Opinion

After last week's firing of former pirates manager John Russell, several names have emerged as potential candidates.  Some, such as Phil Garner and Eric Wedge would be considered good hires.

There are others though, including names such as Andy Van Slyke and Bob Walk that would be awful hires.

Over the past week, both guys have been gaining some steam popularity wise, and that's a bad sign.  It would be just like the Pirates to offer one of these guys the job. 

Every year we hear the same whispers:

"How much longer can Mo last?"

Because it's such an infrequent occurrence, anytime he blows a save, the doubters surface with their proclamations of Mariano's imminent demise.

At a point in his life where most of his peers are playing golf, or delving into post-playing-career business ventures, the inimitable Mariano Rivera is continuing to add luster to his likely first-ballot Hall of Fame credentials.

The Mets hunt for a general manager has just begun, but many names have been mentioned.  There are about 10 candidates for the job.  There always has to be a front runner, and as of now, the front runner is Sandy Alderson.

Veteran Jim Thome's season ended yesterday when the Minnesota Twins were swept by the New York Yankees.

With Thome having no contract this offseason, and amid rumors of whether he'll return for another season, could Yankees general manager Brian Cashman make a move for him?

There is all this talk about Yankees skipper Joe Girardi walking away after the season and taking the job as the next Cubs manager.

But if the Bombers win a consecutive championship, they have to keep him, right?

I know that many Yankees fans have questioned Girardi's managerial skills. Heck, if you check with most fans they will point to one reason or another why they do not like their manager.

Entering the MLB postseason, analysts and other fans of the sports seemed to be skeptical of the New York Yankees chances to repeat their World Championship run from last year. Much of this skepticism centered around the lack of quality pitching following CC Sabathia in the rotation.

However, in the Yankees sweep of the Minnesota Twins Sabathia's win ended up being the weakest performance, as Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes pulled strung together very strong performance in their respective wins.

I'm sure that there are more than a handful of Cubs fans who are under the impression that the organization will acquire a few impact players this offseason, much like the post-2006 and post-2007 offseasons. However, the fact of the matter is that the team's current 40-man roster will need to be tweaked quite a bit before any additions can be made.

To begin with, only two players on the team's final 40-man roster can leave on their own volition: Aramis Ramirez and Xavier Nady.

In 2009, Davis enjoyed a taste of the bigs with a September call up.  In 2010, Davis is getting more than a taste, as the Rays turn to their 25-year-old rookie right hander to keep their playoff hopes alive.  Davis will make his postseason debut against one of the most fearsome offenses in baseball.  Oh yeah, there's this teeny tiny bit of pressure about a must-win game if the Rays season isn't to end.

The New York Yankees are the first team to advance in the postseason this year with their 6-1 win over the Minnesota Twins, who will spend another long, cold winter trying to figure out what went wrong again.

The Yankees dominated the Twins in all aspects of the game and appear poised to retain their title as World Series Champions.

Congratulations to the New York Yankees for sweeping the Minnesota Twins and moving on to the American League Championship series.