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Red Sox Announce Coaching Staff Changes

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The Red Sox announced several notable changes to the coaching staff under manager Alex Cora. In particular, the club will be hiring a new pitching coach duo.

While the Boston organization will retain the services of pitching coach Dana LeVangie and assistant pitching coach Brian Bannister, both will be reassigned. The former will join Steve Langone (who had been manager of advanced scouting) as pro scouts. Bannister will become VP of pitching development, thereby turning his attention to the organization’s farm system.

In addition, the club announced that Andy Barkett will not return as the assistant hitting coach. He had been in that role since the 2018 season, working alongside hitting coach Tim Hyers.

It isn’t entirely clear whether the Red Sox are contemplating any further changes to the staff, though it seems reasonable to presume that they’ll retain the remaining coaches. The club has continued to move ahead with fairly significant decisions even though it still lacks a single chief of its baseball operations department.

Three Needs: Baltimore Orioles

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We’re continuing with our “Three Needs” series, in which we take a look at the chief issues to be addressed for clubs that fell out of contention. The Orioles were about as bad as expected last year, but have plenty of possibilities in their second season under GM Mike Elias.

[Baltimore Orioles Depth Chart]

1. Go Wild On Pitching

The Orioles rotation was simply brutal in 2019, allowing more than two home runs per nine innings on average. John Means was quite effective but outperformed his peripherals by a wide margin. Dylan Bundy showed enough to keep hoping he’ll fully realize his talent. Otherwise … mid-season acquisition Asher Wojciechowski led the way with a 4.96 ERA in 16 starts. There were times where the organization had to scramble to find arms.

The Baltimore org should aim for better in 2020. To be fair, the O’s were hoping for much more from Alex Cobb and Nate Karns. And late-spring signee Dan Straily was worse than should have been expected. But there’s an argument to be made that the club should have been more proactive from the outset — and, more importantly, that it ought to be going forward. Given the state of the returning staff, which could include Cobb if he’s able to work back to health, there’s little choice but to add.

Notably, payroll is continuing to dive. There’s only so far to go while Cobb and Chris Davis are still on the books, but the O’s will start with just over $35MM in obligations before sorting out their arbitration situation. It’d obviously be foolish for the team to go splashing cash on veteran free agents, and attracting the most appealing buy-low candidates will be tough given the difficulties of pitching against AL East sluggers in Camden Yards. But there should be opportunities to acquire interesting pitchers via trade or signing, and the Orioles shouldn’t hesitate to commit a bit of cash to acquire some baseline competence and — perhaps — marketable trade assets. And the team should be exceptionally active in grabbing interesting arms from the waiver wire and minor-league free agent market.

2. Market The Middle Infielders

Jonathan Villar and Hanser Alberto both turned in high-quality efforts in 2019. The former checked in at about four wins above replacement thanks to otherworldly baserunning, above-average hitting, and solid-enough glovework at shortstop. He earned nearly $5MM last year and will get a raise, so he isn’t cheap, but Villar is a fascinating utility rental piece for a contender. As for Alberto, he glowed with the glove at second and made so much contact (9.1% strikeout rate, .305 batting average) that you can almost look past his awful 2.9% walk rate. With loads of cheap control (but no options) remaining, Alberto occupies a different but also useful space in the roster landscape.

To be sure, neither of these players is likely to draw a huge return. But it’d be rewarding to get something back for them after already enjoying their strong work in an otherwise largely miserable season. Cashing in now makes sense as well because it would clear the deck to take yet more risks on other middle infielders. The chief asset for a rebuilding team is its roster flexibility. Chasing upside makes sense; at the very least, the team can look for the next Villar or Alberto.

3. Extend Or Trade Trey Mancini

You hate to think about moving a homegrown star at all, but the Orioles need to be careful not to get stuck in the middle on Mancini. He’ll qualify for arbitration for the first time, with three more seasons of control before free agency. On the heels of a strong bounceback campaign (.291/.364/.535, 35 home runs), Mancini is peaking in value.

There have been prior rumblings of a possible extension. That is a strategy worth pursuing. Mancini is already 27, so he’s not exceedingly youthful. But the Baltimore organization will rightly want to keep at least one gate draw on the roster and can still hope that Mancini will be an important part of the club’s next contending outfit.

That said, the price really has to be right to do an extension. The Padres’ experience with Wil Myers provides something of a cautionary tale. If the O’s can’t strike a real bargain, they’re probably better off dangling Mancini to some of the many organizations that would love to install him as a centerpiece for the next three campaigns.

