Odds & Ends: Listach, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Hill
Saturday evening linkage as the Phillies and Giants kick off the NLCS…
- Nationals third base coach Pat Listach confirmed to Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel that he will interview for the Brewers' managerial opening on Tuesday.
- Nick Piecoro lists some candidates for the Diamondbacks' scouting director job (Twitter links): Tim Huff (Rays), J.J. Lally (White Sox), Chuck Ricci (Indians), and Jeff Schugel (Angels). ESPN's Keith Law tweets that Huff would be an excellent hire, and says he's surprised that Ray Montgomery (Brewers) and Rick Wilson (Angels) aren't on the list (Twitter link).
- MLB.com's Sarah D. Morris doesn't think the Dodgers need an overhaul.
- Lefty Rich Hill has already had discussions with the Red Sox about returning in 2011, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
- McAdam (via Twitter) also expects to see Darnell McDonald back in Boston next season.
- If Tony La Russa comes back to the Cardinals, he should sign a multi-year deal, says Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. learned how to build a successful team by working under Ed Wade and Pat Gillick, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- The San Francisco Chronicle's Gwen Knapp praises the Giants' homegrown talent.
Amateur Signing Bonuses: Orioles
Let's continue our look at the five largest bonuses each team has given to amateur players with the Orioles…
- Matt Wieters, $6MM (2007)
- Manny Machado, $5.25MM (2010)
- Adam Loewen, $3.2MM (2002)
- Brian Matusz, $3.2MM (2008)
- Matt Hobgood, $2.422MM (2009)
Wieters was the fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft but was arguably the top talent available along with David Price. He destroyed the minors (.343/.438/.576) before making his big league debut last May. Wieters hasn't had the immediate impact the O's hoped for, but perspective is important here. There's nothing wrong with a 24-year-old catcher hitting .266/.328/.393 in his first 887 plate appearances while throwing out 27.6% of attempted basestealers in the AL East.
Another one of the talented young players on Baltimore's big league roster right now is Matusz. He was the fourth overall pick in 2008 and like Wieters he crushed the minors (1.91 ERA, 9.6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9) before debuting in the show. After an eight start cameo in 2009, Matusz's coming out party in 2010 was rock solid for a 23-year-old lefty in that division. His overall numbers won't wow you – 4.30 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 in 175.2 innings – but he was superb down the stretch, posting a 1.57 ERA with a .178/.237/.282 batting line against in his final eight starts. Matusz and Wieters are two biggest pieces in the Orioles' rebuilding effort.
Machado was the third overall pick this past June and didn't sign until the August 16th deadline. He hit .306/.359/.472 in just 39 plate appearances this year, his pro debut. Hobgood was the fifth overall pick last year and has been good but not great so far: 4.48 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 120.2 innings. He just turned 20 in August.
Loewen was the product of the now defunct draft-and-follow process. The O's took him fourth overall in 2002 but didn't sign until a year later, after he spent a season with Chipola College, a two-year school. Loewen cruised through the minors and debuted with Baltimore in 2006. He threw 164 innings with the O's over the next two seasons (5.38 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 5.8 BB/9) but his pitching career was derailed by chronic elbow issues. Loewen went the Rick Ankiel route and transitioned to an outfielder, and he's now working his way back to the big leagues in the Blue Jays system.
The Orioles have never been a big time player on the Latin American free agent market, but they opened a state-of-the-art academy in the Dominican within the last few years. Expect their presence in the international market to jump significantly in the coming years.
Manager Roundup: Brewers, Blue Jays, Cubs
Here's the latest news concerning managerial vacancies, with more to come..
Brewers
Bobby Valentine has had "conversations" with the Brewers but has yet to have a formal interview, according to the manager when he was a guest on SIRIUS XM's Mad Dog Radio yesterday. Bobby V added that he is unsure if he'll have another interview with Milwaukee, adding that he'll have to see what the next conversation leads to.
Meanwhile, the Brewers have asked for and received permission to talk to Nationals third-base coach Pat Listach, two baseball sources tell MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Listach, who managed in the Cubs' farm system for four seasons, will interview with GM Doug Melvin on Tuesday.
Blue Jays
In his interview with Russo, Valentine also said that he does not expect to have a follow-up conversation with Toronto. Yesterday we learned that the Blue Jays are looking into a whole lot of potential candidates for their managerial post.
