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Quick Hits: Nix, JBJ, Alfaro

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Padres minor league piitchers Jacob Nix and Tom Cosgrove were arrested on criminal trespassing charges Sunday in Peoria, Ariz., after Nix allegedly entered a home through a dog door, per Jessica Suerth of 12 News. The homeowner caught Nix trying to break in at 3:30 a.m. and kicked him in the face, at which point Cosgrove reached into the dog door in an attempt to get Nix out. The homeowner then hit Nix in the torso with a Taser as he and Cosgrove tried to flee the premises. The police found Nix and Cosgrove at a different home about 10 minutes away and took them into custody. Nix was ordered to post a $100 bond and appear in court Oct. 14, while Cosgrove was ordered to post a $50 bond. Cosgrove appeared in court on Tuesday. This bizarre story looks like the biggest professional setback yet for the 23-year-old Nix, a promising prospect who missed most of 2019 with damage in his right ulnar collateral ligament. Nix, who joined the Padres as a third-round pick in 2015, ranks as their 28th-best farmhand at MLB.com.

Now for some more conventional items from around the league…

  • With the Red Sox set to embark on a payroll-cutting campaign this offseason, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. could wind up on the outs, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic observes (subscription link). “You always think about it,” Bradley told McCaffrey in regards to a potential trade, adding, “It’s one of those things you just have to wait and see what happens.” Trade rumors centering on Bradley aren’t anything new, but no other club has convinced Boston to move him yet. However, the soon-to-be 30-year-old’s team control is dwindling – he’ll be a free agent after next season – while his salary is rising. Bradley’s projected to earn $11MM in 2020, and that could be too rich for the Red Sox’s blood in the wake of a modest season for JBJ. He totaled just 1.4 fWAR, his lowest since 2014, while hitting .225/.317/.421 with 21 home runs, eight stolen bases across 567 plate appearances. Although Bradley’s offensive output in 2019 wasn’t much different than the production he posted over the prior two seasons, his defensive numbers fell off, as he notched both a negative DRS (minus-1) and UZR (minus-0.7) for the first time since 2013.
  • While Jorge Alfaro will go into next season as the front-runner to start at catcher for the Marlins, they’ll at least “explore” adding depth at the position this winter, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes. Alfaro, whom the Marlins acquired from the Phillies as part of last offseason’s J.T. Realmuto blockbuster, batted .262/.312/.425 with 18 homers over 465 plate appearances during his first season in Miami. Those are acceptable offensive numbers from a catcher, though it’s troubling that Alfaro struck out in at least 33 percent of PA for the second year in a row. Defensively, the cannon-armed 26-year-old did throw out 33 percent of would-be base-stealers, but he struggled in the framing and blocking aspects.

 

Giants Interview Pedro Grifol

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The Giants have a fourth known candidate in their search for a replacement for iconic manager Bruce Bochy. The club interviewed Royals quality control and catching coach Pedro Grifol for the position on Thursday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The Giants have also shown interest in two of their own assistants – bench coach Hensley Meulens and third base coach Ron Wotus – as well as Athletics quality control Mark Kotsay.

Of the eight teams looking for managers, the Giants are the second who are known to be considering Grifol, a former minor league catcher. The soon-to-be 50-year-old is also on a list of possibilities for the Royals, with whom he has worked in a few roles since 2013. He previously garnered professional managerial experience with the Seattle organization from 2003-05 and in ’12.

If there’s an obvious common theme among the Giants’ group of candidates, it’s that not a single one of them has managed at the big league level. But plenty of teams have turned to novices in recent years, including three of the remaining four clubs in the playoffs (the Nationals, Cardinals and Yankees), and the Giants may be the next to do so. Of course, with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi having said he’ll interview six to eight individuals for the role, there could still be an experienced option(s) on San Francisco’s radar.

Latest On Angels’ Search For Manager

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The Angels have interviewed Padres hitting coach Johnny Washington for their open managerial position, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. Washington’s one of four known candidates to interview for the job, joining Joe Maddon, Buck Showalter and John Farrell. It appears Washington, Showalter and Farrell will have to look elsewhere, though, as Miller writes Maddon is “all but officially” locked in as the Angels’ next manager.

