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Mariners Reportedly Making Three Coaching Changes

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Now that their last-place campaign is in the books, the Mariners have decided to turn over a few of their coaching positions, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Manager Scott Servais and the front office will be seeking to make three hires.

Pitching coach Paul Davis will vacate his job but remain in the organization in a different capacity. Two other 2019 staffers will be leaving the organization: third base/outfield coach Chris Prieto and bullpen coach Jim Brower.

Davis just wrapped up his first year as a big-league pitching coach after coming to the org with an analytics background. It seems the club still values his abilities but decided a new approach was needed in terms of the uniformed staff. Prieto had been with the team since 2017 while Brower had served under Servais for the past two campaigns.

D-Backs Part Ways With Pitching Coach, Change Bench Coach

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5:08pm: In another move now acknowledged by the team, Luis Urueta will move into the bench coach role for 2020. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported that decision on Twitter.

That decision pushes Jerry Narron out of the seat he had occupied since early in the 2017 season. He’s expected to remain on the staff in an as-yet-undefined capacity.

3:12pm: The Diamondbacks have announced that they will not retain pitching coach Mike Butcher. Ken Rosenthal and Robert Murray of The Athletic first tweeted the news.

Butcher had been in his role since the start of the 2016 campaign, so he pre-dated manager Torey Lovullo and the organization’s primary front office leadership. He has previously served as the pitching coach for the Rays and Angels.

Though he was able to survive the major 2016-17 organizational shakeup, and help a few notable pitchers turn in quality campaigns, Butcher evidently wasn’t seen as the right voice moving forward. His departure isn’t part of a broader wave of change, as the remainder of the 2019 coaching staff is expected to return for 2020.

Orioles Outright Chandler Shepherd

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The Orioles announced today that righty Chandler Shepherd has been outrighted after clearing waivers. He lost his 40-man spot after starting the final game of a forgettable Baltimore campaign.

Shepherd, 27, saw his first-ever big-league action this year, taking advantage of the O’s urgent need for arms. He ended up throwing 19 innings, allowing 14 earned runs and five long balls but compiling a sturdy 17:6 K/BB ratio.

A former 13th-round draft pick, Shepherd landed with the Baltimore organization when he was exposed to waivers by the Red Sox. He wasn’t any more effective at Triple-A than he was in the majors this year, but did post a 3.89 ERA in 25 starts at the highest level of the minors in 2018.

White Sox Affirm Plans To Retain Rick Renteria

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Despite a third-straight lackluster campaign, the White Sox will retain skipper Rick Renteria. GM Rick Hahn reaffirmed his support for Renteria in comments today to reporters including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.

It isn’t particularly surprising to hear of this decision, as all indications had been that the South Siders would keep Renteria in the dugout. But it’s notable nevertheless since plans could’ve changed after a second-half slide.

The White Sox have cracked seventy wins for the first time in Renteria’s tenure, but it would be tough to call this season a resounding success. But there have certainly been some bright spots — especially, the emergence of Lucas Giolito, Tim Anderson, and Yoan Moncada — and the team feels it is still on the upswing.

When asked whether the team might be tempted to make a change once it sees the available slate of managerial candidates, Hahn stated plainly: “Ricky will be our manager.” The veteran executive went on to explain that the club continues to believe Renteria is capable not only of nurturing a developing team, but also of bringing it into contention. “[E]ven at the time we hired him,” says Hahn, “we felt he had the ability to not only set the right winning culture but to put guys in the best position to win.”

Renteria certainly will have a role to play if the White Sox are to finally make a significant move up the standings in 2020. But the front office will have the lion’s share of the work to do over the winter. With some shrewd acquisitions, and continued positive strides from a burgeoning young core, it’s possible — but by no means assured — that the club will be competitive as soon as next year.

Yu Darvish Suggests Opt-Out Unlikely

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Cubs righty Yu Darvish isn’t ready to make anything official, but has given clear indication in recent comments that he has no intentions of opting out of the remaining four years and $81MM left on his contract. That it’s even a question worth asking reflects his remarkable mid-season turnaround.

In recent interviews with Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune and the full slate of Cubs beat reporters (including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian), Darvish said he’s going to take some time to think things over and discuss it with his agent and family. There’s still a few weeks’ time to think things over. Darvish’s season is over — he won’t take his final start owing to nagging forearm discomfort — and he doesn’t need to make an official decision until after the end of the World Series.

But it doesn’t seem likely that things will change in the interim. Darvish said that he’s “so comfortable” in Chicago and that his family is as well. He credited the organization — particularly skipper Joe Maddon — for patience as he worked through marked early difficulties after signing a big contract.

Truth be told, it’d be tough for Darvish to beat the remaining guarantee he has in hand. He just turned 33, has a worrying injury history, and limped through his first year-and-a-half with the Cubs. But he has been exceptional down the stretch. Over his final 13 starts, Darvish carried a 2.76 ERA with 118 strikeouts and just seven walks.

Darvish says he has never before commanded the baseball as well as he is now. With the results to prove it, the future again looks promising for a key Cubs performer. Darvish, at least, thinks that Chicago is the right place for him to continue his excellent career. “This organization is perfect for me,” he says.

