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Manfred On CBA, Red Sox-Padres Trade, Preller, Ortiz

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Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in December, but commissioner Rob Manfred said Sunday that he expects a new CBA in place by the end of the postseason, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). “Both parties still have significant issues on the table,” added Manfred, but he doesn’t believe those concerns are enough for either side to rip up the agreement and start negotiations from scratch (via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, on Twitter).

Manfred, who’s in Boston on Sunday for Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz’s final regular-season game, also addressed several other important topics:

  • After acquiring left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the Padres for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza in July, questions arose in August over whether San Diego was completely honest about Pomeranz’s medical information. It turned out the Padres didn’t reveal that Pomeranz was taking anti-inflammatory medication for his elbow at the time of the deal. Then, when MLB handed Padres general manager A.J. Preller a 30-day suspension in September, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner expressed displeasure with the commissioner’s office, saying, “We felt that some wrong was committed and that it’s important to have a level playing field. The Padres didn’t play on it.” Interestingly, the league gave the Red Sox the opportunity to undo the trade in early August, Manfred revealed, but the non-waiver deadline had already passed by then. Moreover, there was no way for the league to compensate the Red Sox, the commissioner stated. As a result, Boston turned down the offer and kept Pomeranz (Twitter links via MacPherson and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). The 27-year-old has scuffled since the trade and is currently dealing with left forearm soreness.
  • Whether the Padres fire Preller for his questionable practices is up to them, not the league, according to Manfred (via Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune). “I felt that that Mr. Preller behaved inappropriately in the situation. He behaved inappropriately to the detriment of two clubs,” said Manfred. “And I thought that a publicly announced suspension of 30 days, which is the longest suspension of a front-office person in 70 years, was a firm statement of our view on how he had behaved or, in this case, misbehaved.” As of Sept. 17, the Padres’ front office was reportedly split on Preller, who, in addition to crossing the Red Sox, didn’t disclose all available medical information in a July trade with the Marlins. As a result, the Preller-led Padres reversed part of what was a large transaction that centered on Andrew Cashner. Ultimately, the Padres re-acquired right-hander Colin Rea from Miami and sent pitching prospect Luis Castillo back to the Marlins. That came after Rea left his sole Marlins start with an elbow injury. Rea is now attempting to stave off Tommy John surgery.
  • Ortiz was among 104 major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing substances in 2003, but Manfred downplayed that. The list didn’t distinguish therapeutic use exemptions from PEDs, per Manfred, who called it “unfair” and “wrong” that the positive test might negatively affect Ortiz’s legacy (Twitter links via MacPherson and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe).

Marlins Rumors: Rodney, Cashner, Ichiro

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The Marlins were in the thick of the National League wild-card race when they made separate summer deals to acquire reliever Fernando Rodney and starter Andrew Cashner from the Padres. Those two have since scuffled in Miami, which has gone backward during the season’s second half and will finish with a sub-.500 record for the seventh straight year. As a result of their disappointing performances with the Marlins, the club is likely to move on from Rodney and Cashner, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

The Fish have a 2017 club option in the $3.5MM to $4MM range for Rodney, who went from nearly invincible as a Padre to borderline unusable with the Marlins. After Rodney logged a pristine .31 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and 59 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings in San Diego this year, the club traded him to Miami on June 30 for right-handed pitching prospect Chris Paddack, who has since undergone Tommy John surgery. Rodney has converted only 8-of-11 save opportunities with the Marlins after going 17-of-17 in San Diego. Worse, the 39-year-old has seen both his ERA (5.89) and BB/9 (6.21) skyrocket across 36 2/3 innings in South Florida. If the Padres move on from Rodney after the season, the journeyman could look for his eighth major league employer during the winter.

