Nightly Notes

There are a lot of things I wanted to discuss tonight, so I'm putting them in a "Nightly Notes" post like I ran fairly regularly during the last month of the regular season.

1.) The Detroit Tigers did what the Twins couldn't do against Barry Zito: be patient and make him throw a lot of pitches. The Fox announcers effusively praised the Tigers approach against Zito, and for good reason. Had the Twins hitters been more patient in Game 1 last week, they very well may have won Game 1, and we might be talking about Game 1 of a Twins/Tigers ALCS tonight.

2.) While Torii Hunter's option had to be exercised by tomorrow, Carlos Silva's option doesn't have to be dealt with until 5 days after the World Series. I suspect the Twins will take some time on this one, as it isn't an easy decision. I mentioned before that I think the Twins will, and should, pick up this option. I wouldn't exactly be heartbroken if they didn't, however.

3.) I'll normally only mention Arizona Fall League stats about once a week (although I haven't set a particular weekday for that as of yet). However, tonight was the opener, so I thought I'd at least mention how things went. Matt Moses started at 3B for the Solar Sox and went 1-for-3. David Winfree replaced him at 3B and struck out in his only at-bat, and Matt Tolbert got one at bat after coming in late at 2B, picking up a double. On the pitching side, Jay Sawatski pitched an inning, giving up a hit and walking a batter. The Solar Sox lost 3-0.

4.) The Yankees are keeping Joe Torre - and that's the smart move. I think that Lou Piniella is going to sit out the ride this time and wait for Torre to retire after next season. I also think that the Cubs will hire Joe Girardi. As for the Giants, Rangers, and Nationals . . . no idea. If Piniella does take one of those jobs, I think it will be in San Francisco.

5.) Johan Santana won The Sporting News' Pitcher of the Year award. I'm guessing this won't be the last piece of hardware he picks up this off-season.