It would be foolhardy for the Marlins to fire manager Mike Redmond this early in the season, opines FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal in his latest notes column. Redmond is well-respected among the industry, Rosenthal notes, and he cannot be blamed for the fact that Henderson Alvarez is injured and Mat Latos has struggled so greatly. (Latos’ diminished velocity is likely a significant culprit in that regard.) Rosenthal writes that owner Jeffrey Loria needs to realize that the unstable culture he creates by cycling through managers so willingly is part of the problem in Miami.
A few more notes from Rosenthal’s latest column…
- In the video atop his column, Rosenthal notes that Cubs top prospect Addison Russell has begun playing some second base and may eventually get a look there in the Majors. However, because he is their best defensive shortstop, Russell may eventually push Starlin Castro to third base and Kris Bryant to the outfield, or his arrival may lead to a trade of Castro.
- Rosenthal writes about former Mets GM Omar Minaya’s decision to draft Matt Harvey with the seventh pick in the 2010 draft. The team had been deciding between Harvey and Chris Sale, but the Mets, like many other clubs, had some reservations about whether or not Sale would last as a starter. Minaya became convinced of Harvey after watching him in an April start at the University of Miami, though as Rosenthal notes, others in the front office/scouting department, including Marlin McPhail, Rudy Terrasas and Bryan Lambe all played large roles as well. Interestingly, Rosenthal adds that the White Sox were thrilled to get Chris Sale at No. 13, as they feared the Royals would select him fifth overall. Kansas City instead selected Cal State Fulelrton infielder Christian Colon.
- Delmon Young told the Orioles that he wanted to regain some of his lost athleticism, and so the team had him work extensively with outfielder-turned-executive Brady Anderson in Spring Training. Young was the first to the clubhouse every day during Spring Training and is now has the fastest 10-yard dash time on the Orioles, per manager Buck Showalter. Rosenthal also notes that Everth Cabrera told the O’s that he knew advanced metrics pegged him as a below-average defender, and he expressed an interest in improving in that area. Baltimore is working with Cabrera to correct a tendency to retreat with his hands and “baby” the ball, as Rosenthal put it.
- The White Sox weren’t as successful in upgrading their catching position as they’d have liked, but for the time being, they’re content with Tyler Flowers and Geovany Soto. Rosenthal notes that while Welington Castillo is widely believed to be available, the Sox and Cubs rarely make trades.
Rick Hahn should have went after Dioner Navarro.
Rick Hahn has been making good moves the last couple of years, why would he go and trade for a bad defensive catcher.
They wouldn’t have been good partners. The Jays needed bullpen help and 2nd base help, at least going into the season. The White Sox had the same needs.
Maybe Delmon can work on regaining some of his lost talent next
Let us all know when that talent starts making you millions. Until then, just keep being a jealous non-athlete.
you don’t know a thing about me, is that supposed to be insulting
Hey man….I’m just responding to your comment about someone playing at the HIGHEST level & their lost talent. Was your comment suppose to be an insult?
Delmon, at one time, had the talent to get him drafted in the first round. He has never shown that “five-tool talent” since. I believe that is what he was referring to.
Dude is a 10yr Big leaguer with over 100hrs & a career .283 average. What am I missing?? Being 1st round draft pick doesn’t automatically make you a 5-tool player. He’s actually gotten better in last couple years.
No, it doesn’t. But he was.
I was wondering where a fast 10 yard dash time would be useful. I guess it would get him a third of the way to 2nd base. Its his time in the last 2/3 that gets him thrown out.
Christian Colon was drafted out of Cal State Fullerton, not high school.
Thanks. Corrected this.
Russell has bypassed Baez in the depth chart and I believe that he could be up soon. Arismendy Alcantara should really be sent to AAA to get some regular playing time. He is struggling in a reserve role. I would send Alcantara down and bring up Russell. It would be Castro at SS an Russell at 2B for now, but maybe flipped at some point this season after Castro gets some practice in over on the right side.
Russell won’t be up until at least late June. He needs some time AAA.
I wouldn’t be too sure of that. The Cubs are impressed with his defense and offense and told him to just go to AAA and continue what he is doing. He is now playing some 2B and I expect him to come up a lot sooner than June.
Its not fair to say that so adamantly as an outsider. You are unaware of his progress and the injuries to the teams infielders.
I agree. I see Castro getting moved to 2B, if a Russell promotion moved him anywhere. ‘Mendy does need to get it together, and maybe a demotion with regular playing time would help. Coghlan doing well hasn’t helped his case much either, as he seems to be morphing into the “Zobrist pt2” that we’ve all been hearing Maddon is trying to create, instead of Mendy.
No. Chris Coghlan is pitiful defensively. Comically so. He is barely even shielded in left field.
Not any errors yet this season, and he had a decent OF assist last night (his 3rd so far). I looked further into his offensive stats though, and thought he was doing better than he is. I think it’s interesting as Maddon has played him in LF, 3B, and 2B so far, but he surely won’t be a Zobrist type unless he starts hitting more like he did last year.
errors???. Gol-lee.
