Top News:
ESPN:
Mets eye Sandy Alderson, Josh Byrnes — The New York Mets have narrowed their search for a general manager to two candidates: longtime former GM and current MLB executive Sandy Alderson and former Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes, the team announced in a statement.
Discussion:
MLB
RELATED:
Peter Botte / NY Daily News:
Sandy Alderson tours Citi Field, remains favorite to fill Mets GM slot over other five candidates — The first round is finally over in the Mets' GM search. — Sandy Alderson remains a leading candidate after completing the second half of his interview with executives Jeff Wilpon and John Ricco Thursday.
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue and HardballTalk
FOXSports / mlbbuzz:
Sources: Mets wanted experienced GM candidates — The Mets, in selecting Sandy Alderson and Josh Byrnes as the finalists for their vacant general manager's position, determined that they needed an experienced candidate as opposed to a first-time GM, major-league sources said.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, HardballTalk and Mets Merized Online
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Sandy Alderson and Josh Byrnes make the Cut
Discussion:
MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com
Brian Costa / Wall Street Journal:
The Long Walk From Chicago — After a Meteoric Rise and a Painful Fall, Yankees Reliever Kerry Wood Is Writing His Own Ending — ARLINGTON, Texas—The pivotal moment of Kerry Wood's career didn't happen at Wrigley Field. And it won't happen at Rangers Ballpark this weekend.
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily and River Avenue Blues
RELATED:
Andrew Marchand / ESPN:
Nick Swisher sick of Cliff Lee questions — ARLINGTON, Texas — Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher wants to face Cliff Lee in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, but he is sick of talking about him. Swisher cannot stand hearing another question asked about Lee.
Discussion:
Subway Squawkers, Fanhouse MLB Blog, Pinstripe Alley, HardballTalk and Sliding Into Home
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Swisher tired of questions about Lee — ARLINGTON — The Yankees were growing weary of repeated questions about Cliff Lee even before they had faced the Rangers left-hander, and Nick Swisher has had enough of the topic. — With Lee's growing reputation for postseason excellence …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
NY Daily News:
Lupica: It's time for Alex to be Great — They are the Yankees, defending champions of the sport, best team money can buy, most expensive pitching staff ever assembled. They are Mo Rivera, the greatest money player of them all, and Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano …
Discussion:
Subway Squawkers and HardballTalk
Mike Sielski / Wall Street Journal:
Same Old Ghost Story
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley and Tedquarters
Sean McAdam / Comcast SportsNet:
Multiple sources: Farrell offered Blue Jays' manager's job — ARLINGTON, Texas — Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell has been offered the job and needs only to come to agreement on a contract to become the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, multiple industry sources said.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and HardballTalk
RELATED:
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
No Hale in Toronto; Farrell will likely be new Jays manager
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Richard Griffin / Toronto Star:
Jays manager search: 3 GMs say John Farrell is the guy
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, mlbbuzz, The Joy of Sox and Full Count
Robert Macleod / Globe and Mail:
Jays won't confirm that Farrell is new manager
Discussion:
Boston Globe, SOX & Dawgs and Projo Sox Blog
Luke Adams / MLB Rumors:
Manager Roundup: Blue Jays, Brewers, Pirates
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, Where Have You Gone …, Britt's Bird Watch, JSOnline and Bucs Dugout
Sports Illustrated:
October's heroes: Twenty-five who have stepped up in the playoffs … Several players have enhanced their reps this October, though none more so than the top two guys on this list — the unheralded Cody Ross and the much-heralded Cliff Lee. Ross has done what no one expected …
Fox Sports:
Don't even try to predict NLCS outcome — Phillies Roy Halladay and Jayson Werth with Ken Rosenthal after Game 5. — Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. Follow him on Twitter. — SAN FRANCISCO
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! Sports, Philly.com, Phillies Nation and New York Times
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Brian Costello / New York Post:
Bruised Berkman ready to go for Yankees — Tweet — ARLINGTON, Texas — Other than a bruised ego and a sore bottom, Lance Berkman is ready to go tonight in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series. — After taking a hard spill on the Yankee Stadium warning track during Game 5 …
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily and HardballTalk
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Matthew Futterman / Wall Street Journal:
When the Yankees Lose, So Do You — Early Exits in the Postseason's Last Two Rounds Have Led to More Spending—and Poaching — For the better part of two decades, most baseball fans in North America have spent the month of October aligning in a league of contempt against the New York Yankees …
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
RELATED:
Rob Neyer / ESPN:
Let's not call the whole (BABiP) thing off — I like potahto... From the mailbag at Bill James' subscriber-only site: — Hey, Bill: You wrote “Please stop saying ‘BABIP’; it's just laziness.” Is saying “ERA,” RBI," “WAR,” and so on any different? If so, why? — Bill: “WAR” is laziness, yes.
Discussion:
THE BOOK
David Laurila / Baseball Prospectus:
Prospectus Q&A — Scott Servais … David Laurila: What is it like seeing so many players that came through the system making such a big impact in the postseason? — Scott Servais: It's very gratifying, obviously. It speaks volumes to our scouts identifying guys …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
