Red Sox Notes: Managerial Search, Farrell, Gonzalez
With the Red Sox expected to name Ben Cherington as their GM on Tuesday, the organization must now focus on finding their next manager. Here's the latest on their search and more..
- Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters before tonight's game that the Red Sox and Cubs will have until November 1st to work out a deal before he intervenes, writes Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. Meanwhile, it's expected that Mike Hazen, the current director of player development for the BoSox, will be promoted to assistant GM when the dust settles.
- There will no more dialogue between the Red Sox and Cubs on compensation for Theo Epstein until after the Tuesday press conferences, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter) has been told.
- Recently, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca that they do not require rival teams to seek permission to interview their employees. That leads Davidi (via Twitter) to believe that they would not seek compensation should John Farrell decide to leave for the Red Sox.
- While there has been industry speculation that the Red Sox could go after a current manager of another big league team, they have no such plan at this time, a source familiar with the team's search told Alex Speier of WEEI.com. That would rule out possible candidates such as John Farrell of the Blue Jays and the Padres' Bud Black.
- Once he takes over as GM, Ben Cherington figures to interview candidates like Tim Wallach of the Dodgers, Dale Sveum of the Brewers, Pete Mackanin of the Phillies, and Dave Martinez of the Rays, writes Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald. If the Cubs decide to replace Mike Quade, Cherington may find himself vying with Epstein for Ryne Sandberg. Boston courted Sandberg to manage Triple-A Pawtucket before he took the Phillies’ Triple-A job instead.
- More from Alex Speier of WEEI.com as he wonders aloud if the Red Sox's first baseman of choice still would have been Adrian Gonzalez if they waited until after 2011 to make their move. Gonzalez's seven-year, $154MM contract goes into effect in 2012.
Week In Review: 10/16/11 – 10/22/11
With Game Four of the World Series in progress, let's take a look back at the week that was..
- On Friday night, the Red Sox and Cubs finally announced that Theo Epstein will take over as the Cubs' President of Baseball Operations. Both organizations will forego further comment until Tuesday, which is the next scheduled non-game day in the World Series. Compensation has not yet been agreed upon but the issue will be "resolved in the near term" according the the joint press release. The two sides have struggled to reach agreement this past week, with the Red Sox asking for pitcher Matt Garza at one point.
- Meanwhile, the Cubs will also pluck Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod from the Padres, but San Diego won't seek compensation. The Friars are set to promote Josh Byrnes to the GM job.
- It's widely assumed that Yu Darvish will be playing in the Major Leagues next year, but the 25-year-old right-hander wrote on his personal blog on the matter and explained that "nothing is decided." Earlier in the week, it was suggested that the Rangers, Blue Jays, Nationals, Royals, and Mariners are among the early favorites to land the hurler.
- After his team was knocked out of the playoffs, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told his fans that the club will be in the mix to try and retain free agent first baseman Prince Fielder. Tim Dierkes writes that he would be very surprised to see the Brewers re-sign Fielder within the exclusive negotation period.
- The Orioles continued their GM search this week and interviewed Jerry Dipoto of the Diamondbacks, Tony LaCava of the Blue Jays, and most recently Dodgers assistant GM De Jon Watson. They asked to talk with Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings but were denied permission.
- Speaking of the O's, reliever Jeremy Accardo is a free agent after refusing last week's outright assignment.
- The Angels top choice for GM is Rays' executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, but he's unlikely to leave his post in Tampa Bay for the job. The Halos will now move on to other candidates including their own Tory Hernandez, Kim Ng of MLB, Rick Hahn of the White Sox, Damon Oppenheimer and Billy Eppler of the Yankees and Jerry Dipoto of the Diamondbacks.
- The Nationals and righty Chien-Ming Wang continue to discuss an extension, but the two sides aren't yet close to a deal.
- Veteran reliever Arthur Rhodes wants to pitch in 2012 and then retire. Rhodes' preference is to pitch for the Cardinals in 2012, which would be Rhodes' 21st Major League season.
- Frank and Jamie McCourt confirmed that they have come to a financial agreement. Jamie will obtain $130MM and relinquish any claim to a share of the Dodgers. She will also no longer stand in the way of Frank's plan to sell the team's media rights.
- A number of high-profile White Sox players had poor showings in 2011, but GM Kenny Williams said in a radio interview that he will not be shopping players this offseason. Williams said that the club will look to build around its young core of talent including Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers, Alejandro de Aza, Brent Morel, and Gordon Beckham.
