A few quick notes on World Series eve:

(*) The Twins drafted Gophers WR Eric Decker in the 27th round this year but no longer have his rights. The deadline to sign him was Aug. 17, and Decker had committed to playing football. Now, Decker is out for the season and might need surgery to repair a sprained foot. Though Decker hadn’t planned to play baseball for the Gophers next spring, the Twins or one of the other 29 MLB clubs could still draft him, hoping he reconsiders a baseball career.

(*) The Astros and Indians reportedly both made managerial offers to Manny Acta on Saturday, and he chose the Indians, who offered a third year guaranteed, while the Astros offered two years with an option. This makes it look like the Astros had to settle for Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills. But I think both of these hires are solid.

I first met Acta in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic during the 2004 Caribbean Series. I was covering the Orioles, and they had just signed Miguel Tejada, who was playing for Acta on the Dominican squad along with David Ortiz. It always stuck with me, how much passion Acta, Tejada and Ortiz showed in winning that tournament.

Acta received good reviews during his first year managing the Nationals, in 2007, when they went 73-89. Some questioned Acta’s passion before the Nationals fired him this year, after a 26-61 start, but the team’s talent was so thin, it was a hard situation to assess. I felt he deserved another chance somewhere else.

I don’t know Mills personally, but I’ve heard terrific things from people in the game I really respect. My hunch is both of these managers will help steer their clubs in the right direction.

(*) I don’t remember the last time I got a World Series prediction right, but I am looking forward to this Yankees/Phillies matchup and believe it has promise for a long, captivating series. I’d like the Phillies’ chances more if they were starting LHPs Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in the first two games at Yankee Stadium. Manager Charlie Manuel’s decision to start Pedro Martinez over Hamels in Game 2 is an easy first guess, but Manuel knows this situation far better than me, and it would be great theater to see Pedro prove him right Thursday (weather permitting).

The Yankees have looked unstoppable this month, but all the numbers change to zero again. This is A-Rod’s first Fall Classic, so no matter what kind of zone he’s been in, he has to prove himself yet again. The bullpen edge seems to favor the Yankees, especially with Mariano. Then again, Brad Lidge said he’s finally feeling healthy again for the Phillies, and that can make all the difference.

Almost all my instincts tell me to pick the Yankees in 5, but I’m taking the Phillies in 6.

I’m heading to Kansas City this morning. Short on time — just like the Twins — so here’s a quick update on that team they’re chasing:

1) Verlander vs. Carrasco turned into a nail biter Friday. A 6-5 win for Detroit that was antacid close, John Lowe writes in the Detroit Free Press. That win extended the Tigers’ lead to three games. (Corrected)

2) LHP Bobby Seay will have an MRI exam on his left shoulder. This is a sizable development because Seay is the Tigers’ top lefthander in the bullpen, and counted on to handle the Twins lefthanded threats, specifically Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel. After Seay, the Tigers best lefthanded relief option is Fu-Te Ni.

3) The Tigers play at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field tonight, with RHP Eddie Bonine (0-0, 5.96) making the start opposite RHP Jake Peavy (1-0, 5.40).

Note: Check back here later for tonight’s starting lineups, as the Twins open a three-game series in Kansas City. For a series preview, click here.

1) They open a three-game series tonight at Cleveland, which is 3-17 in its past 20 games. Sounds like an easy assignment until you remember the Royals were riding a 3-15 stretch into their first series against the Tigers this month. Detroit had won six straight but wound up getting swept.

2) Edwin Jackson, who is 2-2 with a 6.03 ERA in his past five starts, pitches for the Tigers tonight, opposite Cleveland’s Aaron Laffey (7-6, 4.09 ERA). Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp told the Detroit Free Press he believes Jackson has been tipping his pitches. Knapp, the former Twins minor-league pitching coordinator, describes other mechanical things they are working on with Jackson, but sometimes pitchers hit a wall, and Jackson has thrown a career-high 195 innings.

2.5) On Wednesday, it’s Rick Porcello (13-9, 4.22) vs. Cleveland’s Justin Masterson (4-8, 4.49). Thursday is another night game, and holy mismatch: Justin Verlander (16-9, 3.44) vs. Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 9.64). In this piece, Free Press beat writer John Lowe lists several reasons the Tigers can hold on to win the division.

We’d been tracking the Tigers, but since the Twins play the White Sox and Royals before heading to Detroit, we’ll include them on this list, too. Here are 10 quick things to know about the AL Central heading into the second-to-last week.

1) The Tigers are off today. This is their final open date of the season. So the Twins will be 2.5 or 3.5 games back after tonight, and the number will become round again Thursday, when the Twins have their final open date of the season.

2) The White Sox are toast. Trailing the Tigers by 6 1/2 games, they do control their own fate because they have six games remaining with Detroit, but Chicago basically sealed the coffin by losing four of its past five games.

3) RHP Daniel Hudson, 22, will make his first major league start for Chicago tonight against the Twins. The White Sox drafted him in the fifth round last year out of Old Dominion, the same school that produced Justin Verlander. The 6-4 Hudson has had a Matt Garza-like rise through the Sox farm system this year, racing from Class A, to Class AA to Class AAA and now the majors. In those three minor-league stops, he combined to go 14-5 with a 2.32 ERA with 166 Ks and 34 BBs in 147.1 IP.

