The latest front office and managerial updates from around the majors:
- Yankees vice president of player development Gary Denbo is leaving the Bombers to become the Marlins’ director of player development and amateur scouting, George A. King III of the New York Post reports (on Twitter). Denbo will work under Michael Hill, who will stay on as the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Since a group including former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter agreed to purchase the Marlins in August, there had been plenty of speculation about Denbo heading to Miami. Denbo served in various capacities during multiple stretches with the Yankees dating back to the 1990s and even managed Jeter in the Gulf Coast League in 1992. The two still have a close relationship, paving the way for Denbo to reunite with Jeter in Miami. The Marlins haven’t requested permission to speak with anyone else from the Yankees’ front office, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links).
- The Brewers’ David Stearns-led front office has promoted Karl Mueller to vice president of player personnel, Matt Kleine to director of baseball operations and Scott Campbell to special assignment scout, according to a team announcement. Mueller, a 14-year veteran of Milwaukee’s baseball department, spent the past two seasons in Kleine’s new position. Kleine, who’s entering his 12th year with the Brewers, most recently served as their manager of baseball operations. Campbell, yet another longtime member of the organization (he’s entering his 13th year), was the Brewers’ assistant director of video scouting from 2015-17.
- Royals catching instructor Pedro Grifol is an early candidate to become the Tigers’ next manager, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets. Grifol has served in that position since 2014. He also has experience as a major league hitting coach (Royals, 2013-14) and a minor league manager (with low-level Mariners affiliates from 2003-05 and in 2012)
Good luck Pedro…you will need it for the next 2 + seasons w/ Tigers
He’s not going to be the next Tiger manager. AA has over 50 possible candidates he’s looking at.
Remember, its not about how good you are, its about who you know.
Wonder how many more Yankees personnel will bolt for Miami
Including Girardi who – I think – makes Florida his offseason home.
Not going to happen. He’s a manager through and through. I can’t see him holding any other position. Miami already has a good manager in Mattingley.
Lol they’re both bad.
Girardi’s teams have traditionally exceeded expectations and has generally been considered one of the better managers in the game. Mattingly is a toss up, I could make an argument either way but I there are definitely worse.
If they hire an obscure catching instructor for the manager job in Detroit, it’s an indication that they’re going for a full rebuild. It would also indicate that it has as much to do with the Illitch family concentrating their $$ on the Wings for the next few years. Having said that, it’s not yet clear that the Tigers are in a total rebuild, unless they dispose of their entire Infield, Castellanos, Mahtook, Fulmer and Boyd. If that doesn’t happen, the team could be one SP and two OF away from being a contender.
I would be beyond shocked if they hire this guy.
Don’t kid yourself that he is some obscure catching instructor. Grifol has been a pretty hot property lately and I will be pissed if he leaves the Royals. They have been grooming him for years as Yost’s replacement.
Girardi will be the next Miami manager without a doubt.
Where have you seen Mattingly doesn’t want to return?
Girardi left Miami to go to NY, I doubt he goes back and I think Donnybaseball has done pretty good with the lack of good ownership he had to work with.
What makes you think the new one is any better? It’s already scraping for cash to get the minimum reserves and fired it’s long time ambassadors in Jeff Conine and especially Trader Jack McKeon, while bringing in people who have absolutely NOTHING to do with the Marlins. McKeon especially had respect as a GM and manager throughout the franchise history and was a known winner.
I have doubts this new ownership will be any better at various levels.
Not saying it’s better, only time will tell that. And I disagree with them letting Conine and Trader Jack go but it’s a business and that happens with any new management/ownership takes over a business. Let’s face it, Loria left a mess of the farm system and fan support.
Fans still wont come out ! Always been the problem w/regular season baseball in Florida….it’s an afterthought. Better get incredible TV deal cause your not gonna make $ off the butts in the seats !!!
“Girardi left Miami to go to NY.”
Girardi left Miami in 2006 when he was fired. He started managing the Yankees in 2008. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
You are right he was fired but he wasn’t going to stay either way, due to bad ownership. And he’s not going back now.
Oh guess what. Girardi was staying in Miami if he was not fired after being named manager of the year. Its called a contract!
Mattingley is not going anywhere in Miami, so, no.
If for some reason Miami lets Mattingley go in order to hire Girardi, I’d love to see Donny baseball back in pinstripes.
Either as manager or coach…
One SP and 2 OF’s from contending?!?
Did you not see the bullpen implode at every level?
Did you not see 3/5’s of the SP blows?
I’m glad you’re not the GM in Detroit, horrible evaluator of talent.
Check your 3rd grade math and compute that one good SP means that 3 out of the 5 SP would NOT blow in 2018, which is all you need to get to the post-season, and “contending” requires that you’re capable of winning only 85 games. You must be about 5 yrs old or younger. 3/5’s of the 2006 Cards SP blew, all the way to the playoffs and then they got very hot. As to the BP, no one can predict the depth of a modern pen. If you know anything at all about BB, you know that the 2018 Tigers are not the 2017 Phillies, unless they go with a total rebuild in the off-season. You’ve been spending too much time listening to sports talk radio.
The Tigers had the worst bullpen in baseball and it wasn’t even close. They will need a complete overhaul of the pen in addition to at least two SP, and a couple of OF to compete.
No one does a complete overhaul of their pen-that would be ridiculous, but regardless, no one knows what they really have in the BP until June and the Tigers wern’t that much worse than the Nats who had a horrible pen and Arizona who had Rodney, and both those teams made to the post-season. Look at the consensus top rankings of relievers at the start of the season(not just closers) and you’ll find a lot of them that drastically under-performed: Chapman, Britton, Diaz, Oh, Giles and Herrera were all in the top ten. K-Rod was rated 16th!
Girardi is sitting on a gold mine of talent and many years of playoff bound! He’s not leaving NY! Someone is dreaming if they believe that! I think Mattingly will be perfect to stay at Miami! But Jeters has a bigger problem! Empty Ballpark! If you start a total rebuild it will be a desert in that ballpark! I think there will be big changes but not with the solid players except Stanton! He has to go to Free up money and hope a couple good young players! They will not get a stack of great players and young talent from the minors and pay that salary! Only a had full of teams could afford him! my Cubs and that’s not going to happen! The Cardinals, Yankees,Dodgers, maybe Washington, and a few others! Going to be an exciting off season!
Simple solution: Marlins trade Mattingly to the Yankees for Girardi, and everybody’s happy.
Except for every intelligent Yankee fan who realized they just lost a top 3 manager in baseball for a do-nothing likable Torre type who can’t move past the 100 year old book. Yankees need someone who does things by the new book.
If Marlins are gonna rebuild, I think they should consider letting Donnie Baseball go and try to bring Joe Girardi aboard. But knowing that Mike Hill is staying on, it seems like Donnie will be too.
Yes, I’m sure Girardi wants to manage a full rebuild. And I’m sure Miami will want to pay top dollar to a manager during that rebuild.
Marlins suck.