Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Cleveland’s Eric Wedge and Arizona’s Bob Melvin were selected as their respective league’s managers of the year and that San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy won the NL Cy Young award.

Being former catchers, possessing identical lifetime .233 batting averages and nearly identical lifetime managerial records, Wedge and Melvin both guided their teams to successful 2007 seasons. 

AP baseball writer Ben Walker writes about the trend toward former catchers becoming managers as well as background and voting results for Yahoo sports;

“There’s been quite the trend,” Wedge said on a conference call. “The catcher has to be aware and knowledgeable of every aspect.”

“It’s a leadership position. That position demands a great amount of passion for your teammates and the game of baseball,” he said.

Wedge and Melvin crossed paths years ago. A month after Colorado took Wedge from Boston in the November 1992 expansion draft, the Red Sox wanted a second-string catcher and signed Melvin as a free agent.

Wedge received 19 of the 28 first-place votes and got 116 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He finished ahead of a pair of former catchers, the Angels’ Mike Scioscia (62 points) and ex-Yankees manager Joe Torre (61). Terry Francona of the World Series champion Red Sox got 13.

Melvin was chosen on 19 of the 30 first-place ballots and got 119 points. Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel (76), Colorado’s Clint Hurdle (58), himself a former catcher, and the Cubs’ Lou Piniella (25) followed.

Melvin was honored for his steady hand in leading a team that sometimes started six rookies to a 90-72 mark. Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, Arizona swept Chicago in the first round before getting swept by Colorado in the NLCS.

“At the beginning, we were cautiously optimistic. We liked the young group,” Melvin said on a conference call.

The 39-year-old Wedge played 39 games for Boston and Colorado in the early 1990s. He’s done a lot better with the Indians since starting out 68-94 in 2003.

Wedge became the first Cleveland manager to win the AL award, chosen by a wide margin after the Indians and Boston tied for the best record in baseball. Melvin was the first Arizona manager to get the NL prize, picked after leading his young team to the top mark in the league.

Cleveland, under Wedge, won the AL Central Division championship with a 96-66 record, took the New York Yankees by 3 games to 1 in the AL division series and went up 3 games to 1 on the Boston Red Sox before losing the ALCS as Boston pounded them in games 5 through 7. 

Arizona, under Melvin, took the NL Central Division, swept the Chicago Cubs in the NL division series only to be swept themselves in the NLCS by the Colorado Rockies who advanced to the World Series due to a late season tare winning 21 of 22, including 7 straight in NL post-season play.

                   

San Diego’s Jake Peavy was designated as the NL Cy Young award winner  unanimously, being “named first on all 32 of the ballots that were distributed to voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.”

MLB.com’s Corey Brock provides stats, background and Peavy’s comments;

“I just feel like that’s the way I’ve got to pitch,” Peavy said this season about being aggressive. “I can’t go out there and pitch to contact. Be aggressive. … That’s the type of pitcher I am. I go as hard as I can for as long as I can and see where the cards fall.”

Peavy led the league in just about every pertinent category in 2007 — victories (19), ERA (2.54), strikeouts (240) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.67). Peavy also started the All-Star Game in July in San Francisco.

Peavy becomes the fourth Padres pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, and the first since Mark Davis won the award in 1989.  Randy Jones (1976) and Gaylord Perry (1978) also captured the award.

The 2007 season certainly represented quite a turnaround for Peavy, who was troubled in 2006 by shoulder tendinitis. He lost 14 games that season, posted a 4.07 ERA and never found a level of comfort when pitching.

But a change in his offseason workout routine allowed Peavy to head to Spring Training with a healthy shoulder. He backed off workouts for his shoulder once the season began and spent a fair amount of time in the trainers room.

Peavy spent part of his conference call on Thursday praising the work of the team training staff.

“Those guys are the backbone of what any player on the San Diego Padres does,” Peavy said. “Those guys see me every day. In-season, we modified the amount of work I did, especially my arm routine and shoulder. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be healthy.”

Peavy bolted to a fast start in 2007, with six scoreless innings in the season opener in April against the Giants. There were few hiccups along the way, as Peavy won nine of his final 12 starts of the regular season with one loss and one no-decision.

