Dusty Baker reportedly ready to step down as Houston Astros manager after ALCS loss

The Texas Rangers rolled over the Astros 11-4 in Game 7 of the ALCS on Monday, ending Houston’s bid for a third straight trip to the World Series.

According to The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli and Chandler Rome, Baker has expressed to multiple people inside the organization that this season will be his last as the team’s manager. Baker has not made that official, and declined to comment when asked directly about that report by The Athletic.

Baker, 74, just wrapped up his 26th season managing in Major League Baseball. He holds a career 2,183-1,862 regular-season record and won a World Series title with the Astros in 2022. Baker went 320-226 in Houston, which is good for the second-best winning percentage in franchise history. He led ...

Giants expected to hire Bob Melvin as new manager as veteran leader leaves Padres, per report

The San Francisco Giants will soon announce the hiring of Bob Melvin as their new manager, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Melvin is currently under contract with the San Diego Padres, who granted the Giants permission to speak with him a few days ago.

Melvin, 62 this week, will become the second Padres manager to be hired away by the Giants in the last two decades. The Giants previously plucked Bruce Bochy from San Diego prior to the 2007 season. Bochy later delivered three World Series championships to the Giants organization. The Padres are still seeking their first-ever World Series title.

Melvin has managed in parts of 20 big-league seasons, including stints with the Padres, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, ...

Stephen Vogt candidate for Guardians manager job, sources say

Longtime major league catcher Stephen Vogt has emerged as a serious candidate for the Cleveland Guardians’ managerial job a little over a year after he retired from playing, sources told ESPN.

Vogt, 38, is currently a coach with the Seattle Mariners and had already interviewed for the San Francisco Giants’ open managerial job, which could soon be filled by San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin, who was granted permission to talk with the division rival. Vogt will have an in-person interview with the Guardians this week, sources said.

Following the retirement of manager Terry Francona after 11 seasons and six playoff appearances, Cleveland has considered a range of external candidates—Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz, New York Yankees ...

Adolis Garcia, Rangers cruise past Astros, win ALCS

Adolis Garcia admired, flaunted and celebrated. He flung his bat and roared towards his own dugout and cupped his hands around his ears, seemingly basking in every moment that Game 7 of this American League Championship Series provided. At one point, as the Texas Rangers kept piling on runs and the home crowd grew increasingly more distraught, he even heard faint “MVP” chants.

They were prophetic.

The Rangers raced past the defending-champion Houston Astros in their own building on Monday night, capturing a 11-4 victory to punch their ticket to the World Series. And Garcia—the man who triggered a benches-clearing incident during a controversial hit by pitch in Game 5, then provided the devastating blow with a prodigious grand slam in ...

Bartolo Colon, Robinson Canó, Pablo Sandoval join Dubai-based league

Bartolo Colon, Robinson Cano and Pablo Sandoval are among several notable, older former major league players selected Monday in the inaugural draft of a Dubai-based baseball league.

The 50-year-old Colon, 40-year-old Canó and 37-year-old Sandoval headlined picks by teams in Baseball United, the first pro baseball league in the Middle East and South Asia. Didi Gregorius, Andrelton Simmons and Steven Moya were also among those selected.

Canó, an eight-time All-Star, went sixth overall to the Dubai Wolves, one of four Baseball United teams slated to begin play next fall in the cricket-mad region. The Karachi Monarchs, Mumbai Cobras and Abu Dhabi Falcons are the others. They will also compete in an All-Star showcase next month at Dubai ...

SF Giants reportedly set to interview Red Sox World Series hero Jason Varitek

The search for the next manager of the San Francisco Giants took an unexpected turn on Friday. Joel Sherman of the New York Post and MLB Network reported the Red Sox granted the Giants permission to interview Boston Red Sox World Series hero Jason Varitek, who is currently employed as a game planning coordinator/catching coach with Boston.

Sherman said Varitek is expected to take part in an “informal phone call” with the Giants brass in the next few days.

The Giants fired former manager Gabe Kapler on Sept. 29 with three games left in the 2023 season. Kapler, interestingly, is reportedly in the running for the head of baseball operations with Varitek’s current employer, the Red Sox.