Cashner, meanwhile, seems primed to search for his fourth major league team on the heels of a subpar contract year. Since joining the Marlins on July 29, the hard-throwing right-hander has been even more woeful than Rodney at preventing runs, having registered a 5.98 ERA in 52 2/3 innings. That’s over a run worse than the 4.76 ERA Cashner posted in 79 1/3 frames with the Padres this year and not what the Marlins had in mind when they surrendered a handful of players, including well-regarded first base prospect Josh Naylor, for the impending free agent. While Cashner slightly improved his K/9 from 7.65 to 7.74 after switching uniforms, he mimicked Rodney with an unpalatable BB/9 (5.13, far worse than the 3.42 he put up in San Diego).

Unlike Rodney and Cashner, the Marlins are set to bring back outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, per Jackson, as the 3,000-hit club member carries a low cost ($2MM club option) and has performed respectably this season. Ichiro, who will turn 43 on Oct. 22, has batted .288/.352/.374 in 365 plate appearances while spelling Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna at each outfield position.

Padres, Clayton Richard Interested In New Deal

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Shortly after the Cubs designated left-hander Clayton Richard for assignment July 26, the 33-year-old rejoined the Padres, with whom he spent parts of five seasons from 2009-13. Richard fared respectably in his second stint in San Diego, which began Aug. 6, and he and manager Andy Green confirmed Saturday that there’s mutual interest in a new deal for the impending free agent, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).

In a disastrous final start of the season on Saturday, Richard allowed seven runs (four earned) on six hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings of a 9-5 loss to Arizona. But that outing wasn’t enough to sully the run-prevention numbers Richard posted with the Padres in just under two months. Overall, Richard threw 53 2/3 innings with the Friars and recorded a terrific 2.52 ERA, though he struck out only 34 hitters and issued 24 walks. Richard also logged below-average strikeout numbers in his first go-around with the Padres, yet he helped his cause with a 50.3 percent ground-ball rate and managed a usable 4.16 ERA across 636 2/3 innings. Richard’s trend of inducing grounders has continued since, as he registered a career-best 65.1 percent rate in 67 2/3 frames with the Cubs and Padres this season.

If the Padres do re-sign Richard, who made $2MM this year, he’ll likely factor into their rotation plans again in 2017. Richard was almost exclusively a reliever as a member of the Cubs, with whom he came out of the bullpen in 45 of 48 appearances, but has otherwise worked mostly as a starter since debuting with the White Sox in 2008. Notably, the rebuilding Padres aren’t exactly loaded with quality rotation options going into next year, and their best starter, Tyson Ross, could face surgery after missing nearly all of this season with shoulder issues. Christian Friedrich and Luis Perdomo look likely to take rotation spots in 2017 after combining for 43 starts this year, while Jarred Cosart and Paul Clemens represent a pair of other possibilities under team control.

Aside from a healthy version of Ross – something no one has seen since 2015 – that group inspires little confidence, which explains why the Padres’ rotation is among the league’s worst this year. That instability could lead the Padres to bring back Richard on a cheap deal to take the ball every fifth day and, if he continues producing decent results, perhaps turn into a trade chip around next summer’s deadline.

Rockies Likely To Move On From Walt Weiss

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Discord between Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and manager Walt Weiss will likely lead to the end of the latter’s tenure in Colorado, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. That should make the Rockies’ regular-season finale against the Brewers on Sunday the last game of Weiss’ four-year stint, one in which the club has gone just 283-364. All told, Weiss’ .438 winning percentage is the lowest in franchise history. However, Colorado’s results alone won’t determine whether the franchise re-signs the 52-year-old Weiss, whose contract is set to expire.

“In a decision-making process like this, it’s not totally or fully dependent on some sort of win-loss record or this or that,” Bridich told Saunders. “There are a lot of factors that go into it. That’s how it should be. It’s not that simplistic.”

Bridich has been a member of the Rockies’ front office since 2004, but he wasn’t the GM when the team hired Weiss. That was Bridich’s predecessor, Dan O’Dowd, who appointed Weiss in 2012. Bridich took over in 2014 and now wants a manager who’s more in line with his own philosophies, relays Saunders.

On his relationship with Weiss, Bridich said, “There has been mostly good communication, some great communication and some periods where he’s busy and I’m busy and we haven’t communicated as well as we could have. That’s a natural thing for the job that he has and the job that I have.”

