The Tigers suddenly have a managerial opening now that Ron Gardenhire decided to retire Saturday after almost three full seasons on the job. Gardenhire oversaw teams that were in full rebuilding mode, evidenced in part by the 132-241 record the Tigers compiled under him, but they’re seemingly moving back toward respectability now and may want to push for contention sometime soon. As such, the Tigers are looking for an experienced skipper to replace Gardenhire, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears (subscription link). Former Astros manager A.J. Hinch and ex-Braves/Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez could be among the candidates. Hinch has been out of baseball since the league suspended him last January as a result of the Astros’ sign-stealing violations, though he’ll be eligible to return in 2021. Gonzalez was a candidate for the Tigers’ managerial job before it went to Gardenhire in 2017.
More from around the league…
- The Cubs will activate left-hander Jose Quintana to start against the Pirates on Tuesday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com tweets. The team has been without Quintana since he went on the IL on Sept. 2 with left lat inflammation. It’s the second IL stint of the year for Quintana, who began the season on the shelf with a left thumb issue. He debuted Aug. 25 and has since made two appearances, during which he combined for six innings of four-run ball.
- Right-hander Nick Pivetta will make his Red Sox debut Tuesday with a start against the Orioles, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. Pivetta, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Phillies last month in the teams’ trade centering on relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, pitched to a 5.50 ERA/4.64 FIP in 396 1/3 innings from 2017-20.
- Meanwhile, the Phillies announced that Hembree’s heading to the 10-day injured list with a right elbow strain, which could put his season in jeopardy. Hembree has struggled mightily as a member of the Phillies, with whom he has yielded 13 earned runs on 17 hits in 9 1/3 innings.
- Brewers catcher Manny Pina will start baseball activities next week, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. That may not help the Brewers this year, as they’re no lock for the playoffs at 26-26. They lost Pina for the regular season to a right knee injury Aug. 28, at which point he was hitting .231/.333/.410 in 45 plate appearances. The Brewers have since turned to Jacob Nottingham as their top complement to Omar Narvaez behind the plate.
Workman and Embree…yet another sad chapter in the Klentak Saga.
Six days from now, the inevitable press conference that officially ends the Klentak/MacFail era.
Six days from when Realmuto knows he is walking away from the distinction of a bumbling organization.
*disfunction
If they don’t re-sign Didi and JT, Klentak is writing his own epitaph.
Hembree, mentee was almost 20 years ago..
I hope Pivetta has a decent start fir HIS own sake. I’ll be excited to see him.
Yes me too, I’ve been reading that the Red Sox have had their eye on him for a while. I think they are glad to get him cheaply because they think he has all the makings of a good starting pitcher. Size and stuff.
His stuff looked good in the Sim City games in Pawtucket, but he was missing with his location at times.
phantom injury for Hembree…guy is toast
Hey, for Phillies fans, has the “new toy” feeling of Hembree worn off because of the 13 ER in 9 1/3? I don’t watch many Sox or Phillies games, so I don’t know if he looks that promising. Feel for ya though, Jesse Chavez has been the commander of the tank down in Texas. We have a great bullpen aside from him, but they still let him go out with regularity. That’s one thing I won’t miss about this season.
Hembree has always had trouble getting left handed hitters out. He spent the majority of his time in Pawtucket until he ran out of options. Then he was boarder line not making the team, and it was suggested that other relievers were just as good and 1/3 the price.
One month of Workman (free agent to be), and one year of Hembree for Pivetta and Seabold was a good trade for the Red Sox if either Phillies pitcher can make the team as a starter or reliever.
“ On the night Brandon Workman surrendered a crushing walk-off home run for the Phillies, one of the pitchers the Red Sox acquired for him made an impressive debut at Fenway Park.”
“Nick Pivetta cruised through five innings in his first Red Sox start, allowing one run and four hits while striking out eight batters. Pivetta got the win in Boston’s 8-3 victory over the Orioles, inducing 14 swings-and-misses on 96 pitches.”
Mass live.com
Can’t wait for Pivetta’s next start.
His next start will be in 2021 in Spring Training
When you’re at the bottom, “regularity” is a good thing.
It’s not a totally lost season for the Red Sox. With that intruder at Fenway, they now lead MLB in attendance with the other 29 teams tied for last.
The fan must have been from LA… He left early.
#BOOM
Yes, LA leads the league in length of outing when you compute the in getting to the park and home after. Two hours to get there, 3 hours for the game, an hour to get out of the parking lot and on to the 110, and two hours home. Eight hours for a game lol. (Used to live and work three mile from LA’s ball park.
