Phillies Exercise Ruiz’s 2013 Option

The Phillies have exercised the option of Carlos Ruiz’s option for 2013.

Ruiz, who enjoyed a career season, will make $5 million next year. He hit .325 with 16 home runs and 68 RBIs along with a .935 OPS, all career highs.

Manuel Evaluates Future; Will Wait At End of 2013

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies made news the past day with all their shuffling of the coaching staff.

And though he’s on for 2013, Charlie Manuel has become a hot topic.

With Ryne Sandberg waiting in the wings to be a Major League manager soon, and preferably in Philadelphia, Manuel talked about his plans after 2013 when his current contract is up.

General manager Ruben Amaro made clear that Sandberg was not promised the Phillies job in 2014 and that Sandberg has permission to interview with other teams. Manuel also said that he is not pursuing a contract extension this season and will evaluate what he wants to do after the 2013 season.

MLB News: Astros to AL West in 2013

In a tweet by Matt Gelb under an hour ago, it was brought to some attention that the Houston Astros will be moving to the American League West in 2013.

The two league’s don’t carry an even amount of teams, with the National League boasting 16 teams and AL having 14 to keep a balance within league play. But with the change, the NL Central, which holds six teams, will lose the Astros, who will be going to the four-team AL West.

This move will also create 30 interleague games for teams in 2013.

It will be interesting to see how this move affects interleague play, especially when it comes down to the designated hitter rule. NL teams will now be designing their bench around those 30 games, giving the NL teams either a good fielder to replace a slugger in the line up so they can DH or a designated hitter-type bench player that’s usually used in pinch-hitting situations.

RELEVANT LINKS

CBS has more on the Astros’ apparent move, which will be made official by tomorrow. This is also coming in the wake of a new owner for the Astros coming into fruition. All of this has been talked about the last six weeks.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch weighs in on why this is a good idea for baseball.