Top News:
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Why Santana isn't the AL MVP … Johan Santana is the most talented, most charismatic, most dominating pitcher in this hemisphere. And that's something we should all be able to agree on, except perhaps for certain members of Roy Halladay's immediate family.
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Kelly Thesier / MLB.com:
Twins look to sweep Sox — Minnesota (90-61) at Boston (81-71), 6:05 p.m. CT — Fenway Park hasn't always been the kindest ballpark to the Twins, but that certainly hasn't been the case this series. — The Twins enter the finale of their three-game set with the Red Sox having the opportunity to pull off a series sweep.
Mike Petraglia / MLB.com:
Beckett to face Santana — Minnesota (90-61) at Boston (81-71), 7:05 p.m. ET — With 10 games left in the regular season, the Red Sox know they will not be catching the Yankees in the American League East. — The Red Sox's 8-2 loss to the Twins on Wednesday officially handed the Yankees …
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:Papi lights up dark night — Ties Foxx, but loss helps NY
Discussion:
Boston Sports Media Watch
Rich Radford / Virginian-Pilot:
Tide turns in favor of Orioles — With each passing day, odds that the Norfolk Tides will affiliate with the Baltimore Orioles increase. — On Wednesday, one of the Tides' main suitors opted to go elsewhere. — Seeing the Orioles as frontrunners in a perceived two-horse race to land Norfolk …
Discussion:
District of Baseball
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Baseball America:
Major Changes In Triple-A Fall Into Place — It's official: Three of the longest-standing affiliations in the minor leagues are coming to an end in the International League, with the announcements of new player-development agreements in Columbus and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Discussion:
Metsblog.com
NY Daily News:
Yankees pick Scranton, Mets beg to turn Tides — The Mets asked David Wright to place a late-night call to Triple-A Norfolk owner Ken Young after their loss to Florida last night. But the last-ditch effort to prevent the Mets from losing Wright's hometown team as their affiliate appeared unlikely to work.
Associated Press:
Yankees' top minor league team to move to Scranton — SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — The New York Yankees reached an agreement Thursday to make the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons their Triple-A affiliate, after ending their relationship with the Columbus Clippers earlier this year.
Bob Klapisch / ESPN:
Pressure on A-Rod will be intense in October — It was in January 2005 when George Steinbrenner opened the door to his Legends Field offices and invited Alex Rodriguez in for a chat. This wasn't a conversation as much as it was a job review — actually it was a history lesson, and the Boss did all the talking.
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NY Daily News:
Giambi's still needling — Time to get off A-Rod's case — The money quote, from Jason Giambi, is right there on the cover of Sports Illustrated, like a fastball under Alex Rodriguez's chin. — "Alex doesn't know who he is," Giambi says of A-Rod, the SI cover boy.
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Clement not too open to closing — Of all the tasks facing the Red Sox this winter, finding a closer will be near the top of the list. No incumbent pitcher has been ruled out, according to club officials, so it is not a big surprise that Matt Clement is a candidate.
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Mark Newman / MLB.com:
Relive all the magic with Clinch Time — Download playoff-assuring games for free at MLB.com — The first celebration scene happens on the field, where giddy players release all of that pent-up emotion from a marathon Major League Baseball season and pile on top of each other after clinching a championship.
Discussion:
The Griddle
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:
Willis a Met Next Season? A Team Can Dream, Can't It? — Until the playoffs begin and games around here start to matter again, all there is left to do is wait. A one-night-only reprieve came last night, when no one could have faulted the Mets' front office for putting aside …
Kevin Cowherd / Baltimore Sun:
Aparicio ready to lead chagrined O's fans in protest — You say you've had it with the Orioles this time. — You've had it with nine straight losing seasons. With another meaningless September. With a jewel of a ballpark that sits empty and forlorn, except when it's invaded by thousands …
Shaun Powell / Newsday:
Wilpon deserves all the credit — A wealthy, genteel and proper gentleman who's probably used to drinking his bubbly from a crystal flute instead took it straight from the bottle, and had it all dumped right on his head. Don't be misled; Fred Wilpon was not drunk the other night, at least not from liquor.
Discussion:
Always Amazin'
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates Notebook: Team, Duffy disagree on winter ball — By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — LOS ANGELES — The Pirates have told Chris Duffy they would like for him to play winter ball, but Duffy has responded that he has no wish to do so. — Potential for another rift between the team and its starting center fielder?
Discussion:
Bucs Dugout
Jack Curry / New York Times:
Rapping to the Oldies — Peter J. Nash, a baseball author, historian and filmmaker, can eloquently describe players from 2006. What makes him different from many other fans is that he can also smoothly discuss players from 1846. Nash knows exhaustive details about the earliest days of baseball …
Discussion:
Off Wing Opinion
