Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

AL West Links: Cole, Angels, Rangers, Showalter, Washington, Mariners

By | at

The Astros’ acquisition of Gerrit Cole last offseason has been a clear win for the team, as The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd (subscription required) writes in an analysis of how well Cole has both performed on the mound and fit into the team’s clubhouse culture.  In Houston, Cole said, “you’re not asked to conform to a system.  You’re asked to use the system to make yourself better. So, from an analytic standpoint, from a scouting report standpoint, from teammates and instructors, there’s just a high level of quality here that’s ahead of quite a bit of other teams….They’re really forward thinking.”  Cole’s biggest start in an Astros uniform comes tomorrow in Game 2 of the ALDS, and a victory would give the Astros a huge 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five series.

Some more from around the AL West…

  • The Angels aren’t likely to name their new manager before the World Series, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group opines, as the team is planning a wide-ranging search that includes many candidates from outside the organization.  The Halos won’t be making any public statements about potential candidates, though various reports have suggested the club is interested in names including Eric Chavez, Josh Paul, Brad Ausmus, and Joe Espada.
  • The Rangers are also looking for a new manager, and MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan takes a broad look at several potential names that could surface as candidates.  Sullivan’s list includes internal choices (bench coach and interim manager Don Wakamatsu, third base coach Tony Beasley, first base coach Steve Buechele, Triple-A manager Jason Wood, and farm director Jayce Tingler), as well as several coaches with other teams as well as veteran ex-managers.  White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing received an interview the last time the Rangers were looking for a new manager, Sullivan notes, and could potentially be considered again.  Two names that won’t be part of the search are former Rangers managers Ron Washington and Buck Showalter.
  • A clubhouse skirmish reportedly involving Jean Segura and Dee Gordon was the most overt sign of how the Mariners’ chemistry seemed to falter alongside the team’s middling record down the stretch, as Seattle faded out of contention.  One of the team’s offseason priorities, TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune writes, will be to address whether or not changes need to be made to improve the team’s internal focus and culture.  “I don’t know what comes first — the cart or the horse, winning and clubhouse chemistry, or losing and clubhouse strife,” GM Jerry Dipoto said, noting that some frustration and tension amongst teammates is natural when a team isn’t performing well.
  • In other AL West news from earlier today on MLBTR Trade Rumors, we passed on several Athletics-related notes.

A’s Notes: Davis, Melvin, Lucroy, Lowrie, Kelley

By | at

After falling short in the AL wild card game, the Athletics are looking ahead to what they hope is another year of contention in 2019.  Baseball operations executive VP Billy Beane and general manager David Forst met with reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and NBCSports.com’s Ben Ross) today to discuss some pressing matters as the A’s enter the offseason…

