The Blue Jays announced that they will exercise their option on third baseman Edwin Encarncaion, but will decline to pick up reliever Jon Rauch‘s option making him a free agent, per MLB trade rumors.

The 32-year-old Rauch struggled in his one season in Toronto as he allowed 11 home runs in just 52 innings pitched. Rauch has a decent track record and is only one season removed from a 21-save season with the Twins in which he posted a 3.12 ERA in 59 appearances.

World Series hero David Freese was almost a member of the Red Sox organization. (AP)

Cardinals third baseman David Freese capped off a remarkable postseason by earning World Series MVP honors after hitting .348 with three doubles and seven RBIs as the Cards beat the Rangers in seven games. Freese also had an incredible performance in Game 6 as he kept the Cardinals alive with a game-tying two-run triple in the ninth inning when they were down to their final strike and later hit the game-winning home run in the 11th.

Freese also was named MVP of the National League Championship Series, making him the sixth player to win both honors in the same season.

A native of Missouri, Freese is now a hometown hero after a circuitous route in which he gave up the game for the year — as well as a scholarship offer from the University of Missouri –  before enrolling at an area junior college.

Freese later attended the University of South Alabama, and that’s when Jason McLeod, the Sox former director of amateur scouting, took note.

As the blog Inside the Padres recounts, McLeod tried to sign Freese to a contract before the draft for a bonus of $90,000. As a fifth-year senior, Freese would have been eligible for such a deal.

But the Jaguars reached the College World Series regional playoffs, extending their season through the so-called closed period. The deal was ultimately rejected by the commissioner’s office, making Freese once again eligible for the draft.

McLeod’s mentor, Bill Gayton, also had his eye on Freese, and the Padres drafted him in the ninth round, 10 spots before McLeod was set to make his selection. As McLeod tells writer Tom Krasovic in the post, his mistake was not taking Freese earlier in the draft. The difference in bonus money for Freese was over $80,000.

The Sox wound up taking Ryan Kalish, who reached the big leagues at age 22 in 2010, hitting .252/.305/.405 with four home runs and 11 doubles in 163 at-bats. Kalish had surgery in September to repair a bulging disc in his neck ending a disappointing injury-marred 2011 season.

Kalish played just two weeks for Triple-A Pawtucket before suffering a partial tear of the labrum in his left (throwing) shoulder while diving for a ball. Kalish was able to return in August, but he developed neck pain during his rehabilitation, which ultimately prompted the surgery. If he is able to recover in time for spring training, Kalish could be part of the competition in right field with Josh Reddick.

While Kalish remains full of potential, the 28-year-old Freese reached his this past season when he claimed the starting job at third base with the Cardinals and hit .297/.350/.441 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI in addition to his postseason dramatics.

As it turns out, the Padres also missed on his potential. They traded him for Jim Edmonds, who hit .178 in 2008 before the team released him in May. Of course, so did the other 29 teams that let Freese last until the 273rd pick in the draft.

Red Sox First baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury are among the nominees for the Players Choice Awards, which are voted on by the players.

Gonzalez is a finalist for Player of the Year along with Curtis Granderson and Justin Verlander, while Ellsbury is a finalist for American League Comeback Player of the Year along with Bartolo Colon and Casey Kotchman.

The winners will be announced on the MLB Network on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.

Here are the other finalists:

American League

Outstanding Player: Jose Bautista (Toronto), Adrian Gonzalez (Boston), Curtis Granderson, Jr. (NY Yankees)
Outstanding Pitcher: James Shields (Tampa Bay), Justin Verlander (Detroit), Jered Weaver (LA Angels)
Outstanding Rookie: Jeremy Hellickson (Tampa Bay), Eric Hosmer (Kansas City), Mark Trumbo (LA Angels)
Comeback Player: Bartolo Colon (NY Yankees), Jacoby Ellsbury (Boston), Casey Kotchman (Tampa Bay)

National League

Outstanding Player: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Matt Kemp (LA Dodgers), Justin Upton (Arizona)
Outstanding Pitcher: Roy Halladay (Philadelphia), Ian Kennedy (Arizona), Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers)
Outstanding Rookie: Freddie Freeman (Atlanta), Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta), Vance Worley (Philadelphia)
Comeback Player: Lance Berkman (St. Louis), Jose Reyes (NY Mets), Ryan Vogelsong (San Francisco)

Either League

Player of Year: Adrian Gonzalez (Boston), Curtis Granderson, Jr. (NY Yankees), Justin Verlander (Detroit)
Man of the Year: Paul Konerko (Chicago White Sox), Adam Wainwright (St. Louis), Michael Young (Texas)

David Ortiz

Almost lost in yet another crushing loss was the question that has hung over David Ortiz‘ head all season long. Was this his final home game at Fenway Park as a member of the Red Sox?