Commentary: Camden Yards lease agreement casts aside Stadium Authority’s good work

Now, under the memorandum of understanding executed by Gov. Wes Moore and Orioles Chairman and CEO John Angelos, the Maryland Stadium Authority as created 37 years ago will cease to exist. The rationale they use is a move toward more efficient operations, but what it really means is that hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to the citizens of Maryland will be given to the Orioles to spend as they see fit.

The decisions to spend that money for short-term benefit or to make sure the useful lives of the stadiums are extended for many decades will be made by the Orioles and not the Stadium Authority. The likely result is underinvestment in infrastructure and systems. At some point in the future, the team owner will say the team needs ...

A Brief History of Baseball Games Take Too Long

In November 1924, Thomas J. Hickey, president of the minor league American Association, was convinced that the length of baseball games was a problem and a threat to his league’s coffers. Worrying that fans would stop coming out to games, he said, “Umpires do their best at all times to hurry games but additional incentives are needed to impress upon the players the fact that the public prefers shorter ball games”.1 I don’t have the time stats of his league, but I think we can presume that minor league games weren’t so wildly different from the major leagues that they were playing 4 hour games. The average time of game in the majors that year? 1:54.

A dozen years later, Rogers Hornsby, who famously had a healthy work-life balance ...

Milwaukee Brewers hero of the 1982 World Series run Pete Ladd has died

Ladd was flawless in the American League Championship Series against the California Angels. In three games pitched, Ladd pitched 3 ⅓ perfect innings with five strikeouts and earned two saves, including the one that sent the Brewers to their only World Series.

Still rookie eligible, Ladd had appeared in only 16 regular-season games that season. Ladd entered Game 5 of the ALCS with a runner on and nobody out in the ninth, tasked with facing three players who wound up getting MVP votes that season: Bob Boone, Brian Downing and Rod Carew, with Reggie Jackson on deck if they reached…

Brewers manager Harvey Kuenn felt the ALCS MVP, which went to California’s Fred Lynn in a losing effort, should have gone Ladd, who’d become better known for ...

Former major-league pitcher Danny Serafini arrested in alleged murder and attempted murder of his in-laws

A former Major League Baseball pitcher was arrested Friday linked to an alleged murder and attempted murder of his in-laws in Lake Tahoe, California, in 2021, authorities said.

Danny Serafini, 49, and Samantha Scott, 33, were arrested Friday morning in connection with the slaying of Robert Gary Spohr, 70, and the attempted murder of Wendy Wood, 68, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The victims are Serafini’s father and mother in-law, Sgt. David Smith, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, confirmed Friday night.

Smith declined to describe the nature of the relationship between Serafini and Scott. The sheriff’s office said, “The suspects were known to each other.”

Astros’ Bryan Abreu facing 2-game suspension for plunking Adolis Garcia

Astros relief pitcher Bryan Abreu has been handed a two-game suspension in the wake of his controversial hit by pitch of Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia, which sparked a benches-clearing incident and a near brawl in the late stages of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Friday night.

Major League Baseball noted in its news release that “all six of the major league umpires deemed Abreu’s pitch to have been intentional” in ejecting him from the game, adding that the league “took into account the dangerous nature of the pitch and its potential impact on player safety” in doling out the suspension…

“My plan for him was just to try to get the ball up and in,” Abreu said after the game. “That’s my plan with him—up and ...

Why Tyler Glasnow really, really wants to stay with Rays

The most likely scenario is for the Rays to trade Tyler Glasnow.

He is due to make a team-record $25 million next season, having signed an extension that delayed free agency a year. Injuries and inconsistency have been ongoing issues, with a Tommy John surgery on his chart. And he’s on the other side of 30, having yet to throw more than 120 innings in a big-league season.

Glasnow is well aware of the possibility, and that it could happen any time.

But in a candid interview with Foul Territory, Glasnow was asked about going into the final year of his contract with the Rays and made clear how much he relishes being with them, then raised the idea of finding a way to stick around.

“I love the Rays so much,” Glasnow told hosts Scott ...