- After saying earlier this month that there was "too much drama" around the club, David Ortiz said that he wants to return for his 10th season with the Red Sox in 2012.
- Potential Astros owner Jim Crane reportedly wants $50MM off his $680MM purchase price as compensation for moving the club to the American League.
- In a radio interview this week, Selig said that the collective bargaining agreement talks were "constructive," though it would be "pretty optimistic" to hope that a new deal could be announced before the end of the World Series.
- General manager Neal Huntington said that the Pirates intend to decline club options for Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder after the conclusion of the World Series.
- The Yankees announced that they're declining their 2012 option for Damaso Marte. The left-hander missed the entire 2011 season after undergoing shoulder surgery last October and will get a $250K buyout instead of a $4MM salary for 2012.
- The Mets released reliever Ryota Igarashi. The Japanese right-hander signed a two-year, $3MM deal with the Mets in December 2009 but struggled to adjust to pitching in North America.
- The Nationals returned Rule 5 selection Elvin Ramirez to the Mets. The right-hander spent the season on the 60-day DL after undergoing an operation on his throwing shoulder.
- The Diamondbacks outrighted Sean Burroughs, Alberto Castillo and Robby Hammock to Triple-A.
- Blue Jays left-hander Rommie Lewis, infielder Chris Woodward and outfielder Dewayne Wise all elected free agency this week. The Blue Jays also claimed right-hander Jesse Chavez from the Royals.
- The Mets removed infielder Val Pascucci and right-handers Dale Thayer and Manny Alvarez from their 40-man roster.
- The Twins outrighted utility player Brian Dinkelman and left-hander Phil Dumatrait to Triple-A.
- Padres right-hander Jeff Fulchino elected free agency.
Phillies Notes: Madson, Nathan, Moyer, Lambe
The Phillies have a number of issues to address this winter, including Jimmy Rollins' impending free agency. The shortstop is after a five-year deal but the club will likely push for a shorter contract. Here's a look at some other news out of the City of Brotherly Love..
- General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. wants stability in the ninth inning, but committing top dollar and multiple years to a proven closer has its risks, opines Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Earlier this month, the GM said that if Phillies don't re-sign closer Ryan Madson, the club will go outside the organization for a replacement.
- On his blog, Gelb suggests that 37-year-old Joe Nathan could be a sensible choice for the Phillies this offseason. Nathan would come cheap and could serve as a stopgap while one of the club's young arms develop and build towards taking over the role of closer. The right-hander pitched 44.2 innings in 2011 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the 2010 season.
- Former Phillies left-hander Jamie Moyer, who will turn 49 in November, continues to eye a comeback in 2012, writes Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Moyer is roughly 11 months removed from undergoing Tommy John surgery.
- The Phillies reached out to Bryan Lambe about joining their organization just after he agreed to become an area scout for the Astros, tweets Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. Heyman calls Lambe a "man of integrity" for not wavering after giving his word to Houston.
NL Central Notes: Pujols, Pirates, Astros
Let's turn our attention to the National League Central where we lead off with, who else, Albert Pujols..
- If there was any doubt before, it's completely erased now: Albert Pujols is going to hit the free agent jackpot at the age of 31, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. One performance logically shouldn't have a great effect on a player's value, but Rosenthal argues that all it takes is one team to take a contrary position.
- If, as expected, the Pirates move on without Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder, GM Neal Huntington said the team is "comfortable" with their internal options at catcher but will explore outside options as well, writes Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The Astros have hired Bryan Lambe as an area scout, tweets MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. Lambe and Wayne Krivsky, both hires of ex-GM Omar Minaya, were let go by the Mets exactly one month ago today.
MLBTR Originals
Here's look back at the original pieces we published here at MLBTR this week..
- This week we completed our analysis of the arbitration eligible players for all 30 teams, over 200 players in total. You can check out the complete series right here. Some of the biggest names in the series include Tim Lincecum, Matt Kemp, Cole Hamels, Hunter Pence, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, and Jacoby Ellsbury.
- We’ve been bringing you closer to the those who were identified by their peers as potential Major League GMs with a series of interviews. Recently, Tim Dierkes caught up with A.J. Preller, the Rangers' senior director of player personnel.