  • The A’s have had “some preliminary conversations” with Khris Davis’ representatives about a contract extension, Beane said.  The two sides have already touched base about an extension multiple times this year, initially a one-year deal to cover Davis’ final year of arbitration eligibility in 2019, and then talks of a multi-year agreement over the summer.  After a league-best 48 homers, Davis is due for a big arbitration raise over his $10.5MM salary from 2018, and any sort of pricey extension is pretty rare for the low-payroll Athletics.  Still, Beane did say last year that the team was looking to identify and extend players it felt were cornerstones, and Davis’ consistent power production has certainly been a big boost to the Oakland lineup.
  • A contract extension for manager Bob Melvin is likely coming by early next week.  “Bob is one of the best in the game and he’s perfect for us.  The idea is he’s here for a long time and for the rest of his career,” Beane said.  The two sides were expected to meet after the season to discuss a new deal, and it appears as though negotiations will wrap up in quick fashion.  Oakland has a 634-599 record and four postseason appearances over Melvin’s eight seasons as manager, and this year’s 97-win campaign certainly made Melvin deserving of a longer commitment beyond the end of the 2019 season, when his current deal expires.  The length of Melvin’s next contract will be of interest, given that Slusser reported over the summer about rumblings that the trio of Melvin, Beane, and Forst might not stay together beyond 2019 — Melvin’s deal could give a hint about Beane and/or Forst’s future.
  • The A’s figure to have interest in re-signing Jonathan Lucroy, with Slusser feeling that Lucroy would be looking for a two-year deal but the team would prefer another one-year contract.  Prospect Sean Murphy looks to be the catcher of the future, though “Sean’s got all of three games at Triple-A, so it’s hard to say where he starts 2019,” Forst said.  Murphy hit .288/.358/.498 over 289 PA at Double-A this season, though his season was shortened by a broken hamate bone.  Until Murphy gets more seasoning, Lucroy would be a logical choice as a veteran bridge, and finding that multi-year free agent deal could be difficult for Lucroy given that he was forced to settle for a one-year pact in free agency last offseason and is now coming off a much weaker year at the plate.  In a separate piece yesterday, Slusser reported that there hadn’t yet been any talks between Lucroy and the Athletics.
  • Free agent second baseman Jed Lowrie reiterated that he wants to stay with the A’s, saying he has “made it abundantly clear” to all parties.  Oakland had interest in an extension back in July, so there certainly appears to be some momentum on both sides to work out a new deal.  Lowrie turns 35 in April, though a multi-year appears to be in order after back-to-back impressive seasons — the veteran hit .272/.356/.448 with 37 homers and 86 doubles in 1325 PA since the start of the 2017 campaign.
  • In an appearance on the A’s Plus podcast with Slusser back in August, reliever Shawn Kelley hinted that “it’s possible” 2018 could be his last season.  “I’ve told a lot of my close friends [and] my family, that it would take something pretty either convenient location-wise or something that maybe I couldn’t turn down to probably get me to come back to another Spring Training,” Kelley said.  That would seemingly put a return to the A’s in question, as the Kelley family’s offseason home is in Chattanooga (far removed from Oakland or the Athletics’ Spring Training camp in Mesa, Arizona), though his feelings could have changed since the time the podcast was released.  Arm issues could be one reason for Kelley’s decision, as he has two Tommy John surgeries on his record and joked that “my elbow is about 85 [years old], it feels like some days.”  Performance-wise, the 34-year-old Kelley is still pitching at a high level, bouncing back from an injury-shortened 2017 to post a 2.94 ERA, 9.2 K/9, and 4.55 K/BB rate over 49 innings for the Nationals and A’s this season, though he also missed two weeks to the DL with an ulnar nerve problem.

Mets Notes: Levine, GM Search, Ownership

By | at

The latest from Citi Field…

  • The Mets contacted the Twins for permission to speak to Minnesota GM Thad Levine about New York’s open general manager spot, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (Twitter link), but Levine declined.  Taking the Mets job would’ve presumably allowed Levine to fully command a front office, whereas chief baseball officer Derek Falvey current sits atop the decision-making pyramid in Minnesota.  Still, Levine has only been with the Twins for less than two years, and he and Falvey now have the opportunity to more completely put their mark on the organization now that they’ll be able to select their own manager.  Of course, there are numerous reasons why Levine declined to speak to the Mets, and perhaps he is simply comfortable in his current position.
  • The Mets did receive permission from other teams to speak to other candidates, SNY.tv’s Andy Martino reports (Twitter links), and they will begin interviews next week.  Several people have been linked to the Mets in reports and rumors, though the Mets are “being extremely protective about names” involved in their search, with one source telling Martino that “some of the names floated publicly are wrong.”
  • Owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon denied outgoing GM Sandy Alderson’s request for additional analytics department employees, The Athletic’s Tim Britton reports (subscription required), though Jeff Wilpon said in a meeting with the media last week that ownership hadn’t denied requests for front office upgrades.  This wasn’t the only seeming contradiction that Britton found during Wilpon’s talk, leaving Britton to wonder if ownership is really willing to make necessary changes, given how often the Wilpons are accused of involving themselves in baseball operations decisions.  The analytics department is a particularly interesting subject as it relates to the GM search, as Jeff Wilpon is reportedly more inclined to hire a younger, more statistically-oriented GM while his father Fred would prefer a more experienced candidate with a traditional scouting and player development background.  As per a recent piece from The Athletic’s Marc Carig and Eno Sarris, the Mets have one of the smallest analytical staffs of any team in baseball.

Latest On The Mets’ General Manager Search

By | at

3:25pm: MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo hears differently regarding Duquette, tweeting that the longtime Orioles GM is not a candidate for the Mets’ job and is not in line to receive an interview. Martino agrees, tweeting “definitively” that Duquette will not be interviewed.

2:34pm: The Mets haven’t yet contacted Dan Duquette, though he is expected to receive an interview with the team, Mike Puma of the New York Post writes.  As a further detail about Cherington, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link) that he also removed himself from consideration for the Giants’ search. Cherington is open to GM opportunities but would prefer the opportunity to “build an organization from the ground up,” per Rosenthal.

