Torre Keeps Job, but Stays on the Hot Seat  —  The curtain has dropped on the annual fall passion play in the Bronx.  The roles were different this time, but the ending was the same as always.  Joe Torre is still the manager of the Yankees.  —  After last October's first-round playoff elimination …

Glavine's chance to be embraced  —  Tom Glavine sat in his news conference yesterday and said a lot of modest things about not feeling any additional responsibility once the Mets lost Pedro Martinez, then Orlando Hernandez on the eve of the playoffs.  But not a word of what he said was believable.

Twins pick up $12 million option on Hunter for '07  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Torii Hunter will be back with the Minnesota Twins for at least one more year.  —  The Twins said Tuesday they picked up Hunter's $12 million option.  —  Hunter, 31, a five-time Gold Glove winner in center field, was a big part of the Twins' AL Central title.

Reyes vs. Molina: A Game Within Games  —  If the National League Championship Series is reduced to a 90-foot race, the Mets should win by five-hundredths of a second.  —  This is the amount of time that José Reyes is working with when he tries to steal second base against Yadier Molina.

One that got away  —  Scout recalls Red Sox passing on Pujols  —  NEW YORK — This is a story about how the Red Sox could have had Albert Pujols, the best righthanded hitter on the planet, came within minutes of drafting him, then at the last second passed.

White Sox Have New Start Time: 7-Eleven  —  It is not easy to conjure $500,000 out of the ether, but the Chicago White Sox have discovered a way.  Their financial trick was really quite simple.  —  They changed their evening game times at U.S. Cellular Field.

Hicks can sit this Rangers decision out  —  Daniels should handle manager's hiring, given the owner's history  —  The following are the correct answers to the quiz, "Match the general manager and club still in play this fall:"  —  Dave Dombrowski ... and Detroit.  —  Omar Minaya ... and New York.

Harrington Signs Deal With The Cubs  —  After six years, five draft selections and three independent league teams, Matt Harrington is finally headed to affiliated baseball.  —  Harrington, the seventh overall pick in the 2000 draft, signed a minor league contract with the Cubs …

Beltran flashes back  —  Recalls his '04 power trip  —  Two Octobers ago, Carlos Beltran conducted a batting practice clinic across three states.  At least it seemed that way.  —  As the center fielder for the Houston Astros, Beltran made the division series and NLCS seem like child's play rather than major league competition.

The Peterson prism  —  Mets pitching coach sees things in a different light  —  If you met him without his Mets uniform, you would never guess what Rick Peterson does for a living.  Maybe it is the early-1980s Wayne Gretzky haircut that has him looking more like an aging rock star than a new-age baseball coach.