Barons Blog

A surgical procedure for Pronk is now a possibility. During his annual post-mortem with reporters Tuesday, general manager Mark Shapiro revealed that designated hitter Travis Hafner's end-of-season physical found his right shoulder to be weaker than anticipated.

Pitcher Rich Harden will be examined either Tuesday or Wednesday before the Cubs make a decision on whether to pick up his $7 million option.

Decisions need to be made about who will start the opening game -- James Shields is the likely candidate -- and who will be on the roster, but those will wait for the coming days. On Tuesday, manager Joe Maddon talked mostly about the Rays' upcoming matchup against their ranking No. 1 rival.

Kosuke Fukudome cleaned out his locker at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Some of the boxes were marked with a black "X." They will be shipped to Japan. Others will go to Mesa, Ariz., in preparation for Spring Training. The question, though, is will Fukudome be ready for next season?

The Rays have the possibility of tinkering with their 25-man postseason roster, a "debate" that executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman expects to mirror that of the AL Division Series, which came down to the deadline before being officially set. Names in the conversation are Troy Percival and Shawn Riggans.

The Phillies are planning to use the same rotation in the National League Championship Series that they used in the NLDS, the team announced Tuesday. Lefty Cole Hamels will get the ball in Game 1 on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park against the Dodgers' Derek Lowe.

Closer Mariano Rivera had a calcified joint in his right shoulder shaved Tuesday. He is expected to be ready to pitch again in time for Spring Training.

Though this is the third time Terry Francona has been to the American League Championship Series in his five years as manager of the Red Sox, it's the first time he's had some real debate over how to line up his pitching rotation.

A midseason trade from the Pirates to the Red Sox seemed like a whole lot of pressure for Jason Bay, yet he seemed to crave it, and he capitalized on it, helping to put the Red Sox in the postseason. But there was this whole playoff thing to encounter. Could Bay handle the pressure that October brings? The "experts" wanted to know.