MLB Notes: Hurdle, Francona are top managers

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NEW YORK -- Clint Hurdle has won the NL Manager of the Year award after guiding the Pittsburgh Pirates to the playoffs in their first winning season since 1992.

Hurdle was a runaway winner, selected first on 25 of 30 ballots from a Baseball Writers' Association of America panel in voting totals revealed Tuesday. Don Mattingly of the Los Angeles Dodgers was second and Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves finished third.

It is the first Manager of the Year honor for Hurdle. His highest finish had been third in 2007, when he led the Colorado Rockies to the World Series.

The only other Pittsburgh manager to win the award was Jim Leyland in 1990 and 1992. After that, the Pirates endured a record 20 straight losing seasons before going 94-68 this year to capture an NL wild card (see full story).

Yankees: Cashman says club could lose Cano
ORLANDO, Fla. -- New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman concedes that they could be out-bid for free agent second baseman Robinson Cano.

Cashman said Tuesday at baseball's annual gathering of general managers that the Yankees will make a substantial offer but another team could offer more

Cashman doesn't expect Cano to make a quick decision.

The Yankees want to bring in two starting pitchers, adding to a rotation that has holdovers CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova. Hiroki Kuroda has not announced if he will return next season.

Other needs include the left side of the infield, where shortstop Derek Jeter is coming off an injury-marred season due to a broken ankle. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez is appealing a 211-game suspension.

Cashman expects Jeter will be healthy for the start of next season (see full story).

Braves: Turner Field to be demolished
ATLANTA -- When Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed found out a neighboring community had made a generous offer to help finance a new Braves stadium, he balked and said the city simply couldn't compete.

Reed's decision comes a few months after the mayor faced tough criticism for pushing through a plan to use public money to support a new NFL stadium downtown. And it underscores the challenges facing cash-strapped communities nationwide as they weigh the risks and rewards of using public money to help finance major sports venues.

"The bottom line is that the city was presented with a choice, and that choice was encumbering between $150 million to $250 million in debt and not having money to do anything else," Reed said, referring to the city's share of costs for desired improvements at Turner Field.

Instead, the mayor announced Tuesday that Turner Field would be demolished when the Braves leave in 2017, making way for a new large-scale development. Reed has said the city couldn't match Cobb County's offer of $450 million in public support to the Braves, though the team disputes that figure (see full story).

Blue Jays: DeRosa retiring
TORONTO -- Blue Jays infielder Mark DeRosa is retiring after a 16-year major league career.

The team announced DeRosa's decision in a statement Tuesday, less than two weeks after Toronto exercised his $750,000 club option for next season.

The 38-year-old utilityman batted .235 in part-time duty last season, his only year with the Blue Jays. He had seven home runs and 36 RBIs in 204 at-bats over 88 games.

DeRosa finishes his career with a .268 average, 100 home runs and 494 RBIs in 1,241 games with Atlanta, Texas, the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland, St. Louis, San Francisco, Washington and Toronto. He appeared in the playoffs six times and hit .358 with a .980 OPS in 22 games.

DeRosa grew up in New Jersey and attended the University of Pennsylvania.

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