Reactions To Red Sox’ Hiring Of Dave Dombrowski
The Red Sox dropped a stunner on the baseball world yesterday when they announced the hiring of veteran executive Dave Dombrowski as the team’s president of baseball operations. Ben Cherington is said to have declined the chance to stay on in the GM role, preferring instead to look for a new opportunity elsewhere.
Here are some of the many reactions to the move:
- The deal with the Red Sox will give Dombrowski a raise over the $3MM annual salary he was earning in Detroit, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. The Nationals also had interest in Dombrowski, though they never made him an offer, Nightengale adds. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays had more serious conversations, and their involvement pushed the Red Sox to giving Dombrowski full decisionmaking authority, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Mariners were “next in line,” though, had Boston not pulled off a deal, Nightengale further tweets.
- Parting with Cherington is just one of the surprising angles of this move. As Nightengale reports, Dombrowski explained that he offered Cherington the chance to stay but understood why he did not. “We offered Ben the opportunity to stay as GM,” said Dombrowski. “I had a lengthy conversation. He could have stayed. We like Ben. He’s a good person. I don’t know him very well, but I have the utmost respect for him and as a person. But I could understand it. It hit him very quickly. He was surprised. As president of baseball operations, you have control over making deals, and the final say in hiring. I understand it would be a transition with him.”
- It may be a bit too soon to evaluate Cherington’s own legacy as the Red Sox GM, but as Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes, it’s already clear that it is a somewhat complicated one. While he won a World Series and leaves the club with a well-stocked farm, Cherington was not able to develop a stream of pitching and whiffed on several significant decisions.
- Bringing in Dombrowski represents a significant philosophical shift for the Red Sox, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes. While it’s hard to see the organization suddenly shelving its analytics work, Heyman notes that they’ll get a hands-on executive in Dombrowski with a penchant for swinging quality trades and keeping a winner on the field.
- Indeed, the scope of the shift is somewhat hard to overstate. Red Sox “vaporized the way they’ve done business for the last 13 years” overnight, writes John Tomase of WEEI.com. And as Sean McAdam of CSSNE.com explains, it completes a month of change at many key levels of the organization.
- Dombrowski has a history of dealing away top prospects to bolster his clubs at the major league level, Ben Badler of Baseball America notes on Twitter. Now, he’s in charge of a Boston organization flush with young talent, and Badler rightly notes that it’ll be a fascinating offseason to watch.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/18/15
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Lefty Chris Capuano accepted an outright assignment with the Yankees yesterday, as Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog tweeted, but the club has already announced Capuano’s recall today. The Yanks’ staff was stretched when starter Bryan Mitchell left early last night after taking a scary comebacker off of his head. Capuano, who signed a $5MM free agent deal with New York over the offseason, will return to the open market after 2015.
- The Padres have outrighted right-hander Dale Thayer, the club announced. Thayer was designated recently when the club signed fellow righty Bud Norris to join its pen. He has struggled this year, but does have an impressive track record in recent campaigns since making a late-career breakout. Over 65 1/3 innings last season, Thayer worked to a 2.34 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. He is earning $1.38MM this year and can be controlled for two more seasons via arbitration.
Maikel Franco To DL With Fractured Wrist
Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco will head to the DL after being diagnosed with a “small, non-displaced fracture” in his left wrist, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports on Twitter. 24-year-old outfielder Aaron Altherr will be called up to take his roster spot.
It’s not yet clear what kind of time Franco will miss, but he’ll be in a splint for two to three weeks, per Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). With just six weeks to go in the regular season, it certainly seems plausible that he’ll be out the rest of the way.
That would represent a mildly disappointing way to wrap up an outstanding year for the 22-year-old. But while Philadelphia would surely rather he continue to develop and draw fans into the park, the seemingly minor injury won’t do much to detract from the fact that Franco has already compiled a .277/.340/.490 slash with 13 home runs over 326 plate appearances this year in his first extended action at the big league level.
