Alex Anthopoulos Turns Down Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks contacted Dodgers vice president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos about their vacant general manager position, but the 39-year-old told Arizona he’s not interested, reports FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman. Anthopoulos is content in Los Angeles, per Heyman, who notes that the former Blue Jays GM’s two young children just started school in the area.
Anthopoulos previously spurned the Twins, who wanted to meet with him regarding their open president of baseball operations position, so his decision to reject the Diamondbacks isn’t necessarily a shot at them as much as a desire to remain in LA. Regardless, Heyman doesn’t expect the D-backs to have difficulty finding a successor to Dave Stewart. Although multiple executives across baseball have expressed concerns about Arizona’s recent lack of front office stability, someone with interest in the position told Heyman that it’s “BS,” noting that “only 30 of these jobs” exist.
Since the Diamondbacks parted with Stewart on Monday, ex-Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, MLB senior vice president Kim Ng, fellow league executive Peter Woodfork, and Brewers VP of scouting Ray Montgomery have all emerged as outside candidates to replace him. In-house options include assistant GM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell.
Ned Colletti Reportedly A Candidate In Diamondbacks’ GM Search
Former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is on the Diamondbacks’ list of potential GM candidates, reports J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group.
The 62-year-old Colletti served as GM in Los Angeles from 2005-14 before giving way to current president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman at the end of the 2014 campaign. The Dodgers retained Colletti as a senior advisor to team president/CEO Stan Kasten, but he no longer plays a role in the decision-making process when it comes to baseball operations. Hoornstra adds that whoever is ultimately hired will not report to Tony La Russa — a sentiment that meshes with previous reports which have indicated that La Russa will no longer be calling the shots in the Arizona front office even if has not been let go by the team.
The Dodgers reached the postseason in six of Colletti’s nine seasons as general manager, and he was the GM for a number of critical trades, free-agent signings and extensions that still impact today’s iteration of the Dodgers. Most notably, Colletti helped orchestrate the blockbuster trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto from Boston to L.A. in exchange for James Loney, Ivan De Jesus, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa back in 2012. He also signed Zack Greinke to a six-year, $147MM contract with an opt-out clause after the third season (which Greinke exercised, netting the Dodgers a 2015 first-round pick after rejecting a QO) and worked out extensions for Andre Ethier (five years, $85MM) and Clayton Kershaw (seven years, $215MM with a third-year opt-out). Colletti also acquired Manny Ramirez in 2008 — arguably the most successful half-season rental in recent history — and re-signed him to a two-year, $45MM deal that proved less successful. Los Angeles’ two-year, $36.2MM deal for Andruw Jones late in his career also proved to be a significant misstep.
On the international front, Colletti gave the approval on a number of expensive signings that yielded no return for the Dodgers, including Erisbel Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero, though the team’s signing of Yasiel Puig to a seven-year, $42MM contract has to be deemed a success even if Puig’s performance never returns to its 2013-14 heights. And, the signings of Hiroki Kuroda out of Japan and Hyun-Jin Ryu out of Korea both provided tremendous value to the pitching staff, though Ryu’s contributions have been cut short due to shoulder problems that have sidelined him for nearly all of the 2015-16 seasons after two terrific years in 2013-14.
Colletti is one of six names that has been linked to the D-backs since the season ended, as reports have indicated that league executives Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork (a former D-backs assistant GM) are in the mix, as is Brewers VP of scouting Ray Montgomery (a former D-backs exec himself). Internal candidates reportedly include assistant GM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell.
Kim Ng, Four Others Among D-Backs GM Candidates
The Diamondbacks appear to have compiled at least a preliminary list of potential general manager candidates to take over for the departing Dave Stewart, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). In addition to a quartet of men with ties to the organization, MLB senior VP Kim Ng is under consideration, per the report.
Ng has long been discussed as a front office target for organizations, and has interviewed for top baseball ops positions on several occasions. A former assistant GM with the Dodgers, Ng would become the game’s first-ever female general manager if she is hired for this or another open job.
Additionally, Arizona is looking at current AGM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell — as has previously been reported. Minniti just completed his second season in that role for the D-Backs after previously serving in a similar capacity with the Nationals. Bell has held his post with Arizona for six seasons.
