Phillies extend Manuel's contract through 2011

PHILADELPHIA -- Winning the World Series was enough for the Philadelphia Phillies to want manager Charlie Manuel around a few more years.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro rewarded Manuel on Tuesday and picked up the option for 2010 on his contract and added a guaranteed year for 2011 -- basically giving the folksy manager a three-year deal. Manuel has won two straight NL East titles with the Phillies and led them this year to their first championship since 1980.

The 64-year-old Manuel hasn't had a losing record in four seasons with Philadelphia (354-294) and he has slowly won over the fickle Philly fans. He wasn't an instant hit when he replaced fan favorite Larry Bowa and was often second-guessed and criticized by media and fans. But Manuel heard chants of "Charlie! Charlie!" from the delirious Philly crowd after the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays in five games to win the championship.

Manuel and Dallas Green (1980) are the only Phillies managers with World Series rings. Green is a special adviser to the GM.

Manuel's greatest professional triumph came with a touch of sadness. His mother, June Manuel, died during the NL Championship Series and Manuel placed a Phillies cap in his mother's casket.

"When someone asks me what I want to be known as, I want to be known as a winner," Manuel said during the World Series. "That kind of tells the whole story."

With Philadelphia's nucleus expected back, the Phillies have a chance to be the first repeat World Series champions since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000. The Phillies seem poised to make another run without two pivotal free agents -- 16-game winner Jamie Moyer and slugging left fielder Pat Burrell.

Manuel has made more of his managerial career than he did as a player. He batted .198 in 242 career games with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers before becoming a star slugger in Japan.

He had a 220-190 record in his first big league managerial stop with the Cleveland Indians, leading them to the AL Central championship in 2001.

But Manuel has really made his mark by calmly rallying the Phillies from September deficits to October play.

The Phillies overcame a seven-game deficit with 17 remaining and surpassed the New York Mets on the final day to capture their first NL East title in 14 years in 2007. They were swept by the Colorado Rockies in the first round.

This season, the Phillies trailed the Mets by 3 games with 16 to play but won 12 of the next 15 to clinch their second straight division title on the next to last day of the regular season.

Manuel hoisted the World Series trophy during Philadelphia's championship parade -- the first for any Philly team since 1983.

"It's like Christmas came two months early," he said.

Now comes one heck of a reward for Manuel.


Phillies’ Manuel to attend mother’s funeral Friday
Pellegrini Pleased With Positive Start
Manuel Fernandes Acquitted Of Glassing Policeman

MLB taking steps toward safer bats next year

LAS VEGAS -- Scary scenes of broken maple bats sailing into the stands or dugouts soon could be a thing of the past.

At least that's what Major League Baseball hopes.

All bats used in big league games soon will have their own serial numbers and ink markings for tracking, part of the first step in the sport's efforts to decrease the number of broken bats and ensure a safer environment for players and fans.

By the start of the 2009 regular season, the plan of MLB's safety and health advisory committee is that all bats will have been certified by MLB and that the 32 manufacturers making them will be held to a new list of standards surrounding their production. That means keeping track of different models and how frequently they are breaking -- a process that has a lot to do with determining the quality and slope of the wood's grain.

"When you have a matter which is susceptible to the kind of sophisticated and detailed analysis and recommendations which this group was able to make, that can tell you what the issues are," union head Donald Fehr said Tuesday at the winter meetings. "I'm not only pleased but proud of the work that's been done. We think this is going to go a long way to solving the issue."

The committee conducted field and laboratory tests, reviewed video of breakages and consulted with manufacturers and experts to come up with nine recommendations to be adopted immediately, San Diego Padres CEO Sandy Alderson said. The committee isn't sure how many fewer bats will break this season, but it believes there will be significant progress.

During a two-month stretch last season, 2,200 broken bats were collected and 750 of those broke into multiple pieces. Also included in the count were bats that cracked but stayed in one piece. Among the committee's findings were that maple bats were three times as likely to break in multiple places as their ash counterparts. Experts insist both types of wood should break at a closer rate -- and the slope of the grain is one of the primary contributors to breakage.

Among the requirements adopted by the committee are that all bats now must conform with newly adopted slope-of-grain wood grading techniques, with manufacturers placing an ink dot on the handle so a person can easily view the slope of grain. The makers also must implement a method of tracking each bat, like a serial number, and will be required to attend an MLB workshop. Baseball officials also plan random audits of bats in ballparks around the league.