With a full offseason still to come, it seems unlikely that Franco will have much difficulty recovering and getting back to full speed in time for the spring. And after his breakout work thus far, it is all but certain that he’ll be penciled in as the starting third baseman for the rebuilding Phils entering 2016, whether or not he returns to the field this season.
West Notes: Mariners, Gyorko, Dodgers Pen
MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in extending its best wishes to veteran Giants beat writer Henry Schulman, who announced yesterday that he is undergoing treatment for a serious illness. We wish Hank a speedy recovery and look forward to his return to the beat.
With a tip of the cap to one of the game’s preeminent journalists, here are some notes from out west:
- The Mariners are beginning to assess whether to make a front office move, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, with the team still not decided on whether to bring back GM Jack Zduriencik. Rosenthal addresses the idea of Seattle pursuing Dave Dombrowski for a front office role, noting that many in the game see it as a likely fit, but it appears that the connection is being made on paper rather than through actual indications of specific interest.
- Padres infielder Jedd Gyorko made his first-ever professional appearance at shortstop yesterday, and it seems there is at least an outside chance that he could be considered there in the future. While manager Pat Murphy did not give much of an indication of the club’s plans, as MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets, neither did he dismiss it as a spot start. “We’ve got to see if our hunch is right first,” Murphy responded when asked whether Gyorko was auditioning for a new position next season.
- The Dodgers bullpen has had its ups and downs this year, but one issue it has not struggled with much is sufficient rest, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group explains. With plenty of turnover and careful tracking of the work load, the team has minimized the wear and tear on its relief arms. Of course, as Hoornstra notes, it’s fair to ask whether that tack has been successful, as the pen has struggled at times (in particular, of late).
Latest On Bobby Parnell
2:21pm: The team has announced the DL stint, saying that Parnell is dealing with shoulder tendinitis, per Matt Ehalt of the Record (via Twitter).
12:36pm: The Mets have placed right-handed reliever Bobby Parnell on the 15-day DL, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (Twitter links). While that is not terribly interesting in its own right, Puma adds that the team first gave Parnell the choice of being designated for assignment or accepting an optional assignment to Triple-A.
Parnell, 30, still seems to be working his way to full strength after Tommy John surgery, and Puma notes that he’ll likely hit the DL with some kind of elbow fatigue cited as the reason. But the real cause of the move is the lackluster performance of the club’s former closer. Over 19 1/3 innings on the season, he’s permitted 12 earned runs, 24 hits, and 12 walks while registering only ten strikeouts.
Needless to say, the road back from his TJ procedure last spring has not been a smooth one for Parnell. His progress was slower than hoped at times, and his average fastball velocity is down nearly two miles per hour from the 95.1 mph it registered in his last full season (2013).
With the move to the DL, Parnell won’t be capable of returning to the active roster for two weeks. And it remains to be seen what the Mets intend to do thereafter. While rosters will have expanded in the interim, the club’s apparent willingness to designate him does not seem to bode well for his chances at opportunities down the stretch (and into the postseason). Parnell will be a free agent after the season, and as things stand he’ll be looking at a one-year deal to rebuild his value.
NL East Notes: Gordon, Hech, Stanton, Nats, Phils, Braves
The Marlins‘ top two extension priorities over the offseason are middle infielders Dee Gordon and Adeiny Hechavarria, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports. It remains to be seen whether Miami will be able to gain traction in talks with the pair, which it already controls through the 2018 campaign. But, per Frisaro, the club is more concerned with striking new deals with Gordon and/or Hechavarria than it is with acquiring any particular player on the open market. A deal with Jose Fernandez still seems unlikely, he writes, and the same holds true of Marcell Ozuna.
More from Miami and the rest of the NL East:
- While it remains unclear whether Fernandez will make it back to the Marlins this year, slugger Giancarlo Stanton appears to be on track to return to action at some point, as the Associated Press reports (via ESPN.com). Stanton began hitting yesterday, though his precise timetable remains unclear. The club will surely be cautious given its place in the standings and massive commitment to the 25-year-old.