Giants to interview Padres’ Bob Melvin for manager gig after receiving permission, per report

The San Francisco Giants have received permission from the San Diego Padres to interview manager Bob Melvin, according to Dennis Lin and Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. The Giants, who have been on the hunt for a new manager since firing Gabe Kapler late in the season, had to request permission because Melvin remains under contract through 2024.

Padres owner Peter Seidler previously stated his desire was to retain both Melvin and general manager A.J. Preller despite what had been categorized as an “unfixable” relationship between the two. Preller, for his part, had confirmed that Melvin would return for the 2024 season. Now, Melvin’s future in San Diego is once again up in the air.

Per Lin and Baggarly’s report, “Melvin has emerged as ...

Former major league pitcher Dan Serafini arrested for alleged murder, attempted murder of in-laws

Serafini was one of two people arrested in connection to the June 2021 murder of Robert Spohr and attempted murder of Wendy Wood in Lake Tahoe, California. The victims were reportedly Serafini’s father-in-law and mother-in-law

Alex Rodriguez upset Yankees gave No. 13 jersey to Joey Gallo: ‘It did not make me happy’

Alex Rodriguez wants his place among the Yankees legends.

But at the very least, he wishes the Yankees had at least not given his No. 13 jersey to one of the biggest Pinstripes flops ever in Joey Gallo.

“It did not make me happy,” Rodriguez said on “Evan & Tiki” on Wednesday.

Rodriguez wore No. 13 for the Yankees from 2004-16, and the franchise didn’t use the number during the 20017-20 seasons….

“Of course, it bothers me,” Rodriguez said. “It’s less about bother, but of course it would be nice to be recognized in one of the coolest places to be in Yankee history, but that’s not my decision.”

The former slugger said he has not had a conversation with the franchise about whether his jersey will be retired, but ...

Tigers’ Eduardo Rodriguez set to join loaded free agent market

Eduardo Rodriguez is planning to opt out barring an extension by the incumbent Tigers — the logical call as management sources predict he easily beats the $49 million and three years he has left.

In a solid starting market, he should slot below Jordan Montgomery, who’s enhanced his case with a monster postseason.

There’s a big debate going over which free-agent pitcher — Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Blake Snell — will get the biggest deal….

The Marcus Stroman opt-out decision isn’t clear-cut even after returning late from hip/rib injuries (he’s never had an arm injury) and will come down to a multiyear deal or one year at $24 million with Cubs, a place he’s comfortable.

Korean baseball league introduces automated ball-strike system for 2024 as MLB mulls future with robot umps

The Korea Baseball Organization will introduce the automated ball-strike system (ABS) next season, the league announced Thursday (per the Korea Times). The league will also adopt a pitch timer similar to one used by Major League Baseball. The decisions were made during a board of directors meeting earlier this week.

“The ABS system has accomplished a precision and consistency of ball-strike calls. We have also reduced the time it takes for the calls to be relayed to the umpires,” the KBO said in a statement (per the Korea Times). “By introducing the ABS to the KBO, it will ensure fair play for pitchers and hitters alike.”

The KBO has used the Futures League, essentially its minor league, to refine ABS since 2020, and they originally ...

Wisconsin Assembly approves $546 million plan to repair American Family Field and keep Brewers through 2050

The third time was very much the charm to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin until at least 2050. On Tuesday, state legislators approved a $546 million funding package for American Family Field.

After two previous plans were nixed, Wisconsin assembly members voted 69-27 in favor of the repair plan. Wisconsin will provide $411 million, while Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee will chip in $135 million. The three entities will pay this over the next 30 years, and Brewers’ owner Mark Attanasio will pay $100 million.

“Today’s vote by a bipartisan majority of the state Assembly shows that momentum continues to grow for a solution to maintain American Family Field and to keep the Brewers in Milwaukee for the next generation,” ...

Contemporary Baseball Era Committee HOF candidates announced

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum today announced the eight-person ballot that will be considered by its Contemporary Baseball Era Committee for Managers/Executives/Umpires for Hall of Fame election for the Class of 2024. The Contemporary Era Committee will meet on Dec. 3 at baseball’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn.

Four managers, two executives and two umpires comprise the eight-name Contemporary Baseball Era Managers/Executives/Umpires ballot, which features candidates whose primary contribution to the game came since 1980.