“I’m not thinking about that right now,” said Ortiz who will be a free agent after the season. “I’m focusing on winning games and trying to go to the playoffs. I’m not thinking about any of that stuff right now.”

The Sox’ struggles have become an all-consuming affair for the club. After losing 6-4 to the Orioles on Thursday they have now lost 16 of 21 games in the month of September. Their once comfortable margin for reaching for the playoffs has been reduced to 2 1/2 games over both the Rays and Angels.

On Aug. 31 they were nine games in front of Tampa and 10 1/2 ahead of the Angels. They were also leading the AL East, but the Yankees clinched the division on Thursday after sweeping a doubleheader from the Rays.

“The way we’ve been playing, it’s crazy,” Ortiz said. “I’ve never seen anything like that around here since I’ve been here.”

He continued, “If you were to ask me in August about that, if you would have told me that would happen in September [back] in August, I would have laughed at you.”

The Sox were booed off the field by the sellout crowd at Fenway, ending a home schedule that has been filled with so much promise.

“If I’m the fans I would be frustrated too,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been here what, nine years? We’ve never collapsed that bad. Trust me we’ve been through some tough times. It’s bad though. It seems like no matter what we do it’s going to be bad.”

The Sox have been plagued by a myriad of problems from injuries that have decimated the pitching staff and hurt the lineup to fielding woes and a lack of production from the starters and the bullpen. It seems like every night something else goes wrong.

“It’s not one game anymore,” Ortiz said. “It’s hard to deal with.”

Ortiz has been one of the few bright spots this month, hitting .304 with a .415 on-base percentage. His power numbers have sagged a little with just four doubles and one home run, but Ortiz has had a fantastic comeback season with his highest OPS since the 2007 season.

It’s hard to imagine him in another uniform, but uncertainty reigned down along with the boos on a night when the Sox were left struggling for answers. Again.

This is how it’s going for the Red Sox. Josh Beckett pitched well Thursday night, but not well enough. He dominated the Orioles for the first five innings and took a 4-2 lead into the seventh, but then he left a curveball up to Mark Reynolds and the Baltimore slugger crushed it over the wall. Tie game. The silence at Fenway spoke volumes.

The Orioles tacked on two more runs in the eighth and all of a sudden Beckett’s line: 7 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 6 runs didn’t look nearly as good as it had just a half hour previously when he was working on his best performance since late August. It was only the third time this month that a Red Sox starter has worked seven innings in a game — Jon Lester did it the other two times — and the first time since Aug. 14 when a Sox pitcher has worked into the eighth.

And it still wasn’t enough. The Sox lost again, dropping a 6-4 decision to the Orioles and now their fate rests in large part with the Yankees, who beat the Rays in the first game of a doubleheader. After a day off on Thursday, the Sox are headed to the Bronx with an uncertain rotation and an even cloudier future.

Here’s what else went wrong:

WHAT WENT WRONG

- In the third inning Mike Aviles appeared to beat out a play at first base that would have scored a run, but first base umpire Mike Winters called him out. It was the second time in the series that the Sox have lost a run because of an umpiring error.

- Two pitches by Beckett out of 108, two bad results. Reynolds hammered a solo home run in the second that got the Orioles on the board and then demoralized the Fenway crowd with his two-run shot in the seventh.

- Alfredo Aceves got the call in the eighth inning with runners on second and third and one out, and he promptly gave up a two-run single to Vladamir Guerrero. The runs are on Beckett, but once again the Sox bullpen couldn’t deliver in a crucial spot.

- Adrian Gonzalez committed an ultimately benign error when he missed a pickoff throw at first base. It was the Sox 22nd error in their last 21 games. He did make up for it with a diving stop of a Matt Wieters shot in the fourth that robbed the Orioles catcher of a base hit.