- Nationals ownership is “unhappy” with the team’s performance this year, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. It would be hard to imagine any other general reaction to a club that suddenly finds itself below the .500 mark despite a big payroll and high expectations, of course, and it’s not at all clear whether that sentiment will manifest itself in any modification in the decisionmaking structure. Rosenthal goes on to discuss the team’s front office situation, but it all seems to boil down to one key point: change is unlikely unless the Lerner family no longer wishes to place its trust in GM and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo. (For what it’s worth, from my perspective, it seems difficult to blame him for the sudden fall-off of numerous key contributors, and the organization appears well-prepared for a coming offseason that will feature roster turnover at multiple key positions.)
- The insurance policy on Matt Harrison‘s contract — which was acquired by the Phillies in the Cole Hamels deal — could still pay out to Philadelphia, Rosenthal suggests, though there is plenty of uncertainty. As he notes, too, the Phils would need to use at least some of any savings to fill in innings that might otherwise be occupied by the veteran lefty.
- The future for the Phillies, of course, will depend less on freeing some extra cash than it will on the development of the team’s best young players. Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News profiles one if the organization’s most important assets: 20-year-old shortstop J.P. Crawford.
- Braves reliever Chris Withrow, who was acquired along with Juan Uribe earlier this year, is progressing but likely won’t pitch this year, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Withrow is still working back from Tommy John and back surgeries. Meanwhile, another Atlanta upside grab — Rule 5 pick Daniel Winkler — is on track to take the bump in fall or winter league action, O’Brien adds on Twitter. Once activated from the DL, Winkler will need to stick on the active roster next year for the club to retain his rights.
Dodgers Set To Overhaul International Scouting Department
The Dodgers have notified several significant members of their international scouting department that their contracts will not be renewed, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez and Ken Gurnick report. While the team’s future plans remain unknown, it now seems committed to overhauling its international operations over the coming months.
Included in the cuts is vice president of international scouting Bob Engle. Originally hired a few months after the team signed Yasiel Puig back in 2012, Engle was the man chosen to lead the club’s broader efforts to ramp up its presence in the baseball hotbeds around the world.
Despite significant front office turnover in the interim, international spending has continued to be a major element of the organization’s efforts to leverage its nearly-unmatched financial might. Key players such as Puig, injured starter Hyun-jin Ryu, and top pitching prospect Julio Urias have come from abroad. Most recently, the Dodgers inked the since-traded Hector Olivera and paced the league in July 2 spending (including a $16MM bonus for Cuban righty Yadier Alvarez).
Engle is the top executive who the team is parting with, but hardly the only one. Per the report, the Dodgers have also dismissed Latin America scouting coordinator Patrick Guerrero, who came with Engle from the Mariners. “The only explanation I got was that they wanted to go in a different direction and nothing else,” Guerrero told MLB.com. “I understand. That’s baseball.”
Also left looking for new jobs are Dominican Republic scouting coordinator Franklin Taveras, director of international and minor league relations Joseph Reaves, special advisor for international player performance Rafael Colon, senior manager of international scouting Hidenori Sueyoshi, and Latin America field coordinator Bruce Hurst.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi continue to remake the organization on and off the field. With a ban on significant July 2 spending forthcoming for the next two signing seasons, the front office seemingly decided it was an opportune moment to turn over the team’s international operations.
Rangers Notes: Holland, Darvish, Martin, Mazara
The Rangers looked like future buyers when they dealt for Cole Hamels at the trade deadline, but the team now finds itself right in the mix for the postseason. Here’s the latest out of Texas:
- Left-hander Derek Holland is set to return from the DL on Wednesday, executive VP of communications John Blake announced on Twitter. Holland, 28, has seen very little time on the bump at the MLB level over the past two seasons as he’s dealt with knee and shoulder issues. He’s not only an important piece of the team’s current efforts to crack the playoffs, but will be entering a critical campaign in 2016. Guaranteed $10MM next year, the southpaw can be controlled by a pair of options thereafter, but will need to prove both health and effectiveness for the club to exercise them.
- Staff ace Yu Darvish also hit a milestone in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, though he remains a ways off. As Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets, the outstanding righty began a throwing program today and did not experience any discomfort afterwards. Darvish remains a huge key to the club’s near future, and will surely look to stay on track to be a significant contributor next season.