And, over the next year, the committee will study whether a bat's geometry -- its shape and the relationship of barrel size to handle size -- and drying methods also contribute to the number of breakages.

Each bat manufacturer will now be charged a $10,000 administrative fee, up from $5,000 previously, that will be used in part to help fund further research. Insurance requirements also have been raised.

"We know tremendously more about wood and bat construction today than we did just a few months ago, and I believe there's more to be learned," Alderson said. "The recommendations adopted for 2009 are one step in the process."

Kepa Looks For Winter Escape
Wood calls his departure from Cubs ‘bittersweet’

Giants, A's could pursue hometown hero Big Unit

LAS VEGAS -- Big Unit to the Bay Area? Could be.

The Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants appear to be among the teams interested in acquiring free agent Randy Johnson as a veteran addition to their pitching rotations. Not that the 45-year-old lefty will necessarily have settled on a new team by the conclusion of this week's winter meetings.

Johnson

"We'll see," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said of his team's chances while sitting in a suite at the Bellagio hotel Monday night. "We've talked to his agent. They're not in a hurry, I know that."

Johnson, a 21-year big league veteran, was born in Walnut Creek, Calif., only about a half-hour from where the A's and Giants play -- so returning to his roots could make sense. He surely would be a draw and help boost attendance for either franchise.

But there's also some thought Johnson won't want to leave Arizona and could wind up staying put with the Diamondbacks for a third season and go for his 300th win in familiar territory. Johnson stands at 295 victories after going 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts this season.

But that would take the sides coming to terms on a new deal. Johnson, who has offered to take a pay cut, filed for free agency last month after failing to reach an agreement with the Diamondbacks.

He "hopes to find a team where he can continue to pitch at a high level and contribute to another world championship," agents Barry Meister and Alan Nero said at the time. They have been in touch with the A's but there are no signs of renewed talks with Arizona.

A message left for Meister wasn't immediately returned Monday.

Oakland general manager Billy Beane didn't rule out going after Johnson, who could be a back-of-the-rotation guy for the A's to help the club's young and inexperienced starters.

"If we were interested in a pitcher, it would be something of an upgrade," said Beane, who has a personal policy not to comment on specific free agents.

The Giants aren't planning to trade lefty Jonathan Sanchez because of the questions surrounding Noah Lowry, another left-hander who is working to come back from nerve surgery on his forearm that cost him the 2008 season and also a procedure on his elbow in October to remove bone spurs.

"It'd be very difficult to trade him, given Lowry's what-if, and we need another starter on top of that," Sabean said.


Without deal, Randy Johnson files for free agency
Mancini Wins Serie A Coach Of The Year Award
Cannavaro: I Want Napoli Return

Stark: Peavy sweepstakes down to Cubs

LAS VEGAS -- Before we discuss where Jake Peavyis going to play next season, let's eliminate all the places we now know the Padres ace won't be playing next season: Atlanta. Houston. The Bronx. Anaheim. Tokyo. Quad Cities. And, just to cover all the hot spots on the atlas, he won't be playing in Maui, Aruba or Kazakhstan, either. We learned that Monday from San Diego's Kevin Towers, the only GM Peavy has ever played for. Now to be totally honest, Towers never did specifically mention Kazakhstan. Or even Quad Cities, for that matter. But he did say that Peavy and his agent, Barry Axelrod, have made it clear to the Padres that the 27-year-old right-hander has no interest in expanding the list of cities Peavy is willing to waive his no-trade clause to play in. So that means this story is now as clear as the 9,000 glass doors that lead you into or out of the Bellagio, where the winter meetings are unfolding this week in all their casino-laden glory. Either Peavy is going to be traded to the Cubs real, real soon. Or he's going to be staying in San Diego. Period. It means the Yankees can stop dialing Towers' number. It means the Angels can stop kicking around Peavy's name as an alternative if they don't land a big free agent. And it means there is now clear-cut winter-meetings drama in the air.

