Thursday Rundown

-- Juan Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel reports that "Bo Porter will interview with the Pittsburgh Pirates for their opening." He's also a candidate for the Marlin's job. Porter, 38, was Florida's third base coach and a bench coach at Arizona.

EDIT - Porter interviewed today with Pittsburgh; we'd assume Juan Samuel can't be far behind.

-- Might as well get to that pesky payroll question bright and early. In his monthly chat, Frank Coonelly said "Our payroll in 2010 was $44 million (40-man roster), which was principally a function of the fact that we have such a young roster...We have the capacity to meaningfully increase the payroll for 2011, and will do so if we are able to bring in players who can help us win."

"One of Neal Huntington's highest priorities this offseason is to improve the pitching staff. The aggressive pursuit of free-agent players, of course, does not guarantee that we will be able to secure the players in whom we have an interest, but we are committed to improving this club and will be aggressive in our pursuit."

Some sources have said that the Pirates have budgeted for a $50M salary budget in 2011, not a ton but at least a move up.

Coonelly added that the rumors about Andy Van Slyke being interviewed for the manager's job were just that: rumors.

-- Baseball America picked its Top Twenty Prospects from the High Class A Florida State League; Bradenton Marauders that made it were Tony Sanchez (#6) and RHP Diego Moreno (#16). We're surprised to see that OF Starling Marte didn't make the list. Our guess is that being limited to 60 games because of hamate surgery is the reason, although Sanchez made the rankings with 59 games.

-- Roy Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in Game 1 of the NLDS yesterday. Doc's only blemish was a two-out walk in the fifth inning. He joins Don Larsen, who tossed a perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series, as the sole members of the October no-no club.

-- Cliff Lee shut down the Tampa Bay Rays while outpitching David Price, leading the Texas Rangers to a 5-1 victory in the opening game of the ALDS. Lee matched a postseason best with 10 strikeouts while allowing five hits in seven frames.

-- The Yankees beat the Twins 6-4. Mark Teixeira homered in a pair, Curtis Granderson whacked a two-out, two-run triple, and Mariano Riviera stoned the Twins at the end.

-- Maury Brown of The Business of Baseball reports that "Major League Baseball is projecting gross revenues of $7 billion for 2010, continuing a run of record-breaking years." That's up 6% from last year, fueled mostly by lucrative Regional Sports TV deals, and great news for the free agent players looking for a fat contract.