* Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that the Padres “are moving closer” to hiring Red Sox assistant general manager Jed Hoyer as their new GM. Hoyer was still in college when the man he’d be replacing, Kevin Towers, started running the Padres in 1995. He’s previously interviewed for GM jobs with the Nationals and Pirates, and has been with the Red Sox since 2002. * Livan Hernandez has earned over $50 million in salary during 14 seasons in the majors, including $5 million last year, but Robert Snell of the Detroit News reports that he “faces foreclosure on his $1.3 million Miami home” and is being sued by various creditors. * If the Philadelphia-Los Angeles series goes to a Game 6, the Phillies will likely turn to Pedro Martinez. He threw a bullpen session yesterday after hurling seven shutout innings in Game 2. * I’m not sure where this joke originated, but several people sent it to me in the wake of the various umpiring screwups and ... well, it amuses me:
Link-O-Rama: Hoyer, Livan, Pedro, The Devil
Published October 21, 2009 11:33 AM
One day the devil challenged god to a baseball game. Smiling, god proclaimed, “You don’t have a chance. I have Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and all the greatest players up here.” “Yes,” snickered the devil, “but I have all the umpires!”