Pat Lackey Posts

For most of the summer, Joe Torre indicated that he was planning on retiring from managing after his contract with the Dodgers expires in 2010. Both he and people who have followed his career closely noted that he's made similar statements in the past, and he's still in the dugout. Accordingly, Torre admitted to T.J. Simers on Sunday that he's considering negotiating a contract extension with the Dodgers that would keep him in L.A. beyond the 2010 season.

In his two years with the Dodgers, Torre's taken the team to the NLCS twice, but failed to get past the Phillies both times. Dating back to his years with the Yankees, he's taken his team to a playoff spot in 14 consecutive seasons. Unsurprisingly, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti indicates in the same story that he'd be happy to negotiate with Torre, should he want an extension.

Tim Lincecum was cited by the state police in Washington for possession of marijuana this week. The pot was found in his car after he was pulled over for speeding near the Oregon border on Oct. 30. It was a small amount, and the police determined that Lincecum was not intoxicated while driving, so he's been cited for misdemeanor possession. After his hearing on Nov. 23, that will likely be the last we hear of this particular incident.

Andrew Baggarly, the San Jose Mercury writer who wrote the blog entry linked above, guesses that this incident won't be much more than an embarrassment for Lincecum and that it's unlikely to affect his potential arbitration hearing early next year. He's probably right that it'd be wrong for the Giants to accuse their superstar pitcher of being a dirty hippie for having a few grams of pot in his car, but that's a funny mental image I'm stuck with and now I hope you are, too.

In a surprising piece of mid-World Series news, the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a trade this afternoon. Tampa will send second baseman Akinori Iwamura to the Pirates in return for relief pitcher Jesse Chavez. According to the same report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (who broke news of the Pirates' involvement in the trade after the St. Petersburg Times first reported an Iwamura trade this afternoon), no cash or other players are involved.

Iwamura, 30, is due $4.25 million in 2010 and the emergence of Ben Zobrist makes that a price the Rays clearly weren't eager to pay for a player who'd likely be a utility man for them in '10. The Pirates, however, are looking to add payroll after cleaning house last year and have a gaping hole at second base, so Iwamura is a logical addition for them.

The San Francisco Giants announced today that they've come to terms with second baseman Freddy Sanchez on a two-year deal. Terms weren't announced, but with the Giants holding an $8 million option on Sanchez, it's probably safe to assume that the cost for them per year will be less than that. T

That option would've vested for Sanchez on its own if he'd reached 600 plate appearances, but a shoulder and knee injuries limited him to just 25 games in a Giants uniform after he was traded to San Francisco from Pittsburgh. The shoulder's been a nagging problem for Sanchez for some time, but when healthy Sanchez has been one of the best hitting second basemen in the NL over the past few seasons, being named to three of the last four All-Star teams and winning a batting title in 2006.

The Rockies and manager Jim Tracy are nearing a three-year extension, the Denver Post is reporting, though an official announcement on an extension will likely wait until after the World Series. Tracy took over for Clint Hurdle after Hurdle was fired on May 27 and led the Rockies to a 74-42 record and the wild-card berth in the National League playoffs.

When Tracy took over, the Rockies were 18-28 and 14 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Under Tracy, they challenged L.A. for the division title. That sprint to the playoffs makes this extension more or less a foregone conclusion. What team in their right mind wouldn't extend the interim manager that had his team playing at a 103-win pace over a large chunk of the season?

Just a few days after announcing that he won't return to the Seattle Mariners in 2010, Kenji Johjima has signed a four-year deal with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Central League. NPB Tracker says the deal is a four-year deal worth the equivalent of $27.25 million, which is a pretty nice deal for him after opting out of the $16 million owed to him by the Mariners.

Johjima spent the first nine seasons of his career with the team currently known as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in NPB's Pacific League, and there he was a 30-homer player between 2001 and 2004 before hopping across the Pacific to the Mariners. After struggling with the Mariners the past two years, the decision to move back to NPB clearly makes a ton of sense; he'll make more money, he'll be back home, and the smaller parks may give him a chance to regain his power stroke.

Mark McGwire will end his baseball exile and accept a position with the St. Louis Cardinals as their hitting coach, a Cardinals source confirmed to FanHouse's Ed Price Sunday afternoon. He'll replace Hal McRae, who's held the position for five years. The story initially appeared on Brian McRae's Twitter account, though it's since been deleted.

The Cleveland Indians announced Sunday afternoon that they've hired Manny Acta as their manager. They also interviewed Bobby Valentine, Torey Lovullo, and Ron Roenicke, while Acta also interviewed for and reportedly rejected the Houston Astros managerial position.

Acta was fired by the Washington Nationals just before this year's All-Star Game after a 26-61 start and a 158-252 record over 2 1/2 seasons in D.C. The interest shown by both the Astros and Indians seems to indicate pretty clearly that teams aren't holding his ugly record over that span against him, though, and he's quickly going to have a chance to rehabilitate his reputation now that he's got another job.

Albert Pujols underwent arthroscopic surgery in Dr. James Andrews' clinic in Birmingham, Ala. Wednesday and early reports seem to indicate that the surgery was successful. Pujols had the bone chips in his throwing elbow removed and Andrews said that further surgery, like a ligament replacement (more commonly known as Tommy John surgery), won't be necessary and he's unlikely to miss time in 2010.

It should go without saying that this is good news for the Cardinals, but even that underscores the importance of the announcement that further surgery is not necessary. Pujols' elbow has been bothering him since the end of the 2007 season. After that season rumors about Tommy John surgery swirled, but Pujols put the procedure off. Then, after the 2008 season, he had surgery to move an irritated nerve in the elbow.

The Indians' managerial search has apparently whittled its way down to just three names after a round of phone interviews last week. Paul Hoynes at the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Indians have called Bobby Valentine, Manny Acta, and Travis Fryman to Cleveland for a second round of interviews and that GM Mark Shapiro is likely to name a manager before the World Series ends.

Valentine's name is the big one that's obviously going to get people talking. He's got over 1,000 career wins and a National League pennant over his 15-year career with the Rangers and the Mets, plus a Japanese Series title in 2005 with the Chiba Lotte Marines. It's been rumored that he's made it clear there are teams he won't manage for in 2010, so presumably the Indians are a job he would want.