Former Big Leaguers Playing Abroad: KBO Hitter Roundup

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It’s always fun to keep an eye on familiar players who’ve taken their talents across the pond. Now that the 2019 season is in the books, it seemed an opportune time to check in. Numerous former big leaguers are playing abroad, many of them thriving in Asia’s top leagues.

We’ve seen foreign stints help spur big league revivals from quite a few players. Eric Thames, Miles Mikolas, and Chris Martin are among those that played significant roles in the 2019 MLB campaign. Whether any of the players covered below will do so remains to be seen, but there’s certainly a path.

Let’s start with the Korea Baseball Organization, the top league in South Korea. Remember, teams in the KBO and other leagues face limits on the number of non-native players they can employ. That creates a lot of pressure to secure big production from those roster spots, and often spurs mid-season change. (Statistics courtesy of the always excellent MyKBO.)

The top performers …

  • Former Phillies slugger Darin Ruf marauded the KBO once again, though he wasn’t quite as awesome this year (.911 OPS, 22 home runs) as he was in 2018 (1.024 OPS, 33 home runs). After scoring with Ruf, the Samsung Lions went after Mac Williamson in a mid-season move. But Williamson failed to gain traction in his forty contests, hitting a tepid .273/.329/.409.
  • Several other hitters joined Ruf as repeat KBO participants and star-level performers. Outfielder Jamie Romak has also now completed three excellent campaigns with the SK Wyverns. Like Ruf, he took a step back this year (1.001 OPS to .878 OPS), likely reflecting a KBO baseball de-juicing effort.
  • After a brief but promising showing in 2018, Jerry Sands rewarded the Kiwoom Heroes for bringing him back by swatting 28 dingers and batting a robust .305/.400/.543 on the year. Jared Hoying wasn’t quite as productive, but turned in a solid sophomore campaign with the Hanwha Eagles (.284/.343/.460).
  • The KT Wiz continued to benefit from their 2017 find of outfielder Mel Rojas Jr., who never got a big-league call-up from the Pirates or Braves. He slashed a robust .322/.384/.530 with 24 homers in his third KBO season.

Several KBO newcomers found something in their new organizations …

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez took a difficult path to the majors and did not receive a lengthy opportunity at the game’s highest level, but displayed his intriguing blend of hitting ability with the Doosan Bears. Appearing in all 144 contests, Fernandez poked 15 long balls and slashed a hefty .344/.413/.483.
  • The KIA Tigers dropped former Cardinals flash-in-the-pan outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker after just eleven contests. That may have been a quick leash, but they ended up making out well with Preston Tucker. The former MLB reserve outfielder ultimately slashed .311/.382/.479 with nine home runs.

Other KBO organizations are likely to go back to the drawing board after cycling through multiple players …

  • Another team changing horses in mid-stream was the LG Twins, who tired of former Phillies first bagger Tommy Joseph after he slashed .274/.335/.426 with nine long balls in 54 games. The club turned to another OBP-challenged slugger in the left-handed-hitting Carlos Peguero, who provided a bit more overall offense (.286/.333/.472) but no additional dingers (9) in his 57 appearances.
  • Former Padres infielder Carlos Asuaje struggled in 49 games with the Lotte Giants, slashing just .252/.358/.368. He was replaced by Jacob Wilson, a former Cards and Nats farmhand, but Wilson wasn’t much more effective (.251/.352/.433 with nine home runs). (Wilson and Rojas were the only two hitters to appear in the KBO this year without prior MLB experience.)
  • The NC Dinos opened the year with Christian Bethancourt behind the plate, but he didn’t do enough damage to hang onto his roster spot, with a .246/.311/.404 line in 53 games. That led to a mid-season change to former big league outfielder Jake Smolinski. Unfortunately, he managed only a .229/.301/.439 slash of his own.

CC Sabathia Hopes To Return For ALCS

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The Yankees sent the Twins to yet another postseason exit Monday, earning a 5-1 victory to complete a three-game sweep in the American League Division Series. New York will face either Houston or Tampa Bay in the ALCS, and it’s possible the Yankees will welcome back injured left-hander CC Sabathia in time for the matchup.

Sabathia, whom the Yankees left off their ALDS roster because of nagging shoulder woes, told Brendan Kuty of NJ.com and other reporters he’s hoping to return for the next round.

