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Manager Notes: Angels, Maddon, Beltran

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Former Cubs manager Joe Maddon is set to interview for the Angels’ job in the coming days, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Maddon has long been rumored as a leading candidate to succeed Brad Ausmus, and Rosenthal now reports that the feeling is mutual, naming the Halos as Maddon’s top choice. Of course, that two-way interest is at least partially motivated by the extensive history between organization and manager: Maddon spent time as an interim manager with the Angels in 1996 and 1999, and while he didn’t keep that position long-term, Maddon would spend more than thirty years with the Halos organization before departing for Tampa Bay. Maddon should have plenty of interest from other clubs with managerial vacancies, so if the Angels are indeed his ideal destination, he could have his pick of the available jobs. Surely, the Angels would be remiss if they didn’t interview other candidates, so it’s by no means a foregone conclusion, but Maddon to Los Angeles feels like a match made in heaven. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale cites the Padres as another club that has caught Maddon’s attention, and expects the two sides to arrange a meeting in the near future.

  • Former All-Star Carlos Beltran has not been shy about his desire to manage for a big-league club, but he’s waiting on the right situation to present itself, writes Nathalie Alonso of MLB.com. Beltran, who was a candidate to manage the Yankees before Aaron Boone came out ahead, joined the Bombers’ front office as a special adviser prior to the 2018 season. Beltran was recently reported to have declined an interview for the open Padres’ manager position, though there hasn’t been any explanation given. The Mets, who recently fired Mickey Callaway, have also been rumored as a potential fit for Beltran. While there’s been chatter that an allegedly frosty relationship between the ex-Met and team COO Jeff Wilpon would impede such a hire, Beltran said that he would “have to listen” if the Mets came calling. While that doesn’t indicate that he’s clamoring for the job, Beltran seems reluctant to rule out a potential reunion with his former team. As Beltran says, his focus is of course on the contending Yankees for the time being, which means that more clarity might not come to his situation until the end of October. That said, he’s certainly a name to watch as teams seek out their next skipper.

NL Notes: Robles, Wainwright, Wood

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On a quiet transactional night in MLB, we’ll take a look at a few playoff and offseason related matters from the National League.

  • Nationals center fielder Víctor Robles isn’t in tonight’s lineup for the club’s pivotal NLDS Game 3 matchup against the Dodgers. Per Jamal Collier of MLB.com, that’s at the discretion of manager Dave Martinez, who overruled the rookie’s requests to start in order to be particularly cautious with his prized 22-year-old. Nevertheless, Martinez described Robles’ injury as a “very, very mild” hamstring strain, and noted that the speedster could come off the bench tonight. The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty adds (via Twitter) that the Nationals don’t anticipate any scenario in which they would scratch Robles from their NLDS roster, so it indeed seems an exceedingly minor concern for the defensive stalwart.
  • Adam Wainwright, 38, gave a brilliant performance this evening in the Cardinals’ Game 3 loss to the Braves, tossing 7.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. It was a vintage performance for the former ace, who gave the Cardinals 171.2 innings of league average pitching (4.19 ERA, 20.5% K%, 8.6% BB%) in the regular season. Clearly, Wainwright can still perform at a high level, but given his age and the upcoming expiration of his one-year contract, there are questions about his future. Wainwright, though, doesn’t sound like a man on the verge of hanging up the spikes, telling Joe Trezza of MLB.com postgame he “never felt for one second that today was going to be (his) last day.” That’s not a definitive statement that he’d be returning to the big leagues, or to St. Louis specifically, but it stands to reason both sides could have interest in a similar incentive-laden arrangement (which Waino went on to maximize for $10MM) as they hammered out last October.
  • While Wainwright stayed healthy all season, the same can’t be said for left-hander Alex Wood, who started just seven games for the Reds after they sent two noteworthy prospects to the Dodgers to acquire him, Yasiel Puig, and Kyle Farmer last winter. Dealing with a back injury, Wood was ineffective when he did manage to take the mound, working to a 5.80 ERA with dreadful peripherals. It was hardly the platform season the 28 year-old (29 in January) wanted as he nears free agency for the first time. With the offseason offering an opportunity to get healthy, the sinkerballer tells Bobby Nightengale of Cincinnati.com he’d like to return to the Reds, admitting that his injury-riddled season wasn’t what the organization had in mind when they acquired him. As Nightengale notes, it’s difficult to see the Reds winning a bidding war for Wood given their strong staple of returning starters. That said, president of baseball operations Dick Williams has made clear the organization plans to be aggressive in free agency this offseason and wants to bolster the club’s pitching depth, so perhaps a Wood reunion could be in the cards depending on how his market shakes out.

