Pat Gillick Rumors

NL West Rumors: Ludwick, Gillick, Padres, Rockies

The latest on various NL West clubs...

• Heath Bell told MLB.com's Corey Brock he never heard from new Padres GM Josh Byrnes.  Bell noted that he passed on offers of a little more money to take a three-year, $27MM deal from the Marlins.
• The Padres' goal is to fix the eighth and ninth innings this offseason, manager Bud Black told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio.
• The Dodgers are closing in on a minor league deal with reliever Alberto Castillo, tweets MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez.  The 36-year-old spent most of the year at Triple-A, posting a 1.91 ERA and 8.1 K/9 in 42 1/3 innings there.
• The Giants are believed to have scheduled a meeting today with Ryan Ludwick's agent Dan Horwits, reports MLB.com's Chris Haft.  Ludwick, 33, hit .237/.310/.363 with 13 home runs in 553 plate appearances for the Padres and Pirates this year.
• Phillies senior advisor and former GM Pat Gillick would consider a position as the Dodgers' new president of baseball operations, he told Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.
• The Padres are getting hits on Chase Headley, Jason Bartlett, and Orlando Hudson, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, who expects one of them to be dealt by spring training.  Hudson, who is owed $7.5MM through 2012, would be a pure salary dump, tweets Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports.
• The Rockies are lukewarm at best on Hudson, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, who wonders if the Giants' Jeff Keppinger could be a fit.  Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says the Giants are looking to get creative on the trade front for outfield and infield help.
• Non-tender candidate Joe Saunders told MLB.com's Steve Gilbert he'd like to return to the Diamondbacks, but the decision is up to the team.  About a week ago, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that Saunders has a very good chance of returning to the D'Backs on a two-year deal.

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Latest On Cubs’ GM Search

The Cubs fired longtime GM Jim Hendry today and they’re already thinking about their next permanent general manager. Former assistant GM Randy Bush has taken over in the interim, but he’s not a long-term option, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts says he’s reaching out to 'industry veterans’ and will search for a well-rounded candidate. "We are not running a baseball organization by a computer model," Ricketts said, according to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin (on Twitter). But as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes notes, the Cubs will look to find someone more statistically inclined than Hendry (Twitter link).

Ricketts is looking for someone who will emphasize the farm system, according to MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (on Twitter) and he wants farm director Oneri Fleita and scouting director Tim Wilken to stay, according to Sullivan (on Twitter). As for specific candidates, Ricketts says he’ll impose silence around the process from here, according to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald (on Twitter).

Hall of Famer Pat Gillick is not a candidate to run the Cubs, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Here’s MLBTR’s list of top GM candidates in MLB.

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Quick Hits: Nationals, Upton, Webb, Inge, Mariners

With nine days remaining before the trade deadline, the biggest trade chips in baseball are arguably Carlos Beltran (latest rumors) and Hunter Pence (latest rumors). Here are some other relevant links from around MLB...

• The Nationals are in greater need of outfield depth than infield help or a catcher, a baseball source tells Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
• The Rays pulled B.J. Upton and prospect Desmond Jennings from their respective games, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (via Twitter).  However, Upton says that he has not been traded, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
• Rangers pitcher Brandon Webb will undergo surgery on his right shoulder with the intent to pitch again in 2012, according to his agent Jonathan Maurer.  This will not be a full surgery of the rotator cuff but it will prevent him from throwing for four months.
• The Tigers would need to eat some salary to move Brandon Inge but teams still believe that the veteran has value, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
• The Reds scouted Jason Vargas and Doug Fister when the Mariners visited Toronto this week, a source told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
• Indians team president Mark Shapiro said that he expects the club will make a move in the next ten days, tweets Nick Camino of WTAM 1100.
• Reds GM Walt Jocketty told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he’s looking for a bat to insert at the top of the order or in the middle of the lineup. However, the Reds are also open to acquiring pitching, either for the rotation or the bullpen. The Reds have lots of depth, but Jocketty says he “hates” trading prospects.
• Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago hears that Hall of Fame executive Pat Gillick is open to a role with the Cubs. Gillick said last week that he's open to taking on a full-time role as a team president at some point in the future.
• MLB talent evaluators tell Alex Speier of WEEI.com that the Red Sox have a number of players whose prospect status is starting to rise and who could become elite prospects within a year. Though the Adrian Gonzalez deal made a major dent in Boston’s farm system, Speier’s sources say the Red Sox still have secondary prospects who could be valuable trade bait this summer. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks and right-hander Anthony Ranaudo are among the organization’s top prospects.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports confirms that the Red Sox have had exploratory conversations with the Royals about Jeff Francoeur.