“I don’t really feel like I did anything different than in ‘04 and ‘05 other than have better luck and win games,” Peavy said. “Obviously, health plays a factor in everything. It starts in the winter with working out.”

Peavy certainly proved that his success wasn’t just a result of his surroundings at roomy PETCO Park either. In fact, Peavy performed better on the road, posting a 10-1 record with a 2.57 ERA in 15 starts.

Peavy — who allowed one or fewer runs in 18 of his 35 starts in 2007 — is just the fourth player in Major League history to win two ERA titles before the age of 27.

“And when you’re able to do that and throw the ball where you want to … it’s a pretty tough combination.”

Peavy was paid the ultimate compliment by Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who was asked in September what he thought of his team’s chances were in a big game with Peavy on the mound.

“If it’s a deciding game,” Towers said, “there’s nobody in baseball I’d rather have on the mound than Jake Peavy.”

As for 2008, Peavy said he is going to go about his preparation much the same way that he did last offseason and that, in his mind, he still considers himself an unfinished product.

“I’m going to try and mimic everything I did, day in and day out. I’ve got a long ways to go to be who I want to be,” he said.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Tom Krasovic reports that a club option in Peavy’s contract would raise his pay for 2009 to $11 million as a result of his winning the Cy Young award.  He further reports that;

Padres CEO Sandy Alderson and Peavy’s agent said the sides have explored terms for a multiyear extension and plan to revisit talks. The deal would run through 2011 and perhaps longer.

Agent Barry Axelrod and Padres General Manager Kevin Towers have discussed dollars and years, and Towers has spoken to Peavy about what it would take to retain him past 2009.

“The Padres have interest in exploring every possibility of keeping Jake here,” Axelrod said yesterday. “I’m an optimist. I’m always an optimist. I think we’ve got a pretty good grip on what we believe Jake’s value to be.”

The Padres, a midrevenue club, control Peavy’s contractual rights through 2009. “It’s not the end of the world if we don’t reach an agreement,” Towers said. “We felt it was at least worth exploring.”

 Axelrod considers Peavy superior to pitchers such as the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano and the Giants’ Barry Zito, who this year received a five-year, $91.5 million guarantee and a seven-year, $126 million guarantee, respectively.

Don’t expect the Padres to guarantee Peavy the $18.3 million rate Zambrano got from the Cubs, and don’t expect Peavy to insist on it.

               

Finally, in the latest twist in the A-Rod, Scott Boras, Yankees soap opera, 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez has done an about-face from the opt-out stance which agent Boras publically announced in up-staging the world series.

It now appears that A-Rod is now proclaiming that he wants to remain a Yankee, has upstaged Boras and is now speaking directly with Hank Steinbrenner who has taken over the Yankee ownership helm from father George.

Yahoo sports’ Tim Brown reports;

By Wednesday night, not only were Rodriguez and the Yankees back on speaking terms, but sources said they were close to a deal that would pay Rodriguez a base salary of $275 million over 10 years. The deal will include performance incentives that could increase the value.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum adds;

The amount of the guaranteed money was revealed by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized. A-Rod met Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., with the Steinbrenner brothers but the parameters of the deal were set in place last weekend.

“Yeah, I could say that,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said. “The meeting was a final get-together. He wanted to make sure myself and my brother knew that he was sincere and serious.”

The Yankees still must draft the agreement with Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras.

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The Detroit Tigers announced on Tuesday a deal to re-sign 39 year old veteran closer Todd Jones. 

Jones, who had 38 saves for the Tigers last season; 117 saves over the last 3 seasons and 4 more in the 2006 post-season including their only win in the 2006 World Series, signed a one year, $7 million dollar deal in what has to be an indicator of the going rate for the current crop of free agent and arbitration-eligible closers.  In fact, MLB’s Ken Mandel indicates that newly acquired Phillies closer Brad Lidge may command in the $7 million range through the arbitration process.  Lidge, however, bests Jones’ lifetime ERA by .63, Jones standing at 3.93 and Lidge at 3.30 ERA.

