NEW YORK – San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz wound up together on the winning side Monday when they were voted the Rookies of the Year.

Earlier this month, Posey singled off Feliz as the Giants beat Texas in the clinching Game 5 of the World Series.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks,” Posey said.

Posey hit several key home runs and helped the Giants win the World Series for the first time since 1954. He easily outdistanced Atlanta outfielder Jason Heyward for the National League award.

Feliz, the rocket-armed righty who set a rookie record with 40 saves as Texas reached its first World Series, finished far ahead of Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson in American League voting.

“I hope it’s not a fluke. I hope I have a better season next year,” the 22-year-old Dominican reliever said through a translator on a conference call.

Posey, 23, hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBI. He homered eight times after Sept. 1 in leading the Giants to the NL West title, and his homer on the final day of the regular season helped them clinch the division.

Feliz went 4-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 59 games.

 

RED SOX: The Red Sox have claimed right-handed pitcher Taylor Buchholz off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. Buchholz, 29, is a distant cousin of Boston starter Clay Buchholz.

Taylor Buchholz was 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in nine relief outings with the Colorado Rockies and Blue Jays last season. He missed the 2009 season because of Tommy John surgery.

PHILLIES: Ryne Sandberg is back with the organization that once gave him away and painfully watched him become a Hall of Fame player in a different uniform.

The Philadelphia Phillies hired Sandberg to manage their Triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Nearly 29 years ago, the Phillies traded Sandberg to the Chicago Cubs in perhaps the most lopsided deal in Philadelphia sports history.

• The Phillies re-signed right-hander Jose Contreras to a $5.5 million, two-year contract with a club option for 2013.

 

DIAMONDBACKS: A father-son sports collectors team from Santa Barbara, Calif., bought the bat Arizona Manager Kirk Gibson used for his home run in the 1988 World Series for $575,912.40 early Sunday in SCP Auctions’ October/November auction, and also took home the four other Gibson artifacts on sale.

Chad and Doug Dreier of the Dreier Group paid $1.19 million for the five items, which included Gibson’s home run bat, his game-worn Los Angeles Dodgers jersey ($303,277.20) and batting helmet ($153,388.80), the NL Most Valuable Player award ($110,293.20) and the World Series trophy ($45,578.40).

• Infielder Geoff Blum became the first of the 166 free agents to switch teams, agreeing to a $2.7 million, two-year contract with the Diamondbacks. Blum, 37, had two home runs and 22 RBI in 93 games for the Houston Astros last season.

 

INDIANS: Cleveland re-signed free-agent pitcher Anthony Reyes to a minor league contract. Reyes spent most of last season building up arm strength after having reconstructive elbow surgery in 2009.

 

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