In Cleveland, Paul Hoynes notes the Indians this season "drew 1,388,905 in 78 home dates" after drawing 1,437,393 fans in 79 home dates last season. This year's attendance "was the smallest in the history of Progressive Field" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/5). Meanwhile, also in Cleveland, Zack Meisel notes the Indians yesterday honored outgoing team President Mark Shapiro prior to the season finale at Progressive Field with a "series of photos on the scoreboard." Shapiro, who will join the Blue Jays as President & CEO, "caught ceremonial first pitches from his two kids, Caden and Sierra." Shapiro "has worked in the Indians' front office for nearly 25 years," starting in the organization's player development department and working his way up to GM (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/5).
ROCKIN' ROBIN: ESPN CHICAGO's Doug Padilla noted White Sox manager Robin Ventura will be back for "at least the start" of the '16 season. White Sox Senior VP & GM Rick Hahn said, "The message at the end of the day is about (how) nobody here cares more about getting us back to win a championship as quickly as possible as the people making these decisions." Padilla noted White Sox fans "took to social media Friday to express disagreement with Hahn’s decision." Some went as far as to say that they "will stay away from the ballpark as long as Ventura is the manager" (ESPN.com, 10/2).
BYE BYE BIRDIE? Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette said of the team's season, "We could have done a lot of things better. We were hoping to build on the success from a year ago and we didn't quite get there. Some of the guys we brought in didn't perform to the level we had expected. And some of the guys that were already here and have been here for a couple years also didn't perform the way they had established over the years." In Baltimore, Dan Connolly noted Duquette last winter "was caught up in his own months-long drama," which makes matters "more complicated." Duquette had a "public dalliance" with the Blue Jays to become the team's next president, but he "dismissed conjecture that he wasn't fully engaged in making the Orioles better last offseason" (Baltimore SUN, 10/4).
PRICEY PUSH: In Detroit, Lynn Henning notes Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch "is expected to soon sit" with recently named Exec VP & GM Al Avila to decide how the team "will attack 2016." All indications point to Ilitch "making a full-throttle push for the playoffs and a shot at the World Series his team has yet to win." Any attempt to make a last-place Tigers team playoff-grade in '16 "will be enormously expensive." It could bring a payroll already in the $150M range to something near $200M, and it "could mean the Tigers will eclipse big-league baseball's luxury-tax ceiling" of $189M and face a 17.5% penalty on every dollar paid beyond $189M (DETROIT NEWS, 10/5).