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage provides background for Yahoo sports;

“For us, he’s done a quality job for the last couple years and for us, a real big need for him to come back and fill that closer role,” Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said.

Re-signing Jones became even more important for Detroit when hard-throwing reliever Joel Zumaya had shoulder surgery, costing him at least the first half of the 2008 season.

MLB.com’s Jason Beck adds these comments from Jones about the deal;

“Ultimately, the team that I think had the best chance to win was Detroit,” Jones said. “And the team that I was most comfortable with is Detroit. And where my heart is, is in Detroit. It’s just great. I just appreciate the Tigers letting me kick tires and letting me look around with no hard feelings. Because in an industry where ultimately it can sometimes become a very harsh business, [president/general manager] Dave [Dombrowski] and I maintain a wonderful, professional relationship.”

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The American League announced on Tuesday that Cleveland lefthander C.C. Sabathia, with a 2007 season record of 19-7, 209 strikeouts, only 37 walks in 241 innings pitched and a 3.09 ERA, is their AL Cy Young Award winner. 

AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick provides background for Yahoo sports;

C.C. Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award… beating out several worthy contenders by a comfortable margin and becoming the first Cleveland pitcher in 35 years to earn the honor.

The Indians ace received 19 of 28 first-place votes and finished with 119 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.  Boston’s Josh Beckett was second with eight first-place votes and 86 points…

“I was excited. My family and everybody were around,” Sabathia said on a conference call from his home in California. “I was surprised. Beckett had a great year and an even better postseason.”

Beckett (20-7) became the only big league pitcher to win 20 games since 2005, compiling a 3.27 ERA in 200 2-3 innings…

Voting took place before the postseason, when Sabathia struggled while Beckett pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship with a string of dominant outings.

The only other Cleveland pitcher to win the award was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry in 1972. Now that he has one, Sabathia plans to display his trophy prominently at home.

Sabathia is the first black pitcher to win a Cy Young Award since Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets in 1985 — and the first in the AL since Oakland’s Vida Blue in 1971.

“That’s awesome to be mentioned with him,” said Sabathia, adding that he attended a recent meeting designed to foster ideas for how to generate more interest in baseball among black kids.

While the top four Cy Young candidates had similar statistics, Sabathia’s stamina apparently set him apart. After being sidelined by injuries the previous two seasons, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound left-hander stayed healthy all year and made 34 starts to Beckett’s 30. That helped account for their wide gap in innings pitched.

If balloting had included their October results, however, the outcome might have been different. Beckett beat Sabathia twice in the AL championship series and went 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts, striking out 35 and walking two. Sabathia was 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA and 13 walks in three playoff outings.

The NL is slated to announce their Cy Young Award on Thursday with San Diego ace Jake Peavy apparently the favorite.

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The New York Yankees signed their free agent five-time All Star catcher  Jorge Posada for four years, the Chicago Cubs dealt centerfielder Jacque Jones to Detroit for a utility infielder and Milwaukee’s 3rd baseman Ryan Braun and Boston’s 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia won Rookie of the Year honors — all on Monday as the post-season awards began and the trading  and free agency season heated up.

The Yanks and Posada came to agreement on a $52.4 million, four-year deal.  Posada, a 13 year switch-hitting veteran, led the team in batting average at .338 for 2007 and clubbed 20 homers and 90 RBIs.  His 2007 average, slugging percentage (.543) and on-base percentage (.426) were all career highs. Defensively, Posada has been a standout throughout his career posting a .992 lifetime fielding percentage.  As with any free agency deal, Posada must pass a physical to finalize the deal.
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The Cubs dealt Jacque Jones to Detroit in exchange for utility infielder  Omar Infante.

The Tigers’ press release detailing the trade explained;

Jones saw action in 135 games with the Cubs in 2007, batting .285 (129×453) with 33 doubles, five home runs and 66 RBI. He hit .332 (79×238) in 66 games following the all-star break for the Cubs this past season.

“We are excited to add a quality major league outfielder like Jacque Jones to the Tigers organization,” Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. “He is a proven lefthanded hitter at the major league level that fits our club well in left field.”

