ALCS opener resumes after 2 rain delays (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 October 2011 11:56:39 PM. © MLB News Blog

Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers were delayed by rain in the opener of a playoff series again — twice. Game 1 of the AL championship series between the Tigers and Texas Rangers resumed after two rain delays in the top of the fifth inning Saturday night. The first delay was 41 minutes long. Then, [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/alcs-opener-resumes-after-2-rain-delays-ap/

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Orioles president MacPhail leaves team (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 October 2011 11:16:33 PM. © MLB News Blog

Andy MacPhail will not return as president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles next season after running the front office of his childhood team for four-plus seasons. The team announced the move Saturday. Baltimore went 69-93 during its 14th consecutive losing season, and MacPhail’s contract expires on Oct.

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/orioles-president-macphail-leaves-team-ap/

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MacPhail out of Orioles front office (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 October 2011 11:16:33 PM. © MLB News Blog

Andy MacPhail will not return as president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles next season after running the front office of his childhood team for four-plus seasons. The team announced the move Saturday. Baltimore went 69-93 during its 14th consecutive losing season, and MacPhail’s contract expires on Oct.

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/macphail-out-of-orioles-front-office-ap/

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Angels Fire Abe Flores

post from 6-4-2 ? an Angels/Dodgers double play blog on 08 October 2011 11:03:10 PM. © 6-4-2 ? an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

He was the head of player development. He's the fourth key front office person to leave or be fired this month.

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http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/2011/10/angels-fire-abe-flores.html

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Zack Greinke calls out Chris Carpenter

post from Royals Review on 08 October 2011 11:01:08 PM. © Royals Review

Zack Greinke calls out Chris Carpenter

I don't think I will ever lose my mancrush on Greinke. But just to make it even better, he's getting confrontational with the Cards. Go Brewers!

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http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/10/8/2477983/zack-greinke-calls-out-chris-carpen
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ALCS halted twice by rain (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 October 2011 10:55:36 PM. © MLB News Blog

Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers were delayed by rain in the opener of a playoff series again — twice. Game 1 of the AL championship series between the Tigers and Texas Rangers was stopped by rain for 41 minutes in the top of the fifth inning on Saturday night. Then, 13 minutes after play [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/alcs-halted-twice-by-rain-ap/

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Phils ponder future after falling short (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 October 2011 10:15:34 PM. © MLB News Blog

All those aces meant nothing at the plate. The Philadelphia Phillies found out that pitching doesn’t win championships. It takes clutch hitting, too. An all-or-nothing season in which only a World Series title would be considered a success turned out to be an abysmal failure. The Phillies didn’t even make it out of the first [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/phils-ponder-future-after-falling-short-ap/

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Phillies 1B Howard has torn Achilles (AP)

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard might miss the start of spring training and possibly part of the regular season after tearing an Achilles tendon. The power-hitting first baseman was injured on the final play of Philadelphia’s season-ending loss to St. Louis in Game 5 of the NL division series Friday night, falling as he ran [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/phillies-1b-howard-has-torn-achilles-ap/

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The March Towards 2012 Starts Know

post from The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website on 08 October 2011 09:01:09 PM. © The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website

I know I didn't dedicate a whole boat load of time to breaking down, inch-by-inch the positives and negatives of the 2011 San Francisco Giants, cause to me it came down to 3 simple things. The loss of Posey and then the complete fall of offensively by Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres, and the complete lack of a #5 starter all year long.

The Giants pitching was there all year, sure guys like Bumgarner and Vogey hit some bumps in the road, but I know that Dave Righetti will tell you he's more than happy with the way his staff threw as a whole (minus the 5th spot in the roation), from their ace Tim Lincecum, all the way down to closer Brian Wilson, these guys were nails yet again. However, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez delivered less than stellar outings in the final months of the season, as the Giants lost everyone of their starts down the stretch, and many weren't even close. To me, that sums up the Giants 2011 in a few short sentences. They had enough to win the division even after Posey went down. The Giants replaced Freddy Sanchez adequately, but they failed to do so with Buster, which still bogs me to this day. In mid July, this team looked all but assured a spot in the 2011 postseason. Remember when Beltran had just arrived in Philly with the Giants and the buzz around that time was incredible, a playoff like atmosphere, yet it seems like that was the one series that ended up doing the Giants in. That was their last real push of 2011 before they simply ran out of gas. But now with the MLB Postseason flying by (Championship Series' all ready), time to start putting in motion a plan for next years team is just weeks away. Let's hope the Giants learned from their mistake-full 2011 campaign, and right the ship.

It's still early October, so I dont' want to start jarganing off potential trade scenraios or Free Agent targets, because so much can happen between now and the end of October. However, I am in very good position to give my 2 cents on what should happen with the guys the Giants currently have on roster and whether some of them should have a spot on 2012's squad. Believe or not, the Giants do have some big money coming off the books in the realm of Mark DeRosa ($6M), Miguel Tejada ($6.5M) and Cody Ross ($6M+), among others, and will have a little wiggling room for uprgades, and by golly, with the way these guys played last year, it would be hard for anyone not to be an "upgrade on that bunch. Ross was streaky, but hit below .250 and had 13 homers while Tejada suffered through one of the roughest season I've ever seen an ex-MVP go through. Again, I don't think any of these guys should be back in any role at all. Possibly DeRosa as an instructor/hitting coach as he seems to be good on the bench and a solid teacher. Anyway, I very much believe the 2012 Giants could feature just 1/2 of the 2011 opening day lineup they trotted out. My early guesses for how Sabes constructs the Giants lineup for opening day 2012 with what's on roster, and as you'll see, this should be one busy winter for Mr. Sabean.

CF Andres Torres (hoping Gary Brown's ready by June)
2B Freddy Sanchez
3B Pablo Sandoval
C Buster Posey
1B Aubrey Huff
SS Jimmy Rollins
LF Brandon Belt
RF Nate Schierholtz
P Tim Lincecum

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http://giantsbaseballblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/march-towards-2012-starts-know.htm
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Pujols, Fielder expect comparisons (AP)

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols and Brewers counterpart Prince Fielder figure to be in high demand on the free-agent market in a few weeks. First, everyone will get a chance to compare the two big first basemen side-by-side for themselves during the NL championship series. “That’s fine. You expect that,” Fielder said Saturday.

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/10/09/pujols-fielder-expect-comparisons-ap/

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