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Nationals Links: Lannan, Willingham, Roster

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A few items about the D.C. nine….

Andy MacPhail Stepping Down From Orioles’ Post

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9:59 pm: MacPhail made his decision last month and told several fellow general managers in September that he wouldn't return in 2012, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). 

7:49 pm: Andy MacPhail will leave his position as the Orioles' president of baseball operations because of family obligations, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).  MacPhail's current contract expires on October 31, when he will officially part ways with the team, reports MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli.

MacPhail has been widely predicted to leave the O's this offseason, though there had been speculation in recent days that he could remain with the team.  With manager Buck Showalter staying in the dugout, the Orioles now join the Angels and Cubs (and theoretically the Yankees, Red Sox and Astros) as teams looking to hire a new general manager this winter.  It will be hard to tell how much freedom a general manager will have in Baltimore, given the rumors that Showalter could be the de facto GM and owner Peter Angelos' reputation for involving himself in the team business.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports the situation with Showalter is "still fluid" and the manager could still be convinced to take on the GM's job.  Rosenthal also names Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava and Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings as two executives under consideraton to be Baltimore's next general manager.

MacPhail, 58, has served as Baltimore's president of baseball operations since June 20, 2007.  The Orioles had a 307-433 record under MacPhail's watch, never winning more than 69 games in his 4.5 years with the team.  Prior to coming to the Orioles, MacPhail won two World Series titles as the Twins' general manager from 1985 to 1994, and was the Cubs' team president from 1995 to 2005.  His name has been mentioned as a possible successor to Bud Selig as Major League Baseball's commissioner.

AL West Notes: Darvish, Larson, Mathis, A’s

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C.J. Wilson and Derek Holland will start the first two games of the ALCS for the Rangers, with Colby Lewis and Matt Harrison slated for Games 3 and 4 at Comerica Park.  Here's the latest from not only the Rangers, but the entire AL West….

  • Opposing scouts predict the Rangers will win the bidding for Yu Darvish, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  Several teams, including some of the biggest markets in the game, have been rumored to be pursuing Darvish this winter.  Nightengale's scout sources, for the record, unanimously predict "stardom" for Darvish if he jumps to the majors.
  • Mariners minority owner Chris Larson has seen his personal fortune "largely depleted" by the recession and a divorce from his wife, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.  Larson is the Mariners' largest minority owner, with a stake of 30.63% of the club, and Baker wonders if Larson's financial troubles will affect the team's payroll or force him to sell part of his ownership share.
  • The criticism from Angels fans about Jeff Mathis' poor hitting "has become an emotional drain" for Mathis, opines MLB.com's Lyle Spencer, who thinks the catcher would "settle in and be a fine total player" elsewhere.  Also as part of this mailbag piece, Spencer speculates about two outside-the-box candidates (Bud Black and Joe Maddon) with Angels ties as LAA's next general manager.  
  • The Athletics are expected to pursue Mike Aldrete as the club's new hitting coach, reports MLB.com's Jane Lee.  The A's can't officially talk to Aldrete, the Cardinals' assistant hitting coach, until St. Louis has been eliminated from postseason play.

Dodgers Notes: Colletti, Kuroda, Barajas, Legal Ruling

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On this day in 1978, the Dodgers clinched the NLCS on Bill Russell's walkoff single in the 10th inning of Game Four.  It was the 19th National League pennant for the Dodgers' franchise, though the club would lose the World Series to the Yankees.

Some news from the modern-day Dodgers…

  • GM Ned Colletti broke down the Dodgers' roster and offseason plans in an interview with ESPN's Jim Bowden.  Colletti reiterated that signing Matt Kemp to a multiyear extension was "a priority" and extending Clayton Kershaw would also be explored through without as much urgency since Kershaw is under control through 2014.  Colletti said he "would entertain" locking up Andre Ethier as well, and though he noted that Ethier is "coming off an injury and a subpar season," the GM also said that Ethier isn't a candidate to be dealt.
  • Hiroki Kuroda "is an extremely loyal person to both the Dodgers and the city of Los Angeles and really doesn't want to play anywhere else," Colletti said.  He noted that Kuroda's daughters go to school in L.A. and the right-hander has bought a house in town.
  • Colletti also noted that the Dodgers would "probably let Tim Federowicz and A.J. Ellis handle the [catching] duties" next season.  As Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times notes, this would mean the team won't bring back Rod Barajas, who last month said he hoped to finish his career in Dodger blue.
  • Barring a surprise signing of Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, Mike Petriello of the Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness blog wonders where the Dodgers will find their desired middle-of-the-order bat this winter.
  • A bankruptcy judge has ruled that the Dodgers will not be able to obtain information from MLB's 29 other teams, reports Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.  Frank McCourt and his attorneys have stated that the Dodgers were being treated differently by Major League Baseball than other teams and were looking for documentation to prove this alleged double standard.

