Cubs relieve Quade of managerial duties  —  Chicago finished fifth in NL Central in skipper's only full season  —  CHICAGO — Mike Quade will not be back as Cubs manager.  —  Theo Epstein, Cubs president of baseball operations, made the announcement Wednesday after traveling to Florida to inform Quade face to face.

Steve Garvey prepping proposal to purchase Los Angeles Dodgers  —  The investment group led by former Dodger greats Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser is preparing a proposal to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers in a bankruptcy court auction.  —  To speed the process along, bidders in the auction …

Agent: Oswalt plans to pitch in 2012  —  The agent for Roy Oswalt affirmed Wednesday that the veteran pitcher “absolutely” plans to pitch in 2012, following a season in which he was twice placed on the disabled list with lower back inflammation.  —  “His back feels great,” Bob Garber told FOXSports.com.

Top offensive players earn Silver Sluggers  —  The postseason honor roll expanded Wednesday, when the American League and National League distributed the Silver Slugger Award to the best offensive players at each position.  Nine players received the award for the first time, and only six players were repeat winners from last year.

Cardinals start manager interviews Thursday  —  A search committee headed by Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak today begins what it hopes is a 10-day process to identify the successor to departing manager Tony La Russa.  —  The committee today holds …

Grady Sizemore ‘not limiting his choices’ in free agency  —  After the Cleveland Indians declined to exercise their 2012 option on him this weekend, free agent center fielder Grady Sizemore has received interest from several teams and is willing to play anywhere, his agent Joe Urbon said.

Los Angeles Angels GM plans new way to evaluate players  —  Incoming Los Angeles Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto signaled a new direction for the way the team plans to evaluate players Wednesday in an interview on 710 ESPN.  —  Unlike most major league teams, the Angels haven't viewed on-base percentage as a pre-eminent statistic.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. eyes May 5 fight  —  Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not plan on taking another 16-month vacation from the boxing ring, like he did after easily outpointing Shane Mosley in May 2010.  —  Instead, Mayweather, who knocked out Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, will make a relatively hasty return …

Gammons on Jose Reyes, David Wright, and the Hot Stove  —  This afternoon, Peter Gammons was a guest of Mike Francesa on WFAN and said he believes there is a strong possibility the Mets will look to trade David Wright this winter regardless of whether or not they retain Jose Reyes.

Nationals, Chien-Ming Wang remain in contract discussions  —  The Nationals remain in contract talks with starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, whose agent remains optimistic he will ultimately sign with the Nationals.  —  The status of the talks between the Nationals and Wang are “the same,” said Alan Nero, Wang's agent.

What should the Marlins do with Chris Coghlan?  —  Around this time two years ago, Chris Coghlan won the National League Rookie of the Year award after a season that led many to believe the Marlins had found their next star player.  —  But Coghlan's stock has drastically dropped …