AL East Notes: Buehrle, Blue Jays, Red Sox

On Saturday night, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber gave the Red Sox a reminder of what they’re missing, Timothy Britton of The Providence Journal writes.  The reigning AL Cy Young winner is the type of frontline pitcher that Boston will seek this winter and interim manager Torey Lovullo fully understands how important a strong ace is to a ball club.

“When a pitcher of his caliber starts working, getting in a rhythm, and has that special day going, it’s going to be a long day for the offense,” Lovullo said. “He was feeling very good and wasn’t throwing any pitch in the middle of the zone.”

Here’s more from the AL East..

• Mark Buehrle’s short start against the Rays today could wind up being his last, an MLB source tells Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM (on Twitter).  While the Blue Jays are advancing to the playoffs, Buehrle is not expected to be a part of the team’s postseason roster.  Buehrle, 37 in March, tried to go two innings today in order to notch his 15th straight year of 200 innings pitched.  However, a rough start and bad defensive play led to Buehrle getting the hook before the end of the first.  Heading into today’s game, Buehrle owned a 3.82 ERA with 4.1 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9.  Since August 1st, however, the veteran has posted a 4.92 ERA and a ghastly 5.67 ERA across his last five outings.
• Matt Silverman overhauled the Rays after taking over last year but he expects things to go a little bit differently this winter, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  “We are champing at the bit for a ’normal’ offseason during which we can focus all our efforts on advancing the organization,” Silverman said. “One byproduct from last offseason was the emergence of many new thoughts and ideas, and now is the time to fully explore them.”
• John Farrell’s battle with cancer has forged an even stronger bond between him and Lovullo, as Gordon Edes of ESPN.com writes.
• On Sunday morning the Red Sox announced that Farrell will be back as manager in 2016. Lovullo, meanwhile, will return as bench coach for 2016 and will not pursue any managerial openings this winter.