I'm going to be experimenting with a daily off-season news thread. I'll be posting the latest news about the Indians and also notes from around baseball.
Cleveland Indians pick up manager Manny Acta's 2013 option, but now he must rebuild coaching staff | cleveland.com
The Indians picked up Manny Acta's 2013 option, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but he'll have at least two new coaches on his staff, and three if count hitting coach Bruce Fields as a new guy. Bench coach Tom Tolman had to step down as Bench Coach because of health concerns, and Pitching Coach Tim Belcher stepped away to spend more time with his family. And of course, Sandy Alomar's name has already been mentioned in conjuction with the open position in Chicago.
Keeping Grady Sizemore would be wrong move for Cleveland Indians: Terry Pluto | cleveland.com
At this point, I don't think the Indians would simply pick up Grady Sizemore's $9M option even if his right knee doesn't need surgery. But I think there is some middle ground here: Sizemore is still the best center field option on the roster right now even if you only assume he's a part-time player, and Grady is not going to get a huge multi-year deal if he's on the market because of the injury concerns. I think a 2 or 3 year contract with a $4-5M/year base salary with incentives or a player opt-out would make sense for both sides.
Rays will start rookie Moore in Game 1 | TBO.com
Matt Moore, who has just 9.1 major-league innings and one major-league start to his credit, will be starting for the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS. Moore has an incredible minor-league pedigree, though: this season between AA and AAA, he struck out 210 in 155 innings. And, unlike a lot of high-strikeout pitchers, his walk ratios are excellent (2.7 BB/9).
Today's Games:
American League Division Series
Tampa Bay at Texas, 5:07 PM (Game 1)
Matt Moore vs. C.J. Wilson
Detroit at New York, 8:37 PM (Game 1)
Justin Verlander vs. C. C. Sabathia