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Red Sox Place Kaleb Ort On Outright Waivers

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The Red Sox have placed right-hander Kaleb Ort on outright waivers, reports Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). The team will presumably wait until the waiver process is resolved before announcing the move.

Ort finished the regular season on the 60-day injured list, as he didn’t pitch after July 4 because of elbow inflammation. There is no IL over the offseason. The Sox would’ve needed to reinstate Ort onto the 40-man roster within five days of the conclusion of the World Series. They’ve decided against doing so.

There’ll likely be an indication within a day or two whether another team placed a claim. In either case, his time in the organization is likely coming to a close. Ort would have the requisite service time to declare minor league free agency at the start of the offseason even if he goes unclaimed.

Boston acquired Ort from the Yankees over the 2020-21 offseason in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The Aquinas College product pitched in parts of three seasons for the Sox, tallying 51 2/3 innings through 47 MLB appearances. He worked to a 6.27 ERA with slightly worse than average strikeout (20.9%) and walk (10.2%) rates. He consistently fared better in the minors, posting a sub-3.00 ERA in parts of three years at Triple-A Worcester. That included a 2.88 mark across 40 2/3 frames for the WooSox in 2022, when Ort punched out an impressive 31.5% of opposing hitters.

Red Sox Fire Pitching Coach Dave Bush

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The Red Sox are firing pitching coach Dave Bush and will not retain third base coach Carlos Febles, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. The club has yet to confirm the news.

Bush has led the Boston pitching staff for four seasons. The Sox hired the former big league right-hander in October 2019. He held the role during Ron Roenicke’s year as interim manager and remained on staff when the Sox re-hired Alex Cora during the 2020-21 offseason.

The Sox have been a below-average run prevention team over the past four seasons. They rank 23rd in ERA during that stretch and finished 21st this year, allowing 4.51 earned runs per nine. That’s not all on the pitching staff. Playing in the AL East has pitted Boston against generally strong offenses. The Sox have also consistently run out a mediocre defensive alignment. Only the Cardinals, Rockies and A’s allowed a higher percentage of batted balls to fall for hits this past season.

From a strikeout and walk perspective, the Red Sox were a middle-of-the-pack group. They ranked 14th with a 23.1% strikeout percentage and 10th in walks, surrendering free passes at an 8.1% clip. Young right-hander Brayan Bello had a reasonably encouraging first full MLB season, although his production dropped markedly in the second half. It was the opposite story for Nick Pivetta, who was dominant late in the season after being bumped from the rotation by mid-May.

Aside from Bello, Boston shuttled through a number of pitchers in the rotation this year. Corey Kluber, James Paxton, Tanner Houck and Chris Sale all dealt with injury issues. That was also true of Garrett Whitlock, who didn’t find the expected level of success upon a move from the bullpen to the rotation. Kutter Crawford also bounced from the relief corps to the starting staff midway through the year. The pitching staff’s flux isn’t necessarily a reflection on Bush’s work — it was always likely to be a high-variance group given Paxton’s and Sale’s injury histories and the inexperience of Whitlock, Houck and Bello as starters — but the Sox will look for a new voice to lead their pitchers moving forward.

Febles has worked in the Boston organization for nearly two decades. He had been on the MLB staff as third base coach since 2018. A former infielder, Febles spent parts of six seasons in the majors with the Royals around the turn of the century.

Latest On Red Sox’s GM Search, Offseason Plans

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After firing chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom last month, the Red Sox are in the midst of a search for their next baseball operations leader. Team president Sam Kennedy recently spoke to MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam regarding the club’s preferences in their search, and made clear that the club is open to a hire who doesn’t have experience as the top decision maker in a front office.

Kennedy referred to past experience in a front office leadership role as “definitely not a requirement” before referencing GMs from around the league who had success in their first job as a top front office executive, including Yankees GM Brian Cashman and former Red Sox and Cubs executive Theo Epstein.

McAdam goes on to reference Phillies GM Sam Fuld, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes, and Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero as candidates the Red Sox have interest in who have never led a baseball operations department before, though he also notes more experienced candidates the club has been linked to such as Marlins GM Kim Ng (whose contract is up in Miami) and former Astros GM James Click, who currently serves as vice president of baseball strategy for the Blue Jays. The Red Sox had also been previously reported to have interest in Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, though the possibility of Hazen departing Arizona was squashed by his recent extension with the club. Referencing the potential of a job with the Red Sox following his extension, Hazen acknowledged his ties to Boston before emphasizing that he wasn’t ready to leave Arizona.

Aside from the club’s ongoing GM search, McAdam pushes back against a recent report from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, which characterizes Boston as “a real threat” to sign two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani this offseason. Despite that, McAdam reports that Ohtani was “not at all a focus” of Boston’s early meetings regarding their offseason plans, and that principal owner John Henry is against the sort of long-term megadeal it would surely require to lure Ohtani to the Red Sox.