13 career errors in 3900 innings isn’t what I would call comically bad. Maybe I need to dive further into some advanced metrics? Are errors just a stat that nobody on this site pays attention to anymore?
There’s better information to evaluate someone’s defensive ability than the amount of errors they do or don’t make. The term ‘no range, no errors’ became popular for a reason.
no errors should not automatically imply no range though.
It isn’t meant to? It’s meant to convey the idea that a lot of players accumulate errors because they get to a baseball that another player wouldn’t have. Andrelton Simmons might over-throw a ball that he chased down up the middle (and be charged with a throwing error) that a much less capable Derek Jeter would have lazily dove at and let roll into CF, saving his reputation as a capable defender.
Could also just mean he booted a routine grounder. Jhonny Peralta has very sure hands and an accurate throwing arm. He doesn’t have plus range or a bazooka for an arm and he rarely dives for a ball. The number of errors that he makes reflects his reliability. I know his range is average from those other metrics you refer to. They are important as well. Just as errors are important.
Just posing another question. Should the player get credit for showing “more range” because he can get to a ball, but can’t complete the accurate throw? Doesn’t the fact that he can’t complete the play indicate that it was “out of his range?” In some cases, the bad throw may actually cost more bases than if the grounder went thru for a single.
The player doesn’t get credit showing more range if he doesn’t complete the play (I don’t think anyway but I’m not an authority on DRS/UZR). But there are a lot of way good range can save runs even without making a throw. Like keeping a ball in the infield with a runner on second, even without a throw, that play has the potential to keep runs off the board.
The fact that he made an ‘error’ on the throw only means that he put himself into position to make an out. If you gave Andrelton Simmons 10 opportunities deep in the hole to make a play and he makes 6 of them, doesn’t get the runner 3 times, and makes 1 error, you’re still coming out ahead. So over the course of the season you start to see the effects of good range.
There are “vocal” fans that will tell you that Wins, RBIs, and now, errors, are outdated. They are not. ALL Stats tell you something. The weight may vary, but they are all meaningful.
At some point this season I think all of that is likely, but we’ll need to open a spot when LaStella comes back. That’s probably when Alcantara goes down, so no room for Russell.
Our pen is getting a serious workout early too, so not likely we can free up an infield spot that way.
So if you had to choose harvey or sale right now, who do you take? Sale is more proven but Harveys already had tj which seems inevitable these days for young pitchers.
The only thing with me is Boras is Harvey’s agent
Otherwise I am unsure as to who is better.
They are both very good.
I’d take Sale.
Sale.
Chris has thrown 400+ more innings than Harvey, you can’t get that lost production back. He’s under contract long term already as well.
Sale, no flash, just results.
Sale has tons of flash.
Sale. Because he’s done it.
Every single other issue aside, everybody in the world would be ecstatic if Harvey turned out to be as good as Sale. I’ll take the proven commodity even if Harvey is likely to be right there with him.
Then you start adding other factors back in–lefty, less serious injury history, contract status, etc–and it becomes even easier for me.
Mets fan here but Sale.
Christian Colon was drafted out of Cal State Fullerton, not high school.
Thank you. Fixed this.
Why do I never hear the idea of Castro being moved to 2B being thrown around? He played some games there in the minors. If you move him to 3B, you diminish his value because then he’s below-average offensively at that position.
I mention moving Castro to 2B all the time. I think that it is just a matter of time. He is fine at shortstop, but if you have someone a lot better than a shift needs to be made. Russell and Castro up the middle would be very nice!
Absolutely. I hate how everyone in the media assumes the Cubs won’t keep Castro and Russell. Apparently teams aren’t able to have more than one serviceable shortstop…
Whichever one moves to 2nd, they are clearly over Baez on the depth chart. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Bryant is moving to LF either. If he does, they where does Schwarber and/or McKinney go?
I remember him offering to move to 2B when Baez was the heir-apparent at shortstop as well. Last year’s spring training, maybe?
It’s a good fit if none of the other infield prospects take the job. I also don’t think it would be a horrible fit for him in left. He has a good arm and some speed that should play well out there, plus he would have a little more time to make the plays than at SS.
You evidently haven’t looked at the offense teams are getting out of third base lately. The Cubs platoon last year was solid offensive output, and Castro can better that.
I love hearing the mouth breathers talk about trading Castro still after he has more hits than Derek Jeter at this stage of his career and gradually improving defense in addition to a team friendly contract. Theo Epstein blatantly said Castro was not going anywhere after the acquisition of Russell last year and the mouth breathers still conjure up their ridiculous trade scenarios.
What is a mouth breather?
Bingo. How many other teams would trade a 25 year old SS with over 800 hits and 3 all-stars? None. Zero. Nada.
Castro and Russell should form an incredible middle of the diamond combo for hopefully a decade or more. I feel like half these stories are still NY media trying to drum up a story for the Mets.
And the Mets aren’t interested in giving up their pitching prospects with Niese and Gee struggling, Wheeler injured, and Harvey a huge question mark.
Indeed. Harvey should be a boss, but he’s fresh of TJ. It’s amazing how quickly perceived depth can vanish in this game. The Cubs for instance had 4 solid SS prospects/players in Castro, Russell, Baez, and Alcantara. Now it’s pretty much Castro and Russell.
