Here’s the latest out of the game’s eastern divisions:
- Phillies hurler Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez will have a chance to start next spring, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. “The plan for him is to try to get him to the point where he’s a starter again and to put him in the mix for us next year,” said GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who said it remains to be seen whether he’ll earn a role. “I don’t know, but we have starter deficiencies and we have holes there and we’d like to put him in a position where he can at least compete for a spot,” Amaro explained.
- Meanwhile, the Phillies announced a significant front office change: assistant GM Marti Wolever, who ran the team’s amateur scouting efforts, will not be back next year. As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes, Philadelphia has had some positives but also some notable negatives in converting drafted players into big league production. Of course, some of the young players that Wolever brought in were ultimately dealt away before they were able to contribute for the Phils. More front office turnover could well be coming, says Zolecki.
- Mets assistant GM John Ricco says that the club has flexibility due to its array of young arms, as Matt Ehalt of the The Record reports. “We’ll look at it and decide if we feel we can move one or more starters in a deal to fill out other areas on the team that are not as deep,” said Ricco. “It’s not a bad situation to be in. As you look around the league and see the injuries to pitchers, it’s a reminder of how many guys you do need.”
- While he remains undecided on his future, Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda left the impression that he could be leaning away from playing in the big leagues next year. As MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports, Kuroda spoke like someone who will need to be convinced to return: “Right now, I cannot imagine what the answer is going to be,” he said. “I’m just relieved I was able to finish the season without getting hurt. If — and this is a big if — there are such talks, then I’d have to ask myself and think deeply whether I’d be able to produce.” Soon to be 40, Kuroda has not been quite as excellent as he was over his first two years in New York, but has nevertheless been plenty productive with 199 frames of 3.71 ERA baseball.
Sure, blame Marti Wolever.
Ryan Howard came up through the system. Thus he is responsible for THAT contract.
Phillies problems go way farther than AGM.
Guy had it coming after the 2013 draft
The ASSISTANT general manager was fired? This is a joke, right?
I thank Kuroda for being the most solid starting pitcher for the last 3 seasons but it’s time the Yankees moved on.
Pretty much, yeah. At this point they should be ok with Tanaka, Pineda, FA who is likely better than CC, CC himself, and Greene. Then maybe some 1 year dumpster diving value pitchers for depth. I know Tanaka and Pineda aren’t “Sure things” because they both had injuries, but without them they’re not winning anyway, so the risk doesn’t really matter.
Hopefully they’ll resign McCarthy. McCarthy recently said he couldn’t imagine a better fit than the Bronx. So between CC, Tanaka, Phelps, Greene, Nova (once he’s back from Tommy John surgery), Pineda, McCarthy and maybe Jon Lester, hopefully out of those 8, they’ll find 5 who can be healthy and productive at the same time.
Nova? He won’t pick up a baseball until late winter and probably won’t even face live hitters until after the Yankees break camp for 2015. If Nova factors into the Yankee rotation in 2015, something again has gone horribly wrong.
Recovery time for TJS is about a calendar year. Nova had that surgery in May. So hopefully, he’ll contribute something, at some point next season. And I don’t think they would make him a reliever so yeah, I hope he does force the issue and become a factor in the rotation at some point in 2015. Maybe not until after the All Star break but at some point.
The Phillies need to focus their efforts elsewhere. I’d be looking at the minor league affiliates and how they are directed to develop players for the big club. It shouldn’t be about winning games in the minors, it should be about developing skills that translate to MLB play. I’d dare say there is no philosophy that permeates the minor league clubs that allows players to develop and be promoted when certain skills are demonstrated on a consistent basis.