Report: Randolph rejects chance to join Nats staff  —  Under consideration to be the next manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Willie Randolph reportedly turned down a chance to return to the NL East in a coaching capacity.  —  Newsday reported Saturday that Randolph, who was fired as Mets manager in June …

World Series Game 3 preview … Rays at Phillies  —  Series: World Series, Game 3  —  TV: FOX  —  Starters: Matt Garza (2-1, 3.32 ERA) vs. Jamie Moyer (0-2, 13.50 ERA)  —  The Phillies won the game they were supposed to win behind Cole Hamels in Game 1.

Smoltz could follow Rocket's path  —  Could John Smoltz be the next Roger Clemens?  —  No, the longtime Atlanta Braves ace isn't going to face a Congressional panel, be investigated for perjury or have lurid details of his personal life cause him great embarrassment, but Smoltz could follow …

Which Braves prospects are untouchable?  —  Philadelphia — I'm in chilly Philly and Braves officials are not.  But neither are officials from most other teams, save for the participating Phillies and Rays.  —  Gone is the day when all major league teams sent all their top officials …

Dodgers coaching staff to return in '09  —  Torre to work with same cast that helped send LA to NLCS  —  LOS ANGELES — The coaching staff of Dodgers manager Joe Torre will return intact for 2009, the club announced Friday.  —  Hitting coach Don Mattingly, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt …

At Rutgers, Yankee Stadium 101  —  Typical first-year courses at Rutgers University include biology, calculus, English literature, history and economics.  But 20 freshmen — 19 of them Yankees fans — are enrolled in a research seminar called Yankee Stadium.

Yankees Say They Would Have Left Bronx if Pushed  —  WASHINGTON — Randy Levine, the president of the Yankees, told a Congressional hearing Friday that if the city had not issued tax-exempt financing for the team's new stadium, it would have left town.  —  “It's been no secret for many years” …

The Happy Heckler Can't Be Heard Now in the Din at Tropicana Field  —  As Tampa Bay Rays Draw a Noisy Throng, Robert Szasz Gets Drowned Out  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For the past six years, the taunts of a lone Tampa Bay Rays fan could be heard echoing across cavernous Tropicana Field …

Unwritten in pen  —  Rays go by committee  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - On Opening Night of the 2003 season, the Red Sox [team stats] began an experiment that came to be known as “closer by committee.”  —  The concept was simple enough: Without an established reliever to nail down the final three outs …

Mariners GM leaves Milwaukee legacy  —  Zduriencik helped draft many pieces of the NL Wild Card winners  —  MILWAUKEE — In his now-former life as the Brewers' amateur scouting director, Jack Zduriencik was so sure about a high school kid from Tucson named J.J. Hardy that the Brewers might …

Rockies' closer plans unchanged by loss of Weathers  —  The loss of reliever Casey Weathers for a year because of reconstructive elbow surgery is a setback for the Rockies, but it does not impact the status of closer Brian Fuentes, who is headed to free agency.