Breaking news from the Department of Obvious Affairs - MLB

A couple of AL West transactiony things that, upon reading them, made me say “well, duh”:

The Angels are not likely to bring Hideki Matsui back next year. Godzilla has hit pretty darn well over the past month. But it’s still been a down season for him overall, he’s a free agent after the season is over, he’s 36, he can’t play defense anymore and the Angels have given off approximately 136 signals this year that they intend to use Bobby Abreu as their DH next season. But other than that . . .

The Rangers are going to bring back Ron Washington as their manager next year. Texas may be struggling right now, but this has been a fine season for them and there have been umpteen stories about how great the atmosphere is in the Rangers’ clubhouse, thanks in large part to Washington. With all of the distractions surrounding the sale of the club — distractions which filtered down through the front office and caused at least some job security anxiety among Rangers’ employees — it would have been easy for gloominess to seep into the clubhouse too. It didn’t, and Washington deserves a lot of the credit for that.

Next reports I expect to see: the Mariners may make a change or two this winter and Jerry Manuel could be on the hot seat in New York.

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee Thursday fielding a grounder in a spring training game and is expected to miss a significant amount of time.

The Phillies did not say when Hoskins would have the surgery or exactly how long the slugging first baseman might be sidelined.

Hoskins hit 30 homers with 79 RBIs last season for the reigning National League champions.

He was backing up to play a chopper on Thursday when the ball popped out of his glove. Sooner after, he fell to the ground and began clutching his left knee. Teammates gathered around him before he was taken off of the field.

Hoskins, a free agent at the end of the season who turned 30 last week, hit six homers in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

The injury was another blow for the Phillies, who will be without top pitching prospect Andrew Painter for another few weeks because of a sprained ligament in his right elbow. And slugger Bryce Harper isn’t expected back until around the All-Star break after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.