Major League Baseball will interview Braves president of baseball operations John Hart as part of its investigations into the club’s international dealings, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. To this point, it’s unclear whether Hart is at risk of discipline, though the very fact that he remains with the club after former GM John Coppolella has been forced to resign could be telling. The Macon Telegraph reported over the weekend that Hart was by no means an innocent bystander in the scandal, though it’s unlikely that the league will announce anything definitive in the near future. Braves CEO Terry McGuirk said this morning that MLB’s investigation is near its conclusion, per Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, but McGuirk also stressed that the league isn’t likely to reveal its findings until the World Series has concluded. McGuirk sidestepped making any telling comments about the investigation but did say: “I don’t think there will be any questions (unanswered) when we are able to discuss it.”
More on the Braves and their division…
- Bowman also reports (on Twitter) that former Rockies manager and Braves infielder Walt Weiss is among the candidates to join the Braves’ coaching staff in 2018. Weiss could slot in as the bench coach under manager Brian Snitker, replacing Terry Pendleton in that role.
- The Marlins are likely to retain Stan Meek to oversee the June amateur draft even after bringing Gary Denbo over from the Yankees, reports MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. While Denbo was tabbed as the team’s VP of player development and scouting, it’d be a tall task to head up the team’s player development efforts and also dedicate the time and energy needed to oversee the team’s draft process. Manager Don Mattingly and most of his coaching staff are expected to be retained, though Frisaro notes that there could be some changes depending on other teams’ managerial pursuits. Third base coach Fredi Gonzalez, for instance, has already interviewed to serve as the Tigers’ next skipper.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post makes a case for the Mets to bring Todd Frazier on board as a free agent this offseason. Frazier’s penchant for drawing walks and slugging homers are appealing to GM Sandy Alderson, Sherman writes, and he could help the team in the likely event that David Wright again misses significant time due to injury or should Dominic Smith prove to need further minor league refinement. Frazier’s clubhouse persona would also be a boost for a team that is trying to alter its clubhouse culture for the better. It’s possible that clubs in more dire need of a third baseman would offer more than the Mets, though Sherman also points out that the New Jersey native could be particularly intrigued by playing close to his home.
David Wright is done either hang it up or something
And this is when guaranteed money becomes a problem for the team
Amen to that!!!
75% of it is insured.
I was under the impression that insurance pays a lot of his salary, I heard 85%
Insurance does nothing to relieve the wasted roster spot on the 40 man roster. The Mets will remain shorthanded for the duration of Wright’s contract. That’s one less prospect they will be able to protect each year.
The roster space isn’t that much of a big deal because they could always just release him, since the odds of him playing again seem pretty low.
However, the AAV of his contract still counts towards the CBT, which could impact signings or extensions (although the sum goes down every year after next)..
David Wright will hang it up when his medical staff(doctor-trainer) suggests it. In the end David Wright will hang it up when he wants and not when you or anyone posts on the internet he should…
Yea, but the last 3 years he’s just been constantly injured, and it’s not helping that he’ll turn 35 in December. Plus, he’s predicted to open the season on the DL. At most when he comes back (big if though), he’ll play a platoon role at 3rd, and 1st, or be a bench bat. Everything is working against him right now, and it’s not like he hasn’t had a great career. When he retires, he’ll be known as one of the greatest Met players, and one of the best 3rd basemen to play the game.
I was gonna say what if they brought in Frazier and they had Smith at 1B and Wright some how miraculously healthy? Would Frazier be a bench bat? I guess it would probably be Wright who would end up in a platoon/pinch hitting role with Smith.
Now that’s a very informative post. Nowhere in your post stated “he should”which no one knows but important people around Wright. It’s like when people use “we” instead of they or “our” when describing inter workings of teams.
Can’t blame the guy for wanting to play. He’s getting paid either way.
Frazier isn’t the worst idea. I prefer Nunez myself, ideally they sign both. This way between the two of them and Cabrera and Flores they have 2b and 3b covered as well as backup options for 1b and OF, particularly with Conforto potentially not being ready for start of the season. And if Nunez can play CF on at least a part time basis so not counting on Lagares as an every day player, that’s even better.
I genuinely doubt Nuñez can cut it at CF, even in a pinch. Especially with his knee injury.
Wright and Zimmerman were similar in their injury history and he came back last year . He played well!
If wright retires he loses money, if the mets cut wright they lose what they could recoup of the insured portion. Thats why we have the situation now, wright attempts to play guaranteeing money he is owed and the mets pretend to hold the door open for him thereby guaranteeing they recoup a portion through insurance.
Did TP leave Atlanta?
not that I’m aware of
I was just about to ask that, TP gone?
Braves aren’t bringing him back.
I recall seeing multiple articles saying that it wasn’t likely Pendleton and Perez would continue with the team. But to my knowledge I don’t recall seeing one say it was etched in stone they weren’t coming back.
Same here about seeing the articles. Braves website still lists Pendleton as one of the coaches, but I would imagine the internal shuffling was put on hiatus by the investigation/forced resignation(s). It’s somewhat odd to hear about a new coaching candidate to fill the spot of someone currently with the club, while an interim GM (Hart) who is possibly also being investigated.
God help us if Hart signs someone to a multi-year deal and then bolts or forcibly resigns.
What are you talking about?
Frazier will stay with Yankees
If the Yankees are serious about the Luxury Tax it won’t happen. He’s going to cost too much, and he’s on the wrong side of 30.
They don’t need him, especially with Gleyber Torres so close.
I’m just speculating but I bet the yanks do something short term for next year and go after Machado
He is a FA. The Yankees are going to cut payroll. What makes you think they would sign him?
todd would be a great signing by the mets, but then again, it’s Sandy Alderson………
Will he be? It seems as if the reason the Mets offense is always so inconsistent is because of the low-average, high-power hitters they keep playing.
Bruce, Grandy, Duda, d’A, Smith, to an intent Wilmer
It’ll come up to how much he’ll be making. Frazier would be a lot cheaper than Moustakas but Cozart might be a better option for the team.
Most free agents are over payed, and Frazier’s value will be around 15 million. Moose will cost more. The Mets have too many holes. Alderson needs to follow Cashman and find players like Didi and Castro in trades. They need young players who they can control., not quick fixes., but with all the pitching injuries they might be between a rock and a hard place. If most of the pitching doesn’t return to form it won’t matter what they do.
Flores hits .271/.307/.488 for a little over $500K, and they suggest the Mets throw a multimillion, multiyear contract at the older Frazier who only hit .213/.344/.428???? SMH
It’s not Sandy Anderson, it’s the cheapskate Wilson’s… = (
What teams have a more “dire need” of a third baseman? The Mets don’t have a third baseman on the roster, just a few utility players in Flores, Rivera, and Cabrera.
you could make a case for Wilmer or Jose Reyes to be their 3B… theyre bad options, but options none the less
It’s hard to make a case for someone considered a “bad option.”
Wilmer can’t defend there and Reyes was quite a bit worse there than Cabrera was.
Unless the Mets would spend big money on a 3rd baseman (which they won’t) maybe the thing to do is go for defense over hitting. Who would be an affordable option who plays a good 3B? Nunez maybe? Thoughts?
The Angels are definitely going to be in the market for a third baseman. Valbueno is not an every day player. And neither is Cowart.
“Frazier’s penchant for drawing walks”. Words you never would have heard when he was with the Reds.
It would be dumb for the Braves to get rid of Terry Pendleton.