The Contemporary Baseball Era Managers/Executives/Umpires ballot includes Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, Ed Montague, Hank Peters, Lou Piniella, Joe West and Bill White. All candidates ...

2023 Gold Glove finalists announced

AMERICAN LEAGUE
PITCHER
José Berríos, TOR
Sonny Gray, MIN
Pablo López, MIN

CATCHER
Jonah Heim, TEX
Alejandro Kirk, TOR
Adley Rutschman, BAL

FIRST BASE
Nathaniel Lowe, TEX
Ryan Mountcastle, BAL
Anthony Rizzo, NYY

SECOND BASE
Mauricio Dubón, HOU
Andrés Giménez, CLE
Marcus Semien, TEX

THIRD BASE
Alex Bregman, HOU
Matt Chapman, TOR
José Ramírez, CLE

SHORTSTOP
Carlos Correa, MIN
Corey Seager, TEX
Anthony Volpe, NYY

LEFT FIELD
Austin Hays, BAL
Steven Kwan, CLE
Daulton Varsho, TOR

CENTER FIELD
Kevin Kiermaier, TOR
Luis Robert Jr., CWS
Julio Rodríguez, SEA

RIGHT FIELD
Adolis García, TEX
Kyle Tucker, HOU
Alex Verdugo, BOS

UTILITY
Mauricio Dubón, HOU
Zach McKinstry, DET
Taylor Walls, TB

NATIONAL LEAGUE
PITCHER
Jesús Luzardo, ...

Projecting a Pete Alonso Contract Extension

Can Alonso buck this trend and separate himself from these mid-20 numbers, or will he need to conform with the positional lines and accept a deal that would be considered far below his expected value? Conventional 1st Base thinking says he plays out his $22M salary for 2024, then takes on another 8 years, $225M for the remainder of his career.

We’ll follow the breadcrumbs in Queens and predict a larger than normal number, where the Mets buy out his final year of arbitration, converting that price tag into a signing bonus, finalizing a total contract at $30M per year.

9 years, $270M from 2024-2032, including a $22M signing bonus

The 2023 MLB Postseason announcer rankings

8. Michael Kay & Alex Rodriguez (ESPN) – 1.54
Most popular grade: C (30.26% of votes)

Breakdown: The readers of this site do not like Alex Rodriguez. Michael Kay is a pro and good at what he does, but even he couldn’t bring Rodriguez up to an acceptable level. The guy just isn’t a passable game analyst, which we’ve seen many times over the years. Next season, the Kay Rod Cast won’t be a thing, with Rodriguez dedicating himself to Fox on a new, exclusive deal….

1.  Brian Anderson & Jeff Francoeur (TBS) – 3.12
Most popular grade: A (45.33% of votes)

Breakdown: This one was no surprise. Brian Anderson is a known quantity to our readers, always scoring highly in our NCAA Tournament announcer rankings and in our local MLB ...

Astros are MLB’s best team since dynasty Yankees — cheating be damned

These Astros are the first team since those Yankees to not fall prey to what is so often referred to now as the postseason crapshoot.

They are in their seventh straight ALCS, beginning with Sunday night’s Game 1 against the Rangers. If you don’t like that because it begins with their sign-stealing baseball unholy year of 2017, fine, it is six in a row since 2018.

If you don’t like that because it includes 2019, when perhaps you believe Jose Altuve was wearing a buzzer to alert him to what pitches were coming, fine, it is three straight since 2020, including a championship last season. So they have a chance to be the first repeat champs since the 1998-2000 Yankees threepeat.

They are doing that within a new playoff format the last ...

How Jordan Montgomery finally beat Yordan Alvarez

Over the winter, Jordan Montgomery spent his days at Tread Athletics, a performance lab about 10 miles outside of Charlotte, fine-tuning his pitching craft. While the coaches at Tread appreciated almost everything about Montgomery, from his size to his competitiveness to his willingness to learn, what they loved most of all was his curveball. They loved it so much that it earned a nickname:

The Death Ball.