Free Agent Outlook: Marcell Ozuna

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With little in the way of hot stove news during the rising action of the MLB postseason, let’s take a look ahead to this winter’s free agency. In particular, we’ll be evaluating the market for a player who could prove to be one of the offseason’s more intriguing cases: Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna.

After he was traded from the Marlins to St. Louis as part of the post-2017 fire sale in Miami, Ozuna has endured a pair of unspectacular seasons as a Cardinal. That’s not to say he’s been bad, but expectations were high after he slugged 37 home runs in his last season with the Marlins. His struggles in 2018, when he totaled only 23 round-trippers, can be at least partly be attributed to a nagging shoulder injury that plagued him throughout the year and ultimately required surgery. This year, with a healthy shoulder, he has enjoyed a nice uptick in his power numbers, though that has still only translated to a slightly above-average .804 OPS.

When the Cardinals postseason comes to a close, Ozuna will have a chance to hit the open market for the first time, reaching free agency as a 28-year-old outfielder. (He’ll play the 2020 campaign at age 29). That places him among the younger options from which teams will choose, making him arguably the most attractive of this offseason’s outfield class, which is a relatively thin one.

Ozuna, for his part, has expressed a desire to remain in St. Louis beyond this year, calling it a “priority” to ink a contract that will keep him with the Cardinals. However, the Cardinals may not share his enthusiasm for a reunion. John Mozeliak expressed hesitance to discuss an extension with Ozuna, instead opting to postpone that matter until the offseason. Other, cheaper options within the organization could replace Ozuna in the corner outfield, with Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson seemingly ready to contribute.

It seems like a good bet that the Cardinals will tender a qualifying offer to Ozuna, which figures to come in at around $18MM this offseason. That designation would force a signing team to forfeit a draft pick in order to acquire Ozuna’s services.

Many teams might not be convinced that Ozuna is capable of returning to the power numbers that he displayed on his way out of Miami. Still, there are promising signs: Ozuna ranks among baseball’s best in terms of exit velocity and hard-hit rate, both of which are at career-best marks. His expected statistics—which calculate the expected outcomes of batted balls based on exit velocity and launch angle—paint him as one of the premier offensive performers in baseball.

Another point of concern will be Ozuna’s defensive shortcomings. Although there’s a Gold Glove Award on his mantle, Ozuna has provided little value as an outfielder since departing Miami. He grades as below-average in Statcast’s outs above average and outfielder jump metrics—ranking in the 13th and 29th percentile, respectively. On the positive side, he is credited with 2 DRS, thanks in large part to a strong throwing arm. That’s not a bad mark at all, but teams may be hesitant to project that performance into his thirties as he seeks a multi-year deal.

Could Ozuna be a candidate to accept the qualifying offer? Sure, there’s a solid chance that he could eclipse the total value with a multi-year contract on the open market (though almost certainly at a lower AAV), but accepting the one-year deal could grant Ozuna’s wish to stay in St. Louis and attempt to rebuild his value, perhaps with an eye on a contract extension with the Cardinals or another chance at free agency following the 2020 season.

As we all well know, the free-agent landscape has been notoriously cruel over the last two years, and Ozuna feels like a player who could be strongly affected by the evolving market. As a bat-first left fielder nearing his thirties, teams might be reluctant to invest heavily in a profile that depends mostly on offensive production—which, generally speaking, has been underwhelming since Ozuna joined the Cardinals. If Ozuna and his reps get an inkling that his free-agent market may not be as expansive as they hoped, that could give another reason to regroup and return to the Cardinals under the qualifying offer.

