NEW YORK — The Major League Baseball Players Association is keeping media out of its free-agent training camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

A union spokesman said Monday that reporters and photographers will not be allowed to enter the facility, which is open to the approximately 100 players who exercised the right to become free agents in November and remain unsigned. Players are allowed to report Tuesday, a day ahead of the first workout.

The union head, Tony Clark, declined comment.

Media was allowed at the union’s previous free-agent training camp, in Homestead, Florida, in April 1995 following a seven-month strike.

RAYS: Right-hander Jake Odorizzi and the team went to salary arbitration with the sides $250,000 apart.

Odorizzi, who turns 28 next month, asked the arbitrators, Dennis Archer, Phillip LaPorte and Matt Goldberg, for a raise from $4.1 million to $6.3 million. The Rays argued that he should be paid $6.05 million.

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Odorizzi was 10-8 with a 4.14 ERA in 28 starts last year. He struck out 127, his lowest total in four full major league seasons, and walked a career-high 61.

He’s eligible for free agency after the 2019 season and could be dealt by the low-payroll Rays.

Infielder Adeiny Hechavarria beat the Rays in arbitration on Feb. 3 and will get $5.9 million instead of the team’s $5.3 million offer.

Players lead 7-6 with a decision pending for Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer.

ESTEBAN LOAIZA, a former major league pitcher, was arrested Friday on felony drug charges after deputies searched an Imperial Beach, California, home he’s renting and discovered more than 44 pounds of suspected cocaine.

Loaiza, 46, was being held in a detention facility on $200,000 bail on suspicion of possessing and transporting narcotics for sale, and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

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The market value of 44 pounds of cocaine is about $500,000, said sheriff’s Lt. Jason Vickery.

Vickery said deputies used to test substances they believed were illicit drugs in the field but they now wait for a laboratory to test it because of concerns about handling fentanyl, a synthetic opioid so powerful that even a tiny amount can be fatal.

ROY HALLADAY’S No. 32 will be retired by Toronto before its March 29 opener against the New York Yankees.

Halladay died at age 40 on Nov. 7 when the plane he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.

Toronto will wear a No. 32 patch on its uniforms this season. Roberto Alomar’s No. 12 in the only other player whose number was retired by the Blue Jays.

Halladay spent 12 of his 16 big league seasons with Toronto and went 148-75 for the Blue Jays with six All-Star selections. He won the 2003 AL Cy Young Award after winning a club-record 22 games. Halladay spent his last four seasons with Philadelphia.

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INDIANS: Free-agent catcher Ryan Hanigan agreed to a minor league contract, a deal contingent on passing a physical.

Hanigan, 37, played 33 games last season for Colorado, batting .267 with two homers and 12 RBI.

With Yan Gomes and Robert Perez on the roster, it’s unlikely Hanigan could win a spot with the Indians, but he does give them protection and another experienced catcher in training camp.

Hanigan also has played for Boston, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati during an 11-year major league career.

MARLINS: Chip Bowers, a former NBA executive, was hired as president of business operations for a team eager to increase revenue under a new CEO, Derek Jeter.

Bowers most recently spent five years as chief marketing officer for the Golden State Warriors, where he oversaw all marketing channels and brand development, broadcasting, corporate partnership sales and services efforts.

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Bowers was senior vice president of corporate partnerships and marketing for the Orlando Magic in 2008-12. He began his professional career in the majors with San Diego and also spent eight seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA.

The Marlins have finished last in the National League in attendance 12 times in the past 13 years.

GIANCARLO STANTON and A.J. Ramos, former teammates with Miami and still close friends, are looking into living together this season now that both play in New York. It would seem to be a convenient arrangement, with one on the road most of the time anyway – except when Stanton and the Yankees face Ramos and the Mets.

“I’m going to be setting some traps for him. You know, might mess up his sleep a little bit, stuff like that,” Ramos said. “But no, we’re still looking. Nothing set in stone just yet.”

At spring training, the Mets’ reliever was asked how you split a grocery bill with a roommate who has a $325 million contract?

“Oh, he buys it all. For sure,” Ramos said. “I’m just playin’. Nah, it’s good times, man.”


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