A veteran of nine seasons in the majors with the Minnesota Twins (1999-2005) and Cubs (2006-07), he has compiled a .280 batting average (1255×4478) in 1,260 games. Jones has collected 164 home runs and 623 RBI during his career.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry expressed satisfaction with acquiring Infante stating;

“We’re happy to get Infante. He gives us another guy who is versatile and can play everywhere on the infield and all three outfield spots. … It’s good for both clubs…. We tried to wrap it up as soon as we could. We both have other issues to address.”

Infante batted .271 in 66 games in a utlity role for the Tigers during the 2007 season, including six doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI.
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Milwaukee’s 3rd baseman Ryan Braun narrowly beat out runner-up  Rockies’ shortstop Troy Tulowitzki for NL Rookie of the Year honors while Boston’s Pedroia outdistanced his closest rival, Tampa Bay’s outfielder  Delmon Young by a wide margin garnering 24 of 28 first place votes.

AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker provides background on both winners for Yahoo sports;

The little Boston second baseman with the big swing…. generously listed at 5-foot-9 became a fan favorite at Fenway Park with his all-out style. Plus, few knew he played with a broken left hand down the stretch.

“Everyone doubted me at every level I’ve been to, saying I’m too small, I’m not fast enough, my arm’s not strong enough,” Pedroia said. “There’s a lot of people that have stuck by me and knew deep down in, that there’s something about me that makes me a winning baseball player.”

Pedroia hit .317 with eight home runs and 50 RBIs.

Braun’s brawn earned him the NL award. The slugging third baseman from Milwaukee finished two points ahead of Tulowitzki, Colorado’s sparkplug shortstop.

Braun received 17 of 32 first-place votes and finished with 128 points. Tulowitzki got 15 first-place votes and 126 points. Ballots were completed by the end of the regular season, before Pedroia and Tulowitzki met in the World Series.

“To show you how good Ryan was, in any other year Troy Tulowitzki would have won hands down,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said.

Called up from Triple-A in late May, Braun hit .324 with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs. The Brewers led the majors in homers this season and stayed in contention for the NL Central championship until the final week.

Braun’s .634 slugging percentage led NL players and was the highest by a rookie in major league history. He did not have enough plate appearances, however, to qualify for the title.

His big offensive numbers were enough to overcome 26 errors, tied for most in the majors with Minnesota shortstop Jason Bartlett.

“Everybody has things they need to work on,” Braun said on a conference call.

The Phillies will surely vouch for Braun’s huge bat.  In 3 games against the Phils last season, Braun was 6 for 14 with 3 of those hits being homers.

Regarding Tulowitzki, AP’s Walker wrote;

He also set an NL rookie record for home runs by a shortstop (24) and batted .291 with 99 RBIs as the Rockies surged to the NL pennant. Colorado won 14 of 15 to take the wild-card spot — Tulowitzki had four hits in a one-game tiebreaker for the slot, including a key double off Trevor Hoffman.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy added these stats on Tulowitzki;

Tulowitzki… proved a superior defender. His .987 fielding percentage and 5.39 zone rating led Major League shortstops, and Tulowitzki committed only 11 errors in 155 games.

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The Phillies announced Saturday that they have made a 3 year, $12 million deal with lefthanded reliever JC Romero who, in his role as setup man, was a big factor in the Phillies winning the 2007 NL Eastern Division championship and getting to post-season play for the first time in 14 years.

AP’s report for Yahoo sports recalls Romero’s acquisition by the Phillies at mid-season and spells out the terms of the 3 year deal;

The 30-year-old left-hander went 2-2 with one save and a 1.92 ERA in 74 games with the Phillies and Boston Red Sox last season. Romero had a 3.15 ERA in 23 games with Boston before being released on June 18.

He signed a minor league contract with the Phillies on June 23, and made his National League debut six days later against the New York Mets.

Romero had a 1.24 ERA in 51 games with the Phillies. He worked 15 2-3 scoreless innings in his last 20 appearances of the regular season and went 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three playoff games.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to go out and test the free agent market,” Romero said. “I had a great time with the Phillies and really wanted to come back.”

