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Front Office Notes: Red Sox, Kantrovitz, Bloom

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The Red Sox on Wednesday announced a trio of front office promotions, beginning with the promotion of former big league right-hander Brian Bannister to a newly created position: director of pitching analysis and development. He had previously been serving as a pro scout for the Sox. Additionally, amateur scout Chris Mears was bumped to pitching cross-checker, and Gus Quattlebaum was moved up from assistant director of professional/international scouting to director of pro scouting. Quattlebaum will replace former pro scouting director Jared Porter, who reportedly took a job with the Cubs late last month in the wake of Ben Cherington’s resignation.

More front office chatter from around the league…

  • D-Backs senior vice president De Jon Watson and Red Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen have surfaced as candidates for the GM vacancy in Boston, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Brewers VP of amateur scouting Ray Montgomery’s name has also come up in connection to the Sox, Heyman adds. As Heyman notes, Watson has previously worked under Dave Dombrowski with the Marlins. Frank Wren’s name is still very much in play as well, Heyman hears, but there’s no clear-cut favorite at this point.
  • The Brewers have received permission from the Athletics to interview assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz, per Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Kantrovitz is in his second stint with the Athletics and served as the Cardinals scouting director in the interim. Those interested in learning more about Kantrovitz will want to check out his interview with Fangraphs’ David Laurila from last October.
  • Rosenthal also reports (Twitter link) that the Brewers are expected to request an interview with Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Tampa Bay promoted Bloom from director of baseball ops to VP of baseball ops last offseason after Andrew Friedman joined the Dodgers organization. A graduate of Yale, Bloom has a background in player development, contract negotiation and international scouting.

AL West Notes: Dipoto, Zunino, Skaggs, Paulino

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Former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto is expected to be the first external candidate to interview for the Mariners’ GM vacancy, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Dipoto resigned this summer after a highly publicized feud with Halos skipper Mike Scioscia and has since taken an advisory role with the Red Sox. The Mariners fired Jack Zduriencik in late August and are said to prefer an experienced general manager to step into the GM’s chair.

Here’s more from the AL West…

  • Mike Zunino won’t return to the Mariners in 2015, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Instead of being recalled to the big league roster in September, he will report to the instructional league to “overhaul” his swing with hitting coach Cory Snyder and Edgar Martinez. The 24-year-old Zunino, formerly the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, batted just .174/.230/.300 in 386 plate appearances this season. Zunino unquestionably has power — he hit 22 homers in 2015 — and is considered a very strong defender, but he’s highly strikeout prone and has a career .193 average/.252 OBP. Many feel that he was rushed to the Majors, and for what it’s worth, he obliterated Triple-A pitching in a small sample after being demoted the day Zduriencik was fired.
  • Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs — a player for whom Dipoto traded on two separate occasions — tells Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times the he, his agent, his doctor and the Angels will discuss an innings limit for 2016 this offseason. Skaggs will enter the 2016 campaign about 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery. The story, of course, comes in the wake of the Matt Harvey controversy — a scenario which Skaggs says he wants to avoid.
  • David Paulino, whom the Astros acquired in the 2013 trade that sent Jose Veras to the Tigers, has shown very serious big league potential and emerged as a “steal” for Houston, opines Fangraphs scribe James Chipman. Paulino has battled injuries throughout his pro career but has made huge strides with his fastball and curveball over the past nine months, writes Chipman. If he can hone his changeup, he’s a potential mid-rotation arm, but if not, he could still be a high-leverage reliever. Chipman’s piece includes video and a full scouting report.

Added To 40-Man Rosters: O’Brien, Stauffer, Hill, Baron, Ramirez

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With Triple-A seasons coming to a close, there’s been another wave of players whose contracts of have been selected to their respective teams’ 40-man rosters. Here’s a list of today’s 40-man moves…

  • The D-Backs announced that they’ve selected the contract of slugging prospect Peter O’Brien. The catcher-turned-outfielder was the key piece that Arizona picked up from the Yankees in last summer’s Martin Prado swap. The 25-year-old O’Brien batted .284/.332/.551 and belted 26 homers this season for Triple-A Reno. The knock on O’Brien has long been his lack of a true position. Arizona seemed to be of the belief that he could remain behind the plate, but that’s no longer the case, as he’s been shifted to the outfield. That thinking led the D-Backs to leave their catching vacancy largely unaddressed this winter, although the midseason acquisition of Welington Castillo has certainly shored things up on that front. Evan Marshall was moved to the 60-day DL to accommodate O’Brien’s addition.
  • The Mets have selected Tim Stauffer’s contract, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Stauffer, who can serve in a long relief capacity for manager Terry Collins, began the season with the Twins after signing a one-year, $2.2MM contract as a free agent. The longtime Padres hurler got off to a dreadful start in Minneapolis, though, posting a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings before being released. Stauffer went to indy ball, pitching 16 innings for the Sugar Land Skeeters before the Mets signed him to a minor league deal. He notched a 2.48 ERA in eight Triple-A starts for the Mets.
  • The Red Sox have selected Rich Hill’s contract, as first reported by Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). The 35-year-old spent parts of three seasons in Boston from 2010-12 and had a 2.83 ERA in 54 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Red Sox and Yankees. He also had a brief stop in indy ball this season, pitching well in 11 frames for the Long Island Ducks.
  • The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contracts of catcher Steven Baron and right-hander J.C. Ramirez. Baron, 24, hit .265/.334/.361 between Double-A and Triple-A this season, catching 28 percent of opposing base stealers. As for Ramirez, the 27-year-old has a strong 2.72 ERA at the Triple-A level this season and also worked to a 4.11 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks. Seattle picked him up from the D-Backs in exchange for cash considerations in late July. Charlie Furbush was transferred to the 60-day DL in order to clear room for one of the two additions.