Former D-Backs’ scouting guru and current Brewers vice president of scouting Ray Montgomery is also under consideration, as is former Arizona AGM Peter Woodfork, who currently works with Ng in the league office. Montgomery went to Milwaukee before the team brought in David Stearns as its GM, a post for which he was also considered. And Woodfork, who has also spent time with the Red Sox, was a part of the Diamondbacks for five years before returning to MLB in March of 2011. MLBTR highlighted his GM candidacy back in 2011.
It is not immediately apparent how complete this list of candidates is, and certainly it wouldn’t be surprising to see it grow. After all, the team only parted ways with Stewart on Monday.
Latest On Diamondbacks’ Front Office Situation
Change is afoot in Arizona, as the Diamondbacks have already parted ways with GM Dave Stewart, VP DeJon Watson, and manager Chip Hale. Chief baseball officer Tony La Russa, who oversaw all of the baseball operations department, will no longer carry that mantle moving forward.
Assistant GM Bryan Minniti will seemingly take the reins on an interim basis, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports, though he has not been given any official nod — even temporarily — as of yet. Though his own role remains unsettled, La Russa may also be involved in handling the early offseason decisionmaking while the front office search ramps up.
Minniti, who joined the Arizona front office after a stint with the Nationals, is also likely to receive consideration for the full-time job, per the report. (He has long been considered a potential GM, as former MLBTR scribe Ben Nicholson-Smith explored way back in 2011.) Likewise, farm director Mike Bell may be viewed as a candidate as the D-Backs’ upper management group assesses its options.
In terms of external possibilities, we haven’t heard any names as of yet, and the organization has suggested it intends to remain quiet on the matter. But many around the game are wondering whether the Diamondbacks will struggle to attract some candidates owing to their frequent front office turnover and recent turmoil, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
While various executives with rival teams gave Piecoro different indications about how big a concern they’d have with joining the Arizona organization, some were clear that its reputation is not strong. One unnamed exec who has been considered as a GM target told Piecoro that, while running the D-Backs’ baseball ops would hold “surface” appeal, “from everything I hear about some of the dysfunction up there, to be quite candid, I would have zero interest.” Another wondered whether the club would need to give out a lengthy guarantee to entice a quality candidate to “mov[e] your family for that level of insecurity, juxtaposed to the security that some of us have” in current positions with rival teams.
Latest On Diamondbacks’ Front Office
With chief strategy officer Tony La Russa losing his hold on the Diamondbacks’ baseball department and Dave Stewart now out as general manager, the club is set for its fourth regime change in six-plus years. That lack of stability has some executives around the majors wary of working for the organization, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
“Do they give the next person a six-year contract and come hell or high water they’re not going to fire them?” one rival exec asked Piecoro. “Or have they demonstrated this is how they do business and if things don’t work out in 24 -36 months they’ll make more changes? Moving your family for that level of insecurity, juxtaposed to the security that some of us have — that’s a tough sell to the family.”
One potential GM candidate whose name has come up in other teams’ searches informed Piecoro his interest in taking over the Diamondbacks would be “zero” because of “some of the dysfunction up there.” Other executives Piecoro spoke to are also leery of the job, with some expressing concern over the personalities of owner Ken Kendrick and CEO Derrick Hall. The latter signed an eight-year contract extension in August, so any new hire(s) will have to coexist with him and Kendrick for the long haul. Despite that, Hall doesn’t expect the team to have difficulty finding executives willing to take the helm in Arizona.
In regards to GM jobs, Hall said Monday, “There’s only 30 of these. And they’re special jobs and there are a lot of qualified people out there who are looking for that opportunity. We’re hoping the next person is in that role for a long time and that will be expressed.”
Another rival executive backed Kendrick and Hall, saying, “Listen, you have to be skeptical with that amount of turnover. But absolutely, 100 percent, you can win there with those guys.”
In a move that could perhaps help scare off potential hires, Diamondbacks ownership reportedly blocked a trade that would have sent struggling right-hander Shelby Miller to Miami over the summer. Nevertheless, Hall is content with the organization’s decision-making structure.
