Cubs in talks with Joe Maddon, could have answer by Friday  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the ball in his hands and his team leading the World Series three games to two, Jake Peavy had the starting assignment every pitcher dreams of — a chance to win the series.

ROAD MAPS TO PITCHING SUCCESS IN GAME 7  —  For the Royals, Game 6 could not have gone any better.  Not only did they claim the necessary victory to setup a winner-take-all contest tonight, but by blowing the Giants out early, they were able to acquire an extra day of rest for their vaunted bullpen trio …

2015 Boston Red Sox Top 10 Prospects With Scouting Reports [VIDEO]  —  Want More?  Complete 2015 Top 10 Prospects Rankings  —  Get it all: Subscribe to Baseball America  —  Go 30 deep: Order the 2015 Prospect Handbook!  —  The Red Sox entered 2014 as defending champions and concluded …

Giants, Royals Not Your Normal Wild Card Clubs  —  Whichever team wins tonight's Game 7, there is sure to be mention of how a team that didn't even win 90 games during the regular season is the World Series champion.  —  It will be cited as an example of the randomness of the playoffs.

Baseball star Jose Canseco hurt in accidental shooting  —  LAS VEGAS — Metro Police confirms former baseball star Jose Canseco was hurt in an accidental shooting Tuesday afternoon at his house on the far eastside of the Las Vegas valley.  —  According to police, the former player accidentally shot himself …

Arizona Diamondbacks 2014: sparse crowds, by big TV numbers  —  The rule of thumb for the fiscally responsible baseball team is for the payroll to equal roughly half a club's revenues.  So with the Diamondbacks coming off a 98-loss campaign — a year in which their attendance was …

Reds To Exercise Club Option On Cueto, Buy Out Hannahan And Ludwick  —  2:21pm: The Reds have also declined Ludwick's $9MM option, instead paying him a $4.5MM buyout, Cotillo tweets.  The 36-year-old's down 2014 season made that salary excessive, though the steep buyout tag and Cincinnati's outfield needs …

FanGraphs Crowd: The Top 55 Free Agents  —  Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series — which competition, barring some unforeseen circumstance, is likely to end today.  As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs once again facilitated this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project …

Left-hander goes 2-0 with 1.13 ERA in two starts for Scottsdale Scorpions  —  2014 MLB.com Top Prospects: Joely Rodriguez has an excellent sinking fastball and an above-average changeup  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Pitchers often have to have a selective memory over the course of a season …