9:12am: The Mets are beginning to compile names and line up interviews to determine the identity of their next general manager, though Blue Jays VP of baseball operations Ben Cherington won’t be interviewing for the position, SNY.tv’s Andy Martino reports.  While neither Cherington or the Mets commented on the situation, Martino hears that Cherington is happy in his current job in Toronto.

Cherington won a World Series during his tenure as Boston’s general manager (covering the 2012 season to August 2015), and joined the Jays in September 2016.  He was linked to previous front office vacancies with the Twins and Braves over the last two years, though declined offers to interview for those positions; the Giants are also reportedly interested in Cherington for their current GM opening.

Cherington recently stated that while he was open to the idea of becoming a general manager again, he was enjoying his work for the Jays.  There doesn’t appear to be much urgency on Cherington’s part to leap back into the fray of running a front office, and there seems to be enough consistent interest in his services that he can afford to pick and choose from potential situations.

The Mets have reportedly had interest in speaking to Cherington for weeks, though even if he isn’t a candidate, the club still has roughly 10-12 people under serious consideration to be their next general manager.  MLB executive Kim Ng, Braves assistant GM Perry Minasian, Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp, and former Orioles GM Dan Duquette are just a few of the names who have been rumored to be on the Mets’ radar, and it was reported yesterday that former Rangers and Brewers GM Doug Melvin would be receiving an interview.

Cardinals director of player development Gary LaRocque is also expected to be interviewed in the near future, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets.  LaRocque was initially mentioned as a candidate of interest back in August, owing to his past tenure with the Mets organization from 1998-2008 and his 40+ years of experience in a wide variety of different scouting, front office, and on-field roles in the Dodgers, Mets, and Cardinals organizations.

Heyman’s Latest: Giants, Mets, DeRosa, Yost, Lux

By | at

Here are some of the highlights from the weekly roundup of notes from Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman…

  • Rays senior VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Brewers assistant GM Matt Arnold, and former Padres and D’Backs GM Josh Byrnes are under consideration from the Mets and Giants for their general manager positions.  Reports from last summer indicated that Byrnes was likely to stay in his current role as the Dodgers’ VP of baseball ops, though it isn’t known if his stance has changed.
  • MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa “has been linked” to the Rangers’ managerial job, and Heyman also notes that DeRosa could be a candidate of interest for the Blue Jays as they look for a new dugout boss.  DeRosa has worked as a broadcaster since retiring after the 2013 season, though he has often been potential as a possible future manager, even interviewing with the Marlins in 2015 and the Mets last winter for dugout vacancies.  DeRosa played for both the Rangers and Jays over the course of his 16-year big league career, as well as a brief stint with the Indians (when Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins were in Cleveland’s organization).
  • “The strong belief is that” 2019 is Ned Yost’s last year as manager of the Royals.  Yost hinted at such a timeline near the end of the 2017 campaign, and his recently-announced contract extension only covered the 2019 season.
  • Infield prospect Gavin Lux was the Orioles’ “main target” in the Manny Machado trade talks with the Dodgers. Los Angeles managed to swing the deal without moving Lux, the 20th overall pick of the 2016 draft.  Lux broke out in his third pro season, hitting .324/.399/.514 over a combined 524 PA at the high-A and Double-A levels.  MLBTR’s Jason Martinez recently cited Lux as one of his top minor league performers of 2018, and MLB.com ranked Lux 82nd on its season-ending list of the top 100 prospects in baseball.

Managerial Notes: Snitker, Espada, Blue Jays, Orioles

By | at

The Braves were considering parting ways with Brian Snitker at the end of the 2017 season, and the manager revealed to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that he considered quitting out of frustration with then-Braves GM John Coppolella and president of baseball operations John Hart.  Snitker reached the point of contacting a clubhouse attendant back in Atlanta to say “Pack my things, I’m not coming back” after Coppolella criticized one of Snitker’s decisions during the Braves’ third-to-last game of the season, an otherwise meaningless matchup against the Marlins.  Snitker stuck around long enough, however, to see his situation unexpectedly change, due to Coppolella’s shocking resignation in the wake of a league investigation into international signing violations.  With Coppolella and, eventually, Hart both leaving the organization, Snitker formed a good relationship with new Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos and the rest is history, with the Braves winning the NL East.  Bowman’s piece is well worth a full read, as it details Snitker’s unlikely path to his first Major League managerial job after spending four decades in the Braves organization as a player, coach, and minor league skipper.

