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Giants Outright Mark Mathias

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The Giants have sent Mark Mathias outright to Triple-A, according to his player page on MLB.com. Having been outrighted previously in his career, he is eligible to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, and at this point in the year, it’s hard to see why he wouldn’t do so. There was no previous announcement that Mathias had been designated for assignment or placed on outright waivers. He was on the 60-day injured list for the final six weeks of the season, so the move doesn’t free up a 40-man roster spot for San Francisco.

The 29-year-old spent the first three months of the year with the Pirates, bouncing back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. He was designated for assignment in late June and scooped up by the Mariners in early July, who stashed him at Triple-A for a month before trading him to the Giants at the deadline, along with AJ Pollock. Mathias played just five games for San Francisco, after which the utility player landed on the IL with a right shoulder strain. He would not play for the remainder of the season.

Overall, Mathias hit .226 with a .591 OPS in 27 games with the Pirates and Giants. In other words, he was unable to rediscover the success from his brief stint with the Rangers last season, when he hit five home runs in 24 games down the stretch, driving in 16 and posting an impressive 159 wRC+. Nevertheless, his strong performance at Triple-A for a second consecutive season (.813 OPS in 51 games) should earn him a minor league contract with a new club this winter, barring another setback with his shoulder.

Coaching Notes: Mallee, Rays, Giants, Cora

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The Cubs are promoting John Mallee back to the big league staff, as reported by Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. It’s currently unclear what role the long-time coach will serve. He was the team’s hitting coach from 2015-17, but that job is currently held down by Dustin Kelly, who helped several players thrive in his first year with the big league squad. 

According to Sharma and Mooney, the Cubs will “incorporate Mallee’s experience and expertise” in a new role, rather than replace anyone currently on the coaching staff. He was the hitting coach at Triple-A Iowa in 2023, and he earned “rave reviews” for his work at the minor league level. Evidently, the Cubs have decided he can have a greater impact with the MLB club, even in a less defined role.

In other coaching news from around the league…

  • In addition to hiring a new first base coach, the Rays could look to hire a couple of additional coaches to replace Jonathan Erlichman, the former process and analytics coach, and Dan DeMent, the former assistant hitting coach (per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Erlichman has taken on a new role with the team, while DeMent has parted ways with the organization after 13 years as a minor league coach and two with the big league club. The Rays have another assistant hitting coach, Brady North, and with Erlichman remaining in the organization, they don’t necessarily need to hire a direct replacement for either Erlichman or DeMent. As Topkin notes, the Rays could look to add a couple of coaches in new roles instead.
  • On Monday, Susan Slusser of the San Franciso Chronicle discussed the Giants’ director of pitching role, which has been vacant since the White Sox hired away Brian Bannister to be their senior pitching advisor. She suggests Bryan Price, a long-time pitching coach and former Reds manager, to fill the role. Price is currently employed as a senior advisor to the coaching staff in San Diego, but it’s not out of the question he could come over to San Francisco alongside Bob Melvin, Matt Williams, and Ryan Christenson. Price spent 14 years as a pitching coach for the Mariners, Diamondbacks, Reds, and Phillies. He announced his retirement as a pitching coach after the 2020 season, but a director of pitching job could represent an intriguing new opportunity for the veteran coach.
  • Joey Cora, the Mets’ third base coach in 2022 and ’23, has drawn interest for several coaching positions around the league, per Andy Martino of SNY. Cora, the elder brother of Red Sox manager Alex Cora, has been coaching since 2004. His contract with the Mets expired at the end of October. In further Mets news, Martino notes that first base coach Wayne Kirby’s contract has also expired. Evidently, the team saw no reason to retain all of their coaches without a new manager in place.

Latest On Astros’ Managerial Search

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After four seasons under veteran manager Dusty Baker, in which the Astros won three division titles, two AL pennants, and one World Series, the team is on the hunt for a new skipper. Baker, who had been managing on and off since 1993, announced his retirement following Houston’s loss in Game 7 of the ALCS. Presumably, the Astros always knew this was a possibility – Baker’s contract was up at the end of the season – but the manager didn’t tell the team his decision until last week. Thus, it comes as little surprise that general manager Dana Brown will take his time searching for a replacement.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com), Brown revealed the team has no timeframe to hire a manager. In fact, they have not yet begun to interview candidates. “We’re not going to rush through this,” he explained.