The Phillies have a club option for a fourth that could bring the total value of the contract to $16.75 million, assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

“J.C. had an outstanding three months for us this year, particularly down the stretch,” Amaro said. “He was an integral part of our winning the NL East and we’re very happy we could get him signed before he hit the open market.”

MSN.com’s Ken Rosenthal adds;

Romero would continue in the role he filled after joining the Phillies last season, joining right-handers Ryan Madson and Tom Gordon and newly acquired closer Brad Lidge in the late innings.

The contract caps a big turnaround for Romero, whom the Phillies claimed off waivers in June.

Romero is 28-24 with a 4.64 ERA in nine seasons. He played for Minnesota from 1999-2005 and had his best season in 2002 when he went 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA.

It will be interesting to watch for possible chemistry to emerge between Romero and newly acquired closer Brad Lidge.  Both hurlers have had their ups, downs, stigmas and traumas over the past few years culminating in their joining forces in Philadelphia for the 2008 season.

Lidge’s woes go back to the 2005 NLCS between Houston and St. Louis and Albert Pujols’ 2 out, titanic 3 run homer.  Lidge, who in the 2005 regular season had saved 42 games, had a 2.29 ERA and who was particularly dominating against the Cardinals including saves in games 2 thru 4 of the NLCS, was not the same in 2006.  His ERA exploded to 5.28 although he saved 32 games.  He also had physical problems — both sprains and problems necessitating surgery. 

Sporting News’ Gerry Fraley reports the ups and downs of Lidge’s career in Houston between mid-season 2004 through 2007;

As Houston’s manager from 2004-07, [Phil] Garner played a major role in the rise and fall of Lidge as the Astros’ closer. Garner pushed Lidge to the limit and probably beyond.

From July 16, 2004, when Garner replaced Jimy Williams, through the end of the 2005 season, Lidge had 64 saves in 70 chances and led major-league relievers in innings with 115-1/3. Lidge also had hard postseason innings after each year.

Lidge paid a price, physically and mentally.

In 2006-07, Lidge lost the bite on his slider and was not as dominating. In that span, he allowed 7.8 hits with 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. In 2004-05, Lidge allowed 6.3 hits with 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Garner made the situation worse. In the last two seasons, Garner removed Lidge as the closer four times.

When a manager shows a lack of confidence in a closer, the public follows suit. The situation in Houston had become difficult for Lidge. He was surrounded by pessimism.

In addition, Lidge had postseason surgery on the right knee. The Phillies believe he will be ready for spring training. They also believe Lidge will be better off with the proverbial “change of scenery.” He needed it.

After losing the closer role earlier in the 2007 season and spending time on the DL, he reassumed the role near mid-season and put fine stats on the board in the 2nd half as reported by Yahoo sports; 

Lidge was 5-3 with 19 saves in 27 chances for the Astros. He struggled to close out games but held batters to a .218 average and averaged 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

In Romero’s case, he had awesome stats; 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 81 appearances for the Minnesota Twins in 2002 helping them to reach the ALCS, where they were eliminated by the then Anaheim Angels.  After 2003 and 2004 seasons where his stats degraded from their 2002 level, he clashed with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire while struggling in relief during 2005 season.  His struggles culminated with something about 2 hit Kansas City Royals’ batsmen in late September, 2005 followed by his storming off the mound as Gardenhire emerged from the dugout to pull him, with an ensuing altercation with the manager and bench coach Steve Liddle followed by his being traded to the Angels.  Romero claimed at the time that he was direspected by by Twins management.

In 2006, Romero’s ERA exploded to 6.70 and he was picked up in the off-season by the Red Sox who used him sparingly in the first half of 2007 before releasing him with the Phils picking him shortly thereafter.

Once with the Phillies, Romero seemed to have put the lowlights behind him with his sensational 2nd half, thus enabling the Phillies 3 year deal.

Relief pitching, in general, is an unpredictable, knuckleball aspect of the game. Very rarely do we find relievers or closers like a Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Dan Quisenberry, Rick Aguilera, Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner or  Trevor Hoffman who string together consistent, standout performances year-in, year-out over a number seasons.

