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Front Office Notes: Beane, Cubs, Epstein, Friedman

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Here's the latest on some GM vacancies and other front office moves…

  • Would Billy Beane be a good fit as the Yankees' general manager?  Mike Silva of the New York Baseball Digest takes on the question and wonders how Beane would navigate the politics of the Yankee front office.  Beane's name has been whispered in connection with the Cubs' GM vacancy, and Silva agrees that if Beane leaves Oakland for any job, it would be in Chicago.
  • The Cubs have signed Oneri Fleita to a four-year contract extension to continue as the club's vice-president of player personnel, reports Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times.  The Tigers were reportedly interested in hiring Fleita, which is why the Cubs moved to lock him up despite the fact that Chicago's GM candidates could have possibly wanted to fill that position themselves. 
  • Three AL East general managers will likely be staying put, says FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (video link).  The Yankees and Brian Cashman are mutually interested in continuing their relationship, Andrew Friedman is "extremely loyal" to Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and since Theo Epstein has one year left on his Red Sox contract, an interested suitor like the Cubs would have to give Epstein the proverbial "offer he can't refuse" in order to convince him to leave.
  • Also from Rosenthal, he hears from sources close to Ozzie Guillen who feel the manager's recent demand for a contract extension was "a classic Ozzie diversionary tactic" to take the heat off the players.  On the other hand, common sense dictates that Guillen wants more job security and doesn't want to risk being fired in mid-season if the White Sox struggle in 2012.  One anonymous GM tells Rosenthal to bet on both Guillen and Kenny Williams staying in Chicago, since Jerry Reinsdorf is loyal to both men.

Rosenthal On Papelbon, Yankees, Fielder, Pujols

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A Marlins shakeup is looming and the focus is on the team's minor league system, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in this week's edition of Full Count.  Jim Fleming, the vice president of player development and scouting, has informed his staff that he will be reassigned.  The club's revenues will grow once they move into their new stadium but they still need to do a better job of producing homegrown talent.  Let's take a look at some more highlights from Full Count..

  • The Red Sox are reluctant to give lucrative long-term contracts to closers, but with Jonathan Papelbon they might not be able to resist.  Papelbon will want an increase from his $12MM salary, perhaps something closer to Mariano Rivera's $15MM average yearly pay.  It's possible that no team will want to go there but Rivera has just one year left on his deal and Rafael Soriano hardly looks like the heir to Mo's throne.  Rosenthal wonders aloud if the Yankees would jump in and offer Papelbon a backloaded deal to take over as closer.
  • The Rangers would seem to be an obvious suitor for Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols, especially in light of Mitch Moreland's recent struggles.  Texas will have to spend on pitching if they lose C.J. Wilson in free agency and they might prefer to keep both their payroll and roster flexible.  Josh Hamilton is only one year away from free agency and Ian Kinsler is only two years away. 
  • The sale of the Astros to Jim Crane is not yet official and some in baseball believe that he will not be approved as owner.  Others, however, view a deal as inevitable.  Current owner Drayton McLane wants out and Crane is offering a fair price for the club.  Perhaps most importantly, there does not appear to be any other bidders.  McLane has been loyal to the commissioner's office and he will want to see that loyalty reciprocated.

Quick Hits: Millwood, Wilson, Cubs, Cordero

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Links for Saturday afternoon..

  • The Rockies would like to have Kevin Millwood back next season but Troy Renck of The Denver Post (via Twitter) thinks that the club would prefer to bring him back on a minor league deal.
  • In a piece for ESPN.com (Insider req'd), Dave Cameron of Fangraphs explains why he sees C.J. Wilson as a good free agent buy.  Because he began his career as a reliever, the Rangers' lefty has thrown just 670.2 innings thus far in his major-league career.
  • The Cubs have extended the contract of player personnel director Oneri Fleita, one of the key additions of former GM Jim Hendry, writes Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune.  The 44-year-old's deal is for four years, according to Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Earlier today, Reds closer Francisco Cordero reiterated his desire to stay in Cincinnati, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  However, the veteran said that his agent and the club have not had discussions on whether the Reds will exercise his $12MM option.

Rivera Hopes To Return To Dodgers

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The Dodgers took Juan Rivera off of the Blue Jays' hands in mid-July and the outfielder has been solid in 40 games for Los Angeles.  Rivera is obviously comfortable with his new club and told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times that he would like to stay put.

"I would like to be back with this team," Rivera said. "I hope after the season, or even before, that we can agree on an extension or something."

The 33-year-old was lackluster at the plate for the Blue Jays this year but is hitting .292/.346/.438 for the Dodgers.  Rivera is in the final season of a three-year, $12.75MM deal which he originally inked with the Angels.

Jack Zduriencik, Mariners Agree To Extension

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SATURDAY: Zduriencik's new deal is for two years, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.

