World Series Wrap-up
Well folks, you can put the 2011 baseball season in the books, as the Cardinals beat the Rangers 6-2 to win their 11th World Series championship. Third baseman David Freese won the World Series MVP, becoming just the 6th player to win the CS MVP and the WS MVP in the same postseason.
Ron Washington spoke after the game and stood behind his closer Neftali Feliz, despite him blowing game six and ultimately, the Rangers' best shot at winning the championship.
Bud Selig, who spoke with the media prior to the game, was very proud of the incredible postseason, which in case you forgot, saw the Braves, Red Sox, Phillies and Yankees all get knocked out early. How sweet it was!
Finally, where exactly does all of the Championship merchandise made for the Rangers go?
Meet the Mets/Around the Majors
With the World Series in the books, we can now begin the offseason and more importantly, Jose Reyes Watch 2011. News came out on Friday that the Mets will most likely make only a modest offer to Reyes early on and then let him talk with other teams so that they can find out what the market for his services looks like. In case you didn't hear, the start of the free agency period will be pushed back a day, to Sunday at 12:01 AM. At that point, the five day exclusivity period begins. Players are allowed to talk with other teams on Thursday at 12:01 AM.
In his meeting with the media prior to game seven, commissioner Selig mentioned that the Mets have yet to repay the loan that they took from MLB last year but he has no concerns about the team and its finances. I don't know what this "alternative financing plan" he's talking about entails, but I think a lot of Met fans wish he would be concerned.
In some very positive news, Gary Carter is back to managing the Palm Beach Atlantic University baseball team on a part time basis.
A former '86 Met and 2011 minor league manager got into it with an umpire during a Winter League game after an interference call and was tossed from the game. That manager then proceeded to kick dirt on home plate and eject all of the umpires. So who is this manager? Well, if you guessed that this commotion was caused by Wally Backman, you're wrong. Speaking of offseason leagues, Binghamton outfielder Juan Lagares continues to rake out in the Arizona Fall League.
OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! JOHN STERLING AND SUZYN WALDMAN WILL BE IN THE ANNOUNCER'S BOX AND STERLING AND WALDMAN WILL BE BACK ON YANKEES RADIO IN 2012. It's not really all that dramatic.
One time Mets relief pitcher and former Diamondbacks Interim General Manager Jerry DiPoto will be named the Angels' new GM today. While in charge of the Diamondbacks in 2010, DiPoto dealt ace starter Dan Haren and his relatively inexpensive contract to the Angels in a headscratcher of a trade for Arizona. Now, we know that this was all a part of his elaborate master plan. Well played, Mr. DiPoto. Well played.
How will Prince Fielder age? Fielder will turn just 28 in May of 2012 but whoever signs him has to hope he doesn't follow the aging curve of his father Cecil, who was out of baseball by the age of 34.
Finally, Ted Berg passed along a tidbit on Thursday from an article written by Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston about the Red Sox managerial search. Apparently, Edes listed Jerry Manuel among the potential candidates for the Sox job while using the words "Cerebral" and "High in communication skills" to describe him. Funny.