Washington’s the sole member of the above quartet who has never managed in the majors. A minor league infielder with the Rangers and Dodgers from 2003-09, Washington has garnered quite a bit of experience as an assistant since his playing career ended. Washington was a coach in the Dodgers’ minor league system from 2009-15 before joining the Padres, with whom he got his first big league job as a first base coach in 2017. He began working with their batters (as an assistant hitting coach) the next season.

While Washington may one day prove to be a quality MLB manager, it’s hard to compete with Maddon right now. To many, the 65-year-old Maddon has been a shoo-in to end up with the Angels since the club fired Brad Ausmus on Sept. 30. The Angels’ high level of interest in Maddon is understandable, as he spent three decades with the organization in a variety of roles (including interim manager) before enjoying an eminently successful run as a full-time skipper from 2006-19. Atop the Rays and Cubs during that span, Maddon combined for 1,225 regular-season wins, eight playoff berths, two pennants and a World Series title.

Latest On Phillies’ Managerial Job

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On Friday, shortly after he orchestrated the firing of manager Gabe Kapler, Phillies owner John Middleton met with reporters (including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer) to discuss the move and what’s ahead for the team. Kapler was only on the job for two years, seasons in which the Phillies came out of the gate well before faltering in the summer months. In the end, Middleton couldn’t get past those late-season meltdowns.

“Those September collapses. I kept bumping up against them,” said Middleton. “I couldn’t get comfortable or confident enough that if I brought him back we wouldn’t run into other problems and therefore I made the decision I did.”

The Phillies went a middling 161-163 under Kapler, but they were a far worse 20-36 during the pair of Septembers in which he oversaw the club. That was clearly enough for Middleton to put an end to Kapler’s tenure with the organization, but it wasn’t the Phils’ owner who selected him in the first place. Rather, general manager Matt Klentak was responsible for the hiring of Klentak, though it doesn’t seem Middleton’s confidence in the exec has wavered.

In assessing Klentak, a fourth-year GM, Middleton stated: “Nobody bats 1.000 in hiring decisions. I haven’t. So it’s early in his career, but I would also point out he’s made lots and lots of really good hiring decisions, too. I think what this should be is a learning experience, candidly. What’s happened in other businesses we’ve run and gotten into this kind of situation, people learn from it.”

Middleton showed plenty of confidence last winter in Klentak, awarding him a three-year extension in the wake of an offseason spending bonanza for the club. With Klentak having brought in the likes of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura and David Robertson, Philadelphia expected to push for the playoffs in 2019. But the club stumbled to a mediocre 81-81 record instead, leaving Kapler on the outs and the duo of Klentak and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail to find a more qualified replacement.

With the Kapler era in the rearview mirror, Philly’s now likely to seek a manager who blends “analytics and tradition,” writes Breen, who suggests longtime MLB skippers Buck Showalter and Joe Girardi are near the head of the team’s list. Showalter, a three-time Manager of the Year who previously helmed the Orioles from 2010-18, goes back a ways with ex-O’s executives Klentak and MacPhail. In fact, it was MacPhail who hired Showalter in Baltimore.

Girardi’s connection to MacPhail isn’t as strong, though he was a catcher with the Cubs from 2000-02 when the latter was in the team’s front office. Since his playing career ended after 2003, Girardi – like Showalter – has established himself as one of the most accomplished managers in recent memory. He earned Manager of the Year honors in his lone season with the Marlins, 2006, and then led Yankees teams that regularly contended from 2008-17. Girardi was atop the ’09 New York club that knocked off Philadelphia in the World Series.

With eight teams currently on the hunt for new managers, it’s no surprise the well-respected Showalter and Girardi have come up quite a bit of late. Showalter is on the Angels’ list of candidates, and he may emerge as a serious possibility for a Mets team that’s set to interview Girardi in a matter of days. Girardi already sat down with the Cubs earlier this week.

Latest On Padres’ Managerial Search

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The Padres have made a fair bit of progress in their managerial search, though it remains unclear at this point which direction they’ll go. There’s now added clarity on the handful of serious candidates as well as the interviewing timeline.

