The 2018 season was a banner one in Tampa, where the resurgent Rays will miss the playoffs but have assembled perhaps the most enviable collection of young talent in the sport. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times details, the once talent-parched organization now faces a new, far more alluring problem: how to keep its young core intact. As Topkin notes, the Rays are set to face a challenging 40-man roster crunch, what with just two set-to-be free agents in Carlos Gomez and Sergio Romo, and only one player (Kevin Kiermaier) with contract in hand for the upcoming season. In addition to seven arbitration-eligible players for 2019, the Rays will return a staggering 27 pre-arb contributors at the MLB level, and will still need to protect top prospects Jesus Sanchez and Brent Honeywell, as well as make room for the oft-injured but highly touted Jose De Leon. With so many capable performers, and more on the way (Topkin lists five other valued prospects who will require Rule-5 shelter this offseason, only one of whom rates in the system’s top 20 in FanGraphs’ latest update), the 40-man issue figures to reprise itself in offseasons to come. It’ll surely be a winter to watch in central Florida: the Rays, as a franchise, seem as well-positioned as any in recent memory to make multiple star-laden upgrades via trade.
In other news from the East . . .
- Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun ruminates on depressing times in the Charm City, where the Orioles, on the verge of wrapping up the franchise’s worst season since the club moved East in 1954, face questions nearly everywhere on the diamond in 2019. After a mid-season firesale that sent would-be ’19 fixtures Jonathan Schoop, Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day elsewhere, Meoli posits that the club is likely finished with the jettisoning of its regulars this offseason, owing simply to the group’s poor performance and bloated contracts. Non-performers Chris Davis and Alex Cobb are owed a combined $228MM over the remainder of their deals, and Andrew Cashner and Mark Trumbo, ill-fated signings from the outset, aren’t likely to fetch anything of value this offseason. The rest of the group, highlighted by Dylan Bundy and Trey Mancini, entered with promise but sputtered severely this season, combining for just 0.6 fWAR, though Bundy’s 102 xFIP- and solid K/BB ratio does offer some hope. Perhaps Mychal Givens, the top performer on an otherwise putrid Oriole staff this season, could bring back a decent return, but it appears the Orioles will rely on a burgeoning farm to fill most of their needs this offseason.
- Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, a polarizing figure long before his managerial debut this season, faces questions surrounding whether or not prospective free agents will play for him, writes Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Kapler’s innovative style – which attaches the shortest of leashes to most starting pitchers, relies heavily on day-to-day matchups, and is subject to change at the most unconventional of times (Kapler removed Scott Kingery for a pinch-runner in the second inning of a mid-September clash against the Marlins) – has drawn the ire of players and fans alike, but the headstrong skipper isn’t concerned that courted stars will be turned off: “I think free agents want to be treated with respect, I think they want to be shot straight, I think they want to know where they stand, and I think they want a voice,” he said. “That’s something that we do better than any other team, and I think that will come through loud and clear during the process.”
- Luis Severino will not be taking the ball for the Yankees on Sunday, reports Bryan Hoch of mlb.com. The Bombers are still undecided as to who will start Wednesday’s Wild Card game against the A’s, but today’s decision seems to hint strongly at the most likely candidate.
Kapler is living in his own world.
U are correct he needs to be replaced he list the locker room
He’s definitely different. Not sure if it’s in a good way like Cash in Tampa though.
O’s fan here but Cash seems like a cool manager (though I’d have a tough time with him if I were a starter).
That’s a good way to describe Kapler – “living in his own world.” There is a balance to strike between analytics and personality. I think Alex Cora is a strong example of such balance. Analytics don’t communicate, that’s the manager’s job.
GL, well said.
Having Kapler will not attract free agents. He pulls starting pitchers too early and doesnt have a set starting lineup.
But is he the only manager of this kind? Dave Roberts doesn’t have a set lineup and definitely pulls starters too early. Players still go to LA. Many managers are starting to shift towards bullpen oriented games, and lineups that are based off of day to day matchups.
It also doesn’t hurt that it’s LA. That’s a preferred destination for many players. Philadelphia is no LA. The only player the city alone may attract is Trout, and that’s for sentimentality.
Roberts warms up his pitchers and bunts with his pitcher.
What free agents have come to LA during Roberts tenure?
I would say ok give it a shot if Kepler was coaching a bottom feeder with no chance. I don’t think this is the team or time to try this
They hired Kapler to coach a bottom feeder team with no chance. Nobody expecting Philly to finish remotely close to .500. They over achieved in the 1st half and then came back down to earth.
The division also turned out to be even weaker than expected with the Mets going fromm disappointing to God awful and the Nats not waiting for the playoffs to fall apart this year.