Brown’s comments conflict with a statement owner and chairman Jim Crane made a few days ago, when he said, “We’ll work on [hiring a new manager] quickly… We’ll have a fluid search and work as fast as we can to get somebody in place” (per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle).

Nevertheless, it makes sense why the Astros aren’t hurrying this decision. Baker, 74, won’t be easy to replace. While his choices didn’t always sit well with more analytically inclined fans, he brought decades of experience to the table. He earned his first managerial gig before most of today’s active managers had even begun their playing careers. Moreover, he is widely respected and beloved around the game for his people skills and unique style of leadership.

As Brown said, “I’m looking for someone with some leadership ability, someone that could run the clubhouse, of course, looking for someone with great feel for players and managing players.” In other words, he’s looking for another Dusty Baker.

A long and drawn-out hiring process isn’t out of character for the Astros, who waited until January last offseason to hire Brown as their new GM. Crane played an unusually influential role in the team’s decision-making over the first two and a half months of the offseason, as did front office adviser Jeff Bagwell. In the same vein, Crane and Bagwell will reportedly have an “immense say” in choosing the next manager of the Astros, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

While Brown insisted that he has no timeline, he thinks it’s possible he could set up interviews during the general manager’s meetings, which begin November 7. The team is clearly in the preliminary stages of the hiring process, but they are widely expected to consider bench coach Joe Espada and former Tigers and Angels manager Brad Ausmus. More recently, they were linked to former Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose contract with Milwaukee officially expired on Tuesday. McTaggart notes that third base coach Omar López could be another contender.

Padres Took Out A $50MM Loan In September To Cover Payroll

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As reported by Evan Drellich, Dennis Lin, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Padres took out a $50MM loan in September to address “short-term cash flow issues” and cover their player payroll, among other expenses. That $50MM figure is particularly interesting, considering a previous report from Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune that the team is hoping to reduce payroll by about $50MM in 2024. 

The Padres ran a top-five payroll in the sport for a second straight season in 2023, yet they failed to make the playoffs, finishing two games back of a Wild Card berth. Evidently, strong ticket sales (only the Dodgers had higher attendance) weren’t enough to convince ownership to double down in hopes of better results next year. The fact that the team needed to take out a sizeable loan – and that they missed out on postseason revenue – might explain why.

Ultimately, however, it’s hard to say whether this news is an indication of trouble for the Padres or simply a standard practice of running a baseball team. The reporters from The Athletic note that MLB teams “commonly” take out lines of credit, and it could be seen as a good sign that the Padres were deemed suitable for such a sizeable loan in the first place. To that point, the lender was reportedly willing to provide as much as $100MM.

Then again, it’s concerning that the team needed such a large sum of money so late in the season; it’s hard not to read into that as a sign of poor financial planning. Indeed, the news of the loan is said to have taken some MLB officials by surprise.

For what it’s worth, it was the league’s head office that prevented the Padres from taking all $100MM they were offered by their lender. That could be a sign that the team is in real financial trouble – the commissioner doesn’t generally allow teams to take on more debt than they can afford – but it could also be a broader indication that other owners simply don’t approve of San Diego running such a high payroll. After all, the Padres took many by surprise with their aggressive spending over the past few years, showing that a so-called “smaller market” team can indeed compete with the financial giants from New York and L.A. As the reporters from The Athletic point out, some owners consider the Padres’ spending to be reckless – and commissioner Rob Manfred has implied he feels the same way.

Nonetheless, several team officials repeated the idea that this loan was nothing more than business as usual, whether speaking on behalf of the team or not. Padres CEO Erik Greupner said in a statement that the team “established a capital plan for 2023” and that they operated “in accordance with that plan.” On a similar note, an anonymous team official told Drellich, Lin, and Rosenthal, “We anticipated we may need [the loan] at some point this year. We’re not in crisis.”

