Top News:
Rob Parker / ESPN:
Joe Girardi deserves a lot of credit — He may not get manager of the year love, but Bombers' skipper was key to season — NEW YORK — New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi likely won't win American League Manager of the Year. — In fact, he'll be lucky to finish in the top three in the voting.
Discussion:
YFSF, The LoHud Yankees Blog and Pinstripe Alley
RELATED:
Roger Mooney / Boston Herald:
Rays playoff chances take another hit
Discussion:
DRaysBay and Associated Press
Ronald Blum / Associated Press:
Posada's 2-run single gives Yankees AL East crown
Discussion:
Associated Press, HardballTalk and Boston Globe
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Tiebreakers could come into play — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email — Last night's game at Fenway Park [map] may not have been the last one of the regular season after all. — The chance is quite slim, but should the Red Sox [team stats] and Los Angeles Angels wind …
RELATED:
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
What if there's a tie? — As of this morning, the Red Sox have a 2.5 game lead in the wild-card race on the Angels and Rays. — Games remaining: — Red Sox (6): 3 at New York, 3 at Baltimore — Angels (7): 1 at Toronto, 3 vs. Oakland, 3 vs. Texas — Rays (7): 1 at New York, 3 vs. Toronto, 3 vs. New York
Discussion:
FenwayNationWorld
ESPN:
Source: Ban foils Manny Ramirez's plans — Manny Ramirez will have to scuttle existing plans to play for a team in the Dominican Republic because his Major League Baseball-mandated drug suspension still has to be served, a source close to the situation told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez.
RELATED:
Dan Connolly / Orioles Insider:
Guerrero chasing Dominican hits record; wants to play few more years — Orioles designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero is on the precipice of becoming the major league's all-time hits leader from the Dominican Republic, and he hopes to build on that record for another couple of seasons.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
Espn.Com / MLB:
Source: Manny ineligible to join Dominican team — Manny Ramirez will have to scuttle existing plans to play for a team in the Dominican Republic because his Major-League Baseball-mandated drug suspension still has to be served, a source close to the situation told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez.
Discussion:
ESPN, NESN.com and HardballTalk
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Cardinals Extend Lance Berkman — Headed for a potentially turbulent winter, the Cardinals made the rest of their offseason that much simpler today, agreeing to a one-year, $12MM extension with Lance Berkman. The sides had been discussing a possible deal this month, though talks had appeared to lose momentum.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and Baseball Nation
RELATED:
Andy Martino / NY Daily News:
David Wright excited about likely changes to dimensions of Citi Field, Mets fall to Cardinals, 6-5
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, New Jersey Online, ESPN and New York Times
Associated Press:
Freese Drives in Five in Cardinals' Win
Discussion:
Associated Press and Yahoo! Sports
Chris McShane / Amazin' Avenue:
Transcript of Sandy Alderson's Interview on SNY
Discussion:
Baseball Nation and Kranepool Society
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Sox, not free agency, on Buehrle's mind entering final start — CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox are the only team that Mark Buehrle has pitched for during his storied career that started in 2000, and he'll try to temper his emotions Tuesday night when he makes possibly his final start …
Discussion:
HardballTalk
RELATED:
John Tomase / Clubhouse Insider:
Source: Sox made play for Mets' Capuano — Their wild card lead evaporating, the Red Sox are on the hunt for reinforcements, even if only for a game, in an attempt to make the playoffs. — According to a source with knowledge of the talks, the Red Sox have spent the better part of a week trying …
Discussion:
ESPN, MetsBlog.com, MLB Rumors, WEEI and Over the Monster
Fox Sports:
Moneyball still relevant for MLB today — The night the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, one of the team's senior advisers, Tony Siegle, told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, “we've shown Moneyball is a bunch of garbage.” — Not exactly. — The Giants, to an extent, were playing Moneyball, too.
Discussion:
Over the Monster, HardballTalk, Bronx Baseball Daily, MLB Rumors, Lone Star Ball and baseballmusings.com
RELATED:
Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times:
Paul DePodesta is captured to a T in film ‘Moneyball’
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus and Dodgers Blog
NY Daily News:
Yankees' Phil Hughes has MRI, may have herniated disc in back, could miss rest of season — CC Sabathia will take the ball to open the AL division series a week from Friday. But to do so on regular rest, he will have to make his final start of the season on Sunday with just three days off after Wednesday night's 127-pitch outing.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Associated Press:
Mariners Hand Twins 11th Straight Loss, 5-4 — MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki stopped Kevin Slowey's no-hitter with a two-out infield single in the sixth inning and added an RBI double in the seventh, spurring the Seattle Mariners to a 5-4 victory Wednesday night in Minnesota, the 11th straight defeat for the Twins.
Discussion:
Twinkie Town, Yahoo! Sports and Associated Press
Associated Press:
Phillies drop 5th straight, 7-5 to Washington — PHILADELPHIA — Danny Espinosa and Wilson Ramos each hit two-run home runs to help the Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia 7-5 on Wednesday, sending the NL East-champion Phillies to their season-worst fifth straight loss.
Discussion:
Blogging Baseball, The Good Phight and Phillies Nation
Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:
Bankruptcy doesn't mean Dodgers can't offer big contracts — Despite financial problems, Dodgers may be able to extend Matt Kemp's contract or attract a blue-chip free agent this winter — if it can persuade top players to sign. — The playoffs will go on without the Dodgers again this fall.
Discussion:
True Blue LA and MLB Rumors
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Royals Designate Kila Ka'aihue For Assignment — It wasn't long ago that Kila Ka'aihue seemed like a promising piece of the Royals' future. But the Hawaiian first baseman doesn't appear to fit into their long-term plans any more, despite the career minor league on-base percentage of .390 …
RELATED:
Bob Dutton / Kansas City Star:
Royals designate Ka'aihue for assignment to clear space for Herrera
Discussion:
HardballTalk