WEDNESDAY: The Mariners announced a multiyear extension for GM Jack Zduriencik. Despite the team's place at the bottom of the American League West standings, president & CEO Chuck Armstrong says the club is headed in the right direction for long-term success.

“Jack arrived in Seattle with a clear plan, and he has not deviated from that plan,” Armstrong said in a team press release. “Jack wanted to increase the talent base in our organization through scouting and player development. That is exactly what he has done.”

Zduriencik, whose contract was set to expire after 2011, said today that he intends "to continue to acquire talent at all levels of [the] organization" as the Mariners look to improve.

MLBTR's extension tracker has all of the moves Zduriencik has made since taking over baseball operations in October of 2008. His most memorable deals to date include the two Cliff Lee trades, the Brandon League for Brandon Morrow swap, the three-team J.J. Putz deal and the Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva trade. He also signed Felix Hernandez and Franklin Gutierrez to extensions and spent $36MM on free agent Chone Figgins. In total, Zduriencik and his staff acquired 28 of the 32 players currently on Seattle's active roster and disabled list.

The Mariners won 85 games in 2009, the club's first season under Zduriencik. However, they lost 101 games last year and are now 57-77, last in the AL West.

Zduriencik became the first non-GM to win Baseball America's executive of the year award in 2007, when he was Milwaukee's scouting director. He has spent 28 years working for MLB organizations, including nine with the Brewers (1999-2008).

Mike Salk of 710 ESPN first reported the deal.

Outright To Triple-A: Matt Palmer

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It's September call-up season, so there's lots of 40-man roster movement going on. We'll keep track of the day's outright assignments right here…

  • The Angels have outrighted Matt Palmer to Triple-A according to Pacific Coast League transactions page. The 32-year-old right-hander made three generally ineffective spot starts for the Halos in April, and he's spent the majority of the season with their Triple-A club (6.70 ERA in 23 starts). 

Extension Candidate: Desmond Jennings

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357110821404_Mariners_at_Rays At the moment, the AL Rookie of the Year race seems to be wide open. Right-handers Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Jordan Walden and Jeremy Hellickson all deserve consideration, as do AL West hitters Mark Trumbo and Dustin Ackley. There was a late addition to the Rookie of the Year race though, and that's Rays outfielder Desmond Jennings.

Tampa did not call up the 24-year-old Jennings until late-July, but since arriving he's been one of the very best hitters in baseball. Not just among rookies either, among all players. His batting line sits at .324/.419/.581 in 175 plate appearances, and since coming up he ranks ninth in MLB in OBP, 18th in SLG, 24th in homers (eight), and first in stolen bases (14). FanGraphs places Jennings' value at 2.2 wins above replacement already, which is fourth most among all rookie position players even though he's come to the plate at least 101 fewer times than the three players ahead of him (Danny Espinosa, Ackley, and Wilson Ramos).

Jennings did receive a September call-up last year and it's not hard to connect the dots and suggest that his promotion in 2011 was delayed due to service time. He will finish the season with less than one full year of service time, which isn't exactly when teams start handing out extensions. The Rays have set a bit of a precedent though, famously inking Evan Longoria to a six-year, $17.5MM contract after just six days in the big leagues. James Shields was barely over one year of service time when he signed his four-year, $11.25MM contract. Tampa has shown a willingness to take on risk in exchange for cost control of their best young players, making Jennings a prime extension candidate.

The recent Jose Tabata extension gives us a great idea of the market value for a young outfielder with approximately a year of service time. The Pirates gave their 23-year-old outfielder six years and $15MM guaranteed, though three club options could push the total value of the package to $37.25MM. The Rays love getting those club option years as well; both Longoria's and Shields' contracts contain three option years each while Ben Zobrist's deal includes two. Tabata is just about two years younger than Jennings and his big league sample is much larger (815 PA vs. 199 PA), but he hasn't hit as much as the Tampa outfielder (.286/.349/.385 career) and UZR doesn't like his defense as much either. There's not much of a point in comparing the two players statistically given how long they've been in the show, but remember that teams are paying for what they expect in future, not what they've gotten in the past.

One legitimate reason not to give Jennings a long-term contract is his durability, or lack thereof. He missed the final month of the 2007 season due to knee surgery, played in just 24 games in 2008 due to back and shoulder troubles (surgery on the shoulder), and then battled a wrist issue in 2010. The Rays can't afford to miss on a long-term contract extension, so they'll need to feel confident in his ability to stay on the field before deciding to take the plunge. Baseball America thinks enough of Jennings' talent that they ranked him as the 22nd best prospect in baseball before the season despite those injury concerns, the fourth consecutive year he's earned a spot on their top 100 prospects list. It's also worth noting that Jennings is a Scott Boras client.