By the end of this week, Towers said, he needs to "have a good feeling" that there's a deal with the Cubs to be made. Or else it's time to stop talking about this oft, oft, oft, oft, oft-rumored trade and start thinking about how to build the 2009 Padres with Peavy still on the roster. And the payroll. "Our big focus," Towers said, "is, by Thursday, we need to know if there's a deal to be made or not. And if there's not, it's time to make a statement to our fans that Jake will be with us next season." The trade itself -- potentially a three-team extravaganza involving as many as 10 players -- does not have to be completed by the end of the meetings, Towers said. But the process has to be completed by "shortly after we leave here," the GM said. "If we haven't made any progress or we're in the same place … if it looks like it's not going to work out, then we need to let our fans know that," Towers said. "I don't want to go into the Christmas holiday with this many holes in our club. So at some point we need to say to our fans that Jake will be with us and we'll just need to fill those holes around him." But for weeks now, the Cubs and Padres have run into two major obstacles in trying to export Peavy to the north side of Chicago. [+] Enlarge

Christopher Hanewickel/US Presswire

The saga involving Jake Peavy is almost over. Either he's headed to the Cubs or he is staying in San Diego.

One is that the Cubs don't have the pitching prospects the Padres are looking for, so they've needed to involve a third team -- which still appears to be Baltimore. The second issue is the Cubs' muddled ownership situation, which seemed to get even dicier Monday, when the Tribune Company went the dreaded Chapter 11 route. But Cubs GM Jim Hendry -- though he wouldn't address Peavy by name or this deal specifically -- says he has been given assurances by his higher-ups that he can continue to do business as close to normal as possible. "All I know is that I was told over the weekend by my bosses that the Cubs are completely separate [from the Tribune Company's financial issues]," Hendry said. "We're not worried about having any problems at all. New ownership will be taking over in the next couple of months. There are no restrictions put on me." But other sources familiar with the Cubs' situation say that isn't entirely accurate. Any major addition -- whether it's Peavy or a left-handed-hitting free-agent outfielder such as Raul Ibanez -- needs to be approved by ownership. And Hendry also has been told that every big addition to the payroll will need to be accompanied by a payroll reduction -- if not before the addition of new players then certainly before Opening Day. Hendry's payroll is increasing, from just north of $123 million last year to about $135 million this year. But the signing of Ryan Dempster, and other increases, will eat up much of that payroll hike. So the Cubs are actively looking to move Jason Marquis (due to make $9.875 million in 2009), and possibly another piece or two, to clear dollars for Peavy and/or an outfielder. "Honestly," Hendry said, "it's my job … if you want to add significant dollars, then I should be able to move some, too. That's part of my job. It doesn't take a lot of creativity if you just spend the most money and buy the most expensive player all the time. As a general manager, I feel an obligation that if we want to do a few things -- instead of one thing or two things -- then we've got to get creative." And that means it's time for Hendry and Towers -- two guys who have been friends for more than 20 years, since Hendry was a college baseball coach and Towers was an area scout -- to get to work. They haven't had a formal meeting yet since they arrived at these meetings. But Hendry said: "I'm sure we won't get to Thursday without having a chat." One of the big questions hovering over that chat will be how much pressure the Padres are under to move Peavy, who is scheduled to make $11 million next season for a team whose payroll is in the midst of plummeting as close to $40 million as Towers can cut it. "That will be tough," Towers said. "That's almost a quarter of our payroll. And it makes it tough to improve a great deal on the field. But I still consider Jake to be a tremendous asset. He's one of the best pitchers in the game. I'd much rather go into the season with a guy who's an established No. 1 [starter], and hopefully our young players are as good as we think they are, and improve that way, versus doing a poor baseball deal just because he's making a quarter of our payroll." Executives from other teams have been saying this week that they think it's now in the Padres' best interests to hang on to Peavy until the trading deadline and try to move him then, when there's no CC Sabathia or A.J. Burnett out there for teams to acquire without giving up any players. If the Padres trade him in late July, they would have to pay him only about $7 million for two-thirds of the season. But Towers admitted he doesn't know yet whether Peavy would even approve a trade in midseason. "You know, I think that becomes a bit difficult on a player, starting a season knowing that in two or three months he may not be there for the full season," Towers said. "We told Barry we'd explore trade possibilities this winter, and if it doesn't work out we'd be happy to start the season where we're at and then we'll reevaluate where we're at come June or July." But this is no time to be worrying about June or July. This is a time to worry about whether this deal can be done in the next week. Hendry tried to downplay talk that he has the framework of any deal in place -- for anybody -- saying: "Things could change in a lot of different directions before Christmas. … I really don't have any clear feeling on which way this could go." But all signs now point toward Peavy's becoming a Cub, simply because the Padres -- after holding out for weeks for the sweetest deal possible -- now appear to have no other option. That deal most likely won't go down this week. But given the deadline Towers laid out Monday, it would have to get done by the time Hendry and Cubs manager Lou Piniella start unwrapping their Christmas gifts. And if the Cubs look under their tree and find a rotation of Peavy, Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden and Ted Lilly, that would be a gift even the next owner of the Cubs wouldn't feel really interested in returning. "I don't think any of the people who are involved in wanting to buy the Cubs would have any interest in anything other than trying to win championships," Hendry said.


