Top News:
Fox Sports:
Eckstein dishes on Pujols' future — After Tony La Russa's retirement announcement Monday, there were two huge questions looming over the World Series champions. — Who will succeed La Russa as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals? And what impact will the new manager have on Albert Pujols' free agency?
RELATED:
Joey Nowak / MLB.com:
La Russa announces his retirement as skipper
La Russa announces his retirement as skipper
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus, Royals Review, True Blue LA, MLB Daily Dish, Baseball Nation, Mark My Word and Deadspin
Espn.Com / MLB:
Going out a champ: La Russa says he's retiring
Going out a champ: La Russa says he's retiring
Discussion:
Faith and Fear in Flushing, VFTB, ESPN and Athletics Nation
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals manager La Russa retires
Cardinals manager La Russa retires
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Associated Press:
Braves trade Lowe to Indians … NEW YORK (AP) — A person familiar with the trade says the Cleveland Indians have acquired pitcher Derek Lowe from the Atlanta Braves for a minor league pitcher. — Lowe, who has 166 career wins, was acquired Monday for left-hander Chris Jones …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com and Let's Go Tribe
RELATED:
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Indians Acquire Derek Lowe
Indians Acquire Derek Lowe
Discussion:
Plain Dealer, FanGraphs Baseball, Terry Pluto and Talking Chop
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Hot Stove Round-Up: Braves trade Lowe, McClouth is free
Hot Stove Round-Up: Braves trade Lowe, McClouth is free
Discussion:
HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Official Elias Rankings — MLBTR has obtained the official Elias rankings for this offseason. The list below includes all unsigned ranked free agents. — Once the regular season ended, the Elias Sports Bureau took all players over the 2010-11 period, divided them into five groups for each league …
RELATED:
ESPN:
Source: Yanks, CC reach five-year, $122M deal — CC Sabathia has announced he is staying with the New York Yankees. — Sabathia — Sabathia announced in a video that he and the Yankees have come to terms on a contract extension that will keep the husky left-handed ace from exercising his opt-out clause and testing free agency.
Discussion:
Plain Dealer and It's About The Money
RELATED:
D.J. Short / HardballTalk:
Yankees, CC Sabathia agree to contract extension — Well, here's a surprise. — CC Sabathia just announced that he has agreed to a contract extension with the Yankees. — Most expected Sabathia would forgo the remaining four years and $92 million on his contract and hit free agency …
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues, Lone Star Ball, Baseball Nation, New Jersey Online, MLB Rumors, MLB Daily Dish, Pinstripe Alley and Boston Globe
Ben Cafardo / ESPN MediaZone:
ESPN2 to Televise First-Ever Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Show — ESPN2 will televise the first-ever Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Show - emanating from ESPN's Baseball Tonight studio in Bristol - Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 10 p.m. ET. The one-hour telecast, hosted by Baseball Tonight's Karl Ravech …
RELATED:
Joe Capozzi / Fish Tank blog:
Gaby Sanchez, Omar Infante hoping to win Gold Gloves for Marlins — Marlins fans shouldn't be surprised to learn that first baseman Gaby Sanchez and second baseman Omar Infante are among the finalists at their positions for Gold Glove Awards. — ESPN2 will televise the first-ever Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Show at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Discussion:
Bless You Boys, Halos Heaven, Lone Star Ball and Boston Globe
Andrew Keh / New York Times:
Mets Make It Official: Citi Field to Shrink — Three seasons after the Mets opened Citi Field, they are making significant alterations, lowering walls and bringing in fences in an attempt to make it easier to hit home runs, and perhaps allow David Wright to regain his equilibrium as a player.
Discussion:
Faith and Fear in Flushing, Amazin' Avenue, BBTF's Baseball Primer …, Deadspin and baseballmusings.com
RELATED:
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Pictures of New Wall and Dimensions at Citi Field
Pictures of New Wall and Dimensions at Citi Field
Discussion:
Fantasy Baseball 365
Joe Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays pick up option on RHP James Shields — As expected, the Rays have picked up the $7.5 million option for RHP James Shields for next season, according to agent Page Odle. — Shields, 29, is coming off a spectacular bounce-back season in which he racked up a major-league high 11 complete games …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, MLB Daily Dish and Yahoo! Sports
RELATED:
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Rays Exercise Option On James Shields
Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:
Frank McCourt appears close to agreeing he'll sell Dodgers — People with knowledge of negotiations say a settlement may be near. An eventual sale would probably include Dodger Stadium and could command a price of $1 billion. — Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and HardballTalk
MLB.com:
Nationals exercise option on Johnson — The Washington Nationals announced on Monday they have exercised Davey Johnson's managerial option for the 2012 season. Nationals executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball and Yahoo! Sports
RELATED:
Adam Kilgore / Washington Post:
Nationals name Davey Johnson manager for 2012
Nationals name Davey Johnson manager for 2012
Discussion:
HardballTalk and baseballmusings.com
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
White Sox Exercise Option On Jason Frasor — The White Sox exercised their $3.75MM club option on reliever Jason Frasor, tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. — The Sox have a good collection of relievers under contract for 2012, but exercising the option on Frasor makes sense since he has positive trade value.
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune and South Side Sox
RELATED:
Scott Lauber / Clubhouse Insider:
Pete Mackanin: 'Who wouldn't want to manage the Boston Red Sox?' — Pete Mackanin was drafted by the Washington Senators in 1969. Since then, he has worked in baseball as a player, a minor-league manager, a coach, an interim manager and a scout. He has rubbed elbows with such notable managers …
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Red Sox decline options on Wheeler, Atchison — The Red Sox today declined team options on right-handed relievers Scott Atchison and Dan Wheeler ($3 million). — Atchison's option was for the 2012 MLB minimum plus $200,000. He remains on the 40-man roster and is not eligible for arbitration.
Discussion:
Surviving Grady, ESPN, MLB Daily Dish and MLB Rumors
Albert Pujols / Sports Illustrated:
The fate of Pujols, replacement for La Russa top offseason questions … With ace starter CC Sabathia expected to opt out of his Yankees contract by his late Monday deadline, the free-agent class should become even glitzier, with four huge stars — including the iconic Albert Pujols plus Prince Fielder …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Baseball Time in Arlington