On Aug. 20, Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote about Hudson in his Daily Dish, and scouts described a 90-93 mph fastball, an above-average change-up and a solid 81-86 mph slider. Hudson has made three relief appearances for the White Sox since his September callup, allowing 3 ER and 6 H with 0 BB and 4 Ks in 5.2 IP.

4) In the Detroit Free Press, John Lowe suggests Sunday’s Tigers victory might have been their biggest road win since Game 1 of the 2006 ALCS over Oakland, noting that Nate Robertson and Placido Polanco played big roles in each.

5) Neat to hear how the Tigers rallied around Don Kelly, who lost Orlando Cabrera’s fly ball in the Metrodome roof on Saturday. In this piece, he says every member of the team came up and said something encouraging.

6) Guessing the atmosphere tonight at U.S. Cellular Field will be far less raucous than the one Nick Blackburn experienced last Sept. 30, in that one-game tiebreaker. In this piece, the Chicago Tribune’s Dave van Dyck describes Sunday’s announced crowd of 22,798 as “widely scattered and very quiet.”

7) Meanwhile, the Royals are 10-3 in their past 13 games, again relishing their role as September spoilers.

8 ) Robinson Tejeda is wreaking havoc on the AL Central, and his next start would likely come Friday against the Twins. Tejeda, who defeated Detroit in his two previous starts, made it three straight wins Sunday, holding the White Sox to 1 R and 3 H in 6 IP. As Bob Dutton notes in the Kansas City Star, Tejeda has allowed just 2 R and 9 H in 22.1 IP since replacing sore-shouldered Gil Meche.

9) Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke remained on track to pitch Tuesday against Boston, after taking a line drive off his right forearm. That would keep Greinke in line to pitch Sunday against the Twins, who have somehow avoided facing him all season. LHP Lenny DiNardo, who pitches tonight against Boston, would be the likely Saturday starter against the Twins.

10) Finally, the KC Star’s national baseball writer, Sam Mellinger, adds to the Joe Mauer-for-MVP conversation with an interesting point about the 22 games Mauer missed in April. Figure a catcher plays just 18 of those games, if you saddle Mauer’s otherworldly numbers with replacement-level production for those 18 games, he STILL would be hitting .356/.422/.580, which STILL would give him the modern Triple Crown.

Note: La Velle is our point man in Chicago, so head to his blog for tonight’s starting lineups, etc. For a series preview, click here. I’ll be on the KC and Detroit legs of this make-or-break trip for the Twins.

We have all kinds of material previewing the Twins/Tigers series, so be sure to check these links. Meanwhile, this recurring list of things to know about the Tigers is getting shorter, along with their AL Central lead:

1) Detroit’s home/road success mirrors the Twins’. The Tigers are 48-26 at home and 30-42 on the road. That’s why it’s so important for the Twins to take advantage this weekend. I don’t believe they need a sweep to stay alive, but they do need to win the series.

2) The Tigers rank 11th in the American League in runs scored, at 4.6 per game. The Twins rank sixth at 4.9. So the Tigers haven’t scored like the Twins, and suddenly their rotation is riddled with questions, too. Rick Porcello, who pitches tonight, has been their hottest starter, and Saturday’s starter Justin Verlander remains a force. But after that, the Tigers are rolling the dice. Consider:

a) Jarrod Washburn was 4-1 with a 1.44 ERA in July, earning AL pitcher of the month honors for Seattle. When Detroit traded for him, it seemed like a real slap in the face for the Twins. But Washburn is 1-3 with a 7.33 ERA for the Tigers and has allowed 12 homers in 43 innings. Clearly, Washburn hasn’t been healthy. He was scratched from Sunday’s start and is out indefinitely. In his place is fellow lefty Nate Robertson.

b) The Tigers had just scrapped an experiment of re-inserting Robertson into the rotation after pelvic inflammation caused him to leave a start after 3 2/3 innings. At the time, Manager Jim Leyland said he was putting Eddie Bonine in the rotation just to eliminate the uncertainty of Robertson’s availability. Now, the Tigers are moving forward with both of them. They could skip Bonine on Monday, but that is their final open date of the season.

c) Edwin Jackson was a first-half revelation, going 7-4 with a 2.52 ERA and making the All-Star team. But he is 2-2 with a 6.03 ERA in his past five starts and appears to be hitting the wall. Right now, he is to the Tigers what Nick Blackburn is to the Twins. Jackson took the loss Thursday, as the Royals pounded the Tigers 9-2. Afterward, Leyland sounded concerned, telling the Detroit Free Press, “Seems like he’s pitched quite a few games without all his ammunition. He really hasn’t had his breaking stuff on any consistent basis for quite a while.”

3) The Tigers have committed just one error in their past 15 games. Shortstop Adam Everett has helped solidify their defense. Twins fans might roll their eyes at that, but his right shoulder was killing him last season, so he never got to show them the player he was for Houston. “He’s been a real special player for us,” Leyland told the Detroit News this week.

4) The above links point to the success some of the Twins have had against the Tigers, but there’s another side to that. Placido Polanco is a .324 career hitter against the Twins, and Carlos Guillen .310. Then there’s Magglio Ordonez, who has played 162 career games against the Twins — the equivalent of a full season — and has batted .326 with 35 HR and 128 RBI. You say, “Well he’s not a power hitter anymore.” But tell that to Francisco Liriano, who gave up a three-run shot to Ordonez on July 4, turning a 2-0, seventh-inning lead into a 3-2 deficit.

Note: Should be an exciting weekend. Check back here this afternoon for tonight’s starting lineups and other tidbits.