Rosenthal On Darvish, Towers, Pirates, Brewers
Let's check out what Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has for us in his latest edition of Full Count..
- A source tells Rosenthal that Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish is highly likely to be posted this offseason. The Yankees, unsurprisingly, are keeping close watch on the righthander. One scout says that he doesn't see the 24-year-old as being much more than a No. 3 starter. The ball in Japan is smaller, starters only work once a week, and as we've seen the transition for those starters can be very problematic.
- If Kevin Towers becomes GM of the Diamondbacks, it could wind up haunting not only his former employers, the Padres, but also the Dodgers. When Dennis Gilbert tried to buy the Rangers he was ready to name Towers as his GM and now Gilbert could be a buyer for the Dodgers if they are sold. Towers, however, isn't going to wait around for the dust to settle in Los Angeles. If he does become the D'Backs GM, the guy he would replace, interim GM Jerry Dipoto, could become a candidate for the Mets.
- Pirates president Frank Coonelly has said that the club's losing is unacceptable and rival execs expect the team to make changes. Both GM Neal Huntington and manager John Russell are under contract through next season but the team has offered no assurances that either man will return next season. Russell appears to be in greater danger of getting the axe than Huntington as the GM was tabbed by Coonelly.
- Brewers manager Ken Macha is "almost certain" to be fired and his coaches are also uncertain to return. That includes bench coach Willie Randolph who was once seen as the heir apparent to Macha's position and could include pitching coach Rick Peterson, who has a year remaining on his deal.
Padres Designate Cesar Carrillo For Assignment
The Padres have designated pitcher Cesar Carrillo for assignment, according to a team press release. This marks the third time that the right-hander has been DFA'd this month.
San Diego first designated Carrillo for assignment on September 1st to create room on the 40-man roster. He was then claimed by the Phillies who DFA'd him just days later. The Padres picked him up once more on Wednesday only to designate him this afternoon.
The former first-round selection of the 2005 draft posted a 5.60 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 27 Triple-A starts for the Padres' affiliate this season.
Cardinals Designate Evan MacLane For Assignment
The Cardinals have designated lefthanded starter Evan MacLane for assignment, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The hurler was DFA'd in order to make room for second baseman Daniel Descalso on the 40-man roster.
MacLane registered a 4.45 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 in 147.2 IP this season for the Cards' Triple-A affiliate. In early June, the 27-year-old made his major league debut and surrendered a ninth-inning walk-off homer to the Rockies' Chris Iannetta.
Odds & Ends: Brenly, DeJesus, Lackey, Reds
Some links to peruse before Yovani Gallardo locks up with Tim Lincecum later tonight…
- The Cubs will consider Bob Brenly for their vacant managerial post, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- David DeJesus is waiting to hear from the Royals about their decision on his $6MM option for next season according to Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star. The club has until October 15th to exercise the option, and GM Dayton Moore said he's "not prepared to say what [they're] doing at this point."
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier says that John Lackey hasn't been worth the risk for the Red Sox yet, and he'll have to buck historical trends to be worth the remainder of his five-year, $82.5MM contract.
- Meanwhile, Jim Donaldson of The Providence Journal jokes that the Sox should be able to ask Lackey and Josh Beckett for refunds given how they've pitched after signing their new deals.
- There will be plenty of competition for a spot in the Cubs rotation next season, writes Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune.
- David Barron of The Houston Chronicle looks at how the Reds are thriving thanks to a mix of young players and veterans.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Hiroki Kuroda
This upcoming free agent pitching class is obviously highlighted by Cliff Lee, but it lost a little luster when Josh Beckett and Tim Hudson signed contract extensions. There's still another high-end pitcher available for teams looking to improve the front of their rotation, however. Dodgers' righthander Hiroki Kuroda is in the final season of the three-year, $35.3MM contract he signed with the team before the 2008 season, and will be able to pawn his services off to the highest bidder this winter.
Kuroda, 35, is wrapping up his finest season in the Major Leagues even if his 10-13 record suggests otherwise. In 182 innings spread across 29 starts, he's posted a 3.36 ERA with 2.3 BB/9 and a career best 7.4 K/9. Through 482.2 big league innings, he owns a rock solid 3.60 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9, which is the kind of performance any team would love to add to their rotation.
The one real negative is Kuroda's health track record. He missed close to three weeks with shoulder tendinitis in 2008 then almost two months with an oblique strain last season. A concussion suffered when he was struck by a batted ball took away another three weeks of his 2009 season, but that's a fluke occurrence and we shouldn't count it against his durability. The good news is that Kuroda has skated through the 2010 season healthy and without any significant medical issues.
Even though he has just three years of service time after spending most of his career in Japan, Kuroda can become a free agent through a courtesy that MLB extends to Japanese veterans. He currently projects as a Type-B free agent, though it's far from a given that the Dodgers will offer him arbitration given their uncertain financial state and his $13MM salary this year. While he might not command that kind of annual salary on the open market, there's really no reason Kuroda should have to settle for less than the three-year, $29.75MM deal that former Dodger Randy Wolf signed last winter.
Poll: The AL East
Last Saturday we took a look at the race in the NL West, but let's change leagues and coasts today to look at the battle for the AL East crown.
The Yankees have more or less led the division since mid-June (with a few exceptions here and there), though the Rays have closed the gap this month and the two teams are now separated by just half-a-game. In fact, they've alternated that half-game lead for six days now. The Yanks have been done in by a stretch in which they've won just three of their last 11 games, though Tampa has gone 5-6 during that span and hasn't fully taken advantage.