However, the allure of a multi-year contract with a total guarantee exceeding that of the QO may be too much to resist for Ozuna, a first-time free agent in his prime years. Even if his most likely outcome is a two- or three-year deal with an AAV of about $13-16MM, Ozuna may not have another chance to test the open market as arguably the best player at his position. That alone might incline a team to overpay for him. Regardless, as we head towards another offseason of intrigue, Ozuna may be a name to follow in a free-agent class that lacks star-power position players.

AL Notes: Alvarez, Astros, Benintendi, BoSox, Rays

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The Astros and Dodgers “were at an impasse” in trade negotiations over reliever Josh Fields at the 2016 trade deadline, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said, before Luhnow decided to aim beyond L.A.’s farm system.  As Luhnow tells MLB.com’s Alyson Footer, the Astros had had interest in Yordan Alvarez as an international signing before he agreed to a deal with Los Angeles in June 2016.  “Really, it wasn’t until the day of the deadline that I remembered the Dodgers had signed Alvarez, and I thought, ’Well, if we can’t get a minor league player that we’re really excited about, why don’t we just take a flier on this young guy that they just signed that I know we like?’ ” Luhnow said.

After that sudden brainstorm, the Fields-for-Alvarez trade was concluded fairly quickly, putting Alvarez (then a somewhat obscure 18-year-old prospect) onto a new team less than two months into his pro career.  “I was surprised and a little worried. I didn’t know what a trade was,” Alvarez said.  “I thought they might have been releasing me. I was really surprised, but when they explained it to me, I understood.”  The rest, as they say, is history, as Alvarez blossomed in Houston’s farm system and then made an immediate impact at the big league level, hitting an incredible .313/.412/.655 with 27 homers over his first 369 Major League plate appearances.

More from around the American League…

  • Andrew Benintendi put on some weight last winter in an attempt to add more power to his game, though in the wake of a down year, the Red Sox outfielder tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford that the new goal is “to get lighter and more athletic this offseason.”  Many tabbed Benintendi to break out into superstardom in the wake of his impressive 2018 season, though he ended up hitting only .266/.343/.431 over 615 PA in 2019.  Some nagging injuries played a role, though Benintendi’s added bulk didn’t translate into more power, as he posted a lower slugging percentage and fewer homers (13) than in 2018.  Benintendi is hoping that better health and a more back to his old speed-based game will result in a better 2020 season.
  • Also from Bradford’s piece, he notes that Trey Ball and Teddy Stankiewicz have reached minor league free agency and could be unlikely to remain in the Red Sox farm system.  Ball was chosen seventh overall in the 2013 draft while Stankiewicz was Boston’s second selection (45th overall) from that same class, though neither player has reached the big leagues.  Bradford takes the opportunity to look back at a draft year that ended up as almost a complete miss for the Red Sox, as only five (Mauricio Dubon, Carlos Asuaje, Matt Thaiss, Gabe Speier, and Kyle Martin) of the 40 players selected have reached the majors, and none ever suited up in a Boston uniform.  Still, the 2013 draft class did plant some indirect seeds for future success — Asuaje was part of the trade package the Sox sent to the Padres for Craig Kimbrel, while Speier was included as part of the Rick Porcello trade with the Tigers.
  • The Rays used a trade-heavy approach in building their roster, though beyond the low-payroll franchise’s usual tactic of trading veterans when they become too expensive, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes that the Rays have also looked to add MLB-ready players rather than younger prospects, while also being willing to move minor leaguers of their own.  “But increasingly we’ve been more open to swapping players…earlier in their career. I think at the end of the day, we recognize that we have to be wide open to any acquisition method that gives us a team that we like better than the one we had previously, be it for today or be it for tomorrow,” GM Erik Neander said.  “The more near-term sensitivity we have competitively the better position we’re in, so that’s the goal. Striking that balance has to be a constant….Where you want to be is having a mindfulness on the short-term and not having it 100 percent pushed out to the future.”  A whopping 16 of the 25 players on Tampa Bay’s ALDS roster were acquired through trades, most in under-the-radar swaps.