To McAdam’s point, prior to the club’s $331MM extension with third baseman Rafael Devers, the club had signed a contract that surpasses $200MM just once by signing left-hander David Price to a seven-year, $217MM pact. With the Devers deal freshly on the books on top of existing deals for shortstop Trevor Story and left-hander Chris Sale, it’s difficult to imagine the Red Sox offering the massive contract it would likely require to land Ohtani.

Joe Christopher Passes Away

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Former big leaguer Joe Christopher passed away earlier this week at the age of 87, as was reported by the Associated Press.

A veteran of eight big league seasons, Christopher made his big league debut in May of 1959 with the Pirates. From 1959-61, Christopher played in 141 games for Pittsburgh, slashing .244/.308/.315 in 281 trips to the plate. His trio of seasons with the Pirates included the 1960 campaign, when Pittsburgh won 95 games en route to a World Series championship. Christopher served as a pinch runner during the seven-game set against the Yankees and scored twice in the series, including during Pittsburgh’s pivotal 5-3 win in Game 5.

When the league expanded ahead of the 1962 season, the Mets selected Christopher with the fifth-overall selection in the expansion draft. He was a regular fixture in the club’s lineup through the club’s first five seasons, slashing .265/.334/.387 in 485 games. The best season both of his Mets tenure and his career as a whole came in 1964. Though the Mets lost 109 games that season, Christopher posted a strong slash line of .300/.360/.466 with 16 home runs, eight triples, and 26 doubles while acting as the club’s regular right fielder. The last season of Christopher’s career came in 1966, when he was traded from New York to Boston. Christopher ultimately played just 12 games for the Red Sox, recording one hit and two walks against four strikeouts in 15 trips to the plate.

Aside from being a member of the original Mets team in 1962 and winning a World Series in 1960, Christopher is noteworthy as one of only a handful of big league players from the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was the second player in the history of the majors to hail from there, following only Valmy Thomas, a catcher who played for the who played for the Giants in both New York and San Francisco before moving on to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cleveland throughout his five-year career, which began in 1957.

We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to Christopher’s family, friends, loved ones, fans and former teammates.

Organization Notes: Counsell, Hazen, Guardians, Yankees

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When the Brewers exited the postseason following a sweep at the hands of Arizona, it led to renewed speculation regarding the future of club manager Craig Counsell. Counsell has remained steadfast in his desire to wait out the 2023 campaign before discussing a potential contract extension in Milwaukee, despite owner Mark Attanasio making clear the club’s desire to retain him for 2024 and beyond. Previous reporting has indicated that Counsell figures to continue managing in 2024, though whether or not the Wisconsin-native will remain in Milwaukee is yet to be determined.

Now, it seems as though Counsell’s fate might take longer to decide than initially expected. According to Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post, the manager’s contract with the Brewers will not expire until October 31. Sanchez adds that it appears that any club who wishes to discuss a potential job in their organization with Counsell before the end of the month will need to seek permission from the Brewers to do so. As Sanchez notes, with plenty of managerial searches ongoing around baseball this offseason, any club that decides to wait on Counsell’s potential availability runs the risk of missing out on other preferred candidates who take a job elsewhere before the end of October.

Cleveland, San Francisco and Anaheim are all on the hunt for a new manager, though Counsell has been most frequently speculated as a possible manager for the Mets, who recently hired former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns, who Counsell managed under from 2016 to 2022. For Stearns’s part, he’s previously indicated that the club plans to take its time with the hiring process and cast “a wide net” in their search for the next Mets manager.

More personnel news from around the league…

  • The Guardians are in search of a new manager for the first time in over a decade thanks to Terry Francona’s retirement, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that one candidate for the role is Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Per Sherman, Cleveland has already contacted Mendoza in hopes of interviewing him for the role. It’s a process that Mendoza, 43, is familiar with; he’s interviewed for several managerial positions in the past, most recently with the White Sox last season. Mendoza joined the Yankees in 2009 as a member of their minor league coaching staff and eventually worked his way up to a role on the big league coaching staff in 2017 before becoming the bench coach for manager Aaron Boone following the 2019 season, a role he’s fulfilled ever since.
  • Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen recently signed an extension with the club that will keep him in Arizona through 2028, with a club option for 2029. While Hazen was rumored as a potential candidate to take over in the Red Sox front office for Chaim Bloom, who the club fired just before the end of the 2023 campaign, Hazen made clear to team president Derrick Hall that he had no interest in leaving Arizona. As relayed by MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, Hazen said that while he has family in Boston, he feels committed to the Diamondbacks, with an end goal of a deep playoff run and World Series championship. “That’s not done,” Hazen said, “We’re not even close to that yet.”

