AL East Notes: Morton, Zunino, Walker, Red Sox, Yolmer
Charlie Morton “wasn’t surprised” that the Rays declined to exercise their $15MM club option on his services, but the veteran right-hander told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the team’s decision “doesn’t mean we won’t try to work something out. If there’s mutual interest, the next step is gauging what that looks like.” Rays GM Erik Neander indicated yesterday that the team indeed hoped to bring Morton back for a third season. If an acceptable deal can’t be worked out with the Rays or another club, Morton reiterated to Topkin that he’ll gauge whether he wants to keep playing, weighing such “typical factors” as his health, playing for a contender, and “does it make sense financially and geographically?”
The Rays declined options on both Morton and (at $4.5MM) catcher Mike Zunino yesterday. Jet Sports Management represents both players, and agent B.B. Abbott told Topkin in a separate piece that there aren’t any hard feelings about the contractual decisions. “Their first choice was to be in Tampa, and it probably still is their first choice,” Abbott said, but now that Morton and Zunino are on the open market, “they owe it to themselves to see what’s out there.”
More from the AL East…
- Taijuan Walker figures to get a lot of attention in free agency this winter, but there is mutual interest between Walker and the Blue Jays in a return to Toronto’s rotation, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes. Acquired in a trade from the Mariners in late August, Walker posted excellent numbers (1.37 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 2.27 K/BB rate) in his six starts in a Jays uniform. Beyond the on-field results, Walker was also impressed by both the Jays’ long-term potential as contenders, and how the club treats its players. “They have really good staff, coaches, training staff. For me, it’s all about comfort and people,” Walker said. “Being connected and having that family, and that’s what it felt like.” Once one of baseball’s most highly-touted pitching prospects, injuries cost Walker virtually all of the 2018 and 2019 seasons but he has somewhat revived his stock after his solid 2020 performance.
- While the Red Sox have interviewed several candidates to be their next manager, “the managerial search appears to be centered on determining if Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora can work well together,” the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham writes. Of course, Cora was already Boston’s manager when Bloom was hired as the club’s chief baseball officer last October, though Cora’s firing and subsequent one-year suspension are undoubtedly considerations for Red Sox ownership and the front office in deciding whether or not to bring Cora back. While Cora’s return has been widely speculated, Abraham isn’t sure a rehire “is automatic,” opining that Cora could potentially wait to see if another high-profile job (perhaps with the Mets) becomes available.
- Now that Yolmer Sanchez has been claimed on waivers, the Orioles have some extra depth as they consider other infield moves, as MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski writes. No decision has yet been made about Jose Iglesias‘ $3.5MM club option, and with Sanchez now on hand as a second base candidate, the O’s could potentially non-tender Hanser Alberto, who is projected to earn between $2.3MM and $4.1MM in arbitration (depending on how arb salaries are calculated this winter). Sanchez is himself eligible for arbitration, however, and his projected $6.2MM arb figure last winter was the chief reason why the White Sox non-tendered him last November.
Red Sox, Alex Cora Have Been In Contact
A reunion between the Red Sox and Alex Cora may be in the offing. After a year away from the team because of a suspension, their former manager is a candidate to return in the same role. The Red Sox have been in contact with Cora, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports.
The Red Sox have already interviewed seven other candidates, as shown on MLBTR’s Managerial Search Tracker. Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza have received second interviews, according to Speier, who adds that Cubs third base coach Will Venable and Twins bench coach Mike Bell are no longer under consideration. Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta is also out of the mix, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. Among known candidates, that leaves Cora up against Kelly, Mendoza, Marlins bench coach James Rowson and Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker. However, Speier writes that there are other names under consideration.
No one from the Kelly-Mendoza-Rowson-Schumaker group has managed in the majors, so they certainly can’t match Cora’s accomplishments in the role. Cora managed the Red Sox to a 192-132 record from 2018-19, guiding the team to a World Series in the first of those seasons. But the Red Sox parted with Cora last offseason after Major League Baseball suspended him for a year because of the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Cora was the Astros’ bench coach that season.
