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Quick Hits: McCourt, Maholm, Mariners, Axford

Another night, another pair of exciting LCS games.  The Tigers succeeded in stretching the ALCS to a sixth game while the Brewers evened the NLCS at 2-2 with the Cardinals. 

Here's the latest from around the majors....

• Frank McCourt's decision to take the Dodgers into bankruptcy means he could become the rare pro sports owner to sell his team and have no profits to show for it, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
• The Pirates haven't yet declined Paul Maholm's $9.75MM option for 2012 yet, and MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch explains that the Bucs are trying to find a trade partner who "A) thinks $9.75 million is a fair cost for Maholm and B) doesn’t want to take the risk of letting Maholm go into the free agent market."
• Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times examines the Mariners' franchise value and how it may impact the club's payroll in the coming seasons.
• The Mariners erred not once, not twice, but thrice in not keeping Ramon Santiago, writes Larry Larue of the Tacoma News Tribune.
• John Axford was released without fanfare by the Yankees after the 2007 season, long before Axford rose to prominence as the Brewers' closer.  Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal looks back at the circumstances behind Axford's release.
• The Giants won't be able to afford the likes of Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes or C.C. Sabathia this winter, but MLB.com's Chris Haft believes the club "will make a genuine offer to re-sign Carlos Beltran."  Beltran, for his part, said last month that he was open to returning to San Francisco if the team added more offense to the lineup.
• The week's minor league transactions are compiled by Baseball America's Matt Eddy.
• Diamondbacks CEO and president Derrick Hall predicts a "relatively quiet offseason" for his team since most of the major pieces are already in place.  Hall also discusses Aaron Hill, Willie Bloomquist and several other topics in his monthly chat with fans on MLB.com.
• Baseball America's Jim Callis profiles Sean Buckley, the Reds' sixth-round pick in the June amateur draft and the son of Chris Buckley, Cincinnati's senior director of amateur scouting.
• A multiyear extension for Jacoby Ellsbury, moving Daniel Bard to the starting rotation and a possible run at Jose Reyes are a few of the suggestions made by Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston that would help the Red Sox put their catastrophic month behind them and focus on returning to the playoffs next year.
• Writing for Baseball Prospectus, Rany Jazayerli breaks down how just a year of age difference between teenage prospects reveals huge differences in projected production.  "At least when it comes to high school hitters, young draft picks are a MASSIVE market inefficiency," Jazayerli writes.

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