Filling the opening left by the departing Farhan Zaidi, now-former Cardinals scouting director Dan Kantrovitz will return to the Athletics as an assistant general manager, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Kantrovitz recently gave an interesting interview with David Laurila of Fangraphs, explaining his approach in St. Louis of viewing the draft as “a mechanism to save money.” He will now reportedly slot in alongside David Forst as one of GM Billy Beane’s top lieutenants.
More from out west:
- The Diamondbacks have “legit” interest in Yasmany Tomas, a league executive tells ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). They are one of about a handful of clubs currently chasing the Cuban slugger. The Mariners, meanwhile, are nibbling around the edges at the moment, per Crasnick, but do not appear to be one of the core teams in pursuit. You can check out yesterday’s updates on Tomas here.
- The Rangers have mild interest in Seattle’s Michael Saunders, Crasnick tweets. Texas has at least checked in on his availability while ticking through the team’s options in the outfield.
- While his market still seems to be shaping up, starter Kevin Correia has drawn the attention of several teams, including the Rockies, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). Berardino notes that Correia has pitched well over his career at Coors Field. Despite his largely underwhelming numbers, the 34-year-old righty will appeal to many clubs as a durable innings-eater.
- Pablo Sandoval (and new teammate-to-be Hanley Ramirez) will leave the NL West for Boston, but his former division made every effort to keep him. The Giants’ offer to Pablo Sandoval included a sixth-year option, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. Combined with prior reports indicating that San Francisco stood at five years and $95MM, with a willingness to bring that figure up, it appears that Sandoval preferred Boston on very similar financial terms (though it is worth noting that full details have not emerged).
- The Padres, meanwhile, were willing to go past five years for Sandoval, according to a report from Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The report appears to indicate that the additional length included at least one more guaranteed year, though it may have delivered a lower overall AAV. GM A.J. Preller said that the team felt it had made a “respectful offer” and was comfortable with the outcome. “[Y]ou have to be prepared that, at the end of the day, he has other options he may take,” said Preller. “We took a good run, and now we have to move on to other options.”
