26. Minnesota Twins (70-92) (LW 27) – Phil Hughes made some Major League history this season. His 11.63 K/BB rate is the best all-time among pitchers who qualified with enough innings. Unfortunately, because of a rain delay in his last start, he missed out on a $500,000 bonus by just one-third of an inning.
27. Houston Astros (70-92) (LW 25) – Jose Altuve concluded one of the best offensive seasons in Astros history with a 2-for-4 performance on Sunday to clinch the first batting title ever for an Astros player. He almost didn’t get the chance to play, needing to talk himself into the lineup after team management wanted to hold him out to protect his average.
28. Texas Rangers (67-95) (LW 29) – Now that the season has finally come to an end, the process begins to find the team’s next manager. They will start with interviews for Tim Bogar, Mike Maddux, and Steve Buechele. Whoever gets the job will have to help the team rebound from its worst season since 1985.
29. Colorado Rockies (66-96) (LW 28) –One of the few highlights of the Rockies’ season was the career resurgence of Justin Morneau. His .319 batting average was the third-highest of his career, and good enough for him to claim the N.L. batting crown.
30. Arizona Diamondbacks (64-98) (LW 30) – As the Diamondbacks finished with the worst record in baseball, the organization has hired a new man to oversee the rebuilding process. Dave Stewart was named the new general manager after the firing of Kevin Towers. Among Stewart’s first tasks will be to find the successor to Kirk Gibson, who was also let go.
