Top News:
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Stats Tell Only Half the Story for Abreu — Bobby Abreu has 2,111 career hits. He has a .299 average, a .404 on-base percentage and a .493 slugging percentage. Only 15 other players have career marks as high in all four categories. Ten are in the Hall of Fame, and the others are active …
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Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
MLB Announces Umpiring Crews for 2009 LCS — Major League Baseball has named the two umpiring crews that will officiate the League Championship Series. The National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers will begin on Thursday …
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River Avenue Blues
Beth Harris / MiamiHerald.com:Torre says he doesn't anticipate extension
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Circling The Bases
Evan Grant / Texas Rangers:
Rudy Jaramillo, Rangers to part ways — UPDATED, 12:17 p.m. CDT: The rest of the coaching staff will return, the Rangers have announced. — Dallas-raised Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers hitting instructor for the last 15 seasons, has turned down the club's one-year contract offer and is preparing …
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Phil Rogers / Chicago Tribune:
Rudy Jaramillo could be answer to Chicago Cubs' hitting woes — (Ron Jenkins, McClatchy-Tribune / February 18, 2009) — Successful Texas Rangers' batting coach could be available — On Baseball — The Cubs have run-scoring issues. They can not simply throw money at the problem, at least not in the usual ways.
Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com:
Mets' Davis dominates in Rafters' rout — Former first-rounder hits grand slam, drives in six runs — A week ago, Mets top prospect Ike Davis was running on fumes. — Following a 114-game Minor League season split between two levels, he spent nearly a month playing for gold medal-winning Team USA at the IBAF World Cup.
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Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
Mets' pitching prospect Mejia on fast track — SURPRISE, Ariz. - Jenrry Mejia felt ill and stiff the day he auditioned for the Mets at their old Dominican Republic complex in Boca de Nigua two years ago. — “I don't know how I can throw today. I think I'll throw maybe 86 (mph) …
Josh Leventhal / Baseball America:
International League Top 20 Prospects — Wieters sticks around long enough to rank No. 1 … The industry consensus at the start of the season was that the two best prospects in baseball were Orioles catcher Matt Wieters and Rays lefthander David Price. Both began the year in the Triple …
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Japanese lefty sparks interest from MLB — The Red Sox are reportedly one of several teams interested in lefthander Yusei Kikuchi, the top amateur player in Japan. — Kikuchi is trying to decide whether to bypass the Japanese draft in favor of signing with a Major League team as a free agent.
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Fox Sports:
Agent: Former All-Star Wagner is not retiring — This just in: Billy Wagner is not retiring. — “He has every intention of playing next season,” according to his agent Bean Stringsfellow. — The former All-Star closer Wagner had told the New York Post Tuesday that he was considering retirement …
Paul Hoynes / Plain Dealer:
John Farrell says he's not interested in being Cleveland Indians manager — CLEVELAND — The next manager of the Indians will not be Boston pitching coach John Farrell. — Farrell, former Indians pitcher and farm director, has withdrawn his name from consideration. He told GM Mark Shapiro this morning.
Associated Press:
Angels set rotation; Lackey will get Game 1 start … ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced his rotation for the AL championship series on Wednesday, selecting John Lackey to start Friday night's Game 1 against CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees.
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Stan Hochman / Philly.com:
McCarver sings, tunes out zings — THE FIRST ROUND of the playoffs is history. Tawdry, bumbling history, marred by shoddy umpiring, Minnesota's dumber-than-dirt baserunning and the babbling of Chip Caray on TBS. — Cue the catcher/broadcaster/singer. Enter Tim McCarver doing …
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Sean Forman / Bats:
Yankees Defy Their Advancing Age — One of the remarkable things about the Yankees this year is the set of performances turned in by their veteran players. Statistically, studies have shown that players tend to peak around age 27 to 29 and then slide from there into retirement.
Corey Brock / MLB.com:
Inbox: Should Padres trade Bell? — Beat reporter Corey Brock answers questions from fans — What are the chances of selling high on Heath Bell early in the offseason? I feel like the Padres would be able to get a little bit more value out of him. If not, what is your take on the chances …
Steve Bisheff / Angels Unplugged:
Wooden is a Scioscia fan — As you may have heard, my favorite sports figure of all time, John Wooden, turned a spry 99 today. — Happy birthday, Coach. — What you might not know is that Wooden is a longtime admirer of Angels' manager Mike Scioscia. After the 2002 World Series …
