Top News:
Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun Times:
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.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors, NESN.com, HardballTalk, Bleed Cubbie Blue, Red Reporter, Royals Review, Lone Star Ball and CBS Chicago
RELATED:
Jon Heyman / CBSSports.com:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joe Maddon is about to become the new manager of the Cubs, sources tell CBSSports.com. — Maddon and the Cubs are on the verge of agreeing to a mega deal, according to people familair with the situation. — The Cubs denied that a deal was done in response.
Discussion:
DRaysBay, Bleacher Report and CBS Chicago
ESPN:
Sources: Maddon, Cubs on verge of contract … The Chicago Cubs are on the verge of hiring Joe Maddon as manager, as first reported by CBSSports.com. — Two sources familiar with the situation confirmed the agreement to ESPN's Jim Bowden. However, three team sources told ESPN's Buster Olney …
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Oddities Abound in Even World Series — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The historical oddity of this World Series can be measured in the pitch count of Santiago Casilla. He is the closer for the San Francisco Giants — and a very good one, at that — yet for six games he has hardly been needed.
Discussion:
Athletics Nation and Pinstripe Alley
Dave Cameron / Fox Sports:
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 …
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball, Minor League Ball and McCovey Chronicles
RELATED:
Rob Neyer / Fox Sports:
GAME 7? NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING. — The confounding thing about Major League Baseball's Biggest Possible Game? It makes all of us so small, for at least these next few hours. Afterward, we can all go back to pretending we know everything. — Now, though?
Alex Speier / Baseball America:
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 …
Discussion:
NESN.com, Dan Shaughnessy Watch and Over the Monster
Nick Piecoro / Arizona Republic:
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 …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and AZ Snake Pit
Natalie Cullen / 8 News NOW:
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 …
Discussion:
Let's Go Tribe, CBSSports.com, HardballTalk and SBNation.com
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
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 …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, MLB Daily Dish and Red Reporter
Carson Cistulli / FanGraphs Baseball:
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 …
Discussion:
Purple Row, River Avenue Blues and Lone Star Ball