Headlines of October 14, 2015 “Curtain rises on prospect-packed Fall League” … Jim Callis, MLB.com “Commissioner Rob Manfred exploring changes to takeout slide rule” … Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune “Some Sox fans bring the love during Cubs' glory days” … Donna Vickroy, Chicago Tribune “White Sox first fan President Obama congratulates Cubs on Twitter” … CSN Chicago “White Sox fan President Obama tweets at Cubs after NLDS win” … FOX Sports Curtain rises on prospect-packed Fall League Jim Callis / MLB.com | October 12th, 2015 Baseball's annual preview of coming attractions, better known as the Arizona Fall League, raised the curtain on its 24th season Tuesday. Play began with the Mesa Solar Sox visiting the Glendale Desert Dogs and the Peoria Javelinas hosting the Surprise Saguaros. Glendale features the highest-rated prospect in the league, Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford (No. 5 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 list), and Minor League home run leader A.J. Reed (Astros). Mesa counters with a top shortstop prospect of its own in Daniel Robertson (Rays), who batted .301 for the Solar Sox last fall. Surprise's lineup is powered by outfielders Brett Phillips (Brewers) and Lewis Brinson (Rangers). Peoria boasts a pair of former first-round picks in shortstop Alex Blandino (Cardinals) and corner infielder D.J. Peterson (Mariners). The first night game of the season featured the Scottsdale Scorpions at the crosstown Salt River Rafters, the AFL's defending champions. Salt River has one of the deepest lineups in the league, led by two Mets first-round picks, shortstop Gavin Cecchini and first baseman Dominic Smith. Scottsdale's headliner is Indians outfielder Clint Frazier, the fifth overall pick in the 2013 Draft. The AFL's lone Top 100 pitching prospect, right-hander Alex Reyes (Cardinals), will take the mound on Thursday for the Saguaros. The best left-handers, Sean Manaea (Athletics) of the Solar Sox and Kyle Freeland (Rockies) of the Rafters, will make their first starts on Wednesday. 2015 Arizona Fall League rosters AFL club MLB clubs Glendale CWS, HOU, LAD, PHI, PIT Peoria ATL, BAL, CIN, SD, SEA Salt River ARI, COL, NYM, TOR, WSH Surprise KC, MIL, NYY, STL, TEX Scottsdale BOS, CLE, DET, MIN, SF Mesa CHC, LAA, MIA, OAK, TB This type of talent is typical for the league, which has sent roughly 2,500 players to the big leagues, including Derek Jeter, Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey, Max Scherzer and Mike Trout. The AFL has spawned 231 All-Stars (including 42 from this summer's game alone), 25 Rookies of the Year, 14 MVPs and five Cy Young Award winners. Several members of this year's historic rookie class played in the AFL, including the last two league MVPs, Kris Bryant and Greg Bird, as well as Francisco Lindor, Joc Pederson and Addison Russell. Each of MLB's 30 organizations sends at least a half-dozen prospects to Arizona, where they'll play six games per week in a regular-season schedule that runs through Nov. 19. The two division leaders will meet Nov. 21 in a one-game championship that will be broadcast live on MLB Network. MLBN also will broadcast the Fall Stars Game on Nov. 7, a Military Appreciation Game between Salt River and Surprise on Nov. 14, and other regular-season games to be announced. Besides giving prospects six more weeks of at-bats and innings to hone their skills, the AFL also provides an opportunity to make up for time lost to injury. Reyes missed a month at midseason with minor shoulder soreness and totaled 101 1/3 innings. Manaea lost the first half to abdominal and groin strains and worked just 74 1/3 frames this season, while Freeland pitched just 46 2/3 amid battling bone chips in his elbow and shoulder fatigue. 2015 MLB.com Top Prospects: Alex Reyes has emerged as the pre-eminent power arm in the Cardinals system Among position players, Robertson was limited to 82 games by a broken hamate bone in his left hand. Peterson played in just 97 contests and saw his season end on Aug. 1 with an Achilles strain. Another former first-rounder, Mesa first baseman Casey Gillaspie (Rays), was held to 79 games after he injured his left wrist on a swing. 