Fiorentina’s Kuzmanovic On Real Madrid Radar
Padres narrow field of Peavy suitors to 3 NL teams
Patient Pablo Waiting For Opportunities

Federal prosecutors drop 4 counts against Bonds

SAN FRANCISCO -- Federal prosecutors dropped four counts of lying to a grand jury against Barry Bonds, leaving him to face trial next year on 10 counts of making false statements plus an addition obstruction of justice charge.

Bonds faces the same potential sentence range -- probation to roughly two years in prison -- if convicted. His trial is scheduled to begin March 2.

Thursday's indictment, the third against the home-run king, came in response to U.S. District Judge Susan Illston's decision last week ordering prosecutors to again rewrite the technically faulty indictment.

Bonds was originally charged in November 2007 with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. After a motion by his lawyers to dismiss the case, Illston ordered prosecutors to rewrite the indictment because multiple alleged lies were lumped into single charges.

He was re-indicted in May and charged with 14 counts of making false declarations to a grand jury in 2003 and one count of obstruction of justice. His attorney's then asked Illston to dismiss 10 of the lying charges, claiming he was asked unclear questions in front of the grand jury in 2003, and Illston ruled Nov. 24 to dismiss three charges and asked prosecutors to consolidate or rewrite another two.


Manuel Fernandes Acquitted Of Glassing Policeman
Bonds’ attorneys ask judge to dismiss charges

White Sox complete Vazquez-to-Braves trade

ATLANTA -- Javier Vazquez knows exactly what the Atlanta Braves were looking for when they traded for him: A durable starter to plug one of the holes in their uncertain rotation.

Vazquez was shipped from the Chicago White Sox to Atlanta on Thursday as the teams completed a six-player deal agreed to earlier in the week. Left-handed reliever Boone Logan also went to the Braves as part of the swap, while the White Sox acquired four prospects: catcher Tyler Flowers, infielders Jonathan Gilmore and Brent Lillibridge and left-handed pitcher Santos Rodriguez.

"Hopefully, I can bring a consistent guy to the rotation, someone who can just take the ball every five days and give his team a chance to win," Vazquez said. "That's what they're expecting of me and that's what I'm expecting of myself, to put up innings for the Braves."

Vazquez was 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA in 33 starts for the AL Central champion White Sox this season, surpassing 200 innings for the eighth time in nine years. But he struggled down the stretch, when manager Ozzie Guillen said Vazquez wasn't a big-game pitcher. In his last three regular-season starts and the playoff opener against Tampa Bay, Vazquez was 0-4 with a 13.22 ERA.

"I just always try to move forward and just go on with my life, I guess," Vazquez said. "I really like to be a positive guy and show a positive side to other people. I really try to stay away from the negativity."

The 32-year-old right-hander has a 127-129 career record with Montreal, the New York Yankees, Arizona and the White Sox. He is owed $11.5 million in each of the next two seasons, then can become a free agent.

"I've been kind of a power pitcher for most of my career, a fly ball pitcher," Vazquez said. "Coming to a stadium like Atlanta, which plays fair, is a little bit better ballpark to pitch in than Chicago. I think that's probably going to help me."

White Sox general manager Ken Williams said the trade was part of his team's effort to bring in young players. He said he was obviously "watching the dollars, but this deal was motivated by a continued desire to transition into a new core."

The Braves have made starting pitching their major focus of the offseason. John Smoltz and Tom Glavine are both in their 40s and coming off arm operations, and Tim Hudson is not expected back until late in the season after undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery.

Atlanta pursued Padres ace Jake Peavy, who still hasn't been traded, and had hoped to re-sign injury-prone Mike Hampton before he completed a deal with Houston this week.

"Especially after I started hearing rumors a while back, I guess I was expecting a move. I was glad it was here to Atlanta. This has always been one of my favorites," Vazquez said.

The Braves are still looking for at least one more front-line pitcher, and free agent A.J. Burnett is now their top target. They are among the teams that have made an offer to the right-hander.

"That would be awesome," Vazquez said. "Any team would like to have him."