29 Players Elect Free Agency

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October brings postseason play for a handful of teams and their fanbases. Just over two-thirds of the league is now in offseason mode after being eliminated, however. As the season comes to a close, a number of veterans will hit minor league free agency.

These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. The first group, courtesy of the transaction tracker at MiLB.com:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

AL Notes: Verdugo, Astros, Mariners

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With the Red Sox front office seeing change at the top following the firing of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, it’s hard to predict what sort of direction Boston might go in this offseason before they find a replacement for Bloom at the top of the club’s hierarchy. Still, there are some clues, most notably comments by team president and CEO Sam Kennedy that indicate the club hopes to sign some of their younger players to long-term extensions, with the likes of right-hander Brayan Bello, first baseman Triston Casas, and outfielders Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu earning particular mention.

While Duran had experience in the infield during his time in the minors, both he and Abreu are exclusively outfielders at the big league level. Between Boston’s apparent belief in both youngsters, the emergence of top prospect Ceddanne Rafaela as perhaps the club’s best defender in center field, and the presence of Masataka Yoshida on a long-term deal, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see where outfielder Alex Verdugo fits in for the Red Sox. As noted by Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, however, Verdugo spoke glowingly of the organization on the final day of the regular season.

“Hopefully I stay here with the Red Sox,” Verdugo said, “I love this organization. I have made it clear to them.” At the same time, Verdugo acknowledged the uncertainty of his position headed into the offseason before saying, “You just have to work hard… If it’s not this team, there’s 29 other teams.”

A free agent after the 2024 campaign, Verdugo would be an interesting trade candidate if dangled by the Red Sox this offseason. Verdugo finished the 2023 campaign on a rough note, slashing just .225/.268/.367 in the second half. Prior to that, however, he was a borderline All Star with a .290/.360/.457 slash line that was in line with the very best performances of his career. Taken together, it makes for a roughly league average production (98 wRC+) in 142 games this year. Verdugo also contributed positively with the glove, registering +1 Outs Above Average after posting -5 marks in each of the previous two seasons. That combination of solid defense in right field and a league average or better lefty bat should be intriguing to outfield-needy clubs, particularly given a fairly soft free agent class at the position.

More from the American League…

  • The Astros are set to begin their postseason push tomorrow with a five-game set against the Twins in the ALDS, but GM Dana Brown is already making plans for what comes next when the team’s season concludes. As noted by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, Brown, who joined the Astros as GM back in January, has made clear that promotions are inbound for other members of the club’s front office, saying that he’s “found out they have a lot of good people here.” Brown noted that “at least six” promotions are expected within the front office. While the specific personnel and role changes being discussed aren’t yet clear, it’s sensible for the Astros to promote from within as front offices around baseball begin asking their fellow organizations for permission to interview club employees for positions in their own organization. As previously mentioned, the Red Sox are looking for a new head of their baseball operations department, while the Mets could look to replace GM Billy Eppler in the near future after he stepped down from his role as David Stearns’s second in command yesterday.
  • With managerial vacancies in Anaheim, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Queens already announced, plenty of clubs are already making changes in the dugout this offseason. MLBNetwork’s Jon Morosi suggests that the Mariners could see several members of their coaching staff get significant attention for the open positions, listing bullpen coach Stephen Vogt, first base coach Kristopher Negron, and third base coach Manny Acta all as Seattle coaches who could be under consideration for one or more of the current vacancies. Acta is the only one of the three with previous managerial experience at the big league level; in addition to three years with the Nationals from 2007-2009, he stands as Cleveland’s most recent manager besides Terry Francona, who retired from managing following the 2023 campaign.

AL Notes: Red Sox, Showalter, Angels, Royals

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Buck Showalter wants to keep managing, and is trying to get an interview with the Angels about their dugout vacancy, the New York Post’s Mike Puma reports (via X).  It isn’t known if there is any mutual interest on the Halos’ side, though one would imagine the club would be open to at least having a chat with a veteran skipper with such a long and distinguished track record.  Showalter’s managerial career has been marked by his ability to turn around struggling teams, which would seemingly have particular appeal to a Los Angeles club that has suffered through eight straight losing seasons.  The position opened up earlier this week when the Angels officially parted ways with Phil Nevin — by coincidence, a former player of Showalter’s on the 2005-06 Rangers.

Showalter might have an extra edge if the Angels have trouble finding other top-tier candidates.  “The job isn’t deemed attractive within the industry because GM Perry Minasian is entering the final year of his contract,” Puma writes, meaning that if a new general manager is hired next offseason, the incoming boss might want to make their own hire in the manager’s chair. However, there is also a significant connection between Showalter and Minasian, who worked for the Rangers from 2003-2009 as a scout and as Showalter’s staff assistant when skipper was managing in Texas.

