Here’s the recap of the top stories from the past week at MLBTR…
Red Sox fire John Farrell: Rumors have long swirled about Farrell’s job security, and the Red Sox decided to make a change in the dugout after they were eliminated from the ALDS for the second consecutive season. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will now get the chance to make his own choice about Boston’s manager, with such names as Brad Ausmus, Alex Cora, Ron Gardenhire, Sandy Alomar Jr. and others mentioned as potential candidates. It isn’t known how long this search could take, as Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the Red Sox are already down to their “final three” contenders for the job, with Gardenhire one of the finalists.
Marlins planning to slash payroll: It’s deja vu for Miami baseball fans, another offseason of payroll reduction seems to be in store for the Marlins. The club reportedly intends to trim payroll down to around the $90MM mark, which will only increase speculation that Giancarlo Stanton will be in another uniform come Opening Day 2018.
Twins extend Paul Molitor: The Hall-of-Famer concluded his first managerial contract in good negotiating position after leading the Twins on a surprise run to the AL wild card game. The Twins’ success ended speculation that the Derek Falvey/Thad Levine front office would want to hire their own manager, and Molitor was rewarded with a three-year extension worth a reported $4MM. The Twins have posted winning records in two of Molitor’s three years as manager, albeit sandwiched around a 103-loss season in 2016.
Greg Holland to test free agency: As expected, the Rockies closer will decline his $15MM player option in search of a longer-term deal on the open market. Despite some shaky results over the last two months, Holland still performed very well after missing all of 2016 recovering from Tommy john surgery, and helped the Rox reach the NL wild card game.
Qualifying offer set at $17.4MM: As reported by MLBTR’s own Tim Dierkes, the price tag for this offseason’s qualifying offers will be $17.4MM. If a pending free agent accepts the one-year QO, he’ll return to his team at that healthy salary for the 2018 season. If the player rejects the qualifying offer, his former team can recoup some draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere, though the new collective bargaining agreement has greatly altered the previous QO rules.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
After watching Dombrosski’s press conference it seems that Ron Gardenhire checks most if not all of the boxes Dombrowski is looking for in a manager.
Ron Gardenhire is old for that roster!! Cora make more sense to me!
I hope is Alex Cora!!
Just like Girardi brings credibility and accountability to the Yankees, Gardenhire would bring the same to the Red Sox. Players, Fans and Management find it easy to rally around people who have those character traits. Nothing against Cora or any of the other candidates for the job, their resumes don’t stack up to what Gardenhire brings to the table.
Some time you have to Go out the box!! Look Louvo ( Arizona) Robert ( LA)Molitor etc…
Anyone experiencing this problem? Just got the latest iPhone update and now the links to Baseball Reference does not work.
me too
Let me correct that: they open if I am clicking on a minor leaguer, but click on a major leaguer and it doesn’t open.
Bartolo colon would be great if only the Red Sox could get him to retire
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