The National League The Kevin Towers Jim McLennan of AZ Snake Pit: "Even the homerest of homer fans would probably admit that the 2001 Diamondbacks were not the best team in the majors that season. While by no means a bad team -- those very rarely make the post-season -- they were more the playoff team that got hot at the right spot." The Frank Wren Carroll Rogers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Braves pitcher Derek Lowe was booed off the mound in his last start of the season, stripped of a guaranteed spot in the rotation shortly thereafter, and ultimately traded to Cleveland, completing a tailspin to close out his tumultuous three-year stint with the Braves." The Jed Hoyer Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune: "News of the arrivals of Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod to the Chicago Cubs' front office didn't make nearly the splash as Theo Epstein's signing three weeks ago. But if Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts is right, the three Red Sox refugees will help end a championship drought that's at 103 years and counting." The Walt Jocketty Mark Sheldon of MLB.com: "Aroldis Chapman was scratched from his planned Arizona Fall League start on Monday because of a sore left shoulder. The Reds' left-hander made two relief appearances for the Phoenix Desert Dogs last week in the AFL." The Dan O'Dowd Andrew T. Fisher of Purple Row: "Carlos Gonzalez sure looks pretty playing the outfield. He has a laser arm (led the league with 12 assists), can play all three positions, has good speed, and isn't afraid to slide, jump, crash or dive in order to haul in a fly ball. He does this. He is all you can want tool-wise as an outfielder, and he won a Gold Glove in his first career full season in 2010." The Michael Hill The Miami Herald: "The Marlins announced on Tuesday that the club has finalized its coaching staff for manager Ozzie Guillen. Returning to the staff will be pitching coach Randy St. Claire, hitting coach Eduardo Perez, third base coach Joe Espada and bullpen coach Reid Cornelius. New additions are bench coach Joey Cora and first base coach Gary Thurman." The Ed Wade Greg Thurston of Climbing Tals Hill: "Most of the so-called baseball experts predicted the 2011 Astros would lose about 100 games. But a strong second half in 2010 gave Astros fans reason to be more optimistic." The Ned Colletti Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.: "The Dodgers on Monday made official their hire of Sue Falsone as Head Athletic Trainer and Physical Therapist, making her the first female head athletic trainer in Major League Baseball history." The Doug Melvin Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "In what could be a foreshadowing of honors to come on a national scale, left-fielder Ryan Braun was voted the Milwaukee Brewers' most valuable player for 2011 by the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America." The Sandy Alderson Chris McShane of Amazin' Avenue: "After three frustrating seasons in Citi Field which really had nothing to do with the fences and everything to do with the team, the Mets announced yesterday that they will make major alterations to the fences this winter." The Ruben Amaro Jr. Ian Riccaboni of Phillies Nation: "Overall, it was a very solid, but very short 2011 for #54 and he mainly used his slider effectively to get more groundballs. [Brad] Lidge's early season absence gave them an opportunity to audition and finally make decisions on Andrew Carpenter, Mike Zagurski, and Scott Mathieson and his presence in the 'pen down the stretch helped the Phils run away with the division. Lidge will likely be a solid enough pitcher again next season if he can cut down on walks, but durability questions remain as he has not been healthy for a full season since 2008." The Neal Huntington The Bucs Dugout: "Robbie Grossman has turned a lot of heads this season, first with his performance at Bradenton and now with his continued success in the Arizona Fall League. Bill Mitchell of BA is the latest to chime in." The John Mozeliak Viva El Birdos: "I'll miss the weird stuff about Tony La Russa. I'll miss pitchers hitting eighth, and I would even if it didn't apparently work; I'll miss knowing that the manager of my favorite baseball team was the same guy who had briefly attempted to abolish the concept of the starting pitcher entirely, just because he thought destroying baseball might earn him a few more wins. I'll miss the non-sequitur-filled interviews, the abrupt walk-outs, the sunglasses and the shingles, the utter certainty that the Rally Squirrel was a girl and Torty a guy, and that they were in a committed relationship." The Josh Byrnes Gas Lamp Ball: "Tim Sullivan has a great article about Bud Black's relationship with new Padres GM, Josh Byrnes. I learned many interesting things from this article, including the fact that Josh Byrnes and Bud Black used to work together, scouting prospects in Cleveland." The Brian Sabean Grant Brisbee of The McCovey Chronicles: "I want Beltran back, remember. He's still a good player. But when I think "best defender at his position", Beltran isn't on the list. I think the phrase "an indifferent Glenallen Hill" is way, way, way too hyperbolic. But I did just think of it while trying to describe Beltran's defense! So it must mean something." The Mike