More from around the American League….

  • Red Sox president/CEO Sam Kennedy discussed several topics during an appearance on the Fenway Rundown podcast with MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam, including the team’s reneweed emphasis on trying to sign younger, pre-arbitration players to contract extensions.  Brayan Bello, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, and Triston Casas were specifically mentioned by Kennedy as the types of young players the Sox would like to lock up, though the CEO naturally didn’t provide details on whether or not the club had already broached the topic of extensions with any of the quartet.  Chaim Bloom’s four-year tenure in charge of Boston’s front office didn’t see many extensions in general, with the notable exceptions of Rafael Devers’ mega-deal and one of those aforementioned pre-arb pacts with Garrett Whitlock.  Cotillo also reports that Bloom tried to sign an unnamed Sox top prospect to an extension before the player had even started his Major League career.
  • The Royals plan to retain their coaching staff for 2024, general manager J.J. Picollo told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters, though a couple of new faces could be added in new roles on an expanded staff.  Though the Royals struggled through a miserable 106-loss season, they already underwent a significant coaching overhaul last winter after new manager Matt Quatraro was hired.  K.C. apparently doesn’t want to make more changes just yet, though there could be some turnover if any coaches are approached for promotions on other teams.

Christian Arroyo Elects Free Agency

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Christian Arroyo elected free agency on Monday, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. The Red Sox designated him for assignment in August after he slashed .241/.268/.369 in 66 games for the big league club. He played for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox for the rest of the month, going 4-for-42 with only one extra-base hit in 12 games. He spent much of September on the injured list, dealing with inflammation in his right ankle.

Arroyo was one of many DFA’d players to elect free agency following the last day of the regular season; others included Archie Bradley, Daniel Norris, and fellow WooSox player Caleb Hamilton. Still, Arroyo is perhaps the most notable name of the bunch. He was the Opening Day second baseman for the Red Sox, having put together a respectable .277/.323/.426 slash line over the previous two seasons. Unfortunately, he didn’t look like that player in 2023.

Never a disciplined hitter or a power threat, his already-low walk rate fell even lower and Arroyo struggled to make hard contact. His average exit velocity fell by more than two miles per hour, while his hard-hit rate dropped by 10% (per Statcast). Meanwhile, his glove was capable at second base, and he filled in on occasion at shortstop and third, but his defense wasn’t enough of an asset to outweigh his struggles at the plate.

Arroyo will have the chance to sign with a new club this offseason. While his 2023 campaign was a disappointment, he is still just 28 years old and one year removed from a solid performance in 2022. Given his defensive versatility – he can play all four infield positions, plus the outfield corners – he should draw some interest in free agency.

Sam Kennedy On The Search For The Red Sox’ Next GM

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Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy addressed members of the media (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive) on Monday, alongside manager Alex Cora. The primary topic of discussion was the team’s search for a new general manager, after chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was fired in September.

Kennedy made it clear that he is actively seeking a new GM, and he hopes to begin interviews in the coming days. That said, he isn’t working under a deadline. In other words, the team might not have a new head baseball executive when free agency begins, or even by the start of the Winter Meetings in December. That could prohibit the Red Sox from making an early splash this offseason, but it doesn’t mean Kennedy is wrong to take things slow. The team is surely hoping to choose a new baseball operations leader who will stick around longer than a few years and lead the team to repeated success. Suffice it to say, that’s not a decision to make lightly.

The Red Sox will consider both internal and external candidates for the position, Kennedy explained. Internal options could include assistant GMs Eddie Romero, Raquel Ferreira, and Michael Groopman, who are helping to oversee baseball operations in the interim. However, don’t expect Cora or former GM Brian O’Halloran to step into the role. Cora has already expressed that he doesn’t feel ready for such a promotion, while O’Halloran, who served as GM under Bloom, has already accepted a new job as executive vice president of baseball operations.

As for external candidates, Cotillo suggests that Phillies GM Sam Fuld and Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes are in the conversation, as are Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes, Blue Jays vice president of baseball strategy (and former Astros GM) James Click, and Twins GM Thad Levine. Meanwhile, one external candidate to rule out is Theo Epstein. He is a popular choice amongst fans, but Kennedy has already shut down any speculation about a reunion with the former Red Sox GM.

All Kennedy would say on Monday was that he has a “targeted list” of candidates, and he is currently seeking permission from other clubs to interview some of their front office personnel.

In other news from the press conference, Cora told reporters that the Red Sox coaching staff is the area of the team that needs to make the biggest improvement entering next season. Kennedy didn’t have much to reveal about potential turnover on the coaching staff, other than to say that conversations on that subject will occur in due time.

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