In Cleveland, Zack Meisel notes the Indians yesterday announced the creation of the Larry Doby Youth Fund, with the players, coaching staff, support staff, Owner Paul Dolan and minority owner John Sherman having “combined to donate” $1M to “provide assistance to Cleveland's underserved youth.” The players and coaches “accounted for about half of the financial commitment.” Local charity the Cleveland Foundation will “administer the fund, which will assist in working with providing educational assistance and resources to help curb youth violence” (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 10/6).
TIGER BY THE TAIL: Tigers Exec VP/Baseball Operations & GM Al Avila yesterday said he “received the go-ahead” from team Owner Mike Ilitch to retain manager Brad Ausmus. In Detroit, Bob Wojnowski notes Avila “cited several reasons” for keeping Ausmus, including that the team “continued to battle through injuries and made a 12-win improvement over last season.” Avila “hedged his bet by not extending the contract" beyond next season and “copped to the obvious, that poor free-agent signings were his responsibility.” Avila: “I gotta put all the blame on myself, those guys who didn’t perform” (DETROIT NEWS, 10/6).
MONEY BALL: In Newark, Randy Miller notes the Yankees “should have money to spend” this winter even if Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner “insists on trimming payroll to avoid a luxury tax for the first time since it began” in ‘03. The Yankees have about $60M coming off their ‘16 season-opening payroll of $226M, but the luxury-tax threshold has been at $189M since ‘14 and is “expected to be negotiated up this season by owners and the union,” probably at least to $200M (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 10/6).
