said. "But you saying that I'm a bad person when you don't even know me, that's kind of what bothers me."

Aaron Boone wants Juan Soto to treat the New York Yankees as his club too.

Asked how Soto will fit into a team with Aaron Judge as the acknowledged superstar and Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton entrenched as veteran leaders, Boone said, "My message to him is: It's his clubhouse, too, and we want to learn and grow from you and want you to feel empowered to say and do whatever you feel like you need to do."

The Yankees acquired Soto in a trade with the San Diego Padres this offseason.

"Look, anytime you're a player coming over to a team for the first time, I'm sure you're toeing the water a little bit, getting a feel for everything," Boone said. "I do feel like the team from a bonding standpoint has come together really well this spring in short order. I would include Juan in that. He seems very comfortable, he seems happy. I think our leaders do a great job of making guys feel at home. From a leadership and what kind of vocal role he takes, that probably still remains to be seen."