- Josh Reddick went 0-for-4 and now has just two hits in his last 22 at-bats.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

- It’s been an eventful week for Carl Crawford, who apologized to Red Sox fans in a blog entry on ESPN and then took some criticism for sitting out both games of Monday’s doubleheader with a stiff neck. Finally there was some good news for the beleaguered left fielder as he tripled and scored a run and later added a two-out, two-run double off the left field wall. Crawford went 3-for-4 and is now 19-for-63 in the month of September (.301). His seven doubles are as many as he’s had in any other month this season.

- Gonzalez must be sad to see the Orioles series come to an end. In four games Gonzalez was 10-for-16 after going 2-for-4 with two singles. This comes on the heels of an 0-for-12 showing against the Rays. Gonzalez now has 208 hits in a season, which set a franchise record for hits by a first baseman, passing the record of 207 previously held by Mo Vaughn in 1996.

- Jacoby Ellsbury continued his streak against the Orioles and now has a hit in 33 straight games against them.

The Rays have gotten used to celebrating against the Red Sox. (AP)

After Tampa Bay reconvened following the All-Star break they sat six games out of first place with a respectable 49-41 record. Manager Joe Maddon told his team that they were still in it, and they were. Less than two weeks later they were 11 1/2 games back and in the words of center fielder B.J. Upton, “A lot of people wrote us off.”

But now? “You can’t ask to be in a better place from where we came from and we’re excited about it,” Upton said.

The Rays are now three games back of the Red Sox in the wild card race after their 9-2 victory at Fenway, Thursday night and while they know they have a long way to go, they can’t help feeling pretty good about where they are in mid-September.

“We know there’s no pressure on us,” Upton said. “We’re just out here having fun. Joe said right after the All-Star break that we’re not out of this thing. Just keep winning ballgames and we’ve done that and here we are, three games back with three more to play against these guys, and a lot of games to make some ground up. We take it day by day and try to win each day and that’s it.”

The one game at a time mentality is of course the oldest cliche in the baseball book, but the Rays have bought into it. And why not? After a night in which they rallied behind an unlikely play in which a ground ball by Upton reached shortstop Marco Scutaro at precisely the same time as a sawed-off bat and kickstarted a four-run inning, Maddon saw it as a sign from above.

“You’re always look for signs,” Maddon said. “The baseball heavens, the baseball gods, they’ve got to throw you a sign every once in a while and they’ve got to give you to further the belief. Believe me, when I saw that I thought, ‘Hey let’s see what’s going to happen the rest of the game.”

What happened is that Evan Longoria followed up with a three-run homer, Casey Kotchman hit just his eighth career home run against left-handed pitcher and Upton crushed the laws of physics when he sent a monster shot over the Monster and through the nasty winds that were blowing across Fenway.

“Actually, I had my back turned,” Maddon said. “I was talking and I heard it. I could tell from the sound of the bat, wow. I never saw it, but I heard it.”

The ways of baseball are weird, but there’s nothing mystical about the Rays’ success against Boston this season. Their pitchers have compiled a 2.58 ERA, allowing just 31 earned runs in 108 innings, helping them to a 10-5 mark and six straight wins against the Sox.

“Honestly, I have no tremendous revelations or understanding,” Maddon said. “I know we get really jacked up to play these guys. Our pitching is good. Maybe it’s just a higher level of execution versus them by our guys, I don’t know. I’ve never really sat there and tried to break it down.”

The old storyline about the small-market Rays chasing the big boys in New York and Boston? They’re beyond that now.

“I think you could have said that in the past, but we’re kind of past that,” Upton said. “They know we have a good ballclub and we know they’re always going to have a good ballclub. We’re not really looking at the payroll or anything like that. We got to go out and play and we feel like we match up well and we’ll see what happens.”

And yet.

Despite all that good feeling — and all that pitching — the Rays are still chasing.

“To tell you the truth, I would rather be three up at this point,” Johnny Damon said. “We do have to play the teams we’re trying to catch. It’s going to definitely come down to the last couple of days, if not the last.”