Looking For A Match In A Mookie Betts Trade

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First of all, there’s more than a decent chance that Mookie Betts will still be a member of the 2020 Red Sox.  As per Sox president/CEO Sam Kennedy, the team’s intention to get payroll under the $208MM luxury tax threshold is a “goal but not a mandate,” so it isn’t as if the Red Sox are going into any sort of fire sale mode.  While it seems the club will trim some salaries, they could achieve a lot of those savings in other areas (i.e. other trades or non-tenders, or J.D. Martinez could opt out of his contract) before fully exploring the idea of trading the 2018 American League MVP.

This being said, it wouldn’t be much fun if this post was titled “Looking To Pour Cold Water On A Fascinating Trade Possibility.”  And, with Betts still firm in his intent to test the free agent market after the 2020 season, there’s certainly a chance he will be wearing another uniform anyway on Opening Day 2021.  For a Red Sox organization that is looking for a creative way to shed salary and reload its minor league system, trading Betts before his final year of team control is an option that should at least be on the table, if certainly not one to be taken lightly.

Mookie BettsBetts earned $10.5MM in 2018 after defeating the Red Sox in an arbitration case, and his epic MVP campaign saw his salary rise to $20MM in 2019.  After hitting .295/.391/.524 with 29 homers over 706 plate appearances last season, Betts is in line for another big raise in third and final trip through the arb process.  Matt Swartz will be publishing MLBTR’s official arbitration projections within a few weeks, though he has informed me that Betts is currently projected to earn $27.7 or $27.8MM for the 2020 season (depending on whether Betts’ base 2019 salary is increased by a bonus should he win a Gold Glove).

That number certainly looms large in any discussion of a Betts trade, given that several teams may balk at committing that much money to a single player (even a superstar like Betts) if they have luxury tax concerns of their own.  Plus, a team trading for Betts would have to be expecting to have him for one season at the most.  Betts has been so adamant in exploring free agency that it’s very unlikely that he pulls a Paul Goldschmidt and signs an extension with a new team rather than finally get a crack at the open market.

With only one year of Betts on offer, the Red Sox know that trading the outfielder won’t solve all their problems.  There’s no chance, for instance, of another payroll-clearing blockbuster like Boston’s legendary August 2012 trade with the Dodgers, since Betts lacks the long-term appeal that Adrian Gonzalez (the Dodgers’ primary target) held for Los Angeles.

Teams also aren’t going to clear out their farm systems for just one year of Betts, though Boston can reasonably assume to top what the Diamondbacks received from the Cardinals for Goldschmidt last December.  Betts is over five years younger than Goldschmidt and a more valuable defensive player, so the Red Sox will definitely aim for more than the already-impressive package the D’Backs received — a controllable young starter (Luke Weaver), a controllable young everyday catcher (Carson Kelly), a Competitive Balance Round B pick in the 2019 draft, and another prospect in infielder Andy Young, currently ranked by MLB.com as the 23rd-best Diamondbacks minor leaguer.  That said, Goldschmidt was also only making $14.5MM in salary in 2019, whereas Betts’ 2020 salary could be almost double that number.

Let’s go through the other 29 teams to see if we can find a fit as a Betts suitor…

No Chance

The Marlins, Blue Jays, Orioles, Royals, Tigers, and Mariners are all rebuilding.  And the Red Sox would never trade Betts to the arch-rival Yankees, as amusing as it would be to see New York somehow land another Boston superstar almost exactly 100 years after the Babe Ruth deal.

Probably Not

The Rockies don’t have much salary wiggle room to add an expensive player like Betts.  Likewise, payroll restraints will likely keep the Pirates and Diamondbacks out of the mix, though Arizona GM Mike Hazen knows Betts well from their time together in Boston.  The Brewers also likely face similar financial restraints, plus they don’t have much elite young talent to grab Boston’s interest.  The Rangers are another team without much in the way of blue-chip minor league talent, and while Texas is planning to spend more as the team moves into its new ballpark next season, longer-term acquisitions would seem to make more sense for the Rangers than a win-now move like acquiring Betts.  Likewise, the Giants are more apt to pursue a long-term option if they go after any premium players at all (i.e. their interest in Bryce Harper last winter).