Notably, Bridich has left Weiss out of key decisions the Rockies have made since last offseason, per Saunders. For instance, Weiss had no input in the free agent signings of relievers Jason Motte and Chad Qualls or Gerardo Parra. All three of those players, especially Parra, have bombed this season.

Bridich denies that he has kept Weiss out of the loop, however.

“I’m not going to respond to rumor mongering,” Bridich said.

According to Bridich, he and owner Dick Monfort will meet with Weiss during the upcoming week to discuss the 2016 campaign and future plans. Monfort will help Bridich determine whether the team will bring back Weiss.

“We will go through the same process as we did last year,” Bridich revealed. “That is, sitting down after the season is done and having conversations and talking about how the season went and talking about the future.”

While it seems the Rockies and Weiss are primed to go their separate ways, Bridich did praise the embattled skipper for what he has done in Colorado.

“The environment in the clubhouse, it’s moved in the right direction,” said Bridich. “It’s a positive for us. The time that Walt’s been involved with the team, if you’re looking to dole out credit, absolutely he deserves credit. It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing for the organization.”

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Jose, Vin, Managers, Jays, Trout

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This week in the baseball blogosphere…

Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmail.com

Red Sox Notes: DH, Ramirez, Kimbrel, Vazquez

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The American League East-winning Red Sox are headed for the postseason, but designated hitter David Ortiz’s illustrious career is also nearing an end. Ortiz will play his final regular-season game Sunday, and despite his age (40), he has been the top hitter in Boston’s major league-best offense this year. With the offseason approaching, the Red Sox will soon need to find a replacement for Ortiz, which is something their pro scouting department has been working on since August, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. “We’ll do all that coverage in August and September,” general manager Mike Hazen told Drellich. “You have a month-and-a-half to scout the major leagues before you switch gears (to prepare for the playoffs), and if you’re not advancing, then you do it for all September.” While the Red Sox are looking into free agent options to take over for Ortiz, they’ll also consider moving first baseman Hanley Ramirez to DH on at least a part-time basis, per Drellich. Ramirez has bounced back from a dreadful 2015, his first season with the BoSox, to post a .286/.360/.500 line with 29 home runs in 616 plate appearances this year. His time at first base has also gone better than last season’s disastrous experiment in left field, though advanced metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating still give him low marks.

A couple more notes on the Red Sox, who will face the Indians in the ALDS:

  • Closer Craig Kimbrel has scuffled over the past week, but manager John Farrell said Saturday that he isn’t considering flipping him and red-hot setup man Koji Uehara for the playoffs. “At this moment, no,” Farrell told Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. The Red Sox will instead focus on fixing a flaw in Kimbrel’s delivery that has caused the longtime late-game ace to move “a little side-to-side,” per Farrell. “You get into some bad habits when you get a little rotational. I felt like tonight I was a little better,” said Kimbrel after taking the loss, 4-3, to Toronto on Saturday. Kimbrel walked a batter, threw a wild pitch and yielded the deciding run in the ninth inning. The 28-year-old has allowed at least one earned run in three of his previous four outings, but he hadn’t surrendered any in a 16-appearance streak that spanned from Aug. 13 to Sept. 22.
  • Although catcher Christian Vazquez has totaled just eight at-bats since the All-Star break, the 26-year-old might crack the ALDS roster as Boston’s backup to Sandy Leon, per Chris Smith of MassLive.com. Of the Red Sox’s reserve backstop options (Ryan Hanigan and Bryan Holaday are the others), Vazquez could stand the best chance of countering Cleveland’s base-stealing prowess. The Indians rank fourth in the majors in steals (134) and third in FanGraphs’ BsR metric, while the strong-armed Vasquez has thrown out 41 percent of baserunners between Boston and Triple-A Pawtucket this season. Hanigan has helped prevent 7-of-25 runners from stealing this year, while Holaday has stymied a more impressive 8-of-22.