Damon knows as well as anyone how dangerous the Sox are and how much work they have to do with seven more games against the Yankees on top of the three they have left at Fenway. “When you talk about the American League East, it’s almost like the SEC [in football],” Damon said.

Damon was asked how he thought his old team was following after their latest loss. “Hopefully like [David] Ortiz said, they’re in panic mode,” he said before turning serious. “They have so many good players who have been through tough times in the past. The only thing we can really think about is how these guys in here feel. We can’t really be worried about how they’re doing.”

So the Rays keep plugging away, staying in the race and keeping the pressure on Boston and living for today.

“It’s one game and it’s great to get the first one like we did, but it’s about Friday night now,” Maddon said. “Let’s win tomorrow’s game and move on from there. You have to do that. You’ve got to think of it in those terms. If you start getting clumpy with your thoughts and you’re thinking four in a week and how many games you’ve got left, it’s really going to get in the way. Just stay in the present tense.”

The present being a far better place for the Rays then where they were less than two months ago.

Kyle Weiland was cruising right along having retired the first seven batters of the game and that’s when things unraveled. The big play in the inning involved a shattered bat and a ground ball to Marco Scutaro that could have put Weiland back to the dugout without a scratch.

Instead the chunk of B.J. Upton‘s bat — and the ball — got to Scutaro at the same time and the shortstop pulled up avoiding contact withe the bat shard and allowing it to go into left field, scoring a run and prolonging the inning. That set the stage for Evan Longoria who crushed a three-run home run into the Red Sox bullpen.

The damage done, the Sox dropped the opener, 9-2, in this crucial four-game series and saw their lead in the wild card race sliced to three games. The Rays have now won six straight against Boston and hold a 10-5 lead in the season series. In those 15 games, Tampa starters have compiled a 2.58 ERA.

It would have been asking a lot of Weiland in just his fourth career start to keep the Sox in a game on a night when they were once again shutdown by Tampa’s pitchers. The task falls to Josh Beckett, who makes his return to the mound on Friday against James Shields in what is shaping up as the most important game of the season.

Here’s what else went wrong on a wasted night for the Sox:

WHAT WENT WRONG

- After the Rays out four runs on the board in the top of the third, the bottom of the inning had all the makings of a big response after Jarrod Saltalamacchia (walk) and Scutaro (single) reached base to open the inning. Dustin Pedroia then drew a one-out walk to load the bases but Adrian Gonzalez grounded out, and after an intentional walk to David Ortiz loaded the bases again, Kevin Youkilis grounded out to third. The Sox got only one run out of the frame and let Tampa starter Jeremy Hellickson off the hook.

Hellickson threw 74 pitches through the first three innings but needed only eight to get through the fourth. He set down the side again in the fifth and while he only gave up one run on three hits, he also walked four and struggled to command the zone. The Sox had their chances.

- Jacoby Ellsbury‘s hitting streak ended at 18 games, one game shy of matching his season high. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez and Youkilis were a combined 0-for-13 with four strikeouts.

- Weiland was undone by bad luck, but he also put himself in a bad position by losing control of the strike zone. Working almost exclusively off his fastball, Weiland was a strike-throwing machine before the third inning, but when he started working behind in the count, the Rays pounced.

- The Sox defense didn’t do Weiland any favors. In addition to the Scutaro play, Pedroia committed an error in the fourth on what could have been a double-play ball. That was the end of the night for Weiland.

- Franklin Morales surrendered a two-run laser shot to Casey Kotchman in the sixth. For Kotchman, it was just his second home run against left-handed pitching this season and only the eighth of his career.

- Presented without comment, Matt Albers‘  numbers in his last dozen appearances: 10 2/3 innings, 22 hits, 20 runs, 10 walks and four home runs. He lasted only a third of an inning, giving up two walks and a home run to Upton.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

- On the flipside of the defensive miscues, Gonzalez saved a run with a fine play on what appeared to be a safety squeeze by John Jaso. Gonzalez got Johnny Damon at the plate with an underhand toss to Saltalamacchia.

- Lefty Trever Miller had a perfect Sox debut, getting out an inherited jam in the fourth by retiring three straight batters (all left-handed) with two runners already on base.

- Making his first appearance in a week, Andrew Miller recorded four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

- Jose Iglesias recorded his Major League hit with a two-out single in the ninth.