I put the Cubs a tick above the other “probably not” teams because they’re under increasing pressure to win in 2020, and could potentially be open to some type of creative swap that could see Chicago and Boston shift around several of their undesirable contracts, in addition to sending Betts to Wrigleyville.  But there would seemingly be a lot of moving parts in such a deal, and the Cubs have their own set of luxury tax concerns.  Plus, while the Sox and Cubs have made a few minor trades since Theo Epstein took over the Cubs’ baseball operations department, one wonder if Red Sox management could be hesitant about sending a star player Epstein’s way.

Probably Not, AL Contenders Edition

The Red Sox wouldn’t have quite the same reservations about sending Betts to another AL rival as they would about putting him into the Yankee pinstripes, but moving him within the AL East to the Rays seems unrealistic.  The Sox probably also wouldn’t be too keen to further strengthen the Astros’ juggernaut lineup, though Houston is already facing something of a luxury tax crunch with its own crop of star players.  The Indians have taken steps to cut back spending over the last year and can quite likely be ruled out of a Betts pursuit, as much as Cleveland is still trying to keep its contention window open for as long as possible.

While neither the Twins or Athletics are big spenders, it’s possible either team could see a Betts trade as a unique opportunity that merits a one-year payroll spike.  Trading for Betts could be seen as a souped-up version of Minnesota’s strategy from the 2018-19 offseason, which making short-term acquisitions in lieu of major financial commitments.  Acquiring Betts would cost more than just money, of course, and it remains to be seen if the Twins or A’s would be open to giving up the minor leaguers necessary to pry him away from the Red Sox.

Makes Some Sense

I put both the Nationals and Cardinals leaning closer to the “probably not” category, though trading for Betts would be an eye-popping way for either team to reload if Anthony Rendon or Marcell Ozuna was lost in free agency.  Trading for Betts could be seen as a one-year stopgap for teams that are strongly trying to contend in 2020, and the Nats or Cards could then let him walk in free agency and pursue a longer-term star in the 2020-21 offseason (a pursuit that would likely include an attempt to re-sign Betts).  It’s rather doubtful that Washington would be eager to deal from a relatively thin farm system, however, while St. Louis may have used up most of its expendable but MLB-ready pieces in the Goldschmidt trade.

The White Sox flirted with the idea of adding a superstar to the ranks with their pursuit of Harper and Manny Machado last offseason, and while Betts would be a much shorter-term addition, it would certainly announce the end of Chicago’s rebuild in a major fashion.  If you’re wondering why the Pale Hose would look to add Betts for 2020 when they’re far more than just one player away from contention, the club has explored such a tactic in the past — the White Sox made an offer to the Orioles about acquiring Manny Machado in the 2017-18 offseason, when Machado was also a year away from free agency.

As incredible as it would be to see Betts and Mike Trout in the same outfield, the Angels probably aren’t willing to move top prospects for one year of Betts, especially given how GM Billy Eppler has worked hard to reload a once-barren farm system.  Still, the firing of manager Brad Ausmus hints at an increasing impatience within Angels ownership, and Eppler is also entering the last year of his contract, so I can’t entirely rule the Halos out as a potential dark horse.

The Braves and Dodgers each have the prospect depth to get Boston’s attention, though neither team is likely to swap much of its top talent for just one year of Betts since neither is exactly in outright “win-now” mode.  It could be argued that Los Angeles could be a bit closer to this category if the Dodgers fall short of another World Series, though the Dodgers have tended to save their biggest trades for the July 31 deadline (when they have a firmer idea of their needs) rather than the offseason.

The Win-Now Teams

Since Betts is only signed through 2020, his most logical trade matches are the teams who definitely want to contend next season, and could be most open to a bold deal to make a postseason berth happen.

As much as Phillies GM Matt Klentak has insisted that he is looking to build a sustainable contender, he’ll be expected to more immediately start bearing the fruits of the Phils’ rebuild process and the team’s splashy 2018-19 offseason.  Philadelphia’s 81-81 record has led to rumblings that manager Gabe Kapler could replaced, and another down year could also put Klentak’s own job security in question, though the general manager is signed through 2022.  The Phillies made big trades for J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura last winter, though whether they have enough young talent left (or at least enough they’re willing to part with) to acquire Betts remains to be seen.  Also, as much as Betts would upgrade the Phils’ middling offensive production, pitching would seem to be Philadelphia’s much more pressing need.