Cubs
The Cubs are still scoping out Joe Girardi as a managerial candidate, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Wittenmyer also hears from a source that Eric Wedge had a strong interview with the Cubs before hooking on with the Mariners.
Mets, Rodriguez Closing In On Settlement
The Mets and closer Francisco Rodriguez will not go to a scheduled arbitration hearing on Monday as the involved parties feel that they are nearing a settlement, according to Dan Martin and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. There's now belief on all sides of the table that an agreement could be announced as soon as Monday or Tuesday.
It was said that a grievance hearing and subsequent arbitration process would have been rather lengthy. Instead, the Mets, Rodriguez, the Commissioner's Office, and the Players Association have worked behind the scenes to strike a compromise.
As it stands now, the closer is set to earn $11.5MM in 2011 with a $17.5MM vesting option ($3.5MM buyout) in 2012. A settlement prior to arbitration likely means that the club will still be on the hook for those years. However, the Mets may be able to recoup some or all of the cash paid to Rodriguez during the time of his injury late in the season.
Poll: Who Will Win The NLCS?
The ALCS started off with a bang last night, just a few hours after MLBTR readers voted to almost a 50-50 split about who they thought would win the series. The NLCS kicks off later tonight with a pitching matchup that's as good as it gets: Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay. If that's not enough, we'll get Jonathan Sanchez vs. Roy Oswalt in Game Two, and then Matt Cain vs. Cole Hamels in Game Three. What more could baseball fans ask for?
The Phillies certainly have the advantage on paper, but anything can happen in short series.
Who will win the NLCS?
Click here to vote, and here to see the results.
Wilpon: Mets GM Hire Could Take “Weeks”
The Mets have formally interviewed five candidates for their vacant GM position – Sandy Alderson, Rick Hahn, Allard Baird, Logan White, and Josh Byrnes – so far, but COO Jeff Wilpon indicated that a hire wasn't imminent according to Dan Martin of The New York Post. Here's what Wilpon said yesterday in a letter to fans…
"[The GM candidates] are intelligent, creative and passionate about winning … They conveyed their honest assessment of our franchise and discussed how we can move forward on our pledge to give our fans the winner that they deserve. We are continuing our search and expect to hire our new GM in the next few weeks."
ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd) hears that team president Saul Katz is urging the Wilpons to hire someone with "experience and stature" to help restore faith in the team's fanbase. Alderson, who Ben Nicholson-Smith profiled yesterday, certainly fits that criteria. He has been considered the favorite for the job since it opened.
Royals Intend To Listen To Offers For Greinke
The Royals boast baseball's best farm system, deep with impact bats and power arms, but the timetable for those prospects might not match up with their best player, starter Zack Greinke. Because of that, ESPN's Buster Olney reports (Insider req'd) that the team intends to listen to "any and all" offers for the righthander, who has two years and $27MM left on his contract before free agency.
Five days away from his 27th birthday, Greinke would instantly become the best available starter on the trade market this offseason and the second best available pitcher overall behind free agent-to-be Cliff Lee. The 2009 Cy Young Award winner posted a 4.17 ERA in 2010, but his peripherals were still excellent (7.4 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) and his fastball was as lively as ever. The high ERA is the result of a 65.3% left-on-base rate, well below the 72.2% league average. Kansas City's porous defense (-44.5 UZR, third worst in MLB) had a hand in that.
Olney notes that because Greinke is under contract for two more years, they don't have to trade him just yet. They could wait until the deadline or next offseason to get the offer they want, and there's always the possibility of an extension assuming Greinke likes what he sees as far as the rebuilding process. He sounded pessimistic about those efforts back in August, though.
Greinke does have a limited no-trade clause in his contract for this season according to Cot's, though the extent of his veto power is unknown.
Odds & Ends: Lee, Alderson, Choo, Lowrie
As the ALCS gets underway, let's look at some news from around the majors…
- Jason A. Churchill of ESPN.com (Insider subscription needed) proposes that if the Phillies can unload some big contracts, they could make a run at signing Cliff Lee this winter. Adding Lee to the current Roy Halladay/Roy Oswalt/Cole Hamels mix would create one of the all-time great rotations in baseball history, but this seems like a major longshot. If the Phils can really move Joe Blanton or Raul Ibanez like they can in Churchill's scenario, one would think they'd spend that freed-up money on more pressing needs than pitching.
- Writing for MLB.com, former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire strongly endorses Sandy Alderson for the vacant Mets GM job. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith profiled Alderson earlier today.
