A few notes:
-P- Jonah Keri writes that re-signing Russell Martin would be risky for the Pirates, mostly because he's playing over his head offensively.
-P- The Braves fired GM Frank Wren after a disappointing season. Wren did a good job piecing together a pitching staff after losing many of his better pitchers to injury this season. Also, Wren has been limited (although to such a small degree that most Pirates fans will probably laugh) by the Braves' payrolls, which have remained roughly flat for over a decade while other teams' have risen. He does, however, have B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla to answer for. John Hart, who presided over those great '90s Indians teams, will serve as the Braves' interim GM.
-P- MLB has created a new committee to study the pace of the game. I used to think beat writers complained this about disproportionately, but the games this year have seemed really long, and I wouldn't mind some modest steps to improve that a bit.