It’s now clear that Braves third base coach and former Rangers skipper Ron Washington is a serious possibility. He interviewed today, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It was already known that Brad Ausmus had interviewed as well.

But those aren’t the only candidate to get a sit-down interview. Indeed, Scott Miller of Bleacher Report tweets that quite a few others have already been in to meet with GM A.J. Preller and company.

Rod Barajas and Jayce Tingler were already known to be candidates. They have in fact held interviews, according to Miller. Unlike the two men mentioned already, Barajas and Tingler are each looking for their first opportunity to helm a big-league team.

It may be that the list doesn’t extend beyond those four names. Miller reports that long-time MLB managers Buck Showalter, Joe Girardi, and Mike Scioscia appear not to be part of the ongoing Padres search. Whether there are more candidates still under consideration beyond those isn’t yet clear.

MLBTR Poll: Yasmani Grandal’s Next Contract

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For the second straight offseason, Yasmani Grandal is scheduled to reach free agency as the undisputed No. 1 catcher available. Grandal got to the open market last winter after a strong multiyear run with the Dodgers, but he’ll return there this offseason on the heels of a quality campaign with the Brewers, who look likely to lose him.

The fact that Grandal even ended up in Milwaukee in the first place came as a surprise. Expectations were he’d emerge from his previous trip to free agency with a long-term, high-paying contract, but that didn’t materialize. There was at least one opportunity for Grandal to score that type of pact, as he reportedly turned down a four-year, $60MM offer from the Mets weeks before settling for far less.

The small-market Brewers capitalized on Grandal’s decision to reject New York, not to mention a lack of offers he deemed suitable from other clubs, by reeling him in on a one-year, $18.25MM guaranteee in January. The switch-hitting Grandal paid the Brew Crew back with a .246/.380/.468 batting line, a career-high 28 home runs and 5.2 fWAR in 632 plate appearances during another playoff-bound season for the team. Grandal performed well behind the plate at the same time, thus continuing a long run as one of the most well-rounded backstops in baseball.

The Brewers could technically control Grandal for another season, as the two sides have a $16MM mutual option (or a $2.25MM buyout) for 2020. Exercising it should be a no-brainer for Milwaukee, but rejecting it ought to be an easy call for Grandal. He has now put up five straight elite seasons, after all, and no longer has to worry about a qualifying offer weighing him down. The Dodgers hit Grandal with a QO a year ago, and because a player can’t receive it more than once, he’s in line for an unfettered free-agent run this time around. Not only that, but the 31-year-old Grandal won’t face much competition on the open market. It’s obvious the next best unsigned catchers – Jason Castro, Travis d’Arnaud and Robinson Chirinos – aren’t in his stratosphere.

Adding everything up, Grandal may be in ideal position this offseason to secure the type of payday he desired last year. Do you expect the two-time All-Star to outdo the $60MM he reportedly turned down back then?

(Poll link for app users)

Mets Begin In-Person Managerial Interviews

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The Mets have launched their first round of managerial interviews. Carlos Beltran appears to have been the first candidate to sit down with the front office, with Andy Martino of SNY.tv reporting (Twitter links) that the sides met yesterday.

It’s a mite surprising to see Beltran jump to the front of the interview list, though it stands to reason that the Mets had to fit him in wherever they could with Beltran actively engaged with the Yankees’ postseason efforts. The future Hall-of-Famer doesn’t have any prior coaching or managerial experience but certainly knows his way around a big-league dugout. Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted earlier today that Beltran is seen as a “very serious” candidate for the job.

Other candidates will obviously follow Beltran into the offices in Queens. Derek Shelton, Joe Girardi, and Mike Bell are already known to be lined up for interviews. All three are said to be scheduled for next week.

It’s too soon to declare this a four-man race. Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas will get an interview, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). The son of long-time former skipper Felipe Alou, Rojas joined the New York organization’s MLB staff last season under just-canned manager Mickey Callaway.

There could be yet more candidates to come. GM Brodie Van Wagenen is also chatting with other persons of interest via phone, Martino adds. The soon-to-be-sophomore exec is working through a “big list” of names. Martino tweets that John Gibbons, Dusty Baker, and Buck Showalter have all been “discussed internally” but “not contacted” to this point.