Logan was 2-3 with a 5.95 ERA in 55 appearances with the White Sox in 2008. He has a 4-4 record with a 5.87 ERA in 144 games over three seasons with Chicago.

The 6-foot-4, 248-pound Flowers, who is 22, gained attention when he hit 12 homers in 20 games in the Arizona Fall League. He batted .288 with 17 homers at Class A Myrtle Beach last season.

"I think this guy will be an All-Star catcher," Williams said, adding the White Sox had no plans to move him to another position. "For his size, he has a lot of agility behind the plate and he throws the ball extremely well. ... I think he will be a heck of an offensive catcher and a solid defensive catcher behind the plate."

Lillibridge hit .200 in 80 at-bats with Atlanta last season. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Richmond, batting .220.

Gilmore, a third baseman, batted .294 with four homers and 35 RBIs in 94 games with Advanced Rookie Danville and Class-A Rome in 2008.

The 6-foot-5 Rodriguez was 1-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 14 relief appearances with the Gulf Coast League Braves in 2008.

Williams said he didn't foresee another major deal as he heads off to the winter meetings, which begin Monday in Las Vegas.

Earlier this offseason, the White Sox dealt Nick Swisher and right-hander Kaneoka Texeira to the New York Yankees for pitching prospect Jeff Marquez, infielder Wilson Betemit and minor league pitcher Jhonny Nunez.

The White Sox also hope to finalize a deal with young Cuban star Dayan Viciedo.

With the departure of Vazquez, Chicago's starting rotation could feature Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Clayton Richard and Marquez. Veteran right-hander Jose Contreras is coming off a ruptured Achilles'.

"We've got good, veteran players who continue to produce year after year. If I had to guess as I sit there right now, I don't foresee any other movements with any of our other veteran players," Williams said, adding he will be in more of a listening mode at the winter meetings than an aggressive one.


Madrid Seek Defensive Depth - Report
Hampton finalizes one-year deal with Astros
Peavy trade derby: Padres court additional teams

Increase in average MLB salary slowed in 2008

NEW YORK -- Baseball salaries started to slow this year even before the economy nosedived.

The average salary in Major League Baseball this season was $2.93 million, the players' association said Thursday in its annual report. The 3.6 percent increase was the smallest since 2004, when the average declined 2.5 percent from the previous season.

"I'm not sure that year-to-year movements necessarily tell us very much," union head Donald Fehr said. "Obviously, salaries went up, revenues went up, and we would like to see that trend continue."

With some teams skittish because of the recession, the free-agent market has slowed this offseason. Only seven of 171 free agents had agreed to contracts entering Thursday, but the pace was expected to pick up at the winter meetings, which start Monday in Las Vegas.

"I think it is premature to try and make any judgments about this year given what's happened in the general economy," Fehr said. "At this point, it's too early in the signing season this year to try to make any judgments."

The average salary had been $3.15 million on opening day, according to the commissioner's office, but the figure always declines during the season as higher-paid veterans are released and replaced by lower-paid young players. The final average is based on the 926 players who were in the majors and on disabled lists Aug. 31, the day before rosters expanded.

The New York Yankees topped the major leagues in average salary for the 10th consecutive season despite a disappointing year in which their streak of postseason appearances ended at 13. The Yankees' average of $6.86 million was down from a record $7.47 million last year.

The Chicago Cubs were second at $4.68 million, followed by the Los Angeles Angels ($4.56 million), the Chicago White Sox ($4.5 million), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($4.37 million), Boston ($4.2 million) and Detroit ($4.15 million).

Philadelphia, which won its first World Series title since 1980, was 11th at $3.39 million, and the AL champion Tampa Bay Rays were 27th at $1.59 million, up from a major league low of $906,000 last year. The only teams trailing the Rays this season were Washington ($1.35 million), Pittsburgh ($1.2 million) and Florida ($868,000).

Among regulars at positions, designated hitters had the highest average at $7.5 million, followed by first basemen ($7.1 million), third basemen ($6.6 million), shortstops ($5 million), outfielders ($4.8 million), catchers ($3.7 million), second basemen ($3.5 million) and relief pitchers ($1.9 million).

The commissioner's office will not determine its final figure for several weeks. Major League Baseball's numbers usually differ slightly than those of the players' association because of different methods of calculation.


MLB attendance numbers drop 1.1 percent in 2008
Jiménez: Players Gave Their All
Jays exercise $2.5M option for catcher Barajas