Very glad I moved
If it is taking you 2 hours to get there, where did you live? I routinely made it in a little over an hour from Ventura, 60 miles away.
Teams only count paid attendance so intruder at Fenway still gives team zero attendance along with the29 other clubs.
Fredi Gonzales should probably never get another chance to manage a club. He was so overmatched when the Braves mercifully fired him.
Means he’s perfect for the tigers lol
The Tigers had potential to go far in the playoffs awhile back but for some reason hires Brad Ausmus. Then GM Avila doubled down on that mistake. I hope they hire a good manager this time.
Gardy was a great choice. The Tigers are now playing sound fundamental baseball. They need another like him to continue.
With Avila’s track record I doubt it.
Idc if Hinch cheated. I hope Detroit at least gives him a shot
Yeah not sure why he’s being automatically disqualified from many people. He showed he was a good manager in Houston, and his success was not nearly only due to the cheating scandal. He did a poor job of dealing with the team cheating at the time, but I’m sure he’s learned and would not allow anything like that to happen again. I think he would be a great choice
Tanner Houck looks good so far. The Sox could make a playoff run if every team was allowed in. Not really.
Mike Sioscia
Joe Espada
John Farrell
It’ll be Lloyd McClendon at least until the tanking is done.
The tanking is done. They’ll get another solid draft pick this year and with most of the top pitching prospects coming up by next year they’ll be looking to compete soon. They just need to add a couple big bats
Phillies GM signaled that JT wont be signed yesterday with his comments that the Phils were only buying two years of control
when they gave the Marlins two gems! Wow. You going to be looking for a job soon Matt. JT is in the category of must be resigned or bust. Didi is probably in the same place. Who would replace him? The Phils will shed salary shortly and they are able to do what must be done. A very good frontline starting pitcher is as important as JT and Didi. Haven’t even gotten to joke of a bullpen. Better find a flamethrower with command of two pitches!
I am wildly indifferent to to fates of Hembree/Workman…..Klentak rolled the dice and it didn’t work…only cost us Pivetta (no biggie)
I’m much more concerned with Bryce’s back, JT’s hip, Wheeler’s fingernail, and Arrieta’s oblique. I’m not at all concerned about the Philly Bully….Yea, you heard me, not concerned. With the bullpen? I’m more in a morbidly resigned mode. Concern implies that changes can be made….that growth can happen…it implies Hope.
I have no hope for the Phillies bullpen
There should be a sign on the bullpen door that states Abandon Hope, All Who Enter Here.
6 games to go, I still think we can back in….and then, at least, we’ll have some playoff baseball.
Now, I’m off to the Free Agent post to imagine what new Phils may come.
Klentak rolled the dice and it didn’t work…only cost us Pivetta (no biggie)
—————————————————–
How is it that you are a big enough BB fan that you come into MLB-R, but you don’t know that the Phillies also gave up Seabold?
I don’t disagree that Klentak rolled the dice. He had to do something, and the trade market for closers was not robust, and it really should’ve worked out better.
But you can’t just ignore a piece like like Seabold.
fair enough….you got me…..I missed Connor Seabold, a 24 year old D1 college kid who has no signature pitch and, by multiple accounts, decent control.
Sure, he has the cache value of being a 3rd round pick…but what has he shown so far?? Middling results at AA??
Seabold is a filler guy, a AAAA guy if he’s lucky….are we really gonna bemoan the loss of a RHP with “meh” stuff….#30 on our prospect list??
His last year in AA he had a 2.25 ERA with a 36/10 K/W in 40 IPs.
More impressive, imo, was his stint in the AZFL, with a 22/3 K/W in 17 IPs. Compare that with Spencer Howard, with a 27/10 in 21.1 IPs. Forrest Whitley with a 32/9 in 25 IPs. He out-pitched Houck, Kremer, Peterson, and a few others currently pitching in the pros.
Perhaps it is just a difference in philosophy. I would love to fill up our system with a bunch of current 3rd rounders that have shown some minor league success.
Pivetta 15. run era in Philly, comes to Boston and 5 innings pitched, 1 run allowed and the Win. His second start will be against the Braves who have a murderers row offense but, a very promising first start for Nick.
He apparently picked up some bad habits in Philly. And this cycled into inconsistent usage. Some BP work in Pawtuckett, and one outing v BA with 3 walks in 5 innings, doesn’t mean he’s cured.
But yeah, between him and Houck, if the RS could develop them into a decent 4/5 combo, it changes the entire outlook for the off-season. Those 7-8 gaping holds might eventually be whittled down to 3-4.