MLBTR Originals

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MLBTR’s original analysis from this week:

  • With the offseason nearing, Steve Adams highlighted five impending free agent hitters who are trending upward thanks to strong recent performances.
  • To continue MLBTR’s “Three Needs” series, Tim Dierkes focused on the White Sox, Mark Polishuk examined the Reds and Jeff Todd analyzed the Rockies.
  • In the latest editions of Jason Martinez’s “Top Bright Spots” series, he looked at the Diamondbacks and Reds (ARI, CIN).

Quick Hits: Indians, McCutchen, A’s, Valencia, Brewers

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Indians manager Terry Francona announced Saturday that Trevor Bauer, not Cy Young hopeful Corey Kluber, will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday (via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Kluber will then take the ball in Game 2 against the Boston. Those two would also start the fourth and fifth games of the series, if necessary, with Josh Tomlin handling Game 3. Kluber has been dealing with a mild quad strain, which the Indians think makes Bauer a better fit for both the first and fourth games – the latter of which would come on three days’ rest. Bauer wrapped up his regular season Saturday with a quality start in a win over the Royals, giving him a 4.26 ERA, 7.96 K/9, 3.32 BB/9 and 48.7 percent ground-ball rate in a career-high 190 innings.

More from around the majors:

  • In order to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 and return to the playoffs next year, the Pirates will need to focus on pitching and defense during the winter, opines Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Trading five-time All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen could improve the team in those areas, argues Sawchik, who observes that the soon-to-be 30-year-old has declined significantly as a defender, baserunner and hitter this season (though, as Sawchik notes, his bat has come alive over the past two months). With right-hander Ivan Nova likely to depart as a free agent, the Bucs will have another need to fill in an already questionable-looking rotation, and Sawchik posits that dealing McCutchen could land them a replacement. McCutchen has two years and a reasonable $28.5MM remaining on his contract, and the Pirates have a possible in-house successor in top prospect Austin Meadows. If McCutchen is still in Pittsburgh in 2017, general manager Neal Huntington expects a much better season from the 2013 National League MVP. “With the foundation we are working from, we believe Andrew is going to be one of those guys that has a quality bounce-back year,” Huntingon told Sawchik.
  • The Athletics are reportedly unlikely to bring back Danny Valencia in 2017, but the third baseman/right fielder hopes to stay in Oakland. Valencia told John Hickey of the Mercury News he’d “like to think I’ve cemented my position here for next year.” The 32-year-old has been an easily above-average offensive producer dating back to last season, his first with the A’s, but there have been rumors of clubhouse issues with Valencia and he did get into an altercation with then-teammate Billy Butler in August. Valencia, who’s on a $3.15MM salary, has hit a solid .289/.349/.450 with 17 home runs in 513 plate appearances this year and is scheduled to go through arbitration for the third and final time during the offseason.
  • With the possible exception of a Ryan Braun trade, the Brewers’ upcoming offseason should be much quieter than last winter, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In GM David Stearns’ first offseason at the helm, the rebuilding Brewers turned over half the 40-man roster – something Stearns is pleased with a year later. Milwaukee has “increased the amount of young talent on our team and throughout the organization,” Stearns told Haudricourt. “The more young talent you have, the fewer spots you have to fill. So, I think it’s fair to say it would be unlikely for us to have the same amount of roster turnover.”

Carlos Gonzalez Open To Extension, Position Change

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Although Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez is scheduled to become a free agent after next season and could be trade bait during the winter, the three-time All-Star told Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post that he’d like to remain in Colorado. The Rockies have gone just 75-85 this year and will miss the playoffs for the seventh straight season, but there’s young talent in place and Gonzalez is convinced the club is on the right track.

“If you would have asked me early in the year, I would have told you I’m going to wait until I hit free agency and see what’s out there,” said Gonzalez. “But this is a good team. It’s a different feeling. Now I see how guys react in tough situations. We understand we can win. That’s huge for any team, when you trust and believe you can win.”

Moreover, Gonzalez – who has been exclusively an outfielder during his nine-year career – would be open to shifting to first base in order to remain with the Rockies.