Another anonymous official told The Athletic, “The levels of payroll that we’ve been at have probably reasonably been in excess of what we could have supported, but it was part of the larger plan.”

Still, the Padres’ financial situation is something to monitor going forward. If temporarily spending more than they could afford on player payroll was always part of the team’s master plan, then it remains to be seen how the rest of the plan will play out. This past season certainly didn’t go as expected, and several of the team’s top contributors could become free agents in the coming days. It will be challenging to fill those holes while significantly reducing payroll.

In other words, it’s hard to imagine the on-field product improving next season without suitable replacements for Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and Seth Lugo (pending his opt-out decision) – and even more so if the team trades Juan Soto. Unfortunately, that might be the only way they can reduce payroll by such a large amount. Per roster resource, the team already has an estimated 2024 payroll of $190MM and an estimated luxury tax payroll of $242.9MM. Soto alone is projected to make $33MM in arbitration, per MLBTR’s Matt Swartz.

Orioles Claim Sam Hilliard From Braves

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The Orioles announced today that the club has claimed outfielder Sam Hilliard off waivers from the Braves. In a corresponding move, right-hander Joey Krehbiel has been designated for assignment. Meanwhile, the Braves announced that they’ve assigned infielder Andrew Velazquez and right-hander Ben Heller outright to the minors. Both Velazquez and Heller figure to reach minor league free agency later this month, though Heller has the requisite service time to elect free agency early, should he so choose.

The Braves picked up Hilliard last offseason in a trade with the Rockies, sending right-hander Dylan Spain to Colorado in exchange for the outfielder. Hilliard played for the Rockies in parts of four seasons, from 2019-22. The lefty-batter showed off plus power, but otherwise, his offensive skills were lacking. He played capable defense in all three outfield spots, although his glove was most valuable in left.

In 40 games for Atlanta this past season, his bat was the best it’s been since his rookie campaign, although his numbers were slightly inflated by an unsustainable .389 batting average on balls in play. Still, Hilliard was a serviceable fifth outfielder through the first half of the year, posting a .725 OPS with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Unfortunately, he landed on the IL with a right heel contusion in mid-July, an injury that ultimately ended his season. In 2024, he will look to pick up where he left off with his new team.

The Orioles have no shortage of outfield options on the 40-man roster, including veterans Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins, and Austin Hays, as well as rookies Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad. However, neither Cowser nor Kjerstad has proven himself at the major league level just yet, and it’s possible that one or both could open the 2024 campaign in Triple-A, instead of sitting on the big league bench. Alternatively, the Orioles could be planning to trade from a position of strength, perhaps to acquire more pitching this winter. That would make room for a backup outfielder like Hilliard on the roster, although he will still have to compete with Ryan McKenna, Terrin Vavra, and Kyle Stowers for playing time.

Krehbiel, 30, finally surpassed rookie limitations in 2022 after 11 years of professional baseball. The righty was successful as a low-leverage reliever for the Orioles, pitching 57 2/3 innings with a 3.90 ERA. However, he struggled in higher-leverage spots and posted large platoon splits, struggling to retire left-handed batters. He spent most of the 2023 campaign at Triple-A, unable to earn a spot in Baltimore’s talented bullpen. Should Krehbiel clear waivers, he will be eligible to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

The Braves claimed Velazquez off waivers from the Angels in September to serve as middle infield depth, although he never saw time with the big league club. The 29-year-old shortstop will be out of options in 2024, so it’s not too surprising that Atlanta decided to clear him from the 40-man roster. In 54 games for the Angels this year, he hit .173 with a 52 wRC+ and -0.1 FanGraphs WAR.

Heller came over to the Braves in a midseason trade with the Rays, and Atlanta gave him his first chance to pitch in a big league game since 2020. The righty was a capable low-leverage reliever over the final months of the season, pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 19 appearances. However, he, too, will be out of minor league options next year. Both Heller and Velazquez had been non-tender candidates ahead of their first years of arbitration eligibility.