Perhaps no GM is under as much of a microscope as Padres general manager A.J. Preller, as executive chairman Ron Fowler is on record as saying that “heads will roll” in the organization if San Diego faces another “embarrassing” season.  Assuming that the Red Sox would be okay with making another big trade with the Padres in the wake of the controversial Drew Pomeranz swap in 2016, a Betts trade would be the kind of major transaction the Padres seemed to be on the verge of making all last offseason, but never completed despite talks about numerous star players with multiple teams.  Even if the Padres are more than one player away, the club’s highly-regarded minor league pipeline has so much depth that they could afford to spare a few pieces for Betts and still boast a top-five system.  Would a Betts trade be the wisest long-term move?  Not really, but after nine straight losing seasons, some type of step towards competitive baseball is definitely needed.

The Reds are a club in more pressing need of lineup help, and since president of baseball operations Dick Williams has set the playoffs as a firm goal for 2020, Betts could very well be a target.  Betts’ salary wouldn’t be as big an issue as it would seem for a smaller-market team since the Reds are also planning to spend more.  Though Williams has also hinted that the Reds are more apt to explore free agency rather than trades, these plans for an aggressive winter make Cincinnati seem like a solid bet to at least discuss a trade with the Red Sox.

The Mets further thinned out an already shallow farm system in their July trade for Marcus Stroman, and Betts’ salary could prove problematic for a team that has never been too eager to spend despite operating in the New York market.  That said, the Mets are firmly planning to contend next year, and GM Brodie Van Wagenen has already shown a penchant for headline-making trades in his first season on the job.  Betts would be such a clear and obvious solution to the Mets’ longstanding center field problem that, while it’s not exactly a “one player away” scenario for a team with so many bullpen questions, putting Betts alongside the likes of Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, and J.D. Davis makes for an awfully scary lineup.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

AL Notes: Gerrit Cole, Gardner, Didi

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Earlier in the week, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole was the subject of public discussion when owner Jim Crane made comments regarding the team’s projected inability to re-sign the starter this offseason. On Saturday evening, Cole made a statement all his own.

While it would be advantageous for a site with the phrase “trade rumors” in its header to find a transactional tilt to every story, the lead-in to tonight’s closing post is mainly a breathless tribute to the individual performance submitted by Cole in tonight’s 3-1 win over the Rays. As noted by several reporters, the right-hander’s performance in Game 2 of the ALDS was historic on several levels: with 15 strikeouts across 7.2 innings, Cole became just the 7th pitcher to record 15-or-more K’s in a postseason game; Tampa offered 33 swings and misses on Cole offerings–the most in a postseason game in the pitch-tracking era; and in recording multiple career postseason games with more than 12 strikeouts, Cole joined an elite list that includes only himself, Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, and Tom Seaver.

The 29-year-old former Bruin will enter the offseason as the top starting option on the open market; judging in part from early postseason results, his representatives at Boras Corp should have no trouble this winter in securing Cole a contract guarantee with a healthy amount of zeroes attached to its end.