Derek Dietrich Undergoes Shoulder Procedure

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Reds infielder Derek Dietrich has undergone left shoulder surgery, as Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer was among those to cover on Twitter. Fortunately, the clean-up procedure did not reveal any significant damage.

The expectation is that Dietrich will have a more-or-less unimpeded offseason. If there truly aren’t any real ongoing concerns, then it seems likely the club can make a decision whether to tender Dietrich a contract without worrying much about his health.

That said, it’s hardly clear that the Reds will want to commit to Dietrich for 2020. The 30-year-old had a monster showing in the first two months of the season but fell off badly thereafter. He hasn’t played much at all in the second half and a .187/.328/.462 overall slash line that translates only to a 103 wRC+.

Taijuan Walker To Start D-Backs’ Final Game

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Righty Taijuan Walker may not have returned in time to make a meaningful impact for the Diamondbacks this year, but he’ll throw at least one inning on the season. The club announced today that he’ll take the ball for a single-frame start on Sunday, as Zach Buchanan of The Athletic was among those to cover on Twitter.

Walker was expected to return much earlier after rehabbing nearly the way back from Tommy John surgery. But a shoulder injury put a halt to his progress — and raised yet more significant questions about his long-term outlook.

The brief outing represents a nice reward for the 27-year-old’s grinding recovery efforts. It’ll be his first time taking the big league hill since mid-April of last year. Walker had turned in a highly promising 2017 season, working to a 3.49 ERA in 157 1/3 innings, but only made it three starts into the ensuing campaign.

This appearance won’t change the immediate salary situation for Walker, who earned just over $5MM in 2019. He’s certain to receive a repeat salary in his final season of arbitration eligibility, with free agency beckoning at the tail end of the 2020 campaign. The stakes are high for player and team. With a healthy Walker, the D-Backs could have a strong rotation made up almost entirely of traded-for hurlers. And the talented righty will be looking to set the stage for free agency.

Ender Inciarte Will Not Return To Braves For NLDS

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The Braves have shut down outfielder Ender Inciarte from physical activity, manager Brian Snitker told reporters including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). He’s not going to be a part of the team’s upcoming divisional series roster.

Inciarte had hoped to appear in the team’s final series of the regular season. But it didn’t go well when he tested out his injured hamstring today. The decision was made that he simply won’t be ready when the NLDS gets underway on October 3rd.

Going without Inciarte isn’t a huge surprise at this point, and the impact is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Nick Markakis was able to return from his own significant injury. The club can still trot out Billy Hamilton in a run-and-glove role, too, though he’s not to Inciarte’s standard with the bat.

At this point, at least, the Atlanta organization isn’t ruling Inciarte out for a hypothetical championship series round return. But he’ll need to rest up and test the hammy once more. And it’ll take a bit of a leap of faith to activate him at that point, given the risk of aggravating the injury and the fact that he hasn’t seen live game action in months.

Red Sox Aim To Get Under Luxury Line In 2020, Seek Outside GM

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In eye-popping late-September news, the Red Sox top brass told reporters that they aim to get under the luxury tax line for the 2020 campaign. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter feed) is among those covering the fascinating statements of principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, and president/CEO Sam Kennedy.

There’s loads to unpack here, but the payroll comment is of particular note, because the Boston organization spent over $230MM in each of the past two seasons and already has over $150MM (as calculated for competitive balance tax purposes) committed for 2020 — before accounting for expensive arbitration raises for Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Eduardo Rodriguez.

Dipping under the luxury line to re-set the tax penalty would mean getting south of $208MM. That’s simply not going to be possible without some notable roster changes, even with a number of players departing via free agency. J.D. Martinez is an obvious wild card here, as he’d open a big chunk of change if he opts out of his deal, but that’d also leave a significant hole in the lineup.

So, does that mean Betts is destined to depart? Not at all, per the organizational leadership. Though Betts has made clear time and time again that he’s not interested in an extension, Werner says the team intends to actively pursue further extension talks this winter — and has already reached out to Betts’s agent to get the ball rolling.

Even if Betts remains on the roster, at least for one more campaign, it’s fair to wonder whether the Red Sox are set to begin some kind of reloading effort. The trio denied that they see the upcoming season as a moment to step back from full competitiveness. It remains difficult to imagine a complete rebuild, but it’s equally hard to imagine how the club will compile a truly competitive roster while also drawing down payroll so significantly.

Needless to say, making the difficult tradeoffs that will be required promises to be quite tricky. While the Red Sox say they have ample confidence in the four executives currently guiding the baseball operations department following Dave Dombrowski’s ouster, they plan to seek an experienced general manager to take the helm. That sets up a fascinating outside hiring search, with the organization seeking a tried-and-true baseball ops leader.

The circumstances of Dombrowski’s departure remain a hot topic, particularly given the notable gap between the event and today’s full-scale media availability. Henry explains that differences arose in the immediate aftermath of last year’s World Series win and couldn’t be bridged throughout the ensuing campaign. While some have wondered whether the upheaval at the top could compromise the Boston organization’s ability to lure whatever exec they set their sights upon, Werner suggested that’s not a concern held internally. “I consider this position to be one of the most coveted in all of sports,” he said.

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