Mets Interview Carlos Mendoza, Andy Green In Managerial Search

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The Mets have interviewed Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza for their managerial vacancy, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. SNY’s Andy Martino indicates that Mendoza is actually in the midst of a second-round interview today after interviewing for the first time last week and receiving a callback. Sherman also reports that the club has interviewed Cubs bench coach Andy Green, though it’s unclear if that’s a first or second interview.

Mendoza, 43, spent 13 seasons as a minor league player before joining the Yankees’ minor league coaching staff in 2009. He joined the big league coaching staff as an infield coach in 2017 before being promoted to bench coach following the 2019 season. Green, on the other hand, participated in parts of four big league seasons during his playing career, including the 2009 season as a member of the Mets. Since retiring, Green served briefly as third base coach of the Diamondbacks before being hired to manage the Padres prior to the 2016 season. Green managed in San Diego for four seasons before joining the Cubs’ coaching staff as bench coach prior to the 2020 campaign.

The pair have drawn interest from other clubs for managerial vacancies, as well. After drawing occasional managerial interest in recent years, Mendoza was among the likeliest candidates to take over for Gabe Kapler as manager of the Giants prior to the club securing permission to interview Bob Melvin. In addition, both coaches have been interviewed by the Guardians. If hired in Cleveland, either coach would step into the shoes of longtime manager Terry Francona following his recent retirement.

Should Mendoza depart the Bronx for another club this offseason, Martino notes that the Yankees could look to promote third base coach Luis Rojas, himself a former Mets manager, to the position. Though Rojas’s contract with the Yankees is up this offseason, Martino makes clear the the club has interest in retaining him, either as bench coach or in his current role as third base coach. It’s not yet clear what direction the Cubs could go in if they wind up needing to replace Green. Chicago already lost a key member of the club’s staff this offseason when Craig Breslow departed the Cubs’ front office to take the vacant GM role in Boston.

That the Mets are moving on to a second interview with Mendoza suggests that the club’s interest in his services next year is strong, though Sherman still refers to Brewers manager Craig Counsell as the “favorite” for the Mets job. Of course, Counsell has plenty of options beyond New York that could complicate the club’s pursuit of his services; Counsell has received interest from the Astros, the Brewers hope to retain him in Milwaukee on a new contract, and he’s already interviewed with the Guardians. Curiously, while MLB Network’s Jon Morosi has indicated that Counsell and the Mets have discussed the club’s managerial vacancy, Martino makes clear that Counsell has not had a formal interview with Mets brass to this point.

With the Mets apparently advancing to a second round of interviews for other candidates before sitting down with Counsell for a first interview it’s possible, speculatively speaking, that the club hopes to move through the interview process with other candidates so that they can act quickly upon Counsell’s decision regarding where he will manage in 2024. If that’s the case, it’s unclear what other candidates could be in the mix beyond Mendoza and Green, as details regarding the managerial search in New York have been few and far between this offseason. While Rangers associate manager Will Venable reportedly declined to interview for the position last month, Mendoza, Green, and Counsell are the only publicly known candidates for the position at this point.

Quick Hits: Uniform Employee Contracts, Hamels, Maddon

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Major League Baseball is doing away with uniform employee contracts, according to a report from Evan Drellich of The Athletic. Previously, the league required all employment agreements with managers, coaches, salaried scouts and trainers to utilize the same standardized language across all 30 teams. Clubs are now free to draft their own individual employment contracts for employees, opening the door to differences in contract language between teams, and employees will be subject to team-specific contract terms upon the expiration of their current deals. The impetus for the change, according to Drellich, appears to be shielding the league from liability regarding employment matters. Drellich also suggests that the change could help the league retain its antitrust exemption, which has come under fire on occasion in recent years, should MLB face employment issues in the future.

Perhaps the most well-known aspect of the uniform employee contracts to this point is a tampering clause that stops club employees from speaking to other teams while they’re under contract without permission from their club. A notable example of the tampering clause played out this past month, ahead of the expiration of Brewers manager’s Craig Counsell contract today. Though Counsell wasn’t under contract for the 2024 campaign, his contract with the Brewers ran through October 31, meaning that clubs interested in Counsell’s services such as the Mets and Guardians could not interview Counsell until the Brewers granted them permission to do so.

