Phillies hire ex-Yankees manager Joe Girardi  —  MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees  —  The Philadelphia Phillies have hired former New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi as their next skipper.  —  The team announced that he receives a three-year contract with a team option in 2023.

Admitting ‘we were wrong,’ Astros fire assistant GM Brandon Taubman  —  The Houston Astros fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman on Thursday, admitting in a statement that his “inappropriate comments” about the acquisition of closer Roberto Osuna were directed at a group of female reporters.

Every Purpose Under Heaven  —  Hey, everybody.  The time has come for me to end my 17-year working relationship with the Red Sox, and I wanted you all to hear about it from me rather than from secondary sources.  I'm guessing you may have heard talk about this, but we have reached a point of no return now …

MLB looking into longtime umpire Rob Drake's tweet  —  Major League Baseball is looking into a since-deleted tweet by longtime major league umpire Rob Drake, according to a league spokesman.  —  Drake tweeted late Tuesday that he planned to buy an assault rifle “because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way …

Padres To Hire Jayce Tingler As Manager  —  According to a tweet from ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Padres will name Rangers coach Jayce Tingler as their new manager (link).  —  By all indications, this hiring promises to be a pivotal one.  The Padres are, after all, an organization wrapping …

Ex-Giants manager Bruce Bochy says he would like ‘one more shot’ at the helm  —  Bruce Bochy admitted Thursday what some anticipated all along: He wants to manage in the majors again, just not this year.  —  “I'd love to have one more shot,” Bochy said Thursday in an interview with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on Sirius/XM.

These are the finalists for Gold Glove Awards  —  The finalists — three at each position in each league — for the 2019 Gold Glove Awards are being revealed by Rawlings.  We'll be updating the list of finalists as they're announced.  —  AMERICAN LEAGUE  —  PITCHER

Travis Williams as Pirates president makes plenty of sense  —  There has been no shortage of Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow jokes made at the Pirates' expense this postseason, with fans pointing out a variety of personnel decisions the club has made recently, ones that have gone horribly wrong.

AL West Notes: Mariners, Maddon, Newhan, Andrus  —  The Mariners will be looking for veteran pitching this winter, The Athletic's Corey Brock writes, though they'll be focusing on relatively inexpensive hurlers on one-year deals as the rebuilding team will give priority to its younger arms.