Here’s more on some of the open managerial situations around baseball…

  • The Angels have interest in Astros bench coach Joe Espada as a managerial candidate, ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera reports.  The 43-year-old Espada previously worked as a third base coach for the Marlins and Yankees before taking his current position in Houston last winter, and Espada has also been a coach for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and a manager in the Puerto Rican winter league.  Espada has ties to Angels GM Billy Eppler, as both worked together with the Yankees in 2014-15, plus Espada briefly played in the Rockies’ minor league system in 2001 when Eppler was a scout in the Colorado organization.
  • The Blue Jays are considering Giants VP of player development David Bell and MLB Network analyst Dave Valle as part of their managerial search, as per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links).  As Rosenthal notes, Bell is also a candidate for the Reds’ manager position, and has been mentioned as a potential successor to Bruce Bochy in San Francisco.  Before becoming the Giants’ farm director, Bell worked for the Cardinals as a bench coach and assistant hitting coach, the Cubs as a third base coach, and as a manager for the Reds’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.  Valle would be something of an outside-the-box choice, as his only pro managing or coaching experience was one season managing Seattle’s A-ball affiliate in 2014.  Since wrapping up his 13-year playing career in 1996, Valle has been a TV and radio broadcaster for the Mariners, as well as a broadcaster for MLB Network since 2009.
  • In another tweet, Rosenthal also listed Eric Wedge, John McDonald, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Stubby Clapp as likely candidates for the Blue Jays job.  The four names have often been mentioned in connection with the Jays’ search in recent weeks, plus bench coach DeMarlo Hale and Double-A manager John Schneider are also known to be under consideration.
  • The Orioles officially announced yesterday that Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette wouldn’t be returning to the club in 2019, though the fact that the team waited until after the season to announce the changes “makes absolutely no sense” to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link).  Both Showalter and Duquette were in the last year of their contracts and there was a clear sense that changes would be made in the wake of Baltimore’s disastrous 115-loss season, so in Olney’s view, “valuable time [was] squandered” by the Orioles.  Rather than begin their search for a new manager and GM over the last several weeks or months, the O’s will now be competing for candidates with other teams looking to fill managerial or front office vacancies.

Rangers Notes: Daniels, Pitching, Mazara, Chirinos

By | at

The latest from Arlington…

  • In his end-of-season meeting with the media, Rangers GM Jon Daniels told MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan and other reporters that “starting pitching is still a priority” for the offseason in the wake of the team’s lackluster rotation performance in 2018.  That said, Daniels also expressed an openness to explore pitching upgrades in all forms, such as how other teams have more heavily utilized a deep bullpen.  Texas seems to have a virtual blank slate to work from with its pitching, in terms of internal promotions or offseason acquisitions, as Sullivan figures that Mike Minor and Jose Leclerc are the only current arms who are locks for the 2019 roster.
  • Despite coming off a 95-loss season, Daniels hinted at something of a rebuild on the fly, as he thinks it possible that the Rangers could contend next year if things break right.  “Our belief is we can take steps forward next year. I don’t believe in the thought of tanking. That’s not in our mindset,” Daniels said.  A big signing splash doesn’t appear to be in the cards, as Daniels also doesn’t “think this is the winter we are going all in on the top free agents necessarily.”
  • Daniels also mentioned the possibility of trading a left-handed hitting outfielder to acquire pitching, noting that “They potentially fit us very well; they potentially fit other teams really well.  As we look to address our pitching situation, we’re gonna have to talk about our areas of depth, and that’s one of them.”  Of the four lefty bats in the outfield, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News opines that Nomar Mazara could be the best fit as a trade chip — Willie Calhoun is too good a prospect, Shin-Soo Choo’s contract is too large, and Joey Gallo has delivered more results in his brief career.  While Mazara has only been okay over his first three MLB seasons, he doesn’t turn 24 until April, and is still controllable for three more seasons via arbitration.  It would be a risk to trade (and possibly be selling low on) a former top prospect like Mazara, though Sherrington feels such “a bold move” is necessary to help a rotation that is so thin on Major League-ready arms.
  • Robinson Chirinos is likely to have his club option exercised by the Rangers, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News predicts, and the original $2.375MM cost of that 2019 option is now closer to $4MM based on plate appearance-related escalators in the catcher’s contract.  It’s a reasonable price to retain Chirinos, even if his numbers took a step back after a strong 2017 season, and his pitch-framing statistics took a nosedive (as per StatCorner and Baseball Prospectus).  Grant doesn’t figure Texas will exercise their other club options, on Martin Perez, Matt Moore, and Doug Fister.  A case could be made for retaining Perez ($7.5MM) or Fister ($4.5MM) just because the Rangers are so short on pitching, though neither showed much in 2018 — Perez lost his rotation spot, while Fister spent much of the year on the DL with a knee injury.  Of course, the Rangers could decline either option and then look to re-sign either pitcher to a less-expensive contract.