Evaluating The $200MM Contracts: Hitters

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Third baseman Anthony Rendon is currently trying to help lead the Nationals to a World Series, but he’ll have a busy several weeks ahead when his team’s season ends. The 29-year-old, a first-time All-Star in 2019, is slated to reach free agency in roughly a month. Rendon will be hands down the premier position player on the open market, where only he and Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole will stand legitimate chances to rake in contracts of $200MM or more. In landing a $200MM-plus guarantee, Rendon would be joining a select group of stars whom franchises made massive commitments to in hopes they’d eventually help push their rosters over the top. The past doesn’t necessarily dictate the future, but let’s nonetheless take a look at how the $200MM position player club has fared so far…

  • Mike Trout, CF, Angels (10 years, $360MM): It’s way too soon to evaluate this extension. Trout’s only one season into it, though the best player in the game/future Hall of Famer did continue to amaze in Year 1 of the pact.
  • Bryce Harper, OF, Phillies (13 years, $330MM): As with Trout, it’s too early to say how well Harper’s contract will work out. But Harper, Rendon’s former teammate in Washington, did perform well in the first year of what’s sure to stand as the richest free-agent contract ever (at least until Mookie Betts hits the market a year from now).
  • Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Marlins (13 years, $325MM): We’re a half-decade into this monumental extension, a gamble that didn’t really work out in the low-budget Marlins’ favor. The hulking Stanton did win an NL MVP with the club in 2017, but he combined to appear in just 193 games during injury-shortened 2015-16 seasons. Penny-pinching Miami got Stanton’s contract off its books after his MVP campaign in trading him to the Yankees, with whom he was very good (but not elite) last year. Stanton barely played during the ’19 regular season as he dealt with more injury troubles, though the complete story on his year hasn’t been written yet. With New York heading for the ALCS, Stanton could still emerge as a postseason hero in the coming weeks. Regardless, they owe him huge money through 2027.
  • Manny Machado, 3B, Padres (10 years, $300MM): Like Trout and Harper, Machado just received his payday a year ago, so it’d be premature to offer an assessment on it. However, Machado didn’t wow in the first year of it, which may not augur well for the Padres.
  • Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees (10 years, $275MM): Remember this? After seven years on the once-record contract he signed with the Rangers, Rodriguez – whom Texas traded to the Yankees before 2004 – opted out of it on the heels of the 2007 season. He wound up with another historic payday, in which the highs were extremely high and the lows extremely low. A-Rod continued to thrive from 2008-11 (the Yankees wouldn’t have won their most recent title in ’09 without his brilliant playoff performance), but injuries and a 162-game suspension in 2014 for performance-enhancing drugs weighed him down over the next several years. Rodriguez wasn’t able to finish out the deal (at least on the field), as the Yankees released him in August 2016. However, the should-be Hall of Famer did collect the remaining money on his contract.
  • Alex Rodriguez, SS, Rangers (10 years, $252MM): This guy again. A-Rod’s first $200MM-plus pact was an earth-shaking gamble for the Rangers, who expected him to “allow this franchise to fulfill its dream of continuing on its path to becoming a World Series champion,” then-owner Tom Hicks said when they signed him going into 2001. Rodriguez did his part, including during an AL MVP-winning season in 2013, but the team floundered in spite of his excellence. In one of the most significant trades in the history of the sport, the Rangers sent Rodriguez to the Yankees after just three seasons.
  • Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Tigers (eight years, $248MM): Cabrera was coming off his second straight MVP-winning campaign and his eighth All-Star season when he scored this payday in 2014, but it still looked like a questionable move for the team back then. Cabrera already had two years left on his previous contract, meaning this one didn’t kick in until his age-29 campaign in 2016. While Cabrera did continue as an offensive force that year, the future Hall of Famer hasn’t been the same player since. Cabrera has managed a minuscule 0.2 fWAR in upward of 1,200 plate appearances dating back to 2017. He’ll be on the rebuilding Tigers’ books at exorbitant salaries through 2023. Not ideal.
  • Albert Pujols, 1B, Angels (10 years, $240MM): Pujols is unquestionably an all-time great (which explains why the Angels paid him so much), but he hasn’t played like it since leaving St. Louis before the 2012 season. Set to play his age-40 season and second-last year of his contract in 2020, Pujols has posted a mere 6.4 fWAR in almost 5,000 PA as an Angel. He’s fresh off his third consecutive minus-fWAR campaign, and it’s fair to say he now counts as someone the Angels wish they wouldn’t have signed to one of the richest contracts ever.
  • Robinson Cano, 2B, Mariners (10 years, $240MM): It was a stunner in December 2013 when the Mariners emerged as the winners of the Cano sweepstakes, luring him from the big-spending Yankees. The Mariners were mired in a 12-year playoff drought then and hoping the longtime star would help dig them out of it. Six years later, the M’s still haven’t returned to the postseason. That’s hardly Cano’s fault, though, as he has recorded mostly stellar production throughout his contract so far. However, Cano received an 80-game PED suspension last year, which proved to be his final season in Seattle. The club dealt Cano to the Mets in a blockbuster, farm system-restocking trade for the M’s last winter. Cano just put up a career-worst year in his return to New York, likely leaving the Mets wishing they didn’t take the risk.
  • Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies (seven years, $234MM): Toss Arenado on the “too early to evaluate” pile. The extension he signed before this season won’t take effect until next year.
  • Joey Votto, 1B, Reds (10 years, $225MM): Votto landed this extension in the wake of the 2011 season, the former NL MVP’s second of six All-Star campaigns, though it didn’t kick in until 2014. Now 36 years old, Votto just wrapped up a surprisingly pedestrian season, which is worrisome with four years and $100MM remaining on his contract. With the exception of 2019, the hitting virtuoso has done nothing but stand out at the plate. At this point, all the Reds can do is hope he’ll bounce back next year.
  • Prince Fielder, 1B, Tigers (nine years, $214MM): In an effort to win a championship in his final years, now-late Tigers owner Mike Ilitch authorized an enormous guarantee for Fielder entering the 2012 season. Fielder did hold his own as a hitter from 2012-13, but the Tigers didn’t win a championship in either season, and they dealt the big-bodied slugger to the Rangers after that. The Fielder acquisition certainly wasn’t great for the Rangers, as he largely underwhelmed in their uniform from 2014-16 before neck injuries forced him to unofficially call it a career.