- The upcoming class of free agents figures to present an interesting study in the way teams are evaluating relievers these days, writes Dan Mennella. Mennella looks at this winter's available closers and how they were used in 2011.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith brought us the service time breakdown for the Angels' Mike Trout. If the Angels want to keep Trout under their control for an extra year, they could option him to the minor leagues for the season's first three months. In doing so, they'd ensure that Trout doesn't pick up more than 88 days of service in 2011.
- Non-tender candidate Hong-Chih Kuo went from being one of the most dominant bullpen arms in the game last September to taking about retirement this September, writes Mike Axisa.
- Tim Dierkes examined the free agent and trade market for catchers this winter. The Rays, Angels, Pirates, and Twins may seek help at catcher this winter, and none of the available players should be expensive to acquire.
- Do you prefer your MLBTR fix to be limited to only your favorite team? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Check out the links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.
- Mike Axisa rounded up the best baseball talk from around the web in this week's installment of Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
- Diamondbacks lefty Joe Saunders sounds like a non-tender candidate, based on comments GM Kevin Towers made this week. We asked you to weigh in on whether or not Saunders would be offered a contract in 2012 and votes were split right down the middle.
- The Rays have plenty of pitching depth to work with this winter and may use that to upgrade their offense. We also gave our Offseason Outlook on the Pirates, White Sox, Angels, Mets, Blue Jays, and Rockies.
- Finally, if you missed out on our Wednesday chat, you can check out the transcript right here.
Marlins Considering Shields, Zambrano Unlikely
The Marlins are considering making a serious run at Rays right-hander James Shields, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. The two sides have some natural match-up on a trade because the Marlins could dangle Logan Morrison as part of a package for the right-hander.
Shields drew interest from a number of clubs at the deadline including the Tigers and Reds but the Rays opted to hang on to him instead. Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says that he would like to maintain the team's pitching depth, but Shields would be a huge trading chip this winter.
Meanwhile, Olney writes that in spite of the speculation about Carlos Zambrano joining up with Ozzie Guillen in Florida, there isn't a lot of momentum behind this within the Marlins organization. The club's opposition to the move has more to do with the way Zambrano's stuff has regressed than his personality history.
Davidoff On Pujols, Fielder, Angels, Oppenheimer
Industry people are curious whether C.C. Sabathia actually would leave the Yankees and opinions are all over the map on where Jose Reyes will end up in 2012. There's an even bigger debate brewing in baseball circles, writes Ken Davidoff of Newsday..
- Whoever signs first between Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols will set the financial bar for the other player to top and it's hard to say who will make the first move. Pujols has a realistic chance to re-sign with the Cardinals while it seems increasingly unlikely that Fielder will return to the Brewers. There's also the matter of the relationship between the players' agents, Scott Boras and Dan Lozano. Boras has shown in the past that he has no concerns about dragging his players' free agencies well past January 1st in order get the deal he wants. Meanwhile, Pujols represents Lozano's first big test since breaking off from the Beverly Hills Sports Council last year.
- For now, Davidoff predicts that Pujols will sign first and stay with the Cardinals. Fielder, wherever he goes, won't top Pujols' annual average value.
- There are a number of candidates for the vacant Angels' GM position but Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is the club's top choice. However, it's widely assumed that Friedman will remain with Tampa Bay. Davidoff writes that Yankees senior vice president/director of scouting Damon Oppenheimer seems like the best choice for the job. Oppenheimer played a significant role in several departments for the Bombers, from postseason scouting to discovering amateur talent to recommending major-league trades. Oppenheimer would bring baseball intelligence and a strong presence to serve as a check and balance for owner Arte Moreno and manager Mike Scioscia .
Cafardo On Farrell, Red Sox, Rollins, Oswalt
When the Red Sox and manager Terry Francona parted ways, Blue Jays skipper John Farrell was the preferred candidate to manage the team, a major league source told Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe. There's conflicting information on how much the Red Sox have explored this possibility but they've internally considered a few managers and the one who would fit best would be Farrell. One source said the BoSox wouldn't want to give compensation to a division rival while another thought the issue already had been brought up and the discussions didn't get very far.
The Red Sox have been hesitant to turn to bench coach DeMarlo Hale for the job because of a feeling that he’s too close and tied into Francona, but Cafardo notes that Farrell also learned his managerial style from him. Farrell took the Toronto job because it appeared that Francona was deeply entrenched in Boston. Had he known that Francona and the team would part ways, Cafardo wonders if he would have stayed. Here's more from Cafardo..
