East Notes: Red Sox, La Russa, Mets, Callaway, Bichette

Set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015, the Red Sox have already made a few changes to their front office. They let go of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Sept. 8, and then followed his firing with the dismissals of senior VP of baseball ops Frank Wren and special assignment scout Eddie Bane on Thursday. VP/special assistant Tony La Russa won’t walk the plank with them, though, as Jon Heyman of MLB Network first reported the Red Sox planned to retain the former big league manager. He’ll indeed come back for at at least another year, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. La Russa, soon to turn 75 years old, was a Dombrowski hire back in November 2017.

More from the East Coast…

• Don’t expect the Mets to trade outfielder Brandon Nimmo during the offseason, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. After looking like a breakout star in 2018, Nimmo got off to a rough start this season before sitting out from late May until the start of this month because of neck problems. However, his torrid numbers over the past couple weeks have allayed any concerns Mets brass had over him earlier in the campaign, according to Puma. The 26-year-old has posted a video game-like September 1.183 OPS that has helped him to a .222/.377/.407 line in 213 plate appearances this season.
• While Nimmo looks like a good bet to stick with the Mets in 2020, the same might not be true for oft-maligned manager Mickey Callaway. The Mets won’t decide on whether to keep Callaway until after their season ends, multiple organizational sources have suggested to Puma. The club has rallied from an awful start to log a respectable 79-73 record; however, the Mets are still 3 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot, and they’re likely to fall short of the expectations the front office placed on the roster entering the year, Puma notes. That could lead to the firing of Callaway, who’s in his second year on the job and whose teams have gone 156-158.
• Standout Blue Jays rookie Bo Bichette left the team’s game against Baltimore on Thursday after getting hit in the helmet with a pitch. The Blue Jays removed Bichette for precautionary concussion testing, per Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, who adds that the club will reevaluate the 21-year-old shortstop Friday. Bichette has burst on the scene since his late-July promotion, having slashed .311/.358/.571 with 11 home runs in his first 212 major league PA. The Jays are way out of contention, but Bichette’s among the reasons they could return to relevance soon, so they’re certain to proceed with caution in regards to his health.