On Friday, the Mets announced the hiring of former Oakland Athletics manager Bob Geren as their bench coach for 2012, a move that was likely completely overanalyzed by most in the Mets blogosphere due to some quotes attributed to two former A's players. If you are interested in learning more about Geren, here's two examples of positive press. Personally, I most enjoyed Ted Berg's mock outrage at the announcement of the hiring.
ESPN's Buster Olney reported on Thursday that Mets assistant GM J.P. Ricciardi was on the short list of Orioles' GM candidates. Well, according to the sources of ESPN's Keith Law on Friday, Ricciardi is not on the O's short list or at least not yet. Don't you just love this time of year? And to think, the World Series hasn't even started yet.
Dillon Gee will travel to Taiwan next month as part of the team of MLB All-Stars that will play in a five game exhibition series against the Chinese Taipei national team in the 2011 Taiwan All-Star series.
Should Sandy Alderson take a look at Indians' outfielder Grady Sizemore if he becomes a free agent? Injuries have stalled the now 29 year old's career over the past three seasons but on a cheap deal, he could be an alternative to Angel Pagan in center field.
Mark Simon continues his look back at the 1986 Mets, this time focusing on Game 5 of the NLCS.
Here's an update on the Madoff case, via the New York Times.
Game five of the NLCS resulted in a Cardinals victory, as they beat Zack Greinke with help from the Brewers defense, by a score of 7-1. The series resumes on Sunday in Milwaukee after today's scheduled travel day with the Cardinals ahead 3 games to 2. Edwin Jackson starts for the Cardinals, while Shaun Marcum throws for the Brewers.
With the National League teams away, the American League teams will play. The series shifts back to Texas tonight at 8:05 with the Rangers leading the series 3 games to 2. They will send Derek Holland to the mound in an effort to clinch their second straight World Series trip, while the Tigers look to stay alive with Max Scherzer on the hill.
Doc Gooden tweeted a cliffhanger on Thursday, alluding that he may soon be hired in a front office or coaching capacity with a New York baseball team.
Here is part two of Rany Jazayerli's study on the difference in success of 17 and 18 year old draftees over at Baseball Prospectus. Interesting stuff.
Finally, the Red Sox continue to fall apart at the seams. Owner John Henry spoke with WBZ-FM radio in Boston on Friday and stated regarding the Carl Crawford signing that "it wasn't a PR move", it was "definitely a baseball signing" and that he "personally opposed that". Oh boy. The link to the interview audio is located in the above article. Of course, if you want to bypass that and would prefer a good laugh at Boston's expense, you can just watch this awesome CGI reenactment of the Red Sox late season demise, courtesy of Next Media Animation. In case you are not familiar with Next Media's reenactments, which are made in Taiwan and narrated in Mandarin, they are in fact meant to be comedy.