A.J. Preller’s rise to GM of the Padres was nearly a lifetime in the making, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes in a long profile. Josh Boyd, the Rangers’ pro scouting director, says he knew Preller would become a GM since meeting him in 1999, when Preller was barely out of college. “He’s gonna be a GM in five years,” Boyd recalls telling his parents. Preller interned with the Phillies while at Cornell, then took a job in MLB’s offices, working with Frank Robinson. He then worked for the Dodgers before joining the Rangers, where his college roommate Jon Daniels was an assistant GM (and later their GM). Preller worked as a scouting director, director of player personnel and assistant GM before being hired by the Padres. Here’s more from the West divisions.
- The Mariners increased spending in 2014, and they’ll need to do it again in 2015, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. The Mariners have missed the postseason every year since 2001, and beyond Kyle Seager, the Mariners lack the sort of cheap young impact players who might justify a low overall payroll. Mariners president Kevin Mather recently said the team’s payroll would increase in 2015.
- With the Rangers’ release of a list of candidates for their managerial job, it’s clear that their next manager will be a rookie, Evan Grant of Dallas Morning News writes. The new names include interim manager Tim Bogar, Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister, Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash, ESPN analyst (and former infielder) Alex Cora, Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo and White Sox third base coach Joe McEwing. Between them, there are plenty of connections to Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, Indians manager Terry Francona and Red Sox manager John Farrell, all of whom are known for having the kind of powerful clubhouse presence that makes them strong leaders.
Kevin Cash was the man who took Dougie Mirabelli’s place on the Sox in Spring Training of 08 and for that I’ll never forgive him. The North remembers.
What do the Mariners have spare in terms of OF’s and pitchers- I could easily see the Mariners making a pitch for Gattis or Justin Upton this offseason. Braves would likely want young OF talent, a catcher (Montero perhaps since he’s in the doghouse in Seattle) and close to MLB-ready pitching though.
They’re trading Gattis, so I don’t think they need catching.
Montero has no value to anyone after his poor performance, behavior, and PED use.
The M’s don’t have close to MLB pitching to spare. Felix and Iwakuma sit at the top of the rotation, but Paxon and Walker both had shortened seasons. Paxton threw 87 innings and Walker 106. They are going to need all the arms they can get next year with those two likely on inning limits. Elias was shut down with an elbow issue after jumping from 130 IP to 169. The gave him one too many starts. He was showing signs of wear his last two months. Hultzen ended up pitching 25 innings of instructional league ball, but it’s likely he will be lucky to reach 100 IP next year, too. Diaz and Sanches are likely 2 years out.
The M’s have a couple of well regarded C prospects in Hicks and Marlett.
If the Mariners are going all out, then they should sign Hanley Ramirez and Melky Cabrera. Then trade Dustin Ackley, Chris Taylor, Brad Miller and/or young outfielders for a frontline starter to pair with Felix. And bring back Iwakuma to be their number 3. They should probably sign Kendrys Morales for at least one more year until D.J. Peterson is able to come up. Plus a right-handed right fielder like Denorfia would be helpful as well.
No to Han Ram and Morales. Ramirez is expensive and can no play SS very well. Morales was awful and clearly doesn’t want to be there anymore.
Denorfia is awful.
Pass on Cabrera.
Why should the M’s dump all their young kids that just got to the other side of their growing pains for players closer to decline than peak? Ackley just got rolling in the 2nd half when he hurt his ankle again. Yeah, that could be an issue. Miller put up a .794 OPS in the 2nd half. Morales will be lucky to get a major league contract next year. He probably gets an NRI and a minor league deal out of ST. Thanks Mr. Boras. DJ Peterson should be in the minors the whole year. He didn’t exactly tear up AA. He hit most of his homers last year in High Desert.