Major League Baseball will announce the AL's Cy Young Award winner later today, and judging by the title of this entry, you probably think I'm choosing CC Sabathia. Well, you'd be wrong. I'm guessing that Kansas City's Zack Greinke takes home the hardware after going 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229 1/3 innings. Greinke had six complete games, which used to be routine back in the Palmer/McNally/Cuellar/Dobson days. Not so much now. He also tossed three shutouts. Voters...

Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke received 25 of a possible 28 first-place votes to win the AL Cy Young Award in a landslide. Seattle's Felix Hernandez, the runner-up, received two first-place votes. Detroit's Justin Verlander had the other first-place vote and finished third. CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay were fourth and fifth, respectively. Greinke also had three second-place votes.

Josh Bell went 1-for-5 with a double in the Phoenix Desert Dogs' 5-4 loss to Scottsdale. Bell (.321) started at third base and batted cleanup. Right fielder Matt Angle led off for the Desert Dogs and went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored. Eddie Gamboa allowed an unearned run and two hits in the bottom of the eighth, which proved costly when Phoenix rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth. Then again, Phoenix already clinched the East Division title and will play in the championship...

I had no idea that Delino DeShields spent the summer as hitting coach for the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League. So you can imagine my reaction when I read yesterday that he was named manager. Delino DeShields? Yep, that guy. I never thought of DeShields as manager material, but the Cincinnati Reds obviously disagree. Perhaps a baserunning instructor, but definitely not a motivational speaker. DeShields, nicknamed "Bop," did a lot of pouting during his three seasons with the...

Major League Baseball will announce its Managers of the Year in the AL and NL later today. I'm predicting that Minnesota's Ron Gardenhire is honored after leading the Twins to the Central Division title, with Texas' Ron Washington and Seattle's Don Wakamatsu also collecting votes. The Twins looked like toast after Justin Morneau was shut down, but they made the playoffs. And it's not like they loaded up on pricey free agents over the winter. After revealing the Orioles' interest in...

The Angels' Mike Scioscia was named the AL's Manager of the Year after receiving 15 first-place votes, 10 for second and one for third. Minnesota's Ron Gardehire was the runner-up. He received six first-place votes, 12 second and six third. The Yankees' Joe Girardi (four, three, five) finished third. Seattle's Don Wakamatsu and Texas' Ron Washington also received first-place votes. Detroit's Jim Leyland garnered two third-place votes. In the NL, Colorado's Jim Tracy took home the...

The Orioles have added six players to their 40-man roster: pitchers Brandon Erbe and Luis Lebron, and infielders Josh Bell, Pedro Florimon, Rhyne Hughes and Brandon Snyder. The roster is at its capacity. Teams must submit their rosters to the MLB office by Friday afternoon. The Orioles could create more room by the deadline and protect other players from the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 10 in Indianapolis, but it's not expected to happen. For now, at least, they've settled on their...

There are not a lot of Orioles producing quality stats so far. It's a short list. But pitcher Jason Berken is on it. In a mild surprise, Berken made the Opening Day staff as a long reliever. After going 6-12, 6.54 in 24 starts in 2009, this role is new to him. In 69 career minor league outings, the 2006 sixth-round draft pick made 66 starts. Last Tuesday, Berken pitched a scoreless inning vs. Tampa, then Wednesday, after Brad Bergesen's early exit, Berken pitched five innings of...

I just read The Sun headline on its Web site and did a spit-take before realizing my mistake. Funk continues as O's lose 4-2 to A's Maybe it's because I'm still half-asleep. In my haste to approve comments this morning, I accidentally deleted the three most recent that were filed (including one from JPA.) I can't retrieve them, so re-submit and I'll post them. And please accept my apologies. Another reminder that I've seen the FoxSports.com story from Ken Rosenthal and I'll try to...

Telling a sad tale: Oakland beat the Orioles 4-2 Friday night and has taken the first two games of this four-game series. The Orioles are 0-2 on a ten-game road trip. That's a 1-10 start and eight losses in a row for the Orioles. They are 1-4 in road games. The Orioles fall to 1-5 in games decided by two runs or less. The Orioles have lost now eight in a row at Oakland dating to July of 2007 and are just 1-12 in their last 13 vs. the A's. Oakland is 67-28 vs. Baltimore since 1999. No...