- Yoon Chul, the reporter who wrote that Shin-Soo Choo wanted a "transfer" to a winning team, has apologized to the Indians for "editing problems" that altered the meaning of the Cleveland outfielder's words according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Another Korean journalist, Jeeho Yoo, told the Tribe that Choo said "he wants to stay with one club for a long time and Cleveland would be his first choice."
- Jed Lowrie's strong second half has made him a candidate to either take over the starting shortstop's job from Marco Scutaro or to become trade bait for a club looking for a young infielder, writes Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.
- Some conflicted early reaction to Seattle's pending hire of Eric Wedge: CBSSports.com's Scott Miller thinks "the Mariners could not have made a more uninspiring hire," while 710ESPN Seattle's Shannon Drayer gets great reviews of Wedge from former players and Indians broadcaster Tom Hamilton.
- Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com looks back at the Rangers' 2007 trade of Mark Teixeira and how it was the starting point for the club's current success. Texas acquired Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Beau Jones from Atlanta for the slugging first baseman — safe to say the Rangers won that deal.
- Speaking of Teixeira, he cited teammate C.C. Sabathia as "arguably…the best free agent signing in Yankees history." The story from Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger cites Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Teixeira himself and others as candidates for that title, plus Yankees GM Brian Cashman posits that Orlando Hernandez might've been the best signing from a pure dollars-to-performance standpoint.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle writes that the Astros can take some lessons from how the Rangers rebuild their franchise, and that the Astros have finally belatedly gotten started on their own youth movement.
- Austin Kearns tells MLB.com's Bill Ladson that he "would love to stay" in New York next season.
Gammons On Red Sox, Crawford, Moreno, Liverpool
Peter Gammons made one of his regular appearances on WEEI's The Big Show today to discuss the playoffs and look ahead to Boston's winter moves. Albert Vontz of WEEI.com has a partial transcript, and here are some highlights…
- The Red Sox are "going to go real hard after Carl Crawford." Gammons thinks one advantage Boston has is that they're looking at Crawford as middle-of-the-order bat rather than as a leadoff man, and Crawford "doesn’t want to be the guy trying to steal 70 bases."
- The Angels are another team rumored to be pursuing Crawford this winter, and they'll have the money to do so. Gammons hears that Angels owner Arte Moreno "is on the cusp" of a new local television deal worth approximately $4BB. Gammon says Moreno and the Halos are moving fast to "swallow up even more of the Dodgers market" what with the Dodgers embroiled in the McCourt ownership dispute.
- In the wake of the Red Sox ownership group's purchase of Liverpool FC of the English Premier League, Gammons thinks Red Sox fans will blame the soccer club if the Sox can't acquire and/or afford any major free agents this winter. Gammons was told, however, that Liverpool is "a $1BB business that they bought for about $400MM" and surmises that majority owner John Henry sees the purchase as "a great business deal…[that] might help the Red Sox in a ten-year period."
GM/Manager Rumors: Pirates, Valentine, Marlins, Avila
With the reports that Seattle has hired Eric Wedge, one spot on the managerial carousel has been filled. Here's a look at some other management rumors…
- Wedge wasn't just Seattle's first choice, but he was also "seen as the favorite" in Pittsburgh according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Heyman says the "job seems wide, wide open" even though the Pirates have interviewed a half-dozen other candidates.
- Bobby Valentine spoke to SIRIUS XM's Chris Russo today and Tom Haudricourt of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some transcribed highlights. Valentine says he doesn't have a "burning desire" to manage again, but rather a desire that has to be "cultivated" by an interested suitor. Valentine also noted that he doesn't expect to hear back from the Blue Jays, and that he has had "conversations" about the Brewers job but not a formal interview.
- The Miami Herald's Clark Spencer says the Marlins might wait 7-10 days before even starting the interview process. Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com tweets that Bo Porter is the favorite of some Florida officials.
- The Mets have asked the Tigers for permission to interview Detroit assistant GM Al Avila, reports John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press (and passed on by Newsday's Ken Davidoff).
- Don Baylor has been replaced as Colorado's batting coach, reports The Denver Post's Troy Renck. Baylor, who's a candidate for at least one managerial job (Toronto), has been offered a new position with the Rockies as a special assistant to GM Dan O'Dowd.
- Nolan Ryan "would be shocked" if Rangers GM Jon Daniels exercised the opt-out clause in his contract this winter, tweets the New York Post's Joel Sherman.