Rizzo Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post: "While free agent outfielder Laynce Nix and the Nationals discussed terms for a 2012 deal at the end of the season, there is "nothing substantial" brewing between the Nationals and Nix at this time, Nix's agent Don Mitchell said." The American League The GM Formerly Andy MacPhail Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun: "The Orioles will be sporting the cartoon bird on their hats for 2012 for the first time since 1988. The return of the cartoon bird had been expected, and it, and other uniform changes, will be officially announced in November." The Ben Cherington Alex Speier of WEEI.com: "While Toronto is one of the more interesting potential suitors of designated hitter David Ortiz, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos suggested that adding a DH is not high on his club's offseason priority list." The Kenny Williams Jim Margalus of South Side Sox: "At any point during his two months with the White Sox did you watch Jason Frasor and think, "Man, I'm really glad he's on the team?" I can't say I did. That's not necessarily a knock on Frasor, who (barring a trade) will return to the White Sox after they picked up his $3.75 million option for 2012. He only threw 17 2/3 innings for the White Sox, and while they were 17 2/3 unremarkable innings, he's probably not as bad as he showed." The Chris Antonetti Bill Livingston of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "He was a favorite not only for his dashing looks but also for his dusty, diving style of play. Sizemore played all-out, as hard as he could, day-in, day-out. He missed nine games, total, from 2005-08. He led the American League in 2006 in the biggest thing for which a leadoff man is responsible -- runs scored. He led the league in plate appearances in the World Series near-miss season in 2007." The Dave Dombrowski Jason Beck of MLB.com: "Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen were crucial cogs in the Tigers' resuscitation from 119 losses in 2003 to the World Series three years later, and they were All-Stars after that. With age and injuries creeping up, however, they appear to be former Tigers." The Dayton Moore Jeff Zimmerman of Royals Review: "The 2011/2012 off-season looks to be fairly significant for the Royals going forward. 2011 was the year that Dayton Moore's highly touted prospects began to make it to the majors. The Royals are done rebuilding. It is over. They need to look at contending for the division every year and it can start in 2012." The Jerry DiPoto Halos Heaven: "The Angels won 86 games in 2011. That win total allowed them to stay home during the playoffs and do some housekeeping in the front office. Had they won 98 games, the team would have made the playoffs and been considered one of the best in baseball. An extra two wins a month and the Angels are back on top." The Bill Smith Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune: "The Twins announced their 2011 Diamond Awards winners today, based on the voting conducted by the Twin Cities chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America." The Brian Cashman Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues: "On a conference call with reporters, Brian Cashman confirmed that the team did not exercise Andrew Brackman's option for 2012 and the right-hander is now a free agent. Had the Yankees picked up the option, they would have paid him a $1M salary in the big leagues and a $500k salary in the minors." The Billy Beane Athletics Nation: "What the A's do have is a mess on their hands with that DH spot. Who would think in this day in age that DH would be a problem but it is for us. It looks like the contenders for DH will be Brandon Allen, Chris Carter and Kila Ka'aihue. I want to limit it to those three, because Daric Barton if he resurrects his career is in the field for sure and if the A's were so hesitant with making a young Carter a DH there is no way they do that with Michael Taylor and God forbid should Jai Miller somehow be a member of this team, he is a decent enough fielder that you would want him offsetting his 300 K's with some other facet of his 'game.'" The Jack Zduriencik Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times: "This one is sort of old news already, but Chris Gwynn has been confirmed by the Mariners as their new director of player development. The news broke last week, but the team was unable to confirm it because MLB rules prohibit such announcements during the World Series." The Andrew Friedman Martin Fennelly of The Tampa Tribune: "And so now it is Rays manager Joe Maddon to the St. Louis Cardinals to replace the retiring Tony La Russa, or at least he's one of the rumored candidates, on everyone's list of possible choices. What else is new?" The Jon Daniels Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News: "The Rangers have invited their entire coaching staff back, the immediate upshot of which is retaining mid-season replacement hitting instructor Scott Coolbaugh. General manager Jon Daniels confirmed the entire staff was asked to return and he expects there to be no changes to Ron Washington's coaches." The Alex Anthopoulos Blue Bird Banter: "According to Ken Rosenthal, Tony LaCava has turned down an offer to become Andy MacPhail's successor as the general manager for the Baltimore Orioles."