2015 MLB.com Top Prospects: Daniel Robertson has a compact stroke, controls the strike zone and utilizes the entire field Even big leaguers use the AFL on their way back from injuries. Surprise infielder Jurickson Profar (Rangers), who once ranked as the best prospect in the Minors, missed all of 2014 and appeared in just 12 games (none above low Class A) this year after he tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder. Peoria left-hander James Paxton made only 13 starts for the Mariners while dealing with a strained tendon and torn fingernail. Top 100 Prospects Eleven players from MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list are on AFL rosters. Glendale (Crawford, Pirates outfielder Austin Meadows, Reed), Salt River (Cecchini, Smith, Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia) and Surprise (Reyes, Phillips, Brinson) lead the way with three each. The Mets (Cecchini, Smith) are the only organization that sent multiple Top 100 Prospects to Arizona. Here's the complete list: J.P. Crawford, SS, Glendale/Phillies (No. 5 on Top 100) Alex Reyes, RHP, Surprise/Cardinals (No. 16) Austin Meadows, OF, Glendale/Pirates (No. 22) Brett Phillips, OF, Surprise/Brewers (No. 32) Clint Frazier, OF, Scottsdale/Indians (No. 35) Lewis Brinson, OF, Surprise/Rangers (No. 65) Daniel Robertson, SS, Mesa/Rays (No. 79) Gavin Cecchini, SS, Salt River/Mets (No. 90) A.J. Reed, 1B, Glendale/Astros (No. 91) Dominic Smith, 1B, Salt River/Mets (No. 92) Raimel Tapia, OF, Salt River, Rockies (No. 99) Top Organization Prospects Below is a list of each organization's top-rated AFL prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com: Angels: Greg Mahle, LHP, Mesa (No. 15 on organization list) Astros: A.J. Reed (No. 5) Athletics: Sean Manaea, LHP, Mesa (No. 3) Blue Jays: Rowdy Tellez, 1B, Salt River (No. 7) Braves: Lucas Sims, RHP, Peoria (No. 7) Brewers: Brett Phillips (No. 2) Cardinals: Alex Reyes (No. 1) Cubs: Pierce Johnson, RHP, Mesa (No. 7) Diamondbacks: Yoan Lopez, RHP, Salt River (No. 5) Dodgers: Jharel Cotton, RHP, Glendale (No. 15) Giants: Christian Arroyo, SS, Scottsdale (No. 2) Indians: Clint Frazier (No. 2) Mariners: D.J. Peterson, 3B/1B, Peoria (No. 3) Marlins: Austin Dean, OF, Mesa (No. 7) Mets: Gavin Cecchini (No. 4) Nationals: Drew Ward, 3B, Salt River (No. 11) Orioles: Chance Sisco, C, Peoria (No. 8) Padres: Ryan Butler, RHP, Peoria (No. 11) Phillies: J.P. Crawford (No. 1) Pirates: Austin Meadows (No. 2) Rangers: Lewis Brinson (No. 4) Rays: Daniel Robertson (No. 5) Red Sox: Sam Travis, 1B, Scottsdale (No. 11) Reds: Nick Travieso, RHP, Peoria (No. 6) Rockies: Raimel Tapia (No. 8) Royals: Bubba Starling, OF, Surprise (No. 5) Tigers: Austin Kubitza, RHP, Scottsdale (No. 8) Twins: Adam Brett Walker, OF, Scottsdale (No. 10) White Sox: Trey Michalczewski, 3B, Glendale (No. 6) Yankees: Gary Sanchez, C, Surprise (No. 5) Commissioner Rob Manfred exploring changes to takeout slide rule Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune October 13, 2015 After the success of the so-called Buster Posey rule to protect catchers from home plate collisions, baseball is now looking to alter the rule on takeout slides. “We started talking to the union about this,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said before Game 4 of the Cubs-Cardinals NLDS at Wrigley Field. “It is another example of player safety, which is really high on our radar screen. We’ve got a lot of money invested in ballplayers. The players themselves have tremendous playing opportunities in terms of what they can earn and I think it’s important we protect them.” The proposed change stems from two recent incidents- Chris Coghlan’s slide into Jung Ho Kang that broke the leg of the Pirates’ shortstop on Sept. 17, and Chase Utley’s slide into Ruben Tejada that broke Tejada’s leg last Saturday in Game 2 of the Dodgers-Mets NLDS. Utley received a two-game suspension, which is under appeal and will be heard Monday in New York. Manfred said MLB has heard from management about the issue, and he expects to also hear from Players Union head Tony Clark. “It’s a natural follow up to the home plate (collision rule) change,” he said. “We had the situation in Pittsburgh with the player there (Kang) that brings into focus how damaging it can be to a club, and obviously to the players." Is a new rule really needed? “I think the sentiment we’re getting from clubs is making a change in this area makes sense,” he said. “And it’s important to protect what are very valuable assets.” Manfred also said MLB is exploring rules that would add netting to areas in ballparks after several injuries from flying bats and foul balls this season. "The biggest challenge for us is our ballparks are really, really different," he said. "It’s not like it’s a uniform rink size. You have to really think through what you are doing in order to develop regulations that applies in a place like Wrigley and applies in a place like Oakland, which may be opposite ends of the spectrum." Manfred said there won’t be any upcoming changes in the wild-card game format, despite the fact that teams with the second and third-best records in baseball -- the Cubs and Pirates -- met in the do-or-die NL wild-card game. “Look, I am really comfortable with the playoff format we have now,” he said.