“I feel pretty good. It’s just up to them. So, we’ll wait and see how I bounce back. I’ll throw the bullpen and, like I said, go from there,” said Sabathia, who will throw a bullpen session Wednesday.

While Sabathia’s a potential Hall of Fame starter who spent almost all of 2019 in the Yankees’ rotation, he’d been lining up to finish his year (and his career) as a reliever. Sabathia made it known entering the season that it would be his last, though it’s been an injury-plagued struggle for the franchise icon. He just might have a chance to contribute to a possible World Series run on his way out, however.

One of Sabathia’s teammates and fellow lefties, reliever Zack Britton, suffered his own injury scare Monday. Britton entered the game in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 3-0 lead, but he departed in the eighth with a right ankle problem after throwing 1 1/3 innings of one-run ball. (that run came by way of an Eddie Rosario solo shot) Fortunately for Britton and the Yankees, it appears they averted disaster. General manager Brian Cashman said afterward that Britton will be fine for the ALCS (via James Wagner of the New York Times).

Dallas Keuchel Discusses Free Agency

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Although he reached free agency last offseason as one of the most accomplished starters on the open market, former AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel went without a team for a shockingly long time. Keuchel, who looked like a shoo-in to sign a lucrative multiyear deal at the outset of the winter, ended up settling for the Braves’ one-year, $13MM offer shortly after the amateur draft in early June.

The fact that Keuchel’s previous team, the Astros, attached a qualifying offer to him before he became a free agent was an obvious cause for the difficulty he encountered on the market. The longer Keuchel sat without a deal, the closer the draft came. The closer the draft came, the more content teams were to wait Keuchel out and attempt to sign the Scott Boras client without having to give up compensation in the form of a pick(s).

With the qualifying offer system still intact heading into this winter, there could be some soon-to-be free agents who meet a similar fate to what Keuchel and fellow post-draft signing Craig Kimbrel faced earlier in 2019. Keuchel won’t be one of them, as a player can’t receive a QO twice, though he explained to Jesse Rogers of ESPN that he remains frustrated with the setup that’s in place.

“This is whole draft-pick compensation thing went from a throw-in for a team losing a player, to is he really a free agent now?” Keuchel said.“How can you be free if there is a draft pick attached to you? And why do they value draft picks so much when the percentage of picks who make the league, and are better than you, is what, like .01 percent? There are so many things wrong.”

Like many of his fellow players, Keuchel’s irked by the last two offseasons, both of which were notoriously sluggish from a free agency standpoint. “It’s not just us being the bad guys,” Keuchel said of the players.

Keuchel’s among those displeased with the way free agency has been trending, though that doesn’t mean he didn’t receive multiyear offers during his trip to the market. On the contrary, the Angels were among those who were willing to commit more than one year to Keuchel, per Rogers. However, Keuchel believed those teams “undervalued” him, writes Rogers. It also seems signing with a playoff-caliber club was a priority for Keuchel, who, despite his relatively underwhelming results in free agency, believes he’s now “in the best possible for scenario for myself” as a member of a World Series-contending Braves team.

Although he wasn’t the ace-caliber hurler we’ve seen in the past, Keuchel did help the Braves to an NL East title after his midseason arrival. The 31-year-old threw 112 2/3 innings of 3.75 ERA/4.72 FIP with 7.27 K/9 and 3.12 BB/9 and a 60.1 percent groundball rate in the regular season, and then added 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the team’s Game 1 loss to the Cardinals in the NLDS. With that series heading to a winner-take-all Game 5 on Wednesday (in which Mike Foltynewicz will take the mound for Atlanta), Keuchel might not make another start for the Braves. The club could try to re-sign Keuchel whenever its season ends, but it if that doesn’t happen, he’ll have to test the free-agent waters again. While it’s likely Keuchel’s next deal will outdo his current pact, he doesn’t seem thrilled about returning to the market.

“I still have to go back into the zoo [free agency] but I figured if this offseason doesn’t present more offers, more swiftly, like the NBA or the NFL, then the normal fan will see exactly what’s going on,” Keuchel said. “That’s what I want people to see.”

Royals GM Dayton Moore Discusses Managerial Search, Roster Needs

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Royals GM Dayton Moore held a brief chat with Jon Heyman and Josh Lewin on the Big Time Baseball Podcast (audio link). We’ll touch on some of the highlights here.