That being said, the move away from uniform employee contracts doesn’t necessarily portend the end of the tampering clause, or any other particular clause in the contract itself. It’s entirely possible that clubs could continue to offer employees roughly similar contracts going forward; in fact, Drellich suggests that the league’s antitrust exemption could allow teams to keep “some elements of the contracts effectively identical.” That reality has left the change to be met with mixed responses. Drellich cited one current scout who has concerns that clubs will take the opportunity to alter contract language in a way that works against employees, though he noted that others hope the departure from uniform contracts will spur competition between the major league clubs and create more favorable terms for employees in the future.

More notes from around the league…

  • Longtime big league lefty Cole Hamels retired from professional play back in August after 15 seasons in the majors and an additional three seasons of attempting to rehab from shoulder issues and make a comeback. Hamels, 40 in December, recently spoke to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer about his hope to return to the game, in another capacity, sometime in the near future. The first order of business appears to be a return to Philadelphia, where the Phillies plan to honor Hamels sometime next season. Beyond that, Breen notes that Hamels hopes he can find an off-the-field role somewhere in the game akin to that of the one Chase Utley once held with the Dodgers, acting as a liaison between the front office and players in the clubhouse.
  • The league has seen plenty of managerial churn both this offseason (with six teams either looking for a new manager or already employing a new manager, with a seventh on the table if Counsell departs Milwaukee) and in the past, but John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times relays that no team has contacted former Rays, Cubs, and Angels manager Joe Maddon regarding a potential managerial vacancy. Romano adds that lack of interest extends to last offseason, despite reports at the time of possible interest in Maddon from the White Sox regarding their managerial vacancy, which was ultimately filled by Pedro Grifol. Since departing the Angels, Maddon has been particularly critical of the implementation of analytics by many front offices in recent years, and Romano suggests that this lack of interest in the three-time Manager of the Year who reached the World Series with the Rays in 2008 before winning it with the Cubs in 2016 could stem from that criticism.

AL Notes: Red Sox, Heaney, Twins

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The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey provided an update on a handful of Red Sox prospects today, headlined by top shortstop prospect Marcelo Mayer. A consensus top-15 prospect in the sport headed into the 2023 campaign, Mayer hit well enough in 35 games with Boston’s High-A affiliate last season to earn a promotion to Double-A, though his move to the upper levels of the minors was met with difficulties. Over 190 trips to the plate at the level, Mayer slashed just .189/.254/.355 with a 25.8% strikeout rate before ultimately seeing his 2023 campaign come to an end due to a nagging shoulder injury at the beginning of August.

Mayer has been been doing rehab work since the season ended, per McCaffrey, and is expected to have a normal offseason this winter. It’s surely a significant relief for the Red Sox, as Mayer could be on the radar to reach the majors sometime next year given the club’s lack of certainty in the middle infield. Boston figures to use Trevor Story as their everyday shortstop next year, though he slashed just .203/.250/.316 in 43 games this year after returning from surgery midseason. Alongside Story, the club sports a handful of options including Enmanuel Valdez, Luis Urias and top prospect Ceddanne Rafaela as potential contributors up the middle.

Also discussed in McCaffrey’s piece is right-hander Noah Song, who was returned to the Red Sox by the Phillies back in August after the Phillies selected Song in the Rule 5 draft last offseason. While McCaffrey notes that the club may decide to protect Song from the Rule 5 draft this year to avoid a similar situation, she suggests it’s also possible that Song’s inability to stick on the roster in Philadelphia in 2023 could leave him unlikely to do so in 2024, even if selected for a second time. As a member of the naval reserves, Song has certain obligations to the US military that have impacted his ability to play baseball professionally in the past. That being said, McCaffrey relays that Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham believes Song’s military duties can be fulfilled during the offseason, allowing him to have a normal 2024 campaign.