More from around the AL circuit…

  • The postseason odyssey of one Brett Gardner was profiled in a piece from Joel Sherman of the New York Post today, with Sherman describing the outfielder’s rise from a scrappy pinch runner on the 2009 Yankees championship team to the club’s #3 hitter in tonight’s lineup against the Twins (link). Like Cole, Gardner will be a free agent in about a month’s time, as he plays out the end of a one-year/$7.5MM contract signed last offseason. It would be difficult, at this point, to imagine Gardner in anything other than pinstripes, but the Yanks will nonetheless have an interesting decision re: Gardner this winter. Aaron Hicks will, hopefully, have a healthier season in 2020, while outfielder Clint Frazier looms as a cheaper, organizational option for GM Brian Cashman at the corners–although Frazier would admittedly have a hard time replicating Gardner’s excellent baserunning (70.9 career BSR) or defensive skills (+5 DRS in 2019).
  • Given the number of open managerial seats around the game, this month has seen a fair share of debate surrounding what, exactly, a manager should be expected to offer in today’s analytically inclined climate. Manager of the Year candidate and Yankees skipper Aaron Boone, for one, might consider submitting “clairvoyance” as one qualification that every managerial candidate should be in possession of, as his own pre-game forecast directly presaged a historic home run for the previously slump-ridden shortstop Didi Gregorius. Before Gregorius launched a game-breaking, third-inning grand slam deep into the seats in tonight’s 8-2 victory over the Twins, Boone was resolute that a breakout for the Dutchman was just around the corner.
    “I still maintain that the best is yet to come from Didi,” Boone told James Wagner of The New York Times (link). “Sometimes it just takes one at-bat, one swing to kind of turn it, and I believe that’s what’s in there for Didi still.” Boone was speaking, of course, of the shortstop’s season-long stagnation at the plate, which included Gregorius’ worst postings since coming to the Bronx in 2015 (84 wRC+ this season). After the beginning of his season was delayed until June, Gregorius saw his numbers trend downward through the summer, culminating in a September output that included a .190 batting average. While the pending free agent is unlikely to command an eye-popping contract this offseason (in part due to his 2019 injury troubles), a healthy and productive postseason wouldn’t, at the least, hurt the 29-year-old’s chances of securing a multi-year guarantee. Not that his fellow free-market shortstops will offer stiff competition toward that goal: among a group that may include Freddy Galvis, Adeiny Hechavarria, and Jose Iglesias, Gregorius may represent the most appealing upgrade for clubs in need of SS help this winter.

Mark Loretta Comments On Cubs Opening

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After interviewing this week for the open Cubs managerial seat, Mark Loretta made several comments to a Chicago-area radio station on Saturday that offered insight into his hypothetical strategy for improving the club’s on-field product. Speaking to 670 The Score, the former bench coach for Joe Maddon identified bullpen pitching, defense, and team-wide strikeouts as main areas of focus, were he to land the manager’s job on the North Side (link).

“We have three or four areas where we need to improve,” Loretta said. “We certainly had trouble in the bullpen early and late in the season. The defense, for sure, I think it could have been much better. On the offensive side, we struck out way too much.”

Additionally, Loretta–who played in parts of 15 seasons in the majors–seemed to hint at a lack of structure under the recently ousted skipper Maddon, who has long been considered to be a “player’s coach”.

“We have had a lot of optional hitting practice and fielding practice,” Loretta said. “That’s something we should take a look at as well to see if that actually makes sense. There are certain training times when players need to be on their own. Team concept and team-building exercises and getting together in practice more often are very valid.”

For what it’s worth, the 48-year-old Loretta is not the only in-house coach who might have up-close insight into how the Cubs can improve on 2019’s disappointing 84-78 final result. David Ross–who is described by 670’s Bruce Levine to be a “frontrunner” for the manager’s job–will interview in the coming week, as will first base coach Will Venable; Joe Girardi is also expected to interview, though he is said to also have a keen interest in the open Mets posting.

Loretta formerly worked as a special assistant in the San Diego front office, after a sneakily illustrious playing career split between the Brewers, Astros, Padres, Red Sox, and Dodgers. Team sources from the Padres have indicated that Loretta, a longtime Southern California resident, is also a candidate for the open Padres seat.

League, MLBPA Mull Further Changes To Drug Policy

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A slow night in transactional and hot stove-related news allows for a closer reading of the previous week’s industry news, and a Wednesday piece from the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin is certainly deserving of a look, for those who missed it upon publication. In the shadow of the tragic passing of pitcher Tyler Skaggs from an opioid-related overdose, the league and the MLBPA are, according to Shaikin, discussing changes to the sport’s drug policy that could include loosened restrictions on the use of marijuana (link).

We had previously heard that the two parties were already in evaluating the potential implementation of routine opioid testing for all players, with deputy commissioner Dan Halem going so far as to say that the league would “absolutely” like to add said testing in advance of the 2020 season. The idea of adding opioid testing while relaxing marijuana restrictions is not seen as a strict quid pro quo bargain, per Shaikin’s sources, but the reporter did speak with former major leaguer Kyle Blanks, who admitted to using alcohol, marijuana, and opioids during his playing career in an effort to manage pain. It stands to reason that the league and union, then, might be seeking to discourage players resorting to the deadly allure of opioid use–even if it means more players potentially using cannabis as a palliative.