Red Sox Outright 3 Players
The Red Sox have outrighted utilityman Jose Peraza, outfielder Cesar Puello and right-hander Dylan Covey off their roster, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. Peraza and Puello have elected free agency.
Peraza, the most notable member of the trio, was one of Boston’s only guaranteed signings during a quiet winter of acquisitions last offseason. But after the club inked the ex-Dodger/Red to a $3MM contract, Peraza could only manage a .225/.275/.342 line with one home run in 120 plate appearances. Defensively, the 26-year-old spent most of the season at second base, though he does have experience all over the diamond.
Meanwhile, neither Puello nor Covey received much playing time with the Red Sox in 2020. Puello totaled 11 plate appearances after signing a minors pact before the season, while Covey – whom the Red Sox acquired from the Rays in July – tossed 14 innings and surrendered 11 earned runs.
Red Sox Outright 5 Players
The Red Sox have outrighted infielder/outfielder Tzu-Wei Lin, right-handers Robinson Leyer, Zack Godley and Andrew Triggs, and lefty Mike Kickham, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic tweets. Godley, Triggs and Kickham have elected free agency.
The most established major leaguer of the bunch is the 30-year-old Godley, who had some success with the Diamondbacks from 2015-19. But Godley struggled in the last of those seasons and had another down year with the Red Sox in 2020. He wound up tossing 28 2/3 innings of 8.16 ERA/7.10 FIP ball with 8.79 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9, all while averaging a career-worst 89.7 mph on his fastball.
Triggs, 31, also didn’t prove to be part of the solution for Boston’s pitching staff. He ended the year with 8 1/3 innings and seven earned runs allowed, owing in part to the three homers he surrendered. Neither Leyer nor Kickham helped the club’s cause, either, combining for a whopping 23 earned runs given up over 18 2/3 frames.
Lin, the lone position player in the group, was a promising prospect in his younger days, but he hasn’t performed at the MLB level so far. Since he debuted in 2017, the 26-year-old has hit .223/.298/.316 with one homer in 218 plate appearances. He took 57 trips to the plate this year and batted a mere .154/.182/.173 with no HRs and a paltry .019 ISO.
Quick Hits: Keller, Straily, Lotte Giants, Neris, Red Sox
Brad Keller posted a 2.47 ERA, 2.06 K/BB rate, 5.76 K/9, and 52.8% grounder rate over 54 2/3 innings this season, as the 25-year-old continues to establish himself as a front-of-the-rotation option for the Royals. Keller was aided this season by an improved slider that essentially looked more like his fastball and moved like a curveball, as the right-hander told Fangraphs’ David Laurila. The first step was remaking a slider delivery that initially left Keller unable to “see the plate because my front arm was covering the catcher….I was constantly pulling off on everything, yanking my front side. I needed to clean that up and keep my shoulders more square.”
Working on advice from Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred during the league shutdown, Keller fixed his delivery and turned his slider into a prominent part of his arsenal. 38.2% of his pitches were sliders in 2020, well up from a 31.2% usage in 2019 and a 26.2% usage in 2018. As per Fangraphs’ pitch value and slider runs above average (wSL) metrics, Keller had the third-most effective slider of any pitcher in baseball, behind only Dinelson Lamet and Zach Plesac.
More from around baseball as the Dodgers sit a game away from a championship…
- Dan Straily‘s first season in Korea was a success, and the right-hander tells Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News that he has yet to make a decision about a potential second season with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants. Before anything, Straily wants to return to the United States to see his family for the first time in nine months, as COVID-19 travel restrictions kept him in South Korea. “I want to be with my wife when the decision starts coming up and my agent starts talking to the team about this,” Straily said. After inking a one-year, $1MM contract with the Lotte Giants last winter, Straily posted a 2.50 ERA with 205 strikeouts over 194 2/3 innings, becoming arguably the league’s top pitcher and a popular figure with fans. It was a solid rebound season after a tough 2019 for Straily that saw him allow 22 homers over only 47 2/3 innings with the Orioles, resulting in a 9.82 ERA.
