Quick Hits: Saberhagen, Kubel, Transactions, Front Offices

Two-time Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen is looking to get back into Major League Baseball as either a pitching coach or bullpen coach, reports MLBTR’s Zach Links (on Twitter). The 50-year-old Saberhagen enjoyed an excellent 16-year career with the Royals, Mets, Red Sox and Rockies, pitching to a 167-117 record with a 3.34 ERA and 1,715 strikeouts against just 471 walks in 2,562 2/3 innings. He was the MVP of the 1985 World Series as a 21-year-old — the same season in which he captured his first Cy Young.

Here are some more miscellaneous notes from around the league…

• Free agent Jason Kubel is currently coaching little league and isn’t looking to latch on with a Major League team at this time, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Kubel, who has earned $31MM in his career, returned to the Twins on a minor league deal this past season but hit .224/.313/.295  before being designated for assignment. The career .262/.330/.448 hitter belted a career-high 30 homers as recently as 2012 with the D’Backs, though he’s struggled in two seasons since.
• In a lengthy and excellent piece, Grantland’s Ben Lindbergh looks back at the longest “transaction trees” of each Major League club. Lindbergh examined each member of each team’s 40-man roster and how they came to be a part of the organization, then determined which player’s origin could be traced the furthest. For example, did you know that Mark Trumbo’s presence on the D’Backs can be traced all the way back to the team’s signing of Greg Aquino back in 1995? How about the fact that both Brian Duensing and Lester Oliveros came to be on the Twins as an indirect result of the team’s selection of Chuck Knoblauch in the 1989 draft? Lindbergh’s piece is a thoroughly enjoyable read for transaction lovers.
• Craig Counsell has pulled himself out of the running for the Rays’ managerial gig, reports MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Counsell, a special assistant to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, enjoys his current front office role, he explained to McCalvy. Still, he did at least entertain the offer by taking part in a phone interview for the Rays position, McCalvy writes.
• The Red Sox will promote Raquel Ferreria from senior director of minor league operations to vice president of baseball administration, reports WEEI.com’s Alex Speier. That promotion will make Ferreria, along with Kim Ng and Yankees SVP/assistant GM Jean Afterman, the third female to ascend to a position of VP or higher, Speier writes. Boston director of player development Ben Crockett describes Ferreria as “the glue that holds the farm system together.” Ferreria will continue to oversee minor league operations (individual affiliates, transactions, contracts) and will also be responsible for the Major League (non-payroll) budget and handling immigration and work visa issues, according to Speier. GM Ben Cherington spoke glowingly of Ferreria: “The best thing I can say is in the 16 years now, I can’t remember her making a mistake. I can’t.”