With long-tenured manager Ned Yost having retired at the end of the Royals’ season, finding his successor is among the most important tasks on Moore’s plate. As of now, though, the Royals are still “vetting candidates” for the job and “have yet to go through a formal interview” with anyone, according to Moore. It seems in an ideal world, the club will promote Yost’s replacement from within. Moore talked up Royals assistants Mike Matheny, Dale Sveum, Pedro Grifol and Vance Wilson, declaring that they’re “strong candidates.”

Matheny, who possesses by far the most managerial experience of any of the Royals’ possibilities, was at the helm of a Cardinals club that went 591-474 with four playoff berths and an NL pennant from 2012-18. Moore, cognizant of the success St. Louis had in the standings during that run, contends Matheny’s “an amazing leader” who “won every single year” with the franchise. Although Matheny received plenty of criticism throughout time with the Redbirds, Moore’s impressed that he was able to successfully transition from a long career as a big league catcher to that of a manager – all while taking over for Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.

Since last November, a few months after his in-season firing with the Cardinals, Matheny has been serving as a special advisor in Kansas City. He’s “done excellent work” in that capacity, per Moore, who revealed Matheny “has options” and has been “sought out” by other clubs (though it’ s unclear if that implies teams are interested in Matheny as a manager).

Whether the Royals tap Matheny or someone else for the role, that individual will be facing the grueling task of trying to get immediate results in the standings for KC. The Royals are coming off their second straight 100-loss season, though Moore & Co. nonetheless “feel good about our core group of young position players.” He specifically named third baseman Hunter Dozier, right fielder Jorge Soler, shortstop Adalberto Mondesi (“one of the best talents in the game; just needs to get more consistent) and second baseman Nicky Lopez as potential building blocks who have age on their side. With the exception of Soler, whose contract is more complex than most, all of those players come with a few seasons of affordable control. As of now, it’s unknown whether the Royals will try to extend Soler, who’s coming off an age-27 season in which he mashed 48 home runs.

As effective as Soler was in 2019, second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield still may be the centerpiece of the Royals’ cast of position players. Merrifield will turn 31 during the offseason, but having signed a team-friendly extension last winter, the rebuilding Royals aren’t under pressure to deal him. Moore has always resisted doing so despite vast interest from other clubs. Now, “nobody is untouchable,” and the Royals need to be “open-minded” until they know which opportunities could present themselves. However, Moore continues to regard Merrifield as a “special talent” and a “special person,” which suggests the club’s more than content to move ahead with the well-rounded All-Star.

While the Royals do have some gems among their position players, they don’t look as well off on the pitching side. The Royals’ hurlers posted the majors’ fourth-worst ERA (5.20) this year, and Brad Keller – a 2017 Rule 5 acquisition – was their lone starter to put up average or better production across a full season. With those struggles in mind, Moore acknowledged that the Royals “gotta do a better job of developing pitching, acquiring pitching.”

Looking ahead to 2020, the Royals will likely be in for another lean year. “We’ve got a ways to go,” said Moore, who didn’t offer a timeline on a possible return to contention. As you’d expect, though, the longtime exec indicated he and the franchise are bent on orchestrating a turnaround.

Cole Vs. Rendon: Who Will Sign The Bigger Contract?

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A year ago at this time, the baseball world was gearing up to see outfielder Bryce Harper and infielder Manny Machado reach free agency. They represented a pair of rare 26-year-old franchise players who were on the cusp of hitting the open market, and there was little doubt they’d end up with a couple of the richest contracts in the history of the sport. While the two wound up sitting on the market for longer than some may have expected, they ultimately did score the largest deals ever awarded in free agency before the offseason concluded. Harper left the Nationals for the Phillies’ 13-year, $330MM offer, while Machado waved goodbye to the Dodgers after a short stay in LA and signed with the Padres for 10 years and $300MM.

It wasn’t surprising that Harper and Machado reeled in $300MM-plus guarantees last winter, whereas there’s little chance of a free agent approaching that figure this offseason. That’s not a knock on the absolute best players in the upcoming class, though, as Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole and Nationals third baseman/ex-Harper teammate Anthony Rendon do have cases to collect massive paydays. In fact, both players – a pair of Scott Boras clients – have strong arguments to reach or exceed $200MM in guarantees on their forthcoming contracts.

