Popper: Wally Backman would get Mets to play hard  —  The decision likely has already been made in the mind of Sandy Alderson, the Mets' general manager weighing all sorts of qualifications and parameters and picking a manager to lead the Mets forward.  —  He conducted his final round …

Ackley earns Arizona Fall League MVP honors  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Anyone who saw Dustin Ackley in April probably could not envision the Mariners' second-base prospect taking home any kind of award for his on-field performance.  —  The 2009 first-round pick, taken No. 2 overall, seemed lost in the opening month of his pro career.

Yankees stay quiet amid rumblings of 3-year, $45 million contract for shortstop Derek Jeter  —  The last time a Yankee made an announcement during a major sporting event, the news went over about as well as Charlie Sheen's recent stay at the Plaza Hotel.  —  Three years ago …

EX-YANKEE JIM LEYRITZ ACQUITTED IN FATAL DUI CRASH  —  Site powered by msnbc.com Latest news: Mexico charges US-born drug suspect ‘La Barbie’

How an Old Writer Learned a New Trick About Stats  —  With everyone from schoolchildren to retirees, laymen to scholars, seemingly doing a blog, it was a few months ago that my son and I thought we could provide interesting baseball perspectives writing from the same site …

90 things to love about Stan Musial  —  On the grand occasion of Stan Musial's 90th birthday Sunday, we offer our own special gift: a literary cake, topped with 90 reasons why we love The Man, or one for each year:  —  1  • Musial is the nicest person we've known.

Theo Epstein may be single-minded  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  We're about to find out exactly how strong Theo Epstein's stomach is.  —  The Red Sox [team stats] general manager with a vision for the future is being tested by the immediate present.

Pair of Japanese hurlers sign with Dodgers  —  Los Angeles inks Nishijima, Takano to Minor League contracts  —  The Dodgers have gone to the Far East to add to their pitching stockpile.  —  Los Angeles announced Saturday that it has signed two Japanese amateurs — college arm Kazuki Nishijima …

Florida Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez would love to reunite with friend — pitcher Javier Vazquez  —  UPDATE: Sorry, folks, I made an error early about Vazquez and money.  I have removed it from the blog entry below...  Back home in his natIve Puerto Rico, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez is a popular guy.