- Free agent shortstop Jimmy Rollins will have to back off from his desire for a five-year deal for the Phillies to seriously consider re-signing him. They probably won’t be interested in free agent Jose Reyes because of his price tag. If they don't retain Rollins, the club may find a cheaper stopgap to replace him such as Marco Scutaro if the Red Sox don’t pick up his option ($6MM club/$3MM player, $1.5MM buyout).
- Phillies right-hander Roy Oswalt could become available in free agency as he is due $16MM on a mutual option and the team will likely either buy him out for $2MM or try to negotiate a lesser deal. If he becomes a free agent, one major league talent evaluator said that he would be a great acquisition for anyone on a two-year deal, but obviously not at a $16MM rate.
- In the event that the Red Sox decide on Farrell and reach agreement with the Blue Jays, there are an endless number of candidates the team could hire to replace him. Those options include current bench coach Don Wakamatsu and third base coach Brian Butterfield.
- Since the Padres have allowed Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod out of their respective contracts, Cafardo wonders if they'd let Bud Black walk to become the Red Sox's next manager. Black could straighten out the pitching staff and got the most out of John Lackey as pitching coach for the Angels.
- Francona probably needs to sit out a half-year before taking on another managerial job sometime next season. In the meantime, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he took on a job as a special assistant. An American League GM said that the former Red Sox skipper would have "an endless number of opportunities" along those lines.
- DeMarlo Hale has a year remaining on his contract and eventually he'll meet with new GM Ben Cherington to determine his fate. Hale hopes to interview for the Sox managerial job and could also could be a candidate with the Cubs under Theo Epstein. Davey Johnson is still expected to return to the Nationals job but there may be an interview process and Hale will likely be a candidate given the strong backing he’ll receive from Nats special adviser Bob Schaefer.
- Don't be surprised if Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum emerges as a top candidate for the Boston job.
Quick Hits: Messenger, White Sox, Indians, Rhodes
Some links from around baseball as we await Game Three tomorrow night..
- Former Mariners pitcher Randy Messenger has agreed to a contract to return to the Hanshin Tigers in 2012, a source tells Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. Messenger’s agent Matt Sosnick confirmed that the deal is for one-year with an option for 2013. MLBTR has learned that the two-year deal could be worth just under $5MM.
- If the White Sox stick to their plan of cutting their $127MM payroll, with $89MM already tied to eleven players, it's likely that John Danks or Mark Buehrle won't start next season with the team, writes MLB.com's Scott Merkin. The arbitration-eligible Danks would be one of the team's greater trade chips.
- Three days after the World Series, Indians GM Chris Antonetti will have to decide whether to exercise club options on center fielder Grady Sizemore and starter Fausto Carmona, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Picking up the options of both would cost the Tribe $16MM in 2012.
- Shortstop Rafael Furcal wrestled with the decision of whether or not to approve the deal sending him from the Dodgers to the Cardinals, writes Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times.
- After clearing waivers, Cardinals lefty Arthur Rhodes could have wound up with any number of teams, writes Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News.
- Blue Jays skipper John Farrell gained valuable experience in his first year as a big league manager, writes MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm.
Theo Epstein To Officially Join Cubs
The Red Sox and Cubs have announced that, effective immediately, Theo Epstein will take over as the Cubs' new President of Baseball Operations, according to a joint press release by the two clubs. Both organizations will forego further comment until Tuesday, which is the next scheduled non-game day in the World Series.
The press release indicates that the two sides have "reached an agreement regarding a process by which appropriate compensation will be determined" and the issue will be "resolved in the near term." If the two sides cannot work out an agreement in the next few days, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter) hears that Bud Selig could step in and act as an arbitrator.
The Red Sox will announce their next GM at a presser Tuesday and it is expected to be Assistant General Manager Ben Cherington. Meanwhile, Padres GM Jed Hoyer is expected to leave San Diego in order to assume the same title under Epstein. Hoyer will reportedly bring assistant GM Jason McLeod along as well.
The Padres have granted permission to the Cubs to speak with Hoyer and McLeod, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times. The Padres have a pre-agreed list of Cubs players to choose from as compensation and no other employees will be taken, Hayes tweets. Meanwhile, San Diego won't officially christen Josh Byrnes as GM until after the end of the World Series, says Hayes (via Twitter).