Cafardo’s Latest: Greinke, O’s, Renteria, BoSox

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Here’s the latest from The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo in the newest edition of his Sunday notes column…

  • Zack Greinke may not find anything longer than a five-year contract this winter, according to a Major League source.  Greinke turns 32 in October, so it’s understandable that teams would be wary about committing big money to a pitcher into his age-37 season, despite Greinke’s current outstanding numbers.  It’s not as if Greinke will be suffering for money if he takes the expected step of opting out of his Dodgers contract, as an NL general manager calls a five-year, $150MM deal as “a good starting point.”  That GM also predicts Greinke will ultimately remain with the Dodgers since they can afford his salary demands.
  • “Some believe there may be a breaking point between” Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter, though Cafardo notes it is “probably too early to call this one” a potential front office change in the making for the Orioles.  Last week, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported on some bad feelings within Baltimore’s front office, stemming from owner Peter Angelos’ refusal to let Duquette pursue the Blue Jays president’s job without compensation.
  • Former Cubs manager Rick Renteria could re-emerge as a managerial candidate this winter, with Cafardo speculating that the Marlins or Tigers could be fits.  Cafardo notes that Renteria was the finalist for the Tigers job before they hired Brad Ausmus, and that position could be open again if Ausmus is fired in the wake of Detroit’s disappointing season.
  • Joe Kelly has pitched very well over the last month but he may not have a spot in the Red Sox rotation next year, leading Cafardo to suggest that Kelly be converted into a closer if Koji Uehara can’t recover from his fractured wrist.  Cafardo sees the 2016 Boston rotation as Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, Wade Miley and a yet-to-be-acquired ace, though I’d argue that Miley’s spot is far from set in stone.  Plans could yet shift if the Sox move a starter in a trade, and Cafardo hears from an AL GM that Miley and Buchholz “would have value” if Boston shopped either starter.  (Presumably the Sox wouldn’t move a promising and controllable arm like Rodriguez, and Porcello’s big contract greatly limits his trade value.)

Injury Notes: Harvey, Stanton, Pedroia, Aoki, Susac, Sanchez, Feldman

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The still-brewing shutdown controversy between Matt Harvey and the Mets still has an uncertain conclusion, but there are plenty of incremental updates to share. Noted Tommy John expert Neal ElAttrache, who is said to have consulted with agent Scott Boras on Harvey, spoke about the matter with Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. He explained that there could be a reasonable path for Harvey to throw in the postseason by “spacing out his starts and keeping his arm live, using him if necessary in September to keep him competitive and save some bullets for the postseason.” But ElAttrache also noted that even 180 innings pitched “does start to raise some flags, because now he’s in no man’s land” in comparison to past pitchers recovering from a TJ procedure. Boras, meanwhile, said that both the team and the player want him to continue throwing, and that his concern “is that the medical experts are involved in the process of determining what Matt Harvey can do.”

Here’s more on Harvey and some other injury situations around the game:

  • It remains unclear where things will go from here, but one Mets official indicated to ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin that the team strongly expects to utilize its righty in October (Twitter link). Mike Puma of the New York Post adds on Twitter that Harvey “didn’t anticipate the backlash” and “might have a few second thoughts about his comments” from yesterday. Meanwhile, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post and ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Insider link) are among those who have suggested that the current situation could — and, perhaps, should — provide impetus for the team to trade Harvey over the coming winter.
  • Marlins star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton acknowledges that there’s a chance he won’t return this year, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. Stanton, who is still trying to work back from a broken hamate bone, is still holding out hopes of a return, and at worst should certainly be at full speed next spring.
  • Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox, meanwhile, could play as soon as Tuesday, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. The veteran second baseman has been working back from a hamstring injury.
  • Giants outfielder Nori Aoki is dealing with recurring concussion symptoms that could jeopardize his season, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. The 33-year-old, who owns a .287/.353/.380 slash and 14 steals over 392 plate appearances on the year, has struggled to remain healthy and productive in the second half. He can be controlled through a $5.5MM club option next year, which looks to be an appealing price tag so long as he is able to recover from the injury.
  • The Giants are also going to be without promising young catcher Andrew Susac the rest of the way, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). Susac, 25, has suffered ligament damage to his wrist which will also cost him a chance to play winter ball, though it seems he should be ready for Spring Training. It’s another blow to San Francisco’s depth as the club struggles to remain in the hunt down the stretch. Susac has seen his name come up as an acquisition target for other clubs, particularly given the presence of Buster Posey behind the dish for the Giants. The injury could take him out of such consideration for at least some time, though the team’s level of interest in dealing him has never been clear. Fellow backstop Jackson Williams has had his contract purchased, with Susac hitting the 60-day DL to clear 40-man space.
  • Fellow Giants backstop Hector Sanchez may also be out of action until 2016, as Shea tweets. The 25-year-old Sanchez has an injured ankle and hamstring.
  • The outlook for Astros righty Scott Feldman “doesn’t seem good,” according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). The 32-year-old is dealing with right shoulder inflammation, and while a recent MRI revealed no structural damage, it seems that his throwing session yesterday did not go well. Fortunately for Houston, the club has a variety of rotation options to fill in, though it certainly hurts to lose another solid arm. Houston has Feldman under contract for one more season after this one at a $8MM salary.

AL Notes: Elston, Profar, Red Sox

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Former Astros and Colts Hall of Fame broadcaster Gene Elston has passed away, the Astros announced via press release. Elston, 93, was a regular fixture for Houston radio listeners from 1962 through 1986. He then worked for CBS Radio through 1997. “He served as the lead voice of the Colt .45s and Astros and called many of the great moments in franchise history