“I feel like I’m still a good outfielder and can help the team defensively,” he said. “But if first base is what’s best for the team, I will be good with that … In the long run, it’s probably going to extend my — or anybody’s — career if you play first base. And it won’t be a crazy move.”

With a minus-1.4 fWAR, Rockies first basemen rank 27th in the majors. Most of that negative value has came from Ben Paulsen, who endured a nightmarish 97 plate appearances, while offseason signing Mark Reynolds had a replacement-level campaign before his season ended Sept. 18 on account of a broken hand. One of Gonzalez’s fellow outfielders, Gerardo Parra, also spent time at first this year prior to succumbing to an ankle injury earlier this week. Parra’s bat was unusable anywhere this season, as he produced a woeful .253/.271/.399 line with seven home runs and just nine walks in 381 plate appearances.

The 30-year-old Gonzalez has been much better than Parra, though his .297/.349/.507 line with 25 homers in 624 PAs isn’t as impressive as it looks for someone who spends half his season at Coors Field. As has typically been the case, Gonzalez has fared much better at home than on the road this season, but he has enjoyed his second consecutive healthy campaign after injuries weighed him down in previous years.

Whether at first base or in the outfield – where the Rockies have two other strong options in Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl – the chances of Gonzalez staying in Colorado for the long haul don’t look great. For one, Gonzalez said two weeks ago that the Rockies hadn’t approached him about an extension. Secondly, as MLBTR’s Jeff Todd wrote Friday, Gonzalez is the most logical trade candidate among the Rockies’ outfielders. Blackmon and Dahl probably aren’t going anywhere, and Parra would amount to a salary dump (if anything). While Gonzalez’s $20MM salary for next season is hefty, it shouldn’t scare off every potential buyer. Plus, the Rockies already have $66MM committed to next year’s team after running up a franchise-record $112MM Opening Day payroll this season, and that’s without factoring in forthcoming arbitration raises for Blackmon, third baseman Nolan Arenado and right-hander Tyler Chatwood, among others.

Jeremy Hellickson “Would Love” To Re-Sign With Phillies

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Soon-to-be free agent right-hander Jeremy Hellickson said Thursday that he’d like his next deal to be a multiyear pact, but he also told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com that he’s not ruling out accepting a qualifying offer from the Phillies. In tendering Hellickson a QO after the season, the Phillies would either bring him back next year for $16.7MM or lose him to another team and land a first-round pick as compensation.

“I mean, I definitely could see it,” Hellickson said of taking a qualifying offer.

If he were to accept a QO, Hellickson would join a growing list of players who have gone that route since last offseason, when Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus and Dodgers left-hander Brett Anderson all took one-year, $15.8MM deals to remain where they were. Hellickson certainly has a case for multiyear contract, though, considering both his strong 2016 and the paucity of quality starters scheduled to hit the open market over the winter. Fellow impending free agents Rich Hill and Bartolo Colon are superior pitchers to Hellickson, but they’re both significantly older than the 29-year-old (30 in April). Hellickson, therefore, might offer the best combination of relative youth and track record among those who are primed to hit the market.

Hellickson, who made $7MM this year, boosted his future earning power with his first above-average season since 2012, posting a 3.71 ERA, 7.33 K/9, 2.14 BB/9 and 14.3 percent infield fly rate across a career-high 189 innings. The former top prospect was even stingier at preventing runs as a Ray during his first three seasons, but the 2011 American League Rookie of the Year struggled with both Tampa Bay and Arizona from 2013-15. The rebuilding Phillies acquired Hellickson from the Diamondbacks in a salary dump last November, and the move paid dividends for Philadelphia this year. It could continue serving them well in the future if he re-signs or heads elsewhere and nets the team a draft choice.

“I would love to be back next year,” Hellickson said of Philadelphia.

However, the Phillies won’t look to spend significant money during the offseason, as FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman and FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal have reported this week. That makes it likely Hellickson’s stint with the club will go down as a one-off, per Zolecki.

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