- Outfielder Leonys Martin, meanwhile, is set to visit with a specialist to determine the source of pain in his hand, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The club is worried that he may have broken his hamate bone, which would end his season. Martin has struggled at the big league level this year, though he’d been playing well since his demotion to Triple-A. If nothing else, his speed and high-quality defense would make him a very useful player to have up with expanded rosters in September.
- With Martin out, top prospect Nomar Mazara has been bumped up to the Triple-A level, Grant adds. The 20-year-old outfielder owns a .284/.357/.443 slash with 13 long balls over 470 plate appearances at Double-A on the year. He’ll now slot in alongside fellow prized youngster Joey Gallo in the Round Rock lineup.
Braves Likely To Bring Mike Minor Back For 2016
The Braves are likely to retain injured lefty Mike Minor for the 2016 season, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (links to Twitter). He cautions that it’s not yet certain how the team will proceed.
Minor, 27, can be controlled through arbitration for two more years. Since agreeing to a $5.6MM salary for the present season, a figure which was elevated by his prior Super Two qualification, Minor has accrued a full year of service time on the DL after undergoing shoulder surgery. Even before his lost 2015, Minor had followed up an outstanding 2013 campaign (204 2/3 innings, 3.21 ERA) with an injury-shortened disappointment last year (145 1/3, 4.77).
While Atlanta would undoubtedly prefer to keep the rights to the talented southpaw, and will have the benefit of watching him begin to throw in the coming weeks in assessing its position, that high salary starting point poses an issue. The CBA provides that teams “may not tender, sign or renew a Player under reserve to the Club” to a contract with a salary “that constitutes a reduction in excess of 20% of his salary for Major League service in the previous season.”
Salaries are rarely reduced through arbitration regardless, but that rule creates a firm $4.48MM floor if Atlanta tenders Minor a contract. The very same consideration led Atlanta to non-tender pitchers Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy last offseason. But in Minor’s case, O’Brien suggests on Twitter, there may be greater team interest in trying to strike a deal in that range if one can be had.
Of course, tendering a contract would not only make for a firm commitment but would open up the possibility of being forced to pay more money. The Braves could instead look to work something out before the non-tender deadline in early December. Particularly given that Minor will still be a full season away from qualifying for free agency through accumulation of service time, he could presumably also be approached with some kind of multi-year arrangement (as both Medlen and Beachy ultimately landed as free agents) that provides him with some guaranteed money while giving the club a chance to participate in the upside through cheap future guarantees and/or option years.
It will certainly be interesting to see how things proceed, given that the Braves have been actively investing in fairly risky pitching talent. On the other side of the equation, as Minor and his representatives will be well aware, clubs around the league have shown a good deal of willingness to spend on injured pitching on the free agent market in recent campaigns.
Mets Notes: Bullpen, Montero, Wright
Here’s the latest on the Mets, who currently enjoy a healthy 4.5-game cushion over the fading Nationals in the NL East:
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson says that he does not “foresee” the team pulling off a deal to bolster its bullpen, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (Twitter links). While New York has had some uneven results out of its pen, Alderson said that the players who have cleared waivers would not seem to offer much of an upgrade. He did indicate that righty Vic Black could be brought back up to add another arm.
- One player who won’t be able to provide support from inside the organization is righty Rafael Montero. Alderson said that Montero has suffered a setback that may well see him shelved the rest of the season, as Puma reports (Twitter links). The New York GM said that the promising 24-year-old, who has dealt with shoulder issues for much of the year, is now back to “square one” in the recovery process.
- In more promising injury news, the Mets seem to be lining up a big league return next week for third baseman David Wright, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. Wright, who has been out for an extended stretch with potentially serious back problems, could be activated for the team’s series at the Phillies. The Mets are obviously eager to welcome back their highest-paid player and will hope that he can provide a boost at the plate. While trade deadline infield additions Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson have boosted the club’s depth, neither has hit particularly well since coming to New York.