Major League Baseball roundup

[September 26, 2014]  Sept 25 (The Sports Xchange) - The Minnesota Twins reached out to pitcher Phil Hughes on Thursday to offer him an opportunity to earn a $500,000 bonus that he barely missed out on because of a rain delay, but the the right-hander politely declined.

Hughes was one out short of reaching 210 innings pitched for the season, which would have given him the bonus, when a one-hour rain delay prevented him from returning to pitch the ninth inning in the Twins' 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

The Twins on Thursday gave Hughes the option of pitching in relief during the weekend to reach 210 innings, but he said his season is over and that he did not want to risk injury just to collect the money.

Hughes finishes the 2014 season with a 16-10 record, a 3.52 ERA and a major league record for walks-to-strikeout ratio with 16 walks and 186 strikeouts.

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Former third baseman Phil Nevin has emerged as a leading candidate to become the next manager of the Houston Astros.

Nevin managed the Arizona Diamondacks' Triple-A affiliate Reno to an 81-63 record this past season. The Diamondbacks granted the Astros permission to interview Nevin, who spent most of his major league career with the San Diego Padres. He did play briefly for the Astros in 1995.

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The New York Mets ended third baseman David Wright's season on Sept. 8. At that time, Wright said he was relieved to find out he did not need surgery and that he hoped to be 100 percent by the time the Mets report to spring training in February.

Wright found out this week he has ligament damage in his shoulder and is now hoping to avoid surgery. He told the New York Daily News that he had an "instability" in his non-throwing shoulder and has started a six-week rehab program at his offseason home. When he finishes the program, Wright will return to New York to be examined by team doctors. If his shoulder has gained enough strength, he might be able to avoid surgery.

Wright finished the season with .269 average, the second-lowest average of his career. He set career lows with eight homers, a .324 on-base percentage and a .374 slugging percentage. He had 63 RBIs, his fourth-lowest total behind only his rookie season in 2004 (when he played just 69 games) and his injury-shortened 2011 and 2013 seasons.

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Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss will require offseason microfracture surgery on his right hip.

The Athletics remain in the thick of the wild-card race with just a handful of games to be played. While Moss was unavailable Wednesday, he is expected to be able to be available to play this weekend against Texas.

Moss, an All-Star this season, said the previously unreported problem has affected him much of the year and that an MRI showed so much torn cartilage that he has bone-on-bone issues.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Thursday that Dave Stewart is the team's new general manager.

The Diamondbacks also named De Jon Watson as senior vice president of baseball operations. Both Stewart and Watson will serve under chief baseball officer Tony La Russa, a Baseball Hall of Fame manager.

The 57-year-old Stewart replaces Kevin Towers, who was fired and offered a new position in the front office. He is evaluating the opportunity.

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Even though he has played in only one game since Sept. 5, Josh Hamilton said there is "no doubt" that he will play when the Angels start postseason play.
 

The Angels slugger has been sidelined with a sore shoulder and a rib injury. The pain is gone, Hamilton said Wednesday. He expects to participate in a simulated game before the division series begins on Oct. 2. He also said his role will not only be that of the designated hitter, but he expects to play in the field, too. (Editing by Gene Cherry)

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