Cole, who turned 29 last month, could not only win the AL Cy Young after putting up a 2.50 ERA/2.64 FIP with a ridiculous 326 strikeouts in 212 regular-season 1/3 innings, but the ace workhorse may also aid his cause with an epic playoff run. Cole looked to be setting himself up for a postseason in his start this past Saturday. He ran roughshod over the Rays in 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 15 hitters, issuing one walk and allowing four hits during a 3-1 victory.

Regardless of how the rest of the postseason goes for Cole, Boras will likely try to get his client a pact in the vicinity of the all-time record for a pitcher. That honor has belonged to Red Sox lefty David Price since December 2015, when he inked a seven-year, $217MM contract as a free agent. Nationals righty Max Scherzer, another Boras client, isn’t far behind on the seven-year, $210MM deal he scored via the open market the winter before Price landed his accord.

Indications are that Rendon, who’s also 29, has already turned down money in the Price/Scherzer neighborhood in advance of his much-anticipated foray into free agency. Rendon spurned a seven-year, $210MM-$215MM offer (with deferrals) from Washington, perhaps in hopes of signing a contract that’s closer to the seven-year, $234MM extension Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado received before this season. While Rendon, who finally earned his first All-Star nod this year, is neither as decorated nor as young as the four-time All-Star Arenado (28), there’s a legitimate case he’s the superior player.

Dating back to 2017, which is admittedly an arbitrary cutoff point, Rendon ranks fourth among position players in fWAR (19.9; Arenado’s ninth with 17.4), trailing only MVP winners Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich. And Rendon seems likely to garner serious consideration for this year’s NL MVP honors, having slashed a career-best .319/.412/.598 with personal highs in home runs (34) and fWAR (7.0) across 646 regular-season plate appearances.

It may be a long shot, but we could see Cole and Rendon square off against one another if in the Fall Classic in the next few weeks. No matter how the season ends for their teams, though, which of the two stars do you expect to emerge from the winter with the bigger contract?

(Poll link for app users)

Sorting The Starting Pitchers Of The 2019-20 Free Agent Class

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Major League Baseball’s postseason is in full swing at the moment, and though watching multiple must-win games per day has been exhilarating, it unfortunately won’t go on for much longer. We’re just a few weeks away from the end of the season and the start of free agency, where several teams in need of upgrades will shop in hopes of either staying a playoff team in 2020 or perhaps becoming one.

As always, free agency will present starter-needy clubs the chance to address their rotations. In the case of the upcoming winter’s class of unsigned pitchers, it’s no secret Astros right-hander and AL Cy Young candidate Gerrit Cole is hands down the No. 1 option. He has a realistic chance at a $200MM contract once his marvelous year ends. Beyond Cole, there are several No. 2/3 type of starters with possibly some diamonds in the rough thereafter.

Here’s a look at the upcoming group based on 2019 velocity as well as missing bats, limiting walks, keeping the ball on the ground and minimizing hard contact. All of those skills will weigh on front offices’ minds as they debate whether to dole out contracts to any of the available hurlers (special thanks to FanGraphs for providing the data and for giving the user the ability to create customized leaderboards)…

Hardest Throwers (FanGraphs leaderboard)

League average = 92.7 mph

  1. Gerrit Cole: 97.2 mph
  2. Zack Wheeler: 96.7
  3. Andrew Cashner: 93.6*
  4. Edwin Jackson: 93.4*
  5. Kyle Gibson: 93.3
  6. Matt Harvey: 93.2
  7. Homer Bailey/Michael Wacha*: 93.0
  8. Jake Odorizzi: 92.9
  9. Michael Pineda: 92.6
  10. Ivan Nova: 92.4

*This excludes bullpen work from Cashner, Jackson and Wacha.

Top Strikeout Arms (FanGraphs leaderboard)

League average = 22.3%

  1.  Gerrit Cole: 39.9 K%, 13.82 K/9
  2. Rich Hill: 29.8 K%, 11.05 K/9
  3. Jake Odorizzi: 27.1 K%, 10.08 K/9
  4. Drew Smyly: 24.2 K%, 9.64 K/9*
  5. Madison Bumgarner: 24.1 K%, 8.8 K/9
  6. Zack Wheeler: 23.6 K%, 8.98 K/9
  7. Michael Pineda: 23.3 K%, 8.63 K/9
  8. Cole Hamels: 23.2 K%, 9.08 K/9
  9. Hyun-Jin Ryu: 22.5 K%, 8.03 K/9
  10. Kyle Gibson: 22.4 K%, 8.84 K/9

*This excludes Smyly’s bullpen work.

