Mets skipper Manuel agrees to return  —  Jerry Manuel has agreed to return as New York Mets manager, SI.com has confirmed.  Manuel will get a two year contract, plus a club option for a third season.  —  When Manuel took over as interim manager for the fired Willie Randolph in mid-June …

Injured eye forces Pena from game  —  ST. PETERSBURG — The irritation in 1B Carlos Pena's left eye Wednesday night was nothing like the pain he went through taking himself out of Thursday's game after two innings.  —  Pena was relaxing at home early Wednesday night when he felt something in his left eye and rubbed it.

Beckett definite; Lowell and Lowrie scratches explained  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Lowell's hip injury did not worsen, but Terry Francona made what he said was a very difficult decision to sit him.  Lowell wanted to play badly, Francona said.  One factor in the decision was the fact that Joe Saunders …

Best-of-seven series a better test  —  Five-gamer not always an accurate test of team's true strength  —  A five-game series in baseball is like getting all dressed up for the big dance and the music stops before you walk through the ballroom door.  —  For most managers and players …

Workers begin dismantling Shea Stadium  —  It's really happening, Mets fans.  —  Shea Stadium is coming down, one thousand-watt lamp and one sink at a time.  Centerfield's iconic 410-foot sign now lies in a fenced-in area outside the ballpark, along with other pieces of the outfield wall.

Brewers Owner Attanasio Wants More Revenue Sharing From Yankees  —  Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) — Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, seeking a “fair fight,” said high-revenue clubs like the New York Yankees should share more with the other teams.  —  “It's always amusing to me to hear the Yankees …

Curse removal backfires on Cubs  —  It was supposed to be a quiet ceremony with no publicity.  —  But when a TBS cameraman saw Rev. Father James L. Greanias spreading holy water in the Cubs dugout several hours before Game 1 of the Division Series on Wednesday, the priest …

Angels won't walk away with a victory  —  Despite facing Matsuzaka, who walks a lot of hitters, they don't plan to work the count in Game 2.  —  This could be the rare matchup that drives the purists and and the stat-heads nuts.  Live from Anaheim: The team most likely to swing at a bad pitch …

Brantley completes Sabathia deal  —  A source familiar with the deal just told me that the CC Sabathia trade has been completed with the Brewers sending minor league outfield prospect Michael Brantley to the Indians.  —  When the Brewers acquired Sabathia in early July …

Future Shock  —  Missing Bats  —  A great deal of the e-mails and chat questions that I receive concern pitching statistics, with most writers wanting to know what numbers they should look at when evaluating prospects, and which are more relevant than others.

Clutch-hitting Helms gets two-year extension with Marlins … Wes Helms has agreed to a two-year deal with the Florida Marlins.  —  Helms, 32, batted .243 with five homers and 31 RBIs during the 2008 season, but came up with some big hits for the Marlins — including a pinch-hit homer on the last day of the season to beat the Mets.

Rosenthal's Latest: Vlad, Cano, Peavy, Hardy  —  By Tim Dierkes [October 3 at 8:23am CST]  —  Today we have a fresh column from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  — Vladimir Guerrero's $15MM option for '09 is a lock, but perhaps the Angels will reconsider extending him beyond that.

Is Fukudome a dirty word?  —  What's in a name?  Ask Chicago Cubs fan Jill Howe, 15.  —  The Elgin High School sophomore had to remove her Kosuke Fukudome jersey and wear a gym T-shirt to class Wednesday because of a misunderstanding about how to pronounce the All-Star right-fielder's last name.