In continuing the great work Tony did with Saturday's links post, let's see what's been going on in the baseball world.
Fredi finalist for NL Manager of Year Award - Braves.com
Fredi Gonzalez was the only Brave to be on any of the finalists lists for the BBWAA awards. He, along with the Dodgers' Don Mattingly and Pittsburgh's Clint Hurdle, are up for NL Manager of the Year. I fully expect Hurdle to win it. I saw a lot of talk on twitter about the validity of Craig Kimbrel for Cy Young or Freddie Freeman for the NL MVP, but I can't say I'm surprised. Winners will be announced on an MLB Network broadcast Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.
@Phillies I would be very interested in being your pitching coach. #championshipball
— Leo Mazzone (@LeoMazzone54) November 4, 2013
Leo tweeted directly @ the Phillies to let them know he was interested in the open pitching coach job. Obviously he had a great deal of success in Atlanta but then went on to get fired in Baltimore. He's currently doing some radio work in Atlanta, so this would be pretty painful to stomach. No response from the team's twitter so far...
The most and least active teams on the trade market since 2003 - BaseballNation.com
This is a fascinating read on which teams have been the boldest and shyest in terms of trades. The Red Sox top it with 150 over the past 10 seasons, and the Braves are towards the bottom of the list with 81. Pretty great analysis on the thought process behind some of those moves.
Cubs exercise option to end WGN-TV contract after next season - chicagotribune.com
The Cubs told longtime broadcast partner WGN that they have 30 days to agree to higher fees or the team will start looking at other media to negotiate a new deal. With the Cubs having been on WGN since 1948, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. As Franklin wrote about, media deals add a huge amount of money to team's operating costs.
Phillies interested in trade for David Price - SBNation.com
The Phillies have joined with a lot of other teams in rumors about David Price. Ken Rosenthal links eight potential teams to Price, but the bottom line seems to be that the price (ha, ha) will be pretty steep for the lefty.
Nationals rumors: Team could trade for Max Scherzer or David Price - SBNation.com
The Nats are another team potentially interested in Price. They have a (theoretically) formidable rotation as is, but clearly they're evaluating where they're at now vs. where expectations were when the 2013 season started.
Max Scherzer a trade candidate, Ken Rosenthal writes - BlessYouBoys.com
In other pitching rumors, Max Scherzer has constantly been talked about as a viable candidate for teams willing to give up a lot. Lots of talk about how Detroit is not trying to extend him. I love Schezer so I hope he's not getting jerked around. (He's even my cat's favorite baseball player. Don't ask.).
How well did a cat predict the 2013 MLB season? - SBNation.com
Last but certainly not least, this precious cat, Kitty Sanchez, predicted division and playoff champions back in March. She wasn't completely off base for some of them. Adorable.