Quick Hits: Mets, Melvin, Nationals, Lucroy, Dunning

By | at

The Mets will interview former Rangers and Brewers GM Doug Melvin about their open general manager’s position sometime in the next week or two, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.  Melvin, who has been a senior advisor for Milwaukee since being moved out of the GM role in August 2015, was first linked to the Mets by Fancred’s Jon Heyman back in August.  With Mets owner Fred Wilpon reportedly looking to hire a seasoned executive with a scouting background, Melvin’s 30 years of front office experience would certainly seem to make him a solid candidate, though COO Jeff Wilpon is seemingly more keen on a more analytical mind in New York’s baseball ops department.  Up to a dozen “serious candidates” are reportedly under consideration for the Mets’ GM job, however, so Melvin still faces tough competition.

Some more from around the baseball world as we prepare for the AL Wild Card game….

  • The Nationals are parting ways with assistant GM Bob Miller, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) reports that the Nats didn’t renew Miller’s contract.  Miller has worked in Washington for the last four seasons, and has longstanding ties with Nats GM Mike Rizzo when the two worked together with in Diamondbacks organization.  Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link) describes Miller as Rizzo’s “right-hand man” in the front office and the team’s “rules guru,” also crediting Miller with the trade that brought Trea Turner and Joe Ross to the Nationals.
  • Jonathan Lucroy didn’t contribute much at the plate for the Athletics this season, but the signing of the veteran catcher has become a major move in Oakland’s run to the AL wild card game, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.  Thanks to an up-and-down 2017 season, a dropoff in his framing numbers, and perhaps just the overall chilled free agent market, Lucroy had to settle for a one-year, $6.5MM deal from the A’s in March.  Catcher became a need for the A’s once Bruce Maxwell fell out of favor with the team, and Lucroy’s veteran knowledge became particularly important given the number of young arms that ended up on the roster due to injuries and a focus on the bullpen.  “I don’t even know the numbers of starters that we’ve gone through with unfortunate injuries,” closer Blake Treinen said.  “And then the amount of arms that we had in the bullpen through September, trying to keep hitters off balance, knowing what everybody has, trying to read their stuff on that day.  [Lucroy has] been pretty solid, to say the least, for us back there, and it’s a good luxury to have.”  Lucroy’s mediocre offensive numbers will limit his free agent market and keep him in Oakland’s price range, so it will be interesting to see if the A’s could pursue a reunion with the catcher in free agency this winter.
  • White Sox pitching prospect Dane Dunning’s season was cut short by an elbow sprain, but after rehabbing the injury, Dunning tells The Athletic’s James Fegan (subscription required) that he is hopeful of avoiding surgery altogether.  Dunning may even get a few instruction league innings under his belt just to test his arm before the offseason.  The 29th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Dunning came to Chicago as part of the trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Nationals, and his prospect stock has since been on the rise.  He cracked the preseason top-100 prospect lists from Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, and MLB.com prior to 2018, and then posted a 2.71 ERA, 3.85 K/BB rate, and 10.4 K/9 over 86 1/3 combined innings at A-ball and Double-A this season.

Cubs Expected To Keep Joe Maddon For 2019 Season

By | at

Though the Cubs’ postseason run ended earlier than the team hoped, the loss in last night’s NL wild card game doesn’t seem like it will lead to a change in the dugout.  The Cubs are expected to retain manager Joe Maddon through the 2019 season, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports.

Maddon is under contract through next year, in what will be the final season of the five-year, $25MM deal he signed to come to Chicago in October 2014.  MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reported earlier today, however, that a contract extension doesn’t appear to be coming in the near future, nor have Maddon’s representatives recently inquired about a new deal with Cubs management.