Red Sox Notes: Epstein, Wallach, Lackey, Padres

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Here's the latest from Fenway Park…

  • "People around the game [are] getting [the] idea that" Theo Epstein will likely remain as Boston's GM, reports Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link).  Yesterday, Heyman reported that "a slight majority" of people around baseball believed Epstein would turn down a job offer from the Cubs.
  • Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach is under consideration for the manager's job, reports Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe.  Wallach "is still at the stage of being considered for an interview," according to several sources.  Wallach's name was mentioned in connection with the open managerial jobs with the Dodgers, Marlins and Blue Jays last winter.
  • A Padres official tells Tom Krasovic of the Inside The Padres blog that it "is not farfetched at all" that San Diego would consider a trade for John Lackey this winter.  Krasovic thinks Lackey could benefit from pitching at Petco Park and reuniting with Bud Black, who was Lackey's pitching coach with the Angels.  Krasovic proposes a trade that would require Boston to pay most of Lackey's salary, take Orlando Hudson in return and also send "a young big leaguer or a good prospect, or two" back to the Padres.  It sounds lopsided in San Diego's favor, but given how low Lackey's stock has fallen, the Red Sox will have to meet similar trade criteria in any potential Lackey deal.

Robinson Tejeda Elects Free Agency

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Robinson Tejeda has elected to become a free agent, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).  The right-hander was designated for assignment by the Royals in May and spent the rest of the season pitching for Triple-A Omaha.

In seven Major League seasons with the Phillies, Rangers and Royals, Tejeda has a career ERA of 4.42 in 186 games (53 of them starts).  Tejeda, 29, has averaged 7.6 K/9 in his career but has also had control problems, walking five batters per nine innings.  Given his decent lifetime numbers and solid minor league campaign for Omaha this year, Tejeda is a likely candidate for a minor league deal from a club in search of bullpen help.

Tejeda earned $1.55MM in 2011 after signing an arbitration-avoiding one-year contract with the Royals in the offseason.  The righty still has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining.

Eric Chavez “Leaning Heavily Towards Retirement”

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Veteran third baseman Eric Chavez is considering retirement, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).  Chavez, 33, is "leaning heavily towards" hanging up his cleats after 14 Major League seasons. 

Chavez considered retirement in 2010 following three injury-plagued years and multiple surgeries on his back and shoulder, but signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the offseason and ended up as a valuable bench piece for the AL East champions.  Chavez hit .263/.320/.356 in 175 plate appearances, all but 23 of which were against right-handed pitching.  He also made 33 starts at third base filling in for the injured Alex Rodriguez and showed some of the form (a +9.5 UZR/150) that earned him six straight Gold Gloves for the A's between 2001-06.

Should this be the end for Chavez, he will retire with a career line of .267/.342/.474, 232 home runs and career earnings of approximately $75.63MM.

Guthrie, Orioles Have Not Discussed Long-Term Deal

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Jeremy Guthrie has been a steady presence in the Orioles’ rotation for the past five seasons, but they haven’t approached the right-hander about a multiyear deal. Guthrie says he hasn’t discussed the possibility with the team since he and his agent brought it up last offseason, according to Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com.

Guthrie knows that the team would have approached him if they wanted to and says he doesn’t expect long-term security from the Orioles. However, he sounds open to the idea of a multiyear deal.

"You never take anything for granted or assume you are entitled to anything,” Guthrie said. “So to think that a team should offer me any type of contract beyond one year, I don't assume that. I've always just thought I'll go out and play year-to-year.” 

Guthrie points out that the Orioles could trade or non-tender him, but he expects that a one-year deal is “one of the more likely scenarios.” He earned $5.75MM this season as a second-year arbitration eligible player and posted a 4.33 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 208 innings. It was the third consecutive season that the 32-year-old has surpassed the 200-inning plateau, so he will likely reach $8MM through arbitration and may approach $10MM. Guthrie, a 2002 first round pick, would be eligible for free agency after 2012.

Guthrie is a client of CAA Sports agent Brodie Van Wagenen, as our Agency Database shows.

