MLB hopes it can resolve differences with Washington officials over a stadium lease by next week, clearing the way for a sale of the Nationals.
Hideki Matsui and the New York Yankees agree on a four-year contract worth $52 million to the Japanese outfielder. The sides faced a November 15 deadline after which Matsui would go on waivers and be prevented from rejoining New York until May 15th of next year.
Alex Rodriguez wins the American League MVP Award for the second time in three seasons. The Yankees’ third baseman edges out David Ortiz, the Red Sox DH, fueling the controversy that a designated hitter is not considered an all-around player by many of the baseball writers who vote for the honor.
Joe Maddon, becoming the fourth manager in the team’s brief history, is selected by the Devil Rays to replace Lou Piniella. The former Angels bench coach believes, despite the club’s poor record and having the lowest payroll in baseball, the young talented team, based on his computer-generated analysis, can start a winning tradition in Tampa Bay.
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols earns the National League MVP Award, edging Atlanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones. Pujols was among the NL leaders in most hitting categories and finished with a .330 batting average, 41 home runs and 117 RBI in guiding the Cardinals to the league’s best record at 100-62. He receives 18 of 31 first-place votes in balloting conducted by the BBWAA, outpointing Jones 378-351. Jones hit .263 and led the league with 51 home runs and 128 RBI. He won his eighth consecutive Gold Glove as the Braves claimed their 14th consecutive division title despite playing 18 rookies and losing third baseman Chipper Jones for about a third of the season because of injuries.
After months of deadlock, leaders of Major League Baseball and the players union reach an agreement to clean up a performance-enhancing drug scandal that has tarnished the nation’s pastime and left lawmakers worried about young athletes imitating the wrong role models. It will require baseball players to submit to several drug tests each year, during and between seasons, and will impose lengthy suspensions for steroid and amphetamine use. Repeat offenders can be banned for life. The agreement, which must be ratified by both the players and baseball owners, is similar to a proposal offered earlier this year by commissioner Bud Selig.
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, whose 48 home runs set a league record for that position and broke a 68-year-old club mark for right-handed hitters, earns his second American League MVP Award in the closest vote since 2001. Rodriguez edges Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, 331-307, in voting by the BBWAA. He receives 16 of 28 first-place votes while Ortiz earns 11, with 2004 MVP Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim collecting the other to finish third with 196 points. The margin of victory is the smallest since Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki edged Oakland’s Jason Giambi, 289-281, four years ago.
Six weeks after beginning their search for a new manager, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have decided that Los Angeles Angels bench coach Joe Maddon is the right man for the job. The team selected Maddon over incumbent Devil Rays bench coach John McLaren as Lou Piniella’s successor.
The Baltimore Orioles officially announce that they will not be bringing back outfielder Sammy Sosa or first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, though both have indicated that they would like to return to baseball. “At this point, we are heading in a different direction,” club executive VP Mike Flanagan says.
2005 – John Shelby is hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first base and outfield coach, becoming the third member of Jim Tracy’s staff with the Los Angeles Dodgers to join him in Pittsburgh. Shelby, like pitching coach Jim Colborn and bench coach Jim Lett, was a member of Tracy’s staff in Los Angeles last season. Shelby is a former major league outfielder who played for the Orioles, Dodgers and Tigers, and was a Dodgers coach for eight seasons, six of them as first base coach. He had been on the Dodgers’ coaching staff since 1998 after previously managing four seasons in the organization’s farm system.
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