“It’s very common with all 30 clubs, where if you’re going to have a large decision to make, a very big decision, an impactful decision, it’s going to go all the way up the flagpole and everybody is going to weigh in, whether it is the owner of any ballclub – the owner, president, GM, all opinions are going to be weighed at that time,” said Hall. “It’s a matter of allowing people to do their jobs but also weighing in when there’s a matter of extreme importance, which I think is not uncommon anywhere.”
Stewart didn’t speak negatively of either Kendrick or Hall after his dismissal. However, Stewart did reveal that he and Kendrick “were oil and water” in terms of their personalities. On whether the franchise was too quick to ax Stewart after hiring him in September 2014, Kendrick offered, “Since Dave Stewart was hired two years ago, there have been 16 general managers hired. Sixteeen. What does that tell you? It’s a tough business” (Twitter link via Piecoro).
Stewart’s successor could be someone with past Diamondbacks experience, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who points to Brewers scouting director Ray Montgomery as a “natural strong candidate” (Twitter link). The 47-year-old Montgomery was previously the D-backs’ scouting director from 2010-14.
Dave Stewart Discusses End Of Tenure With D-Backs
The Diamondbacks ousted Dave Stewart from the GM seat yesterday, bringing his tenure to an end after just two years. Stewart discussed his feelings on the matter with Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who described the scene yesterday as chief baseball officer Tony La Russa informed his long-time friend that he’d no longer be with the organization.
That order, of course, came from above La Russa’s head, with managing partner Ken Kendrick and president/CEO Derrick Hall deciding it was time to move on. La Russa’s own fate remains to be determined, but he won’t control the organization’s baseball operations any longer.
Stewart expressed little in the way of regret, explaining that he believes he ought to have been retained but also that he will land on his feet. After all, the long-time big league hurler has compiled a rather varied resume following his playing times. Most recently, before heading to Arizona, he served as a player agent.
“Quite frankly,” said Stewart, “I’ve got better things to do.” Just what those things will be isn’t clear yet. “I just got to figure out what to do next,” said Stewart, “but really, I’ll be just fine.”
What Stewart won’t be doing is airing grievances against the Arizona organization. While he acknowledges that he was “angry” when he left the Blue Jays organization 15 years ago after being passed over for an open GM seat, Stewart says that he’s “not angry this time.” Instead, he said, it’s “almost a relief.” And though he and Kendrick “were oil and water,” Stewart says that was just a reflection of personality differences; he does not “have anything bad to say about” the D-Backs owner.
As for the state of the roster and farm that he leaves behind, Stewart expressed optimism. “This team will be back,” he said. “They’re not far away at all.” Asserting that he stands by his work at the helm of the baseball ops department, Stewart suggested that it may take some time for the fruits of his labor to become obvious to the rest of the game. “You may not know it for a couple of years,” he said, “but you will.’’
Tony La Russa Won’t Run D-Backs’ Baseball Ops; Future With Org Uncertain
The Diamondbacks continued a massive organizational overhaul today, firing GM Dave Stewart and manager Chip Hale after previously parting ways with VP DeJon Watson. Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa remains with the team at this point, but as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports, he’ll no longer run the team’s baseball operations department.
A new decisionmaker — whether a president of baseball operations, general manager, or both — will take over the reins in molding the team’s roster. At this point, it’s not known when or how the organization will go about filling the void, but president and CEO Derrick Hall says that the new hire will be expected to put greater emphasis on analytics.
Statistical analysis was one of several areas that observers have cited in criticizing the most recent iteration of the D-Backs’ oft-changing front office mix. La Russa was brought on as CBO in hopes that he’d oversee a successful organizational decisionmaking structure, but things haven’t turned out as hoped (as detailed in the post on the firing of Stewart and Hale). In the statistical arena, La Russa has been openly skeptical of the role of analytics, and raised many eyebrows with his hiring of long-time acquaintance — and first-time baseball front office man– Ed Lewis as director of baseball analytics and research.
Arizona’s top brass — Hall, who just inked an eight-year extension, and managing general partner Ken Kendrick — claimed a share of the responsibility for the failings. But they suggested that it was necessary “to turn the page and hit reset and see if we can’t get going in the right direction,” as Hall put it, by starting fresh with a new GM and manager. Per Kendrick, the organization “did not see the trend line at present moving in the right direction.”
