Odds & Ends: Towers, Ricciardi, Trembley
Saturday afternoon linkage…
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune reflects fondly on Kevin Towers' 14-year tenure with the Padres. "Whatever you might think of his baseball decisions," Sullivan writes, "no one in the game can work a room more charismatically."
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News believes J.P. Ricciardi's biggest blunder — "and the one that most likely did him in" — was not trading Roy Halladay this summer. Other infractions of the Ricciardi era include massive contracts tendered to Vernon Wells and B.J. Ryan, and the trading of Jayson Werth for Jason Frasor.
- Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres is beginning to hear names for the Padres' GM opening. Red Sox assistant general manager Jed Hoyer is a new one.
- Kevin Cowherd of the Baltimore Sun doesn't understand why the Orioles opted to pick up manager Dave Trembley's 2010 option. "I don't understand," Cowherd writes, "how you stand pat with your manager after another horrible collapse that includes a 13-game losing streak and a possible 100-loss finish."
Cubs Rumors: Grabow, Harden
The Cubs have four players headed for free agency this winter: reliever John Grabow, outfielder Reed Johnson, reliever Kevin Gregg and starter Rich Harden. Thanks to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, we already have news on two of them…
- John Grabow has begun "preliminary talks" with the Cubs about returning for the 2010 season. He wants to come back, and has made that known. "It's just a matter of finding common ground," said the left-hander, acquired from the Pirates on July 30. "It won't happen until the season is over."
- Rich Harden has also made it known that he'd like to return. "I like this team and the organization, and I'm very happy with my time here," he said Saturday. "Yeah, I'd like to be here next year, but we'll see what happens." Of course, Harden will require a much stronger financial commitment than Grabow. He's likely to shop around, if only to drive up his price. And the Cubs have hinted that they might not even want him back.
Odds & Ends: Towers, Ricciardi, Jenks, Barajas
Some links on a surprisingly busy Saturday morning…
- Here's a link to this morning's post containing comments from Padres CEO Jeff Moorad about the firing of Kevin Towers. It was quickly buried by the news of J.P. Ricciardi being let go, so you may have missed it.
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that Towers "should be relieved to be out of an organization in which he constantly faced ownership interference, payroll reductions and other forms of nonsense."
- Stoeten at Drunk Jays Fans provides some fan reaction to the Ricciardi move. Moral of the story: it was a move that had to be made, but what took so long?
- MLB.com's Scott Merkin says that we could once again hear Bobby Jenks' name mentioned in trade rumors this offseason. The team has a capable replacement in Matt Thornton, and Jenks figures to get a raise on his $5.6MM salary through arbitration.
- Rod Barajas has interest in returning to Toronto next season, and indicated that he wasn't sure if the rift between players and manager Cito Gaston would influence his decision, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
Ricciardi Out As Blue Jays GM
According to MLB.com's Noah Coslov, J.P. Ricciardi is leaving his position as Blue Jays Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager effective immediately. SI.com's Jon Heyman adds that assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos has been promoted.
From TSN and a team press release:
"This was a tough decision and a difficult one for me personally as I have enjoyed J.P.'s friendship and his perspective on the game,” said Blue Jays acting President and CEO Paul Beeston in a statement. "J.P. has put an incredible amount of effort into improving the team and he has brought along a number of great young players. However, I feel that it is time for a change and accordingly we have decided to move on."
The TSN article mentions that Anthopoulos is taking over on an interm basis, however the press release does not confirm that. Brent Gambill, producer of Sirius XM Radio's MLB Home Plate, tweets that Anthopoulos will remain GM as long as Paul Beeston is the team president. Make sure you stay tuned for confirmation.
Ricciardi has been running the show in Toronto since the 2001 season, and only once has his team finished above third place in the brutal AL East. His most memorable (and regrettable) move may be the seven year, $126MM extension given to centerfielder Vernon Wells, who has hit just .266/.318/.428 since the ink dried.
Moorad Comments On Kevin Towers Firing
Kevin Towers, the longest-tenured general manager in baseball, was let go by the Padres last night. He was at the helm for 498 of Trevor Hoffman's saves and 740 of Tony Gwynn's hits, but the team went 1,107-1,160 under his watch. There is still one more year left on his contract, which Cot's says makes him "one of the top five or six highest-paid GMs."
Tim Sullivan of The San Diego Union Tribune spoke to team CEO Jeff Moorad about the situation, who was very complimentary of Towers, as you'd expect.
“The organization is indebted to Kevin for not only the 14 years he served as general manager, but for the fact that the club is well-positioned to go forward into the future,” Moorad told the Union-Tribune in an exclusive interview before Friday night's game at Petco Park. “I think we need to build a better baseball operations department, better skilled at the areas we're committed to going forward.
“I admire (Towers') skills very much and respect his relationships that exist around the game. But I think over the next period of time, our focus is on more of a strategic approach to drafting and development that has a chance to compete in the division year-in and year-out.”