It’s hard to argue with Maddon’s track record since coming to Wrigleyville, as the Cubs have a 387-261 record and four postseason appearances in his four seasons as manager, highlighted by the curse-breaking 2016 World Series championship.  Despite all this success, there have been whispers that Maddon and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein “are not always on the same page,” as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal phrased it earlier today.  Some of Maddon’s in-game tactics led to some criticism from pundits and fans over the years, and Rosenthal’s subscription-only piece outlines some of the instances where Epstein could have found fault with Maddon’s decisions this year, such as possibly overusing Brandon Morrow.

While it seems as if Maddon could be entering the 2019 season as a “lame duck” manager, such a situation might not be unusual for either side.  Maddon said last winter that he doesn’t broach the subject of contract extensions, as “I believe if we take care of our own business properly, that’s the kind of stuff that takes care of itself.”  As Rosenthal noted, Epstein himself (plus GM Jed Hoyer and VP of scouting/player development Jason McLeod) was a lame duck for much of 2016, which was the last year of his initial five-year contract with the Cubs.  It wasn’t until September of that year that extensions were announced for all three parties, so it perhaps wouldn’t be a surprise if Epstein and Cubs ownership waited until later in the 2019 season to approach Maddon about a new contract.  Or, conversely, waiting could give both sides more time to decide if they want to continue their relationship.

Orioles Part Ways With Buck Showalter

By | at

The Orioles won’t be retaining manager Buck Showalter, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).  Showalter will be leaving the organization entirely, and not taking on any other role in the front office.

Showalter’s contract was set to officially expire this month, and it was widely expected that the O’s would be making a change in the dugout in the wake of their nightmarish 115-loss season.  There was some speculation that Showalter could be offered another job to remain in the organization, and while Showalter and O’s management had talks about that possibility in the past, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun tweets that “discussions never got to that point” in Showalter’s meeting with team ownership today.

Buck ShowalterThe Orioles’ hideous 2018 performance dragged Showalter’s record as the team’s manager under the .500 mark, ending his tenure at 669-684.  While the Showalter era ended on a very sour note, however, it was under his leadership that the Orioles enjoyed a big turnaround.  After taking over as manager partway through the 2010 season, Showalter stewarded the team through one more losing season in 2011, extending Baltimore’s stretch of sub-.500 seasons to fourteen.  That all changed in 2012, when the O’s made a surprise run to the AL Wild Card game and defeated the Rangers to earn a slot in the ALDS.

2012 was the first five straight non-losing seasons (the club went 81-81 in 2015) for the Orioles, a stretch that included another wild card appearance in 2016 and an AL East title in 2014.  That 2014 team was Showalter’s best, a squad that won 96 games and defeated the Tigers in the ALDS to notch Baltimore’s first postseason series victory since 1997.  All three of Showalter’s playoff teams in Baltimore outperformed their Pythagorean win-loss record, which is a good indicator of Showalter’s ability in managing a team that often seemed to catch opponents and pundits by surprise.  While the O’s had such talents as Manny Machado and Adam Jones anchoring the lineup, plus the likes of Nelson Cruz or Chris Davis contributing big seasons at the plate, Showalter navigated his team to success with a focus on slugging, defense, and a quality bullpen, despite a constant lack of stability in the starting rotation.

Showalter has now concluded four different managerial stints with as many different teams, having previously stewarded the Yankees from 1992-95, the Diamondbacks from 1998-2000, and the Rangers from 2003-06.  In each of those cases, Showalter helped take a struggling team (or, in Arizona’s case, an expansion team) to success, so he could stand out as a logical candidate for teams looking for a new manager this offseason.  The Reds, for instance, seem to be targeting experienced names as they look to take the next step in their rebuild, so Showalter could potentially end up on their radar screen.  The Blue Jays, Twins, Rangers, and Angels are the other clubs with managerial vacancies, plus more openings could still emerge.  Of course, this assumes that the 62-year-old Showalter is still interested in managing, as he has been rumored to have interest in front office positions in the past.

Recent reports have indicated that Dan Duquette could stay on as Baltimore’s executive VP of baseball operations, and since Showalter was already in place before Duquette was hired by the Orioles in November 2011, this could be Duquette’s first chance at hiring his own manager (which is no small thing, as there have long been rumors of friction between Duquette and Showalter).  It remains to be seen exactly what the Orioles braintrust of Duquette, Brady Anderson and the Angelos family will look for in a new manager, though with the O’s just entering what could be a lengthy rebuild, it seems likely that a new skipper will need to be experienced in developing and teaching young players.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top