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.

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.

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 …

Joe Maddon says his pipe dream is to beat the Cubs in the World Series in introductory press conference with Angels  —  For the majority of Joe Maddon's introductory press conference in Anaheim on Thursday, the former Cubs skipper dealt in platitudes when referring to his time in Chicago.

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 …

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.

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.

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