Dave Dombrowski traded several prospects for established stars when he was running the Tigers, but will he do the same in Boston? One rival executive believes so, telling Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald (Twitter link) that “Dave is going to make some moves. He’ll be busy.” The Red Sox have one of baseball’s most well-regarded minor league systems, so if Dombrowski and GM Mike Hazen did decide to shift some prospects, there would be no shortage of interest from around the league. Here’s the latest AL East news…
- Right-hander Chris Young could be an Orioles target this winter, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. Manager Buck Showalter likes Young, w free agent who has a 3.40 ERA over 288 1/3 innings with the Mariners and Royals over the last two seasons. Advanced metrics (4.80 FIP, 5.25 xFIP, 5.20 SIERA) haven’t favored Young’s low-strikeout, flyball-inducing numbers, however, and it’s possible he might not be as effective pitching in a more hitter-friendly ballpark like Camden Yards.
- Also from Kubatko, free agent Tommy Hunter is interested in returning to the Orioles and Kubatko figures the club “will at least discuss” bringing the right-hander back. Baltimore, however, may not want to spend too much on a reliever who isn’t a closer or setup man, Kubatko warns. Hunter was dealt to the Cubs in a trade deadline swap for Junior Lake in July.
- The Yankees will not be bringing hitting coach Jeff Pentland or bullpen coach Gary Tuck back in 2016, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. Pentland — also a former hitting coach for the Marlins, Cubs, Royals, Mariners and Dodgers — only served on New York’s staff for the 2015 campaign. Assistant hitting coach Alan Cockrell, minor league coaches James Rowsen and Marcus Thames, and former slugger Raul Ibanez are all cited as King as possible candidates to replace Pentland. For the bullpen coach job, King suggests that former Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey (recently fired as the Diamondbacks pitching coach) could return.
- For more division news, MLBTR’s Zach Links compiled another edition of AL East Notes earlier today.
If the O’s make these moves, they are being very typical here, they are content with mediocrity.