Fewest Walks (FanGraphs leaderboard)

League average = 7.7%

  1. Hyun-Jin Ryu: 3.3 BB%, 1.18 BB/9
  2. Michael Pineda: 4.7 BB%, 1.73 BB/9
  3. Madison Bumgarner: 5.1 BB%, 1.86 BB/9
  4. Ivan Nova: 5.8 BB%, 2.26 BB/9
  5. Gerrit Cole: 5.9 BB%, 2.03 BB/9
  6. Alex Wood: 5.9 BB%, 2.27 BB/9
  7. Rick Porcello: 5.9 BB%, 2.32 BB/9
  8. Zack Wheeler: 6.0 BB%, 2.3 BB/9
  9. Brett Anderson: 6.6 BB%, 2.51 BB/9
  10. Tanner Roark: 7.1 BB%, 2.78 BB/9

Best Groundball Rates (FanGraphs leaderboard)

League average = 42.7%

  1. Dallas Keuchel: 60.1%
  2. Brett Anderson: 54.5%
  3. Kyle Gibson: 51.4%
  4. Tyson Ross: 51.3%
  5. Hyun-Jin Ryu: 50.4%
  6. Andrew Cashner: 50.0%
  7. Wade Miley: 49.7%
  8. Rich Hill: 49.6%
  9. Adam Wainwright: 48.8%
  10. Felix Hernandez: 48.1%

Least Hard Contact (FanGraphs leaderboard)

League average = 38.4%

  1.  Zack Wheeler: 31.4%
  2. Ivan Nova: 33.1%
  3. Gio Gonzalez: 33.5%
  4. Gerrit Cole: 33.9%
  5. Hyun-Jin Ryu/Rick Porcello: 34.2%
  6. Andrew Cashner: 35.6%
  7. Wade Miley: 36.1%
  8. Cole Hamels: 36.4%
  9. Dallas Keuchel: 36.8%
  10. Kyle Gibson: 36.9%

This is a new version of a Steve Adams post that ran Sept. 25, 2017.

Latest On Angels’ Managerial Search

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9:01pm: Maddon’s interview went “very well,” according to Heyman. The Angels are Maddon’s first choice, adds Heyman, who suggests owner Arte Moreno wants to hire him. As of now, signs are pointing to that happening.

8:41pm: The Angels are now fully engaged in the search for their next manager … but is the outcome already determined? Joe Maddon has been seen as the favorite since he parted ways with the Cubs.

Maddon had his interview with the Los Angeles organization today, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). There’s no news coming out of the sit-down, but it seems reasonably notable that Maddon is the first person known to have interviewed.

That’s not to say that others won’t have their chance to chat. Bob Nightengale of USA Today adds that three other candidates are expected to interview with Angels brass (link). The others will have their meetings on separate days, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group reports on Twitter.

While it seems the Halos intend to deliberate over the decision, Scott Miller of Bleacher Report cites “multiple sources” (Twitter link) that don’t quite see it that way. The consensus among Miller’s confidants is that Maddon is going to come away with the job and will likely be announced in relatively short order.

While it may seem like a match made in heaven, there are surely still some potential stumbling blocks. Working out a contract figures to be an interesting aspect. The Angels have previously given out a stupendously long deal (Mike Scioscia’s ten-year pact), while Maddon earned big money with the Cubs, but most skippers aren’t commanding those kinds of paydays in this day and age. And other organizations could yet intervene.

Mets, Carlos Beltran Reportedly Have Mutual Interest In Exploring Managerial Fit

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The Mets recently embarked upon a fascinating search for a new manager, with a wide variety of possibilities for GM Brodie Van Wagenen to comb through. Van Wagenen himself was quite the unexpected hire, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the organization is looking into some unexpected names.

Former star Carlos Beltran may not always have had the smoothest relationship with the Mets during his playing days, but Andy Martino of SNY.tv reports that he and the organization are showing some mutual interest. There’s still no indication that the match is particularly likely to come to fruition, but it now seems there’s a path at least to serious talks.

To this point, the Mets have not requested permission to speak with Beltran, who is still actively engaged with the Yankees’ postseason efforts. But the club is performing “background work” on the 42-year-old, who wrapped up his playing career in 2017. Beltran played in New York in half of his twenty exceptional MLB campaigns, including parts of seven seasons with the Mets and parts of three with the Yankees.

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