- The Phillies hold a $7MM club option on Hector Neris for 2021, which the team could see as an acceptable price tag for a reliever who has been generally solid over parts of seven MLB seasons. However, in an offseason where the Phillies are dealing with revenue losses and trying to get under the luxury tax threshold, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman sees Neris as a possible extension candidate. Seidman floats the possibility of a two-year contract worth $9MM-$10MM, which seems like a good number from the Phils’ perspective, though it remains to be seen if Neris or his agents would accept such an offer. The team has some leverage in the sense that Neris probably wouldn’t like to test the very uncertain 2020-21 free agent market, yet Neris might also have confidence that the Phillies wouldn’t actually decline his option since the Phils are in such dire need of bullpen help.
- Chaim Bloom’s first year in charge of the Red Sox front office was a tumultuous one, and the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier looked beyond the unprecedented events (the pandemic’s effect on the season and the Mookie Betts trade) to examine patterns about how Bloom will shepherd the team going forward. The Sox mostly targeted controllable players, and the sheer volume of transactions was also different, as the 2020 club had the most roster turnover of any Red Sox team of the past decade. “It goes back to being more open-minded and willing to be more aggressive with the bottom end of our 40-man roster,” assistant GM Eddie Romero said. “The 40-man roster became more of a living document. It was a daily conversation. It required daily upkeep.”
2021 Managerial Search Tracker
Three teams are currently on the hunt for new managers, and this post will keep track of the many names reported and rumored to be part of these searches. The latest…
Red Sox
Hired
- Alex Cora: former Red Sox manager (currently suspended until conclusion of the World Series)
Interviewed
- Mike Bell: Twins bench coach
- Sam Fuld: Phillies director of integrative baseball performance
- Don Kelly: Pirates bench coach
- Carlos Mendoza: Yankees bench coach
- James Rowson: Marlins bench coach
- Skip Schumaker: Padres associate manager
- Luis Urueta: Diamondbacks bench coach
- Will Venable: Cubs third base coach
Reportedly Under Consideration
- George Lombard: Dodgers first base coach
*****
Tigers
Hired
- A.J. Hinch: former Diamondbacks/Astros manager
Interviewed
- Dave Clark: Tigers first base coach
- Sal Fasano: Braves catching instructor
- Pedro Grifol: Royals bench coach
- Don Kelly: Pirates bench coach
- Mark Kotsay: Athletics quality control coach
- George Lombard: Dodgers first base coach
- Lloyd McClendon: current Tigers interim manager, former Pirates/Mariners manager
- Carlos Mendoza: Yankees bench coach
- Phil Nevin: Yankees third base coach
- Matt Quatraro: Rays bench coach
- Marcus Thames: Yankees hitting coach
- Will Venable: Cubs third base coach
Reportedly Under Consideration
- Alex Cora: former Red Sox manager (currently suspended until conclusion of the World Series)
- Fredi Gonzalez: Orioles bench coach, former Braves/Marlins manager
- Mike Redmond: Rockies bench coach
- Vance Wilson: Royals third base coach
*****
White Sox
Hired
- Tony La Russa: Hall-of-Famer, former Cardinals/Athletics/White Sox manager
Interviewed
- Willie Harris: Reds baserunning and outfield coordinator
Reportedly Drew Consideration
- A.J. Hinch: former Astros/Diamondbacks manager (currently suspended until conclusion of the World Series)
Red Sox, Tigers Interview Carlos Mendoza For Managerial Vacancies
Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza has emerged as a candidate for two different managerial openings, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. Both the Red Sox and Tigers have spoken with the 40-year-old Mendoza, who just completed his third season on New York’s big league coaching staff.
Mendoza is a long-time member of the Yankees’ organization, dating back to his time as a minor league player in the team’s farm system from 2006-09. That 2009 season saw Mendoza transition into a number of different coaching and managerial roles, including stints as manager of the Yankees’ rookie league team and their A-ball affiliate in Charleston. Mendoza was named to the Major League coaching staff as a quality control coach and infield instructor prior to the 2018 season, and was then promoted to bench coach last offseason.
