World Series Analysis Game 1: Phillies at Rays  —  Welcome to the first Daily News World Series blog/analysis, where we hope to answer burning baseball questions such as whether the Phillies are sunk if they don't win when their ace, Cole Hamels, starts tonight.  —  The answer to that one, dear readers, is yes.

Jack Zduriencik named Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations for the Seattle Mariners  —  SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln and President Chuck Armstrong announced today that Jack Zduriencik has been named the Mariners new Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations.

Red Sox' Luis Alicea out at first  —  Rest of staff to return  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Red Sox [team stats] coaching staff will return mostly intact next season, with the exception of first base coach Luis Alicea.  —  The club announced yesterday that pitching coach John Farrell …

Schilling blasts Manny  —  Curt Schilling's latest entry on his blog, 38pitches.com, was very, very interesting.  It has been removed from 38pitches.com (unsurprisingly), but the text still comes through on my RSS reader.  I have quoted a few relevant excerpts...

Injuries a problem in Fall League  —  Jeffress, Green, Gartrell all go down in battle of Peoria  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Milwaukee Brewers trainer Tommy Craig was the hardest-working man in town on Tuesday.  —  In the Arizona Fall League battle of Peoria teams, three players left …

Dodgers eyeing shorter Manny offer … ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Dodgers appear willing to meet or come close to superstar free agent Manny Ramirez's annual salary target but are strongly disinclined from acceding to his wish for a deal of five or six years, people familiar with the club's thinking tell SI.com.

Former Cubs GM Green sympathizes with Piniella, not his old team  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In the fall of 1981, only one year after managing Philadelphia to its only World Series championship, Dallas Green arrived in Chicago with a mission to change the culture of Cubs baseball and move the organization into the 20th Century.

PEAVY MAY BE HEADED TO ATLANTA  —  ST. PETERSBURG - The Jake Peavy sweepstakes will proceed concurrently with the World Series, and the expectation of major league executives polled over the past two days is that the Braves are going to end up with the Padre right-hander.

The Man Behind the MLB Logo  —  Jerry Dior Designed the Oft-Imitated Silhouette  —  Every night when Jerry Dior sits down to watch the baseball playoffs in his Edison, N.J., home, the television reflects his life's most enduring handiwork.  —  Forty years ago, Mr. Dior worked as a graphic designer …

MLB: New park for AL champion Rays a must have  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Even before Tropicana Field hosted its first World Series game, Major League Baseball insisted the Tampa Bay Rays must get a new stadium.  —  “I think they need a new ballpark here.  Absolutely,” said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

Cubs may help open new Yankee Stadium  —  Will Lou Piniella be managing the Cubs in the first game in the new Yankee Stadium?  —  Piniella indeed may be returning to the Bronx, as the Associated Press is reporting the Cubs and Yankees are in negotiations for either one or two exhibition games at the $1.6 billion ballpark in April.

Moore hired by Rangers  —  Former Astros bench coach headed for Arlington  —  Jackie Moore, who spent eight years as a coach in the Astros' Minor League system before serving as bench coach for Houston in '08, has been hired by the Texas Rangers to be their bench coach.