Nightengale's Notebook: What made late Padres owner Peter Seidler beloved by his MLB peers  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Major League Baseball owners arrived at their meetings this week, holding back tears, still trying to grasp that beloved San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is gone.

Sources: Phillies, pitcher Aaron Nola agree to $172M deal  —  Right-hander Aaron Nola and the Phillies agreed to a seven-year contract on Sunday, the team announced, as Philadelphia locked up its longtime rotation stalwart after nearly three weeks of inactivity in the MLB free agent market.

UCLA football pummels USC in lopsided rivalry matchup  —  LOS ANGELES — Seconds after the end of a beatdown at the Coliseum, USC quarterback Caleb Williams hugged his mother, leaning down over the guardrail of the family section.  He hugged his father, standing on the dirt track around the grass.

Zack Britton, former Yankee, Oriole All-Star reliever, retires  —  Zack Britton is officially retiring from baseball after a 12-year big-league career, the 35-year-old pitcher told The Athletic in an exclusive interview earlier this month.  Britton was a two-time All-Star with three 30-save seasons under …

What Peter Bendix is looking for at catcher and the options available to the Marlins  —  Peter Bendix knows one of the Miami Marlins' biggest needs starts behind home plate.  —  After the Marlins opted not to tender a contract to Jacob Stallings, Miami has just one catcher on its 40-man roster in Nick Fortes.

Twelve newcomers join 2024 Hall of Fame ballot  —  A former Most Valuable Player Award winner and three-time batting champion, another batting titlist, three MVP runners-up, a Cy Young Award winner, a World Series home-run record holder and the only pitcher to total double-digit complete games …

'We're bad': Pistons lose 11th straight, and it's time to do something about it  —  TORONTO — What's worse than a 10-game losing skid?  An 11-game losing skid that came served up with a biscuit and a 29-point loss.  —  The Detroit Pistons were fortunate to walk away from Scotiabank Arena on Sunday night with that margin of defeat.

Braves Sign Reynaldo Lopez  —  The Braves announced Monday morning that they've signed right-hander Reynaldo Lopez to a three-year contract that will guarantee him $30MM.  The CAA client will be paid $4MM in 2024 and $11MM in both 2025 and 2026.  There's an $8MM club option for the 2027 season with a $4MM buyout.

Coaches Johnny Washington, Andy Green leave Cubs to join Angels, Mets  —  The Angels hired Washington as hitting coach, and sources confirmed Green is set to join the Mets front office.  —  New Cubs manager Craig Counsell said the process of filling out his coaching staff would be slow.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto talks with MLB teams set to start, source says  —  The negotiating window for major league teams to attempt to acquire Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to start Tuesday, a source told ESPN's Buster Olney on Friday.  —  Yamamoto is expected to be posted Monday …

Mets musings: Luis Severino could be a target, Daniel Vogelbach gets non-tendered  —  After announcing Carlos Mendoza's hiring as manager, the New York Mets' busy offseason continued to roll along this week with trade rumors, free-agent pursuits and coaching staff news.

Why Ohtani may not be part of Mariners' plans  —  This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer's Mariners Beat newsletter.  To read the full newsletter, click here.  And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.  —  SEATTLE — The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes have been underway for nearly two weeks now …