Melvin extended; Sveum, Skaalen out  —  St. Petersburg, Fla. - Doug Melvin is staying as the Brewers' general manager but Dale Sveum will not be his manager.  —  The Brewers just announced that Melvin's contract has been extended for three years, through the 2012 season.

A Stathead Considers Chemistry  —  With apologies to Elvis Costello (or whoever the line belongs to), writing about this game is like dancing about architecture.  —  You need more.  You need sounds, and feelings, and touch, and all the things that make an experience burn itself into memory.

Sutton stays hot for Scorpions  —  Astros prospect goes 2-for-3 with homer, three runs scored  —  Astros outfield prospect Drew Sutton continued his torrid hitting in the Arizona Fall League on Friday, going 2-for-3 with a homer and three runs scored as the Scottsdale Scorpions cruised to a 7-3 victory over the Peoria Javelinas.

Yanks to pursue CC, Lowe, Teixeira … Determined not miss the playoffs for a second straight season in 2009, the Yankees' top executives have decided to pursue many of the game's premier free agents, chief among them starting pitchers CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, and first baseman Mark Teixeira, among others, this winter.

Congress Questions Appraisals of Stadium  —  The chairman of the Congressional subcommittee investigating the tax-exempt financing of the new Yankee Stadium said that city officials could be prosecuted if the Internal Revenue Service determined they lied about the ballpark's property value.

“Jerry ‘Needs An Instruction’ Manuel” —Chris Berman (1955-2008)  —  KT covered some Manuel lunacy in the Gallimaufry, and there's more where that came from:  —  While the big offensive trio had respectable statistics or better, they didn't stop the September slide.

Columbia pitches ‘Moneyball’ to Pitt  —  Zaillian to write, Frankel to direct adaptation  —  Brad Pitt is adding to his busy schedule by playing ball for Columbia.  —  Steve Zaillian has signed on to adapt Michael Lewis' nonfiction bestseller “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” and David Frankel is attached to direct.

Four months after injury, Yanks' Wang fires pitch  —  TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang threw 25 pitches Friday in his first throwing session off a bullpen mound since hurting his foot in June.  —  Wang partially tore a tendon and sprained his right foot running the bases during …

Peavy says he'd waive no-trade clause to be an Astro  —  San Diego ace, who's a good friend of Oswalt, likes what team offers  —  San Diego Padres ace righthander Jake Peavy told the Chronicle he would waive his no-trade clause to join his friend Roy Oswalt with the Astros.

Rick Knapp named Tigers pitching coach  —  DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers today announced the organization has hired Rick Knapp as the club's pitching coach.  —  Knapp joins the Tigers Major League coaching staff after spending the previous 12 seasons as the Minor League pitching coordinator for the Minnesota Twins.