Of course winning the AL East isn't crucial to either team's playoff hopes. Barring a spectacular collapse, both the Yanks and Rays will make the playoffs thanks to the Wild Card. The Twins are just one game back for the best record in baseball, so winning the East no longer guarantees home field advantage through the AL playoffs like we've assumed basically all season. A division title would be more about bragging rights than anything else.
The Red Sox are seven games out in AL East and are playing spoiler more than anything, but they do have six games left against New York and stranger things have happened. If nothing else, they could make things a little stressful for the teams up top over the next two-plus weeks.
Who will win the AL East?
Click here to vote in the poll, and here to view the results.
Odds & Ends: Rangers, Pirates, Cotts, Marlins
Links for Friday, before Dan Haren celebrates his 30th birthday by taking on one of baseball's most potent offenses…
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan lists ten decisions that have been critical to the Rangers' success this season.
- The Pirates have released lefty Neal Cotts according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America and this week's edition of minor league transaction.
- Padres' first base coach Rick Renteria is on the Marlins radar with regards to their managerial opening, says MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. He adds that Yankees bench coach Tony Pena is a candidate as well.
- Chipper Jones told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that it would be hard to stop playing before his body prevents him from doing so, partly because “you can make absurd amounts of money” as a baseball player.
- Former Orioles manager Dave Trembley told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that he’d like to coach in the major leagues next year (Twitter link).
- The Pirates' minor league success has been a major positive this year, but Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette questions how the Pirates also allowed for "near-total destruction of the major-league product." The team is 50 games below .500 with the worst record in baseball.
- Carl Crawford told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that his impending free agency hasn't been hard to handle, since the Rays are winning. Click here for Bradford's analysis of how Crawford would fit in Fenway.
- Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald breaks down Boston's options behind the plate for 2011, from free agents Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek to new acquisition Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
- John Dewan of the Fielding Bible explained to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that Adam Dunn's poor defense wouldn't necessarily prevent the Nationals from building a better defensive team.
Torre To Step Down; Mattingly To Take Over
8:35pm: Hernandez tweets that Mattingly's contract to manage the team is for three years. He also had a signed contract before the season that guaranteed him the job if Torre stepped down, according to a second Hernandez tweet.
1:53pm: Joe Torre will announce today that he's stepping down as Dodgers manager after the season, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times. He will be replaced by hitting coach Don Mattingly, who will manage in the Arizona Fall League, but does not yet have professional experience as a manager. Yahoo's Tim Brown also reported the news.
Torre, 70, could consider offers for other managerial openings or retire after a Hall of Fame-caliber career. Torre has a 2318-1990 record over the course of 29 seasons as a big league manager and led his teams to the postseason 14 consecutive times from 1996-2009. One of Hernandez's sources says Torre could keep working in the Dodgers organization.
Dodgers Triple A manager Tim Wallach, who had been considered a possible candidate for the opening, could now become an option for other clubs.
Reactions To Joe Torre Stepping Down
Dodgers' manager Joe Torre announced today that he will step down after the season and hand the reins over to Don Mattingly. It's unclear if he will retire or look to manage elsewhere, but that's not enough to stop everyone from chiming in on the move. Let's see what is being written about Torre's decision…
- Dusty Baker spoke fondly of Torre to John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says the Dodgers have been grooming Mattingly for the job and have been in constant communication with commissioner Bud Selig's office about their desire to hire him, which is why they did not have to go through the interview process (Twitter links).
- AOL FanHouse's Tom Krasovic doesn't think Mattingly is the right guy for the job.
- FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi states the obvious and says that Mattingly has his hands full with his first managerial position.
- Jack Moore of FanGraphs says if nothing else, this will serve as a decent test of Mattingly's ability to lead in the clubhouse.
- Tom Verducci of SI.com thinks that Torre has accomplished everything he's set out to do as a manager.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman hears that Torre is unlikely to get the Mets' managerial job, which of course is not vacant yet (Twitter link). Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post says he isn't a candidate for the Marlins' job, either.
- Meanwhile, CBSSports.com's Dan Knobler hears that Torre is unlikely to manage anywhere next season (Twitter link).
- ESPN's Buster Olney says (via Twitter) that Torre is tired of the travel, and another job would have to be a "perfect fit."
- Triple-A Albuquerque manager Tim Wallach told Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times that he would prefer to be on Mattingly's staff next year rather than back managing in the minors (Twitter link).
Barret Loux Threw For Astros, Several Others Today
Barret Loux, the sixth overall pick in the 2010 draft that was later declared a free agent by MLB, threw an extended bullpen session for approximately 15 teams in College Station, Texas today according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. The Astros were one of the teams in attendance, and have sincere interest in signing the righthander.
Loux, 21, failed his physical with the Diamondbacks due to shoulder and elbow concerns, and has been free to sign with any team since September 1st. Things have been relatively quiet, however. McTaggart spoke to Houston's assistant general manager/scouting director Bobby Heck, who indicated that Loux's performance today was "pretty consistent" with how he looked this spring, good news considering the medical scare.
Heck also said that Loux's camp isn't in a rush to get a deal in place – he's currently finishing his degree at Texas A&M – but are looking to sign a little later in the fall and know where they'll be for Spring Training.