As it stands, baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program stipulates that testing for Drugs of Abuse be conducted on a basis of reasonable cause–meaning, essentially, that players are not tested on a  routine basis for cannabinoids.  Whether, then, a truly impactful change to the Program is forthcoming is unclear; it’s quite possible that the two sides are discussing the removal of cannabinoids from the “Drugs of Abuse” classification, although such a move would likely be symbolic in nature. While 2019 saw seven players suspended for PED use, no major leaguers were suspended this season for violating the sport’s policy in regard to marijuana use, specifically.

NL Notes: Waino, Chop, Zaidi

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Sunday will mark the first postseason game played in St. Louis in three years, but Cardinals manager Mike Schildt will be trusting the game’s start to a relatively practiced postseason hand. Redbirds legend Adam Wainwright–a free-agent-to-be this offseason–will be taking the ball for Schildt, who is counting on the pitcher’s experience with what promises to be a raucous Busch Stadium atmosphere.

“You have to account for some of the vibe that’s going on out there,” Schildt told Anne Rogers of MLB.com today, “You have to be able to calm your nerves and you have to be able to control your adrenaline, because I’ve seen it where guys go out there and they’re feeling on top of the moon and their adrenaline is rushing, and two innings later they’re out of gas.”

As Rogers notes, Wainwright will be making his 24th appearance in a postseason game (13 starts), after first appearing in the national October spotlight in 2006 as a relief ace for then-manager Tony La Russa’s World Series-winning Cards team. That year saw a 24-year-old Wainwright begin his playoff career with 9.2 scoreless innings, and he has only followed up that initial success by compiling a nifty 3.03 ERA across 89.0 career postseason innings. This year marked the now-38-year-old’s first season over the 30-start mark since 2016, and this October should provide him yet another opportunity to assure the Cardinals–and rival clubs–that he deserves a healthy free agent guarantee this winter.

More notes from around the National League in anticipation of Sunday’s NLDS doubleheader…

  • The Associated Press is circulating a story involving Wainwright’s teammate Ryan Helsley, who did not take kindly to witnessing the en masse enactment of the Braves’ “Tomahawk Chop” tradition during Game 1 of the NLDS this Thursday (link). In comments originally made to writer/hero Derrick Goold, Helsley, who is a member of the Cherokee nation, called the “Chop” “disappointing” and “disrespectful”. “[The tradition] just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot more than that. It’s not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It’s not. It’s about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and how we’re perceived in that way, or used as mascots.” Of course, with the NLDS tied 1-1 heading to St. Louis for Game 3 of the best-of-five NLDS, it’s possible Helsley could have a say in preventing the series returning to Atlanta. The 25-year-old Oklahoman pitched to a 2.95 ERA in 36.2 innings in 2019, his rookie season.
  • Giants executive Farhan Zaidi already made MLBTR headlines today, when he gave some insight into the team’s ongoing search for a new GM. In a separate set of quotes relayed by NBC’s Alex Pavlovic, Zaidi conducted something of a performance self-assessment in regard to his work at the 2019 trade deadline–and it’s clear Zaidi is a fair critic (link). “I feel like I alternate nights losing sleep about not potentially buying at the deadline and trying to improve our chances this year, or selling more at the deadline and setting ourselves up better for 2020 and going forward,” Zaidi admitted to Pavlovic. It stands to reason that the veteran baseball man would be left with some cognitive dissonance over his team’s activity this summer, being that the club took something of a walk-the-line approach in their dealings.
    While San Francisco held onto impending free agents Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith (and sacrificed the potential prospect assets they might have acquired in a deal involving those players), the team also shaved down the bullpen by sending away Drew Pomeranz, Sam Dyson, and Mark Melancon in separate deals. To be fair, Zaidi was in perhaps the toughest position of any club executive heading into this year’s deadline, as his expected-to-flounder 2019 Giants ripped off a stunning run of success in advance of the Jul. 31 push-or-shove precipice. After playing to their expected level for much of the year, Bruce Bochy’s boys of summer went 19-6 in July, ultimately forcing their front office leader into something of a compromising position. The Giants went 22-36 from Aug. 1 onward, ultimately finishing with a 77-85 record.

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