3UP: Yanks postseason, AL MVP, Bradley  —  Yes, I am on Twitter.  —  1. The Yankees are going to make the playoffs.  The Rays and Rangers have made sure of that by falling apart late and leaving no potential wild card trapdoor.  But the Yankees do not want to collapse out of first place late …

Wade: Right time for Astros to make managerial change  —  Cecil Cooper was fired Monday as Astros manager, falling victim to an underachieving, injury-plagued team with a bloated payroll and one of the worst starting rotations in baseball.  —  Dave Clark, who will be a candidate for the job …

Jockbeat: Why Yankees Fans Should Worry  —  ​Be afraid, Yankee fans — be very afraid.  —  A couple of weeks ago everything seemed all sewn up — the Yankees had vanquished the Red Sox, and all everyone wanted to know was if this year's editions was as good as the 1998 team.

Aroldis Chapman awaits ruling on MLB free-agency status  —  Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector considered to be one of the top pitching prospects in the world, petitioned Major League Baseball for free-agency status recently and is likely only weeks from becoming a free agent, according to his agent.

Mets' future bleaker than Nationals  —  THIS is the hard truth Mets fans must face today.  The Nationals have a brighter future than the Mets.  It doesn't get any worse than that.  Washington has the worst record in baseball at 51-97.  —  It's so bad that it may be easier for the Nationals to attract free agents than the Mets.

Sox place Tazawa on 60-day DL  —  The Red Sox today placed righthander Junichi Tazawa on the 60-day disabled list with a mild left groin strain, ending his remarkable first season in the United States with the Red Sox.  —  Tazawa tweaked his left groin Sept. 4, while covering first base as a reliever against the Chicago White Sox.

Torre Makes His Team Worse  —  If you haven't been following the Dodgers of late, there's an interesting development down in LA - Joe Torre has decided to give a significant chunk of the playing time at second base to Ronnie Belliard, sending Orlando Hudson to the bench in the process.

Pirates will pursue familiar faces in free agency  —  Grabow likely target this winter, as is St. Louis outfielder Rick Ankiel  —  The Pirates plan to be more aggressive in free agency than last year, general manager Neal Huntington said yesterday, and that could include a pursuit of recently traded players.

Post Game: Braves 11, Mets 3  —  The Braves defeated the Mets by the score of 11-3 tonight at Citi Field.  —  For a full recap and box score, click here.  —  The Least You Should Know:  —  This one was over early - Pat Misch allowed eight runs and seven hits in just 1 1/3 innings tonight …

Best Fastballs in Baseball  —  A few weeks back, Jeremy Greenhouse presented a new method for evaluating who throws best pitches in baseball.  Building on work by Dave Allen and John Walsh, the principle is to evaluate pitches based on their outcomes.  Jeremy's innovation was to use regression …

Cubs add outfielders Johnson, Colvin  —  Right-hander diamond designated for assignment  —  MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Cubs today selected outfielder Tyler Colvin from Double-A Tennessee and activated Reed Johnson from the 15-day disabled list.  To make room for Colvin on the 40-man roster …

San Francisco Giants prospect Angel Villalona charged with murder  —  SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A top prospect for the San Francisco Giants was charged with murder in the death of a 25-year-old man last weekend at a bar in his Caribbean homeland.  —  Angel Villalona …