Depth always finds a way to work itself out, for better or worse.
Absolutely. The Mets lost Blevins, a guy who had retired his first 13 lefties of the season, and TdA, carrying the offense, in the span of 20 minutes to freak injuries. Over a 162 game season, depth cannot be stressed enough.
Depends on the offer. I’ll give you Mike Trout for him.
Theo Epstein also blatantly said that service time has nothing to do with keeping Kris Bryant off the opening day roster.
Castro has a lot of value . . . and a good GM will take advantage of value in a trade, if he has depth at a position. Don’t know why you have to be a “mouth-breather” to draw that conclusion . . .
Then you trade the prospects over the proven commodities, oxygen lips.
Must be the pollen in the air.
Contrary to popular belief there is a shortage of infielders right
now in Chicago as La Stella and Olt are on the DL and Baez and Alcantara
are permanent busts.
Why are Alcantara and Baez permanent busts? Alcantara has a pretty high floor as a fielder who can play multiple positions, ability to steal bases, and he’s been a good hitter at every minor league stop.
Sadly, he refuses to learn how to hit a change-up, and the Cubs refuse to send him down to allow him to work on this. Big league pitchers are exploiting him and chewing him out. It’s not necessarily his fault, he was rushed, and when he couldn’t make adjustments, he was not given proper time to make the adjustments. The mishandling of Alcantara from the Flubs FO resulted in him busting.
If a player isn’t immediately successful in the big leagues, does that make them ‘busts’?
The FO hasn’t mishandled Mendy, he has just never been considered one of their top prospects and has always seemed destined for a utility role. I do think he needs some time back in AAA to get some regular playing time and maybe he will once La Stella is back or Russell comes up.
oh no. no no no no no…
mlbtraderumors.com/2015/04/cubs-to-promote-addison…
Proper time to make adjustments at what level? He was hitting .300 at double a when promoted, then hitting .300 at triple a when promoted?
While I tend to agree with on Baez, it’s a little too early to call Baez/Alcantara busts. Baez is 22 and Alcantara is 23. There’s still time for both.
Castillo > Ross. I hope the Cubs keep Castillo and move Ross out as soon as possible. Castillo and Montero would make up a very nice platoon situation at Catcher.
I don’t see Ross going anywhere, unfortunately. He is Lester’s personal caddy until Schwarber gets up through the system, or until Ross’s 2yr deal ends at the end of next season. The more I learn about Lester, the less I am a fan of his contract, but that is another topic for another day. I do agree that Montero and Beef would make a lot more sense, but apparently we have to cater to Lester.
Lester is going to cost $150 million over the next 6 years. Would you prefer the Cubs mess with his mojo 3 starts into his Cubs career? If that were me, I’d do whatever it takes to make that investment payout.
I get it, but a guy like Lester should be able to pitch to anyone. He didn’t do too badly for Oakland in the 2nd half last year. That said, the Cubs FO knows that they need to keep their $155mil investment happy and here we are now with 3 catchers on the 25 man, one of which pretty much only plays every fifth day.
I have no doubt Lester can pitch to other catchers, but if you’ve pitched at any level before you understand there is a difference in your comfort level with each different guy.
The Cubs want to win. Why in the world would they trade a 25 year old, all star short stop, who is on pace for 3,000 hits in his career and is locked in on a very team friendly contract. You don’t trade those players when you are looking to win, you build around them. The players that you trade to improve your team are the prospects like Baez and Alcantara. You can debate whether or not either will make it, but you can’t debate trading Castro when you are trying to win. He is a proven talent.
That would be like the Yankees trading Jeter when he was young.
Give me a break.
You’re comparing Castro to Jeter? A little hyperbole, no?
Yes, I’m comparing Castro to Jeter through age 24.
Castro just turned 25 and this season is too young.
Jeter was a much better offensive player than Castro. Much better eye at the plate and more power.
I’ll totally disagree. Look at Castro’s career stats then look at Jeter’s stats through age 24. Castro just turned 25, but the season is too young.
Just did. Castro is nowhere close. Jeter was a much, much better hitter through age 24. We’re talking an OBP difference between 50 and 90 points.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cubs really are looking into trading Starlin while he has some value. He’s a poor defensive SS, his walk rate is awful, he’s prone to mental errors in bunches (whether or not the spotlight on him exaggerates that, possibly). But he does have a hit tool, and he’s young, so there’s hope.
Although, his career arc so far has not suggested improvement.
The takeaway: KC missed on Sale and Harvey and Christian Colon is under some pressure.
I still resent him for taking Harvey over sale. And I call BS on his reasoning. The reason he didn’t take sale, a tall, lefty, hard thrower was bc of money. They thought sale would demand too much and be hard to sign. And sale was the complete opposite. He signed a fast friendly deal with the thoughts of him joining the bigs that season. Which he did in the bullpen and the rest is now history. Harvey is great, but what has he done in total? Chris sale in total has done more then Harvey.
I think the White Sox have bigger issues at the manager position than catcher position at this point.