The Chicago Cubs and Dansby Swanson agreed to a $177 million, seven-year contract on Saturday, adding the All-Star shortstop to their rebuilding project.

Bruce Sutter, who debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1976, is considered one of the first pitchers to throw a split-finger fastball. The right-hander played 12 seasons in the major leagues, was a six-time All-Star and ended up with 300 saves over his career.

Tony La Russa, a three-time World Series champion who turns 78 on Tuesday, missed the final 34 games with the underachieving White Sox. He left the team on Aug. 30 and doctors ultimately told him to stay out of the dugout.

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who turns 78 on Oct. 4, had “additional testing and medical procedures over the past week,” the team said Saturday, and doctors have directed the Hall of Famer to stay away from managing for the rest of the season.

According to the White Sox, La Russa will travel with the team to Chicago after the series finale against the A’s, but the 77-year-old Hall of Famer hasn’t been cleared to return to the dugout as an active manager.

The 77-year-old La Russa missed Tuesday night’s 9-7 loss to Kansas City on the recommendation of his doctors. The team said he is scheduled to undergo additional testing in Arizona with his personal physicians “over the coming days.”

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will play a two-game series on June 24-25, 2023, at London Stadium. The NL Central rivals were supposed to play in London in 2020, but the games were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The union’s executive board approved the agreement in a 26-12 vote, pending ratification by all players, a person familiar with the balloting said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no announcement was authorized.

With owners and players unable to agree on a labor contract to replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired Dec. 1, Rob Manfred followed through with his threat and canceled the first two series for each of the 30 major league teams.

Buck O’Neil, a champion of Black ballplayers during a monumental, eight-decade career on and off the field, joined Minnie Miñoso, Gil Hodges and three others in getting chosen for the Hall of Fame on Sunday.

The Chicago Cubs hired Carter Hawkins as general manager on Friday, dipping into Cleveland’s front office in an effort to bolster their own player development system.

Led by their October-tested stars, the Houston Astros are going back to the AL Championship Series for the fifth straight year.

The Houston Astros found themselves in familiar territory Monday, brushing aside comments by Chicago White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera after he implied they stole signs while winning the first two games of the AL Division Series in their ballpark.

The Chicago White Sox hired Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa hoping he would oversee a deep postseason run and maybe lead them to their second World Series championship since 1917. They did not see themselves making another quick exit. But that’s exactly what they’re staring at unless a sudden turnaround is coming.

Chicago White Sox fans are brimming with excitement as the team heads into the playoffs, cheering on their team at a Monday rally. 

“This year we’re on the precipice of something fairly special,” said Chicago White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn, who was the chief architect of the team’s five-yearlong rebuild that saw dozens of strategic trades, draft choices and free agent signings.