Phillies announcer Chris Wheeler spoke recently on a radio interview, particularly regarding Lidge, that having “short memories” enables hurlers to come right back out the next time and get the job done without traumatization from what happened in the previous appearance.

Here’s hoping that Romero and Lidge, age contemporaries, can help each other to develop prolonged mental toughness to overcome mistakes.

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Since there was no game to report about on Wednesday, there are a potpouri of topics to discuss in the world of MLB.

Firstly, Boston and Cleveland return to action on Thursday in Cleveland as the Indians look to wrap up the ALCS in game 5 while Boston tries to stay alive.  Josh Beckett once again opposes CC Sabathia.

One of these two teams will oppose the historic white-hot, 21 of 22 Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series.

And you know that those Rockies, with 8 days off, must be chomping at the bit to get the Series under way.  After 11 years of frustration and with a lifetime .332 BA, first baseman Todd Helton knows that he’s been rewarded, that he’s finally in it.  And hot-hitting NLCS MVP leftfielder Matt Holliday, 3rd baseman Garrett Atkins, rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki as well as ace lefthander Jeff Francis, the two rookie starters Ubaldo Jimenez and lefthander Franklin Morales and closer Manny Corpas and whatever that substance that he’s using on his hands — they’ll all be there against whichever AL team wins the right to face them.

So who cares about Manny Ramirez’s casual off-field attitude? 

Maybe Manny simply sensed how this thing is going. Maybe he tried to portray looseness and had it come out wrong. The Red Sox don’t read as a team that could be talked out of the playoffs easily, not with Beckett and Curt Schilling coming, not when they’ve already mauled C.C. Sabathia once, not when one win gets them back to Fenway Park.

“We’re just thinking about Thursday,” Ramirez said. “Let’s see what the future is going to bring.”

As Yahoo’s Tim Brown writes; “He will show up with his bat and his act at game time Thursday, hitting as though he cares.”

Yep, Ramirez, David “Big Papi” Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, Dustin Pedroia will all be there with their hitting shoes on and Jonathan Papelbon will be there hoping to make the big save. 

The Indians, with their no-name offense which somehow gets it done game-by-game along with Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, Paul Byrd and closer Joe Borowski are up by three games to one but there’s still life in the Red Sox — it ain’t over ’til it’s over!

For the boxscores and recap on Thursday’s game, click here.

Back in the Bronx, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is not pulling the plug in his customary knee-jerk-style on Joe Torre, but rather top team management has held two meetings with Torre.  But the  October 17 AP report states; “it was possible a decision would be made Thursday or Friday.”

Meanwhile, Bill Madden writes the following about the possible variables holding up a decision on Torre;

There are three ways to look at this non-announcement on a day in which Yankee legions had great expectations of a momentous decision coming out of Tampa — none of which would seem to bode particularly well for Torre. No. 1 is that either the powers-that-be — and in this case that would be Steinbrenner, his two sons, Hal and Hank, his son-in-law Felix Lopez, team president Randy Levine, chief operating officer Lonn Trost and GM Brian Cashman — really haven’t been able to come to a decision on Torre; No. 2 is that they have reluctantly decided to bring him back but are letting him sweat a little more, and No. 3 is they have decided to begin the Don Mattingly era but still need to figure out a seamless, kindly way to execute this transition.

The Phillies may have exited quickly in the post-season, but team members have already begun garning awards.  2nd baseman Chase Utley and centerfielder Aaron Rowand have been chosen to The Sporting News’ NL squad.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins “barely missed making it three Phillies, losing out to [Florida’s] Hanley Ramirez.”

Meanwhile, Rollins, along with Yankees’ Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez were feted “winning the Oscar Charleston Legacy Award as the Negro League Baseball museum’s choice for the National League’s Most Valuable Player.”

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel writes;

An outstanding dynamic shortstop, Rollins played stellar defense and became the first player in history to record at least 30 stolen bases, 30 homers, 20 triples and 30 doubles in a season. He led the NL with 139 runs scored. The switch-hitter is a two-time Award winner, earning the Bell honor for leading the NL in stolen bases (46) in 2001, his rookie season.