It seems likely that Tampa will part ways B.J. Upton at some point within the next year, at which point Jennings will just slide over to center field. They're guaranteed to have him at a salary close to the league minimum for at least another two seasons thanks to the pre-arbitration rules, but it's not out of the question that the Rays may decide to lock Jennings in at a below-market rate before that transition occurs.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Quick Hits: Anthopoulos, Lee, Sabathia

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On the one-year anniversary of Stephen Strasburg's Tommy John surgery, let's look at some links from around the league. Strasburg, by the way, will be making his first start back from the injury this coming Tuesday.

  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos spoke to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm about his recent trip to Japan. Anthopoulos acknowledged that he went to see Yu Darvish, but he called it "due diligence" and noted that there are also free agents (like Hisashi Iwakuma) worth looking at. The link offers plenty of quotes, so make sure you click through.
  • Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he's lobbying for the team to re-sign Derrek Lee after the season, but neither Lee nor GM Neal Huntington would indicate that it's a possibility. "I'm not going to close any doors," said the first baseman, "but it's something I haven't even thought about."
  • In a piece for ESPN Insider, Dan Szymborski looked at what the next few years could have in store for Yankees ace CC Sabathia, and also explained how pitchers of similar size performed into their 30s. Sabathia can opt out of his contract after the season, and Szymborski concludes that "losing him is more expensive than keeping him, and there is little evidence that his size will be a problem going forward."

Quick Hits: Rizzo, Braves, Rowand, Pujols, Carrasco

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On this date 11 years ago, the Angels signed amateur free agent Ervin Santana. The right-hander recently reached the 200-inning plateau for the fourth time in his career and he has a 3.27 ERA to go along with his July no-hitter. Here are the latest links from around MLB…

  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo is "definitely" on the Cubs' wish list for their vacant GM position, reports Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post. Rizzo shot down any speculation about him leaving though, saying "there's nowhere I'd rather be than the Washington Nationals right now," and "this is the place I need to be."
  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports (on Twitter) that Kurt Kemp has stepped down as Braves' director of player development to pursue other opportunities.
  • Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com suggests that the Phillies could have interest in the recently designated for assignment Aaron Rowand after he clears waivers. He would not be eligible for postseason play, but Salisbury notes the team has had a "longstanding interest" in bringing Rowand back after losing him to the Giants in free agency.
  • In a piece for Grantland.com, Jonah Keri wonders if losing Albert Pujols to the free agency would really be that bad for the Cardinals.
  • Indians minor leaguer Hector Rondon told Carlos Alberto Zambrano of the Venezuelan paper Lider en Deportes that it appears that Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco will undergo Tommy John surgery. Rendon says the currently-disabled Carrasco told him of the upcoming operation. 
  • Meanwhile, Indians skipper Manny Acta told MLB.com's Jordan Bastian that the team is stil exploring options for Carrasco's injured elbow (Twitter link). He acknowledged that Tommy John surgery was a possibility, but it is not a certainty at this point.
  • Nate Mink of MLB.com explains that Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg showed he's ready for the Major Leagues in his final minor league rehab start. 
  • Doug Miller of MLB.com shows how so many former members of Mike Scioscia's coaching staff – Joe Maddon, Bud Black and Ron Roenicke – have gone on to become MLB managers. 
  • It appears that first base prospect Angel Villalona will return to the Giants organization now that murder charges against him have been dismissed, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The Giants expect to resolve a $5MM breach-of-contract lawsuit that Villalona filed against the team.
  • Former GM Jim Bowden introduces us to the agents behind this offseason's big-name free agents in a must-read piece for ESPN. If you're interested in agents, be sure to check out our Agency Database.

Brandon Phillips Discusses Contract Situation

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Reds' second baseman Brandon Phillips has made it no secret that he would like a contract extension, but talks were not progressing as of June. He spoke to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon today about how negotiations are going and his feelings about the situation.

"I've always said from Day One that this is where I want to be at," said Phillips. "I thought there might be some talks going on during the season but I haven't heard anything all year. I was very disappointed about it … I can't really trip about anything that much. I came here and got my career back to where it should be going."

GM Walt Jocketty, meanwhile, does not believe the lack of talks are unusual, acknowledging that he has not spoken to Phillips' agent but believes he would "at some point between now and the next month or so." The Reds hold a 2012 club option that would pay the 30-year-old infielder $12MM, but Phillips said he will test the free agent waters if the team simply picks up the option without a contract extension.

"If they just pick my option up and don't extend me, I feel like that's a slap in my face," he said. "If the team wants you, they will make room. They will show you they want you here, period. They did it for some of the other guys … If they're going to have me for just one year, I feel like they don't see me in the future."

Cincinnati gave contract extensions to Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, and Bronson Arroyo this past offseason, though Votto's did not buy out any free agent years. Phillips is hitting .295/.345/.433 with a dozen homers this season, and he would be the cream of the middle infield free agent crop after next year.

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