As King notes, there is some speculation that Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch could be unofficial favorites to respectively manage the Red Sox and Tigers, though the clubs are prohibited from interviewing either manager until their one-year suspensions (for their roles in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal) are over. Both Cora and Hinch are under suspension until the conclusion of the World Series.
In the interim, both Boston and Detroit have been linked to several other candidates, whether out of due diligence or perhaps as a sign that Cora and Hinch aren’t necessarily the top choices. Mendoza joins Cubs third base coach Will Venable and Pirates bench coach Don Kelly as the only candidates known to have interviewed with both the Tigers and Red Sox.
Latest On Red Sox Managerial Search
The Red Sox won’t be interviewing Red Sox bench coach Matt Quatraro for their managerial vacancy. Per Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom cannot hire anyone from the Rays for a period of two years. The condition was put into Bloom’s contract when the Rays allowed him to be hired away by Boston, which certainly makes sense, given the number of Rays executives who have been poached by other organizations the past couple of years.
Expanding the agreement to include uniformed personnel also makes sense, given that the Rays and Red Sox are divisional rivals. One might imagine the Rays being more amenable to letting someone like Quatraro take a promotion with, say, the Pirates, a league away. They proved once again to be rather prescient in putting this agreement in place before letting Bloom join Boston.
Bloom has no shortage of candidates, however. James Rowson of the Marlins, Will Venable of the Cubs, Mike Bell of the Twins, Skip Schumaker of the Padres, Luis Urueta of the Diamondbacks, and Don Kelly of the Pirates are all rumored to be in the mix. And while none of those names carry the public weight of, say, Alex Cora, the rumored favorite for the position, the process is sincere, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. Bradford is quick to point out that Kevin Cash was an unknown of a similar ilk when Bloom and the Rays chose him to be their manager.
Alex Cora remains the favorite until we hear otherwise, but these other candidates have time to make an impression. Boston cannot speak with Cora until after the World Series when his suspension will be lifted.
Red Sox Interview Luis Urueta, Don Kelly, Skip Schumaker, James Rowson
6:15pm: The Red Sox have also interviewed Marlins bench coach James Rowson, Speier tweets.
5:46pm: The Red Sox have asked the Twins for permission to interview their bench coach, Mike Bell, according to Speier.
3:33pm: Boston has also interviewed Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, Kevin Acee of the San Diego-Union Tribune tweets.
10:45am: The Red Sox interviewed Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta for their vacant managerial post last week, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports. It’s the second time in the past year that Urueta has interviewed for the position. He was also a candidate after Alex Cora was let go, although the team opted to instead stick with an internal option in Ron Roenicke, who won’t return as skipper in 2021. Meanwhile, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Sox interviewed Pirates bench coach Don Kelly as well.
Urueta, 40 in January, has held his current position in Arizona for three seasons. He’s previously served as Arizona’s minor league field coordinator in addition to managing the Diamondbacks’ Rookie-level affiliate, managing in the Dominican Winter League and managing Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The 40-year-old Kelly has fast risen as a popular managerial candidate after retiring as a player following the 2016 season. The longtime Tigers utilityman began working in Detroit’s player development part upon retiring and moved to their scouting staff the next year. He was hired as Houston’s first base coach for the 2018 season and hired as the Pirates’ bench coach under rookie skipper Derek Shelton last offseason.
There’s considerable speculation that Cora could return to Boston after his suspension for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal has been served. That ban runs through the current postseason. However, the Red Sox have also reportedly interviewed Cubs third base coach Will Venable and, per Heyman, could talk to Dodgers first base coach George Lombard.
Mariners Claim Domingo Tapia From Red Sox
The Mariners announced that they have claimed right-hander Domingo Tapia from the Red Sox via waivers. Seattle now has 34 players on its 40-man roster.
Tapia, formerly a farmhand with the Mets and Reds, joined the Red Sox on a minor league contract last December. The hard-throwing 29-year-old wound up making his major league debut with Boston this past season and tossing 4 1/3 innings of one-run, four-hit ball with four strikeouts and two walks. Tapia has also spent time at the Triple-A level, where he has pitched to a 4.34 ERA and posted 6.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 over 134 2/3 innings.