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Gillick On Phillies, Werth, Daniels, Orioles

Longtime baseball executive Pat Gillick will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next weekend alongside Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar. The former Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies GM reflected on his career and the state of the game on a conference call with reporters this morning. Congratulations in advance to Gillick; here are some highlights from his conversation:

• Gillick, who is now a senior advisor for the Phillies, would like to see Philadelphia add a right-handed bat this summer. Though doing so is not imperative, it's "very important."
• Gillick now provides the Phillies with scouting reports on amateur players on the West Coast and talks with GM Ruben Amaro Jr. about twice per week.
• Jayson Werth's $126MM contract with the Nationals "stunned and shocked" Gillick, who once signed Werth for $850K under considerably different circumstances. The longtime GM says he's not a fan of long-term deals. "It wouldn't have been something I would have recommended," Gillick said.
• Jon Daniels of the Rangers reminds Gillick of himself. "I always considered myself a little adventurous," Gillick said, "and I think Jon and his Texas group are headed in the right direction."
• Gillick says he admires some moves by Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, especially the deal that brought Adam Jones to Baltimore for Erik Bedard.
• Gillick says he doesn't expect to be a GM again, but he would consider becoming a club president in the right situation.
• The Pirates are the surprise of 2011 for Gillick.

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Pat Gillick Elected To Hall Of Fame

The 16-member Expansion Era committee announced they've elected Pat Gillick to baseball's Hall of Fame.  From their website:

Pat Gillick spent 27 years as the general manager for the Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies, winning at every stop along the way, with his teams earning 11 post-season berths and three World Series championships. In his 27 years as GM, his teams finished with a winning record 20 times.

Eleven other men were on the ballot, including George Steinbrenner, Marvin Miller, and Billy Martin.

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Odds & Ends: Kielty, Ruiz, Gillick, Santos

Saturday morning links...

• Arangure (via Twitter) writes that the A's have agreed to terms with Michael Feliz, a right-hander from the Dominican Republic.  The deal, which is still pending a physical and an age investigation, will provide Feliz with an $800K bonus.  The Dominican Prospect League website says that the 6'4, 200-pound hurler is 16-years-old.
• Tim tweets that Bobby Kielty is converting to pitching, and that his slider is actually pretty good. The 33-year-old last played in the big leagues back in 2007, when he was still an outfielder of course.
• ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Blue Jays, Rockies, and Rangers are the teams most interested in Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz. Ruiz was recently cleared to sign by the Office of Foreign Asset Control.
• Pat Gillick has returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to president Dave Montgomery, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun. Gillick was the team's GM from 2006-2008. 
• ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to several talent evaluators, none of whom think Omir Santos is equipped to be a number one catcher. If the season started today, Santos would likely be behind the plate for the Mets. 

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GM Trade Histories: NL East

Brendan Bianowicz is back with a bunch of updates to the GM Trade History series.  The Excel spreadsheets linked below cover each GM's trades, free agent signings, and top draft picks via tabs along the bottom.  It's interesting to see each GM's most frequent trade partner - for example, Omar Minaya has matched up with Larry Beinfest and Mark Shapiro most often in his career.

• Washington Nationals - Jim Bowden and Mike Rizzo
• Philadelphia Phillies - Pat Gillick and Ruben Amaro Jr.
• New York Mets - Omar Minaya
• Florida Marlins - Larry Beinfest and Michael Hill
• Atlanta Braves - Frank Wren

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Rosenthal's Full Count Video: Indians Manager, Johnson, Padres GM, Crawford, Mauer

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up this afternoon, so let's see what he's got for us...