Yankees, Astros Announce ALCS Rotation Plans

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Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Astros skipper A.J. Hinch each spoke with the media today and divulged the upcoming starting pitching plans of their respective organizations. The teams have each named starters through the first three contests in the American League Championship Series.

Game 1, tomorrow night in Houston, will feature Masahiro Tanaka and Zack Greinke. The 30-year-old Tanaka has had his share of ups and downs in recent seasons, but turned in a strong effort against the Twins in the ALDS (one earned run in five innings with seven strikeouts and one walk). Greinke, who was acquired with a series like this in mind, struggled badly in his first postseason showing with his new team. But he’s one of the game’s most experienced hurlers and remains vested with quite a lot of trust.

Thereafter, the clubs will turn the ball over to their best starters. James Paxton goes against Justin Verlander in game 2, while Luis Severino will square off against Gerrit Cole in game 3, the first contest at Yankee Stadium. There’s little doubt that Houston’s co-aces have the advantage on paper, but the Yankees duo is also amply talented.

Each of the six pitchers listed above will be faced with a massive challenge. As Greinke put it today, in typically dry manner, “it’s tough to get good hitters out than not as good hitters.” Both lineups (and benches) are loaded with good hitters.

Unless these starters can fill up a lot of frames, the two teams’ bullpens could end up getting a workout as well. That has the potential to make things quite interesting in game 4. Neither team has a clear, high-end starting option ready to run out after their top three arms. Even if the Astros roll with Jose Urquidy, he’ll be going on a short leash with expectations of leaning on multiple relievers. While the Yankees can get some length from Luis Cessa and/or Jonathan Loaisiga, they’ll likely be attempting a true bullpen game in a high-stakes situation.

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