Whether La Russa will be a part of the reshaped front office is an open question that was apparently not fully resolved in a lengthy meeting this morning (as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag notes on Twitter). Talks will continue as to what, if any, role may make sense for the Hall of Fame manager, whose foray into the D-Backs’ front office was his first in that capacity.
Diamondbacks Fire Dave Stewart, Chip Hale
The Diamondbacks have announced that they’ve fired GM Dave Stewart and manager Chip Hale. There was no immediate word on whether the Snakes intended to retain chief baseball officer Tony La Russa. “We are still discussing what the appropriate role for Tony La Russa will be going forward,” Kendrick said in a statement.
The decision on Stewart comes as little surprise, as it had previously been reported that owner Ken Kendrick was slated to meet with La Russa today to discuss the statuses of both Stewart and La Russa, both of which seemed to be in jeopardy. Hale’s departure, meanwhile, will allow Stewart’s successor to be involved in choosing a replacement.
The Diamondbacks hired Stewart in September 2014, so his tenure with the team was very short for a GM. During that time, however, the team’s front office made a number of questionable moves, chief among them the trade that sent 2015 first overall pick Dansby Swanson, along with outfielder Ender Inciarte and pitcher Aaron Blair, to Atlanta for starter Shelby Miller and minor leaguer Gabe Speier. Miller has struggled terribly thus far in Arizona, posting a 6.15 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 101 Major League innings in 2016. Swanson, meanwhile, made it all the way to the big leagues in just his second pro season and played well, batting .302/.361/.442 down the stretch for the Braves.
Perhaps just as important as the actual result of the deal was the view of player valuation it represented. Swanson alone would been a very steep price to pay for Miller, since Swanson was a premium prospect who had done nothing to sully his status as a former top overall pick. Stewart’s approach was also widely questioned earlier in his tenure after a less consequential deal in which he traded Bronson Arroyo and another former first-round pick, Touki Toussaint, to Atlanta for Phil Gosselin in a deal designed to clear about $10MM in Arroyo’s salary from the Diamondbacks’ books.
The Diamondbacks hoped to position themselves as contenders for 2016, not only acquiring Miller but also signing Zack Greinke to a massive $206.5MM deal. Greinke was serviceable but underwhelming for Arizona, posting a 4.37 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in his first season there. The Diamondbacks also suffered a number of other setbacks (beginning with a costly injury to star outfielder A.J. Pollock) and they won just 69 games, miles below expectation. (Stewart himself had gone so far as to say preseason projections that the team would win 78 or 79 games were “a joke.”)
Earlier in his tenure, Stewart’s Diamondbacks also signed Yasmany Tomas to a $68.5MM deal that, so far, has led to underwhelming results. The 25-year-old Tomas did bat .272/.313/.508 this season, but struggled so much defensively that his value was limited. For his career in the big leagues, Tomas has -1.2 fWAR.
Not all of Stewart’s moves have been unsuccessful. He acquired shortstop Jean Segura in a swap that has worked out well so far, and his trade for Robbie Ray has also mostly been a success. On balance, though, his decisions have arguably left the organization in worse shape than when he took office. While others share significant responsibility for some of those moves — the Greinke signing, in particular — there are many questions with the organization’s direction.
The process, even more than the decisions themselves, has come under fire since La Russa took command and hired Stewart. Arizona took a notably different approach from the get-go, but increasingly it seemed that the unique operating philosophy was not only potentially problematic in its own right, but also came with other concerns. ESPN.com’s Keith Law detailed a long list of missteps, some of which reflected an apparent failure to grasp rules and contemporary valuation principles. That includes the mismanagement of draft and international funds, such as the bonus pool-busting signing of Yoan Lopez — which cost Arizona a chance to acquire other talent to add a prospect who outside observers aren’t terribly fond of.
Now that change is afoot, a new dugout chief will also be sought — presumably, after the baseball ops department is sorted out. Hale, after all, was the hand-chosen skipper of La Russa and Stewart, though they may not have ended up being supporters. Reports suggested that Arizona’s ownership group intervened to prevent La Russa and Stewart from sending the now-former skipper out of town earlier this summer.