• The Indians plan to conduct 8-10 phone interviews for their managerial vacancy, then bring in 3-5 finalists by the third week of October, presumably for formal interviews. Bobby Valentine will be "on the short list," and will almost certainly get an interview. Buck Showalter will not be a candidate.
• Cleveland is proceeding with the search as if Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell will not be a candidate, however that could change quickly if Farrell expresses interest in the job. At that point, the three parties involved would need to discuss a way around the clause in the Farrell's contract that prohibits him from seeking a managerial job elsewhere.
• Signing Josh Johnson long-term is the Marlins' top priority this offseason. In order to get a deal done, Florida will need to "exceed significantly" the four year, $38MM deal the Royals gave Zack Greinke, who was at a similar service time level last offseason.
• If a deal doesn't get done, Johnson will almost certainly not sign an extension next offseason, when he'd be just one year away from free agency. At that point, the Fish would need to trade him.
• Who will replace Kevin Towers as Padres GM? Paul DePodesta, a special assistant to Towers and former GM of the Dodgers, is not interested in the job. Pat Gillick doesn't figure to be a candidate either.
• The leading candidate might be Diamondbacks' exec Jerry DiPoto, but the Padres would need approval from the commissioner's office to get him. CEO Jeff Moorad left the D-Backs just last December, and the league frowns upon executives raiding their former teams for front office talent.
• However, DiPoto has already interviewed for openings with the Nationals and Mariners, so it would be difficult for the D-Backs to make much of a fuss.
• Carl Crawford is "well intentioned" when he says he wants to sign a long-term extension with Tampa Bay. The problem is that the team probably won't offer him enough to keep him from becoming a free agent at the end of 2010.
• The bigger question is Joe Mauer, who can also hit free agency next winter. Mauer told The NY Times earlier this week that he is not interested in becoming the highest paid player in the game, even though he probably deserves to be. He is represented by Ron Shapiro, the same agent that kept Cal Ripken Jr. in Baltimore and Kirby Puckett in Minnesota. Shapiro clearly understands the value of a player staying with one team his entire career.
• Shapiro, father of Indians GM Mark Shapiro, would be "sticking it to his son" a bit by keeping Mauer in the AL Central. That's my phrase, not Rosenthal's.

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Odds & Ends: Gillick, Moronta, Halladay, Rays

Here are some choice links to kick off the afternoon...

• Former Phillies and Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick is not interested in a return to Toronto, writes ESPN's Buster Olney.  However, the 72-year-old would not rule out handling baseball operations for another team down the road.
• Ben Badler of Baseball America reports that Eladio Moronta - one of the toolsiest players in Latin America - is now eligible to be signed, five months after being suspended for lying about his age.
• Manager Cito Gaston doesn't see the Blue Jays holding on to Roy Halladay if the team doesn't make other improvements, writes Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun.
• Russell Branyan could return to the Mariners in 2010, according to Larry LaRue of The News Tribune.  Branyan was raking before the all-star break, posting .280/.382/.573 with 22 HRs before being bogged down in the second half by a back injury that cost him the month of September.
• Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times asked and answered questions regarding what the offseason might hold for the Tampa Bay Rays.  Amongst other things, Topkin says there is no way that the Rays will trade Carl Crawford, nor will they decline to pick up his $10MM option for 2010.  Crawford is still a great value at that price as Fangraphs values his 2009 performance to be much higher than that.
• Joe Maddon doesn't expect to make any changes to his coaching staff, writes Marc Lancaster of The Tampa Tribune.  Maddon says he'll meet with his coaches at season's end, as they are all up for renewal.
• If Dusty Baker has his way, pitching coach Dick Pole and hitting coach Brook Jacoby will return in 2010, says John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Under Pole's instruction, the Reds have seen their team ERA improve from 4.55 a year ago to 4.19 in 2009.
• Brewers infielder Craig Counsell recently turned 39-years-old but still intends to play in 2010 according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Odds and Ends: Dunn, Byrd, Epstein

Links for Thursday...

• RotoAuthority ranks the outfielders for fantasy baseball.
• All kinds of interesting comments from former Phillies GM Pat Gillick, including his thoughts on Pat Burrell and Milton Bradley.
• Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch weighs in on the Cardinals' second base situation.
• ESPN's Keith Law evaluates the Nationals' Adam Dunn signing.  He considers it "$20 million for a few meaningless wins over the next two years."
• Evan Brunell of Fire Brand of the American League interviewed free agent hurler Paul Byrd.
• Rob Bradford of WEEI has quotes from Theo Epstein about trading young players.
• Shoutout to our readers in the United Kingdom, who account for 11,000 of MLBTR's pageviews this month.

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