Although he did not mention specific candidates, Moorad said his search for a replacement has not been internal and indicated that it could take weeks, rather than days. Sullivan lists Diamondbacks VP Jerry DiPoto and the "semi-retired" Pat Gillick as possible replacements.
Zaun Hopes To Return To Rays In 2010
With Dioner Navarro struggling immensely, Tampa Bay hoped to improve its catching situation down the stretch by acquiring Gregg Zaun from Baltimore. Zaun held up his end of the bargain, hitting .286/.323/.495 for the Rays, but the team has faltered, going just 23-29 since the trade.
Regardless of the club's late season struggles, Zaun said he hopes to return to Tampa in 2010, and maybe even beyond, according to Joe Smith of The St. Petersburg Times.
"I'm very interested. I know this team is going to be a competitive group of guys," Zaun, 38, said. "I love the coaching staff. Home is here. I don't see any reason why, if the terms are agreeable, that I would want to go anywhere else."
"Tampa is at the top of my list right now," Zaun said. "I'd love to come back."
The team holds a $2MM option for Zaun next year, but a clause in his contract gives him the right to void that option and forfeit the $500K buyout if he was traded before November 1st of this year, which he obviously was. That doesn't seem like it'll be an issue, though.
A 15-year big league veteran, Zaun has hit .252/.347/.414 in over 1,300 plate appearances over the last three years.
Odds & Ends: Church, Macha, Farrell
Some more reading for the last Friday night of the 2009 regular season….
- Mark Bowman of MLB.com wonders if Ryan Church has played his last game for the Braves. Bowman thinks, because of Church's back injuries, the Braves may not want to pay for a salary bump through arbitration.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin has not yet met with Ken Macha to discuss his future in Milwaukee, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It looks as if Macha will be back in the Brewers' dugout in 2010, but Melvin probably won't make it official until after Sunday's finale.
- Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell attempts to dispel rumors that he'll be the next manager in Cleveland, via Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer looks at the AL Rookie of the Year race and concludes that the candidate he'd most like to have for the next few seasons is Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter) is surprised the Orioles picked up Dave Trembley's 2010 option.
- If Bobby Jenks is back in Chicago in 2010, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper expects a better season out of the closer, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal writes that the Indians are still feeling the "punch to the gut" of losing Victor Martinez.
- T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com notes that it's not certain whether Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo will be back in Texas in 2010.
Odds & Ends: Church, Macha, Farrell
Some more reading for the last Friday night of the 2009 regular season….
- Mark Bowman of MLB.com wonders if Ryan Church has played his last game for the Braves. Bowman thinks, because of Church's back injuries, the Braves may not want to pay for a salary bump through arbitration.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin has not yet met with Ken Macha to discuss his future in Milwaukee, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It looks as if Macha will be back in the Brewers' dugout in 2010, but Melvin probably won't make it official until after Sunday's finale.
- Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell attempts to dispel rumors that he'll be the next manager in Cleveland, via Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer looks at the AL Rookie of the Year race and concludes that the candidate he'd most like to have for the next few seasons is Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter) is surprised the Orioles picked up Dave Trembley's 2010 option.
- If Bobby Jenks is back in Chicago in 2010, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper expects a better season out of the closer, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal writes that the Indians are still feeling the "punch to the gut" of losing Victor Martinez.
- T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com notes that it's not certain whether Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo will be back in Texas in 2010.
Padres To Fire Kevin Towers
The San Diego Padres will part ways with general manager Kevin Towers, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter). Brock tweets that, while no official announcement has been made yet, the Padres will let the longest-tenured GM in the majors go.
The ownership transition in San Diego, from John Moores to Jeff Moorad, likely spelled the end for Towers. ESPN.com's Rob Neyer speculated earlier today that Moorad wanted to bring in "his own guy" for the position.
Towers has been San Diego's GM since 1995, and saw the team win four division titles during the stint. The Padres made one World Series during Towers' tenure, losing to the Yankees in 1998.
It remains to be seen if Towers is the only casualty in San Diego, or if more of the staff will follow him out of town.
Discussion: Placido Polanco
When ESPN.com's Buster Olney polled six major league executives about this year's crop of Type A free agents, the panel was split evenly on whether the Detroit Tigers would offer Placido Polanco arbitration.
One exec suggested the Polanco was valuable enough to the Tigers that they wouldn't mind paying $6MM or $7MM to keep him around (Polanco has made $4.6MM in each of the last four seasons). Another thought that, having already committed $18MM to Magglio Ordonez, Detroit would have to "bite the bullet some place," and second base looks like as good a spot to do it as any.
After a slow start, Polanco has hit .322/.359/.420 since the All-Star break, and it looks like he'll just barely qualify as a Type A free agent. Olney points out that the second baseman, who turns 34 next week, is one player whose market value would take a huge hit if the Tigers offered arbitration.
Tonight's discussion question, then: What's Detroit's best move? Is Polanco valuable enough to keep on board for 2010? Or can the Tigers get similar production elsewhere at a lesser cost (either through a trade or from this year's free agent pool)?