That proved only to be a temporary hold, though, and Hale will wrap up his first stint in charge of a dugout after a rough 2016 campaign. His original contract only promised two years — both of which are now in the books with a 148-176 overall record — but also included an option year. The organization exercised that provision at the outset of spring camp this year, so Hale will be entitled the guaranteed money.
It isn’t immediately clear what led to Hale’s dismissal beyond the fact that it affords a clean slate. But whatever the particular internal considerations were in this case, it’s not often that a manager survives the kind of season that the D-Backs just wrapped up — in which sky-high expectations (whether or not they were reasonable) went entirely unmet.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
D’Backs Expected To Soon Decide On La Russa, Stewart
Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick is expected to meet with chief baseball officer Tony La Russa on Monday, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports. A decision about the future of La Russa and GM Dave Stewart could potentially be made at the meeting itself, though if not, a final call should be coming relatively soon. Team president Derrick Hall confirmed to Heyman that a Kendrick/La Russa meeting was probably happening Monday, though he didn’t note if he or Stewart would also attend.
For Stewart’s part, the general manager told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) on Sunday morning that he hadn’t been told by club management about when to expect a decision on his future. In a text to Piecoro, Hall said that there would be a sitdown meeting with La Russa and Stewart before any final decision was made, which could represent Monday’s get-together.
The club parted ways with senior VP De Jon Watson a couple of weeks ago, and as Piecoro writes, “many around the game” feel the D’Backs will make changes simply due to the fact that this evaluation of their top baseball execs has gone on for over a month. Stewart’s contract included a 2017 option that was supposed to be exercised by the end of August, though D’Backs upper management held off until the end of the season.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Hall acknowledged that something had to give. “We can’t drag this on….We’ve got to improve this ballclub, and we have to have a plan going into the offseason,” Hall said. “So we’ll make a decision quickly. It’s awkward for these guys to sit around and wait. It’s not good for anyone.”
Despite the high-profile offseason additions of Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller, the Diamondbacks finished the season with a 69-93 record, the seventh-worst mark in baseball. Subpar years from both pitchers, especially Miller, certainly played a part, as did a lack of help from the rotation as a whole, a very shaky bullpen and A.J. Pollock spending almost all of the season on the DL. Combined with pre-existing criticisms about how La Russa and Stewart have handled the team’s prospects and international signings, there is indeed a case for the D’Backs to make a change. On the flip side, as Stewart notes to Piecoro, the management team has only been in place for two years, so they could deserve more time to see things through.
West Notes: Scully, Hudson, Rockies, Bridich, Angels, M’s
Vin Scully signed off for the final time today, ending his incredible career with one final Dodgers vs. Giants matchup. All of us at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in tipping our caps to Mr. Scully, the greatest to ever call a baseball game. We wish him all the best in a very well-deserved retirement. Here’s some news from around both the NL and AL West…
- The Diamondbacks will talk to free agent reliever Daniel Hudson this winter about a possible return, GM Dave Stewart told reporters, including Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). Stewart discussed the possibility of extending Hudson last June, though also came very close to dealing the right-hander at the trade deadline. Hudson finished the year with a 5.31 ERA over 59 1/3 bullpen innings, though his solid peripherals (3.89 FIP, 4.20 xFIP, 3.92 SIERA) indicate Hudson’s ERA was inflated by his .333 BABIP and very low 61.7% strand rate.
- The Rockies were within reach of a wild card spot at the trade deadline but stood pat, ultimately faltering over the last two months of the season and finishing at 75-87. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding revisits the decision from GM Jeff Bridich to not make any moves, since while there were some good reasons (such as Trevor Story‘s season-ending injury) for Bridich to resist buying for a playoff run, it could indicate an over-reliance on Colorado’s internal talent.
- There don’t appear to be any changes forthcoming to the Angels coaching staff, manager Mike Scioscia told reporters (including MLB.com’s Austin Laymance).
- The Mariners will consider all of their free agents and club option players, GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters, though MLB.com’s Greg Johns believes “only a couple” will return to Seattle in 2017. Outfielder Seth Smith is likely to have his $7MM club option exercised, while the M’s could pass on Chris Iannetta‘s $4.25MM club option since it’s a fairly high price for a backup catcher. Of the free agents, Adam Lind will likely be let go while outfielders Nori Aoki and Franklin Gutierrez could be better fits to be re-signed.