Yankees Notes: Sabathia, Posada, Cashman

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The Yankees won 97 regular season games and two more in the playoffs, but their quest for a 28th World Championship fell short in the Bronx last night, as the Tigers beat them 3-2. Here are some links as the Yankees look ahead to another offseason…    

  • Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says retaining C.C. Sabathia is the most pressing task of the Yankees' offseason. If they let him slip away, the Red Sox could have interest, as Kepner points out.
  • Jon Heyman of SI.com points out that the Yankees' biggest offseason need is once again starting pitching and runs through a number of other issues facing the Bronx Bombers this winter.
  • Sabathia can opt out of the four years remaining on his seven-year, $161MM contract after the season and the left-hander says he can't wrap his head around the decision yet, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. However, Sabathia repeated that he loves it in New York.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post suspects that the Yankees will wait, instead of extending Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson this offseason. Both players are eligible for free agency after 2013 (assuming New York exercises Cano's two options).
  • Alex Rodriguez told Sherman that the Yankees' season was a "major failure" though they finished with the best record in the American League. Rodriguez says he has a lot to prove and is looking forward to the challenge of "coming back with a vengeance."
  • As Mike Vorkunov of the Star-Ledger explains, Jorge Posada may have played his final game in Yankee pinstripes and the catcher turned DH is emotional about the possibility.
  • Brian Cashman reiterated that he wants to return to the Yankees, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger. The GM's contract expires after the season, but the Yankees want him back, so a new deal appears likely.

GM Candidate: Logan White

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MLBTR’s list of general manager candidates introduced 20 people who were identified by their peers as potential Major League GMs. We’ve been bringing you closer to the candidates with a series of pieces. Today the series continues with Logan White, the Dodgers’ assistant GM of scouting. 

Logan White oversaw the selection of high-profile pitchers such as Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley and Kenley Jansen, so he knows a good arm when he sees one. And in retrospect, White acknowledges that his own big league prospects were slim when Mariners scout Jeff Malinoff recommended him in the 1984 draft.

“No disrespect to Jeff, I wouldn’t draft me,” White said.

Seattle selected White, then a right-handed pitcher out of Western New Mexico University, in the 23rd round. Three minor league seasons and one shoulder operation later, the former Academic All-American was teaching English and communications at the junior high level. But White returned to baseball as an associate scout with the Mariners before moving on to Baltimore and San Diego. He joined the Dodgers a decade ago and oversaw the selection of current players such as Matt Kemp, Russell Martin and James Loney. 

White seeks out analysis beyond the traditional scouting report. He has researched pitching deliveries and the amateur draft to help the Dodgers obtain healthier, more productive players. Today, he oversees amateur and international scouting for the Dodgers as an assistant to GM Ned Colletti. 

I spoke to him late in the regular season. Here are some highlights from our conversation:

On his start in scouting:

I don’t want to compare horses to people, but I grew up on a ranch in New Mexico. I grew up around agriculture and when I was in school we did horse judging – we would judge horses and we had to rank them. It sounds funny, but in the end I learned a lot about the gait of a horse and how the horse looked and worked and how the body worked. So there was always an interest for me to try to understand those kinds of things.

On what kind of scout he is:

I think that I’m a person who can understand the delivery, the arm action, the mechanics, how a body works, but also someone who can understand the mental side for the player. I think I was ahead of the curve in understanding that the player’s performance has to follow and I was always looking for backgrounds of success. I’m also a person that likes tools. I know in the game today, particularly in a large-market city like L.A., you have to draft impact players. 

I like to think I’m a pretty open-minded evaluator. I’m hopefully not going to miss on David Eckstein and I certainly respect the importance of the kind player he is, but I also know that I can’t make a career out of looking for David Eckstein, because he’s pretty rare. I’m better off looking for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez and not missing a David Eckstein.

On advanced analysis and traditional scouting:

If you play, you can get labeled as a ‘baseball guy’ who’s not a critical thinker. That’s not necessarily the case for me. I respect that side of what people try to do [advanced analytics]. I’m always open to ways to get better and I’m always a person that’s researching.

On development of his own analytical side:

I think most people, we go back to our life experiences, our educational backgrounds. I’ve always been one who wants to test and see if it works and I think it goes back to my background. When you’re raising cattle and horses and crops, making a living that way, certain things work and certain things don’t. 

Some of what I do I call deductive reasoning and you have to have it. And you certainly have to have data and research [as well]. If you have deductive reasoning without research and data, it’s irrelevant.

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