To the naked eye, it looks like a perfectly OK curveball, and based on spin rate and break alone, it’s nothing special. And it confounds hitters anyway.

Yordan Álvarez learned its power first-hand Sunday night in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. The Houston Astros slugger, one of the best hitters in the world, ...

Marlins part ways with Kim Ng after GM declines mutual

The Miami Marlins and general manager Kim Ng have parted ways, the team announced Monday morning. Ng just completed the final guaranteed year in her contract. The Marlins exercised a mutual option on their end to bring her back next year, but Ng declined her end, so she is now a free agent. The two sides could agree to a new contract, though the Marlins indicated they are moving on.

“We thank Kim for her contributions during her time with our organization and wish her and her family well,” Marlins principal owner Bruce Sherman said in a statement. “We will immediately begin a thorough and extensive search for new leadership as we plan to continue to invest in the Marlins organization both on and off the field. We are committed to our fans ...

Reports: Giants interview assistant Alyssa Nakken for manager job in historic move

The San Francisco Giants are taking a look at Alyssa Nakken for their open manager job.

Nakken interviewed with the Giants to become their next manager in recent days, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly. That makes her the first woman to formally interview for a manager job in Major League Baseball.

Nakken was hired by former Giants manager Gabe Kapler — who was fired by the organization last month — in 2020. That made Nakken the first female full-time coach in the league. Nakken then stepped in to replace Giants assistant Antoan Richardson after he was ejected in a game in April, which made her the first woman in league history to coach on the field in a regular-season game. Nakken joined the Giants in their baseball ...

Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff has shoulder surgery, could miss 2024

Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff could miss the 2024 season after undergoing surgery Friday to repair the anterior capsule in his throwing shoulder.

The Brewers said Woodruff is expected to sit out most, if not all, of next season. The injury caused the two-time All-Star to miss the Brewers’ National League Wild Card Series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“Brandon is not only one of the best pitchers in our franchise’s history, but is also a valued member of our organization off the field,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said in a statement. “He and his wife, Jonie, have gone above and beyond here in the community. Brandon’s health is our top priority at this point in time.”

Texas Rangers team physician Dr. ...

Red Sox finding resistance in GM search, but one target emerges

According to multiple sources, the Red Sox have been been met with a number of rejections by some targeted candidates as they seek to find a replacement to replace Chaim Bloom, fired in September. Some of those prospective hires have been put off by the level of turnover that’s taken place in the Baseball Operations department over the last dozen years or so. The new hire will be the fifth person in charge of the department since 2011.

And increasingly, sources add, there’s concern about the surrounding infrastructure. The new hire will not only be inheriting manager Alex Cora, whose job has been guaranteed by ownership for at least 2024, but also, a front office that includes several executives who’ve been part of the organization ...

Nick Castellanos slugs 2 home runs as Phillies advance to NLCS

The Phillies steamrolled the Braves in Games 3 and 4—first by taking it to young starter Bryce Elder on Wednesday then following it with three home runs against ace Spencer Strider in the clincher. Philadelphia gave Atlanta a taste of its own medicine, outhomering the Braves 11-3 in the series, including nine in the two home games, tying a postseason record for home runs in back-to-back games. The Braves led MLB in long balls during the regular season but came up short in this series.

“Well, to start with, Trea and Harp and Nick, I mean I can’t tell you how big they are on our club right now,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I don’t think the moment gets them at all. In fact, the moment, I think, helps Harp a little bit. But Trea has been ...

Ex-Mets catcher: Clubhouse ‘sanctuary’ violation started postseason Phillies-Braves beef

The Braves clubhouse resembled a stunned boxer after getting pummeled in a 10-2 loss to the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLDS on Wednesday. Players were searching for answers.

One player, former Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud, thought the media provided extra motivation for Philadelphia after Bryce Harper was thrown out at first base to end Game 2.

After the game, Braves infielder Orlando Arcia was heard in the locker room saying, “ha-ha! Atta boy, Harper,” according to according to FOX Sports’ Jake Mintz. Soon after, the quote was spread by various outlets, gaining millions of views and making its way into the Phillies clubhouse and into Harper’s ears,

As a result, the two-time MVP responded with a three-run home run, his first of ...