If I was running the Phillies I’m still treating the team as rebuilding then having been rebuilt at this point, so firing kapler would be a bit premature
“Nobody expecting Philly to finish remotely close to .500.”
Really? A team that finished last year going 37-38, THEN added Jake Arrieta, Carlos Santana, Tommy Hunter, and Pat Nesek in free agency, along with getting full seasons from guys who opened some eyes last year in Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr, along with Scott Kingery lighting up ST, Jorge Alfaro getting a chance to play everyday (ahead of a guy like Cameron Rupp), etc…I’d stay many people were expecting the Phillies to play .500 or better.
Yes, their record for much of the season was better than their play—other than starting pitching the team was godawful in all aspects of the game—but that doesn’t mean the talent wasn’t there. Kapler got the least out of his players because he relies too much on computers to tell him what to do, and the players know he doesn’t trust them. A player could go 8-8 with 8 home runs in the first two games of the series and then be benched because the matchup in game 3 isn’t perfect.
The players have learned that they are nothing more than pieces of data for Kapler and his staff to input in their computer, and they’ve done what you’d expect a computer to do…they shut down. Once this team was effectively out of the playoff hunt the players quit…and that’s the most telling sign of how bad a manager Kapler is. His team QUIT on him in his first year.
I think many people pegged the Phillies as an up and coming team and expectation was at least .500. To say no one expected them to be remotely close to that is a joke
Honestly, Kapler has proven himself time and time again to be completely inept and doesn’t have even a slightly competent understanding of the full consequences of his decisions as a manager.
The quick hooks he’s become known for are not effective… they deprive young pitchers of meaningful opportunities while exhausting a largely terrible bullpen that’s blown game after game during the team’s abhorrent losing streak.
#fireKapler
I agree. He’s abysmal
Players quit on him. Enough said.
His players quit on him. Enough said
Jesus Sanchez links to a 43 year old retired player.
2019 Comeback Player of the Year
I say give him another shot, because he seems like a guy who can make the necessary adjustments. If not, obviously replace him, but I think it’s good to remember that he has WS experience (as a player) with Boston and knows what it takes to win, which why I they should stick with him for now and hope that he finally realizes that he just got way too carried away with the analytical stuff this year and adjusts.
What about Kapler gives you any indication that he can make adjustments? His methods have not worked all year, and he still does them without change. Why would he change next year?
I hope Severino doesn’t start Wed.
Fire Kapler, Fire Kapler!
Would throw out the remark that this team quit on him when they sent down Eflin in mid August. Anyone agree?
Severino starting the Wild Card game is bad news. He folds like a cheap chair under a 400lb bleacher creature in the playoffs. Can’t count on him. He has proven he chokes in big games.
I don’t know if he’s starting just because they scratched him. They still have three other options in Happ, Tanaka, and the bullpen for that game.
HILARIOUS When Yankees fans didn’t think Happ was good enough. Told you people from the start he would be their most reliable starter.
Kapler has a lot of data at his fingertips but not really certain he knows what to do with it.
At first I was like “did you have to use the word putrid to describe the Orioles pitching staff”? Then I couldn’t think of a different adjective to describe it.
Be Bold, Kapler says…Be Bold. Take more pitches, see more pitches and it will lead to a higher OBP, more PA’s/AB’s…., more runs….more production.
2017 team slash .250/.315/.409….PA/AB 6133/5535 ranked 5th in AB’s in the NL
2018 team slash .235/.314/.393….PA/AB 6066/5368 ranked 15th in AB in the NL
2017 rank in runs 12th….hits 9th….HR 12th….BB 11th….K’s 12th
2018 rank in runs 12th….hits 15th….HR 6th….BB 3rd….K’s 14th
Bottom line almost identical runs, over 100 fewer hits, a dozen more homers +/-, 100+/- more walks and 100 +/- K’s…….stagnation.
Worst team defense since Fangraphs started tracking in 03 and worst team defense using shifts. Be Bold = Be BS’ed
The Rays had arguably the most entertaining team in MLB this year….certainly the most interesting. Lotsa no-names and a quirky manager, “openers”, etc. and they were in the hunt till the end……….should have been must-see.
Instead, they’ll draw 100,000 fewer fans than they did last year, when they were as exciting as watching the artificial turf molt…….
15 years ago, both Peter Gammons and Keith Law opined that Florida is a one-team, centrally located (Orlando?) state…..whenever two guys who are on the opposite side of the MLB universe as Gammons and Law agree, they’re probably right…..
When Kapler commits to something be believes it no matter how much evidence piles up against it or how illogical it is. Give him some credit for having conviction but his inflexibility is off-putting. He’s ideological and a lot of his moves fit his baseball theory but don’t make common sense. He’s a weird dude.