More from the American League…

  • Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney discussed his decision to sign in Texas last winter recently with Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast. Heaney acknowledged that he discussed potential deals with several teams, including the Red Sox, adding that he spoke with the team remotely and met with a member of the club’s medical staff during negotiations last offseason. Ultimately, Heaney notes that his decision to sign in Texas was influenced by the Oklahoma City native wanting to play for his hometown team. Heaney can opt out of the final year and $13MM on his deal with the Rangers this offseason. If he decides to do so on the heels of a season where he posted a 4.15 ERA in 147 1/3 innings of work it’s at least possible that the Red Sox, who figure to lose lefty James Paxton and righty Corey Kluber to free agency later this month, could be a suitor for his services once again.
  • Long-time Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer is stepping away from the booth after 40 years as the club’s play-by-play announcer, per an announcement by the club yesterday. Bremer, 67, will remain as a member of the Twins organization as a special assistant to the front office. Per the club’s press release, the Twins are currently “assessing potential broadcast options as well as a talent lineup for 2024 and beyond” with announcements expected later this offseason. Minnesota, of course, is among the teams impacted by Diamond Sports Group filing for bankruptcy back in March. The split with Diamond has left the club’s broadcast situation up in the air headed into the 2024 campaign.

MLBTR Podcast: Juan Soto Speculation, Melvin and Zaidi in SF, and Boston Hires Breslow

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Shohei Ohtani is expected to set records with his next deal. Do you think he is one of the first or last players to sign? (19:10)
  • Who are the Twins potential trading partners for Max Kepler or Jorge Polanco? (24:30)
  • Who do you think are free agent pitchers the Orioles could realistically sign that would excite die-hard fans? Do they have a shot at any of the NPB pitchers coming stateside? (28:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The Opener: Rangers, Diamondbacks, Counsell

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As the calendar flips to November, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Rangers attempt to clinch:

Despite losing ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer for the remainder of the series yesterday, the Rangers saw an explosion of offense early in the game allow them to pull ahead 3-1 in the series despite being outscored 1-7 by the Diamondbacks after the third inning of last night’s game. Now, the Rangers have the opportunity to clinch their first-ever World Series victory for the first time since 2011, when they were up over the Cardinals three games to two after Game Five but lost the final two games of the series, allowing the Cardinals to come back and win the series in seven. Tonight they’ll rely on veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who has a career 3.30 ERA in the postseason but surrendered five runs on six hits in just 4 2/3 innings of work during his first start of the series, to bring an end to the club’s 62-year championship drought.

2. Diamondbacks look to survive:

Meanwhile, Arizona is staring down a win-or-go-home Game Five tonight after dropping two consecutive games at home. For tonight, they’ll look to take the series back to Arlington and stave off elimination with Zac Gallen on the mound. Gallen put in a performance worthy of NL Cy Young award consideration during the regular season, posting a 3.47 ERA and 3.27 FIP while notching 220 strikeouts in 210 innings of work and collecting 17 wins for Arizona throughout the season. Things have come off the rails for Gallen in the postseason, however. In 27 1/3 innings of work this postseason, Gallen has mustered only a 5.27 ERA with six home runs allowed, a 15.3% strikeout rate and a walk rate of 11%.

As Gallen looks to turn his postseason around this evening, Ketel Marte will look to extend an otherworldly hitting streak after becoming the first player in MLB history to record a hit in 20 consecutive postseason games. That record is a capstone on what was already a fantastic postseason for Marte, who has slashed .338/.365/.549 with a 145 wRC+ that’s outpaced by only Garcia, Evan Carter, and Corey Seager among players still in the hunt. Marte will try to extend the postseason hitting streak to 21 tonight at 7:03pm CT.

3. Counsell’s market solidifying:

Another suitor for free agent manager Craig Counsell was revealed yesterday, with the Astros reportedly throwing their hat into the ring alongside the Mets, Guardians, and incumbent Brewers. It’s unclear how strong the interest in Counsell is from Houston; the club’s reported top two candidates for the position are bench coach Joe Espada alongside former Tigers and Angels manager Brad Ausmus, though it’s possible that could change if Counsell is interested in joining the Astros. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported yesterday that Counsell is currently “weighing his options” after meeting with both the Mets and Guardians, though he also cautioned that there isn’t a clear timeline for his decision at this point. That said, with the start of free agency on the horizon, all interest clubs are surely hoping to have a manager in place sooner rather than later.

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