“He’s done about everything a guy could do,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “I don’t know what else you could do, unless he wants to sell tickets and sell popcorn.”

Ryan Howard won the Charleston Award last year, and went on to capture the NL MVP Award the following month.

Manager Charlie Manuel may not get the manager of the year award, but
he did get “a contact extension that could keep him in red pinstripes through the end of the decade” and apparently a committment “to bump their payroll to a franchise high and ensure he has a contending team.”

Whether the Phils actually make good on their apparent payroll bump-up committment will be determined by such situations as whether the club can  come to sufficient terms insuring that Aaron Rowand returns in 2008, paying Ryan Howrd sufficiently, bringing in a capable 3rd baseman with pop and power such as Boston’s Mike Lowell, keeping midddle reliever J.C. Romero on the club, etc.

Mandel also reports that the Phillies will keep their coaching staff intact.  For the most part, I’m okay with that but I have real questions regarding the judgement to retain pitching coach Rich Dubee.

Dubee, 50, handled a club-record 28 pitchers this past season, seven of whom made their Major League debuts. The team also set a franchise record with nine different pitchers earning saves. He shepherded a staff that suffered injuries to starters Adam Eaton, Cole Hamels, Jon Lieber and Freddy Garcia and relievers Tom Gordon, Ryan Madson and  Brett Myers, among others. As a team, the Phillies had a 4.73 ERA, fourth-worst in baseball.

The number of pitchers who went down last season was incredulous.
With the exception of Garcia who was later found to be damaged goods from day one of acquisition, the number of pitchers hitting the DL last season was of such a magnitude that one must question Dubee’s excercise and conditioning methods.   Only Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick who came up in June, and Romero went through the season without a stint on the DH. I cannot ever recall another pitching staff in all of MLB so devastated by injuries.

Finally, I think the Phillies best move is keep Brett Myers closing games.   There is a lot of talk about acquiring Mariano Rivera depending upon the Yankees’ stand on Joe Torre.  But my opinion; off of his performance last season and his career-high ERA, he just wasn’t normal Rivera.  If obtained by the Phils, he should be set-up with Myers remaining the closer and jettisoning Tom Gordon.

In closing, the Phillies announced that they were declining the options on utilitiy infielder Abraham Nunez, and catcher Rod Barajas.  Apparently, as things stand now, the club will go with Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste as their catchers next season.

The off-season’s gonna be real interesting.  Stay tuned.

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Diamondbacks starter Micah Owings couldn’t survive the 4th inning with a 1-0 lead after retiring the lead-off hitter, walking the next two and leaving himself with runners on 2nd and 3rd after getting the first two outs. Owings was chased after three subsequent hits, including a 3 run homer, and an error as the Colorado Rockies were sitting pretty with a 6-1 lead.

Although Arizona got a 2 out, 3 run 8th inning homer from catcher Chris Snyder off of reliever Brian Fuentes, it was far too little, way too late.  The Rockies brought in closer Manny Corpas and it was lights out, Goodnight Irene as the Rockies juggernaut swept Arizona in 4 games, reached 21 wins in 22 games, earned a World Series berth and eight days off with their 6-4 victory on Monday.

AP sports writer Arnie Stapleton recaps the Rockies’ Monday clincher for Yahoo sports;

Owings, the first pitcher since Whitey Ford in 1953 to collect two four-hit games in the same season, lived up to his .333 batting average by legging out a single… and coming around to score on [Conor] Jackson’s two-out single in the third.

Owings had a chance to pad the D-backs’ lead in the fourth but struck out to strand a runner at second. In the bottom half, he dived to field Yorvit Torrealba’s dribbler and throw him out at first. Afterward, the trainer came out to take a look at Owings’ left shin, but the right-hander stayed in — only to soon fall apart.

Series MVP Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer into the pine-filled rock pile in center field that capped a six-run outburst in the fourth inning, and Colorado was on its way.

Born as an expansion team in 1993, the wild-card Rockies are headed to their first World Series.

“They always say baseball is about confidence and we have a lot right now,” outfielder Brad Hawpe said.

“It was fun, this has been a great ride. We’re not done yet,” said Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, the face of the franchise who cradled the last out in his glove. “We’re going to keep it going.”

With their delirious fans waving brooms and towels, the Rockies joined the 1976 Big Red Machine as the only teams to start a postseason with seven straight wins. Colorado has won 10 in row overall and lost only once since Sept. 16.

Ahead 6-1, the Rockies withstood Chris Snyder’s three-run homer in the eighth. Chris Young doubled with one out in the ninth off closer Manny Corpas, but Stephen Drew popped out on a 3-0 pitch.

“If that’s not the tying run, then I obviously don’t let him swing,” Melvin said. “But right there you know you’re going to get a fastball, you know you’re going to get a pitch to drive. He just came off it a hair and popped it up.”

Eric Byrnes followed with a checked-swing grounder that shortstop Troy Tulowitzki charged. His throw beat Byrnes’ headfirst dive, and Helton threw his arms in the air, a decade of disappointment finally forgotten.

“I’m not going to lie, my mind wandered a little bit,” Helton said. “You’ve got to refocus. Sometimes you’d like to be a fan in that situation and sit back and enjoy it. You can’t.”

Corpas earned his second save of the series and fifth in the postseason.

The Rockies are the first team since the 1935 Chicago Cubs to win at least 21 of 22 after Sept. 1, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“There comes a point in time when a team is no longer hot, they’re simply good,” Arizona’s Tony Clark said. “And I think that’s what we saw with Colorado.”

With the Rockies trailing 1-0 with two outs in the fourth and runners at second and third, Hurdle made a bold move: He pulled his starting pitcher, rookie Franklin Morales, for a pinch-hitter.

Hurdle didn’t have to worry about burning his bullpen because Game 5 wouldn’t have been until Wednesday night. So he sent up rookie Seth Smith, who had only eight career at-bats when he was placed on the playoff roster.

Smith fell behind 0-2 in the count against rookie Micah Owings, then blooped a 1-2 pitch down the left-field line. Like everything else this October for the Rockies, it fell in the perfect place and ended Owings’ streak of 19 scoreless innings.

“In the box score it’ll look like it rattled the wall,” said Smith, whose two-run double put Colorado ahead 2-1.

The Rockies caught another break when Arizona first baseman Conor Jackson couldn’t catch Willy Taveras’ easy grounder. The error set up Kaz Matsui’s run-scoring single — the eighth RBI of the postseason for a player once cast off by the New York Mets.

Holliday sent the sellout crowd of 50,213 into a frenzy when he drove Owings’ slider over the center-field wall to make it 6-1.

Morales allowed one earned run on five hits in four innings. Though he didn’t get the win, the Rockies improved to 8-2 in his 10 major league starts.

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While the Rockies sewed up their NL pennant, the Cleveland Indians roughed up Red Sox rookie starter Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 2nd inning for a two out 2 run homer by by leftfielder Kenny Lofton, his second homer of the series, and two runs in the 5th inning on 2nd baseman Asdrubal Cabrera’s RBI single and a run-scoring fielder’s choice by dh Travis Hafner. 

That was all of the offense that Cleveland needed as starter Jake Westbrook held the Sox at bay for 6 2/3 innings.   After Boston catcher Jason Varitek homered to close the gap to 4-2, Westbrook struck out centerfielder Coco Crisp before shortstop  Julio Lugo singled up the middle.  Westbrook was then pulled and the Indian bullpen then pulled the curtain on the Red Sox with a perfect 2 1/3 innings to preserve the 4-2 win and take a 2 games to 1 lead in the ALCS.  The Red Sox bullpen held Cleveland off of the basepaths and the scoreboard over the remaining 3 1/3 innings, aside from one base on balls, but Cleveland’s damage had been done.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Monday’s games, click here.

In Tuesday’s game 4, Tim Wakefield (17-12) opposes Paul Byrd (15-8) as the Red Sox hope to draw even in the series.

Boston and Cleveland have the day off on Wednesday before returning to action on Thursday in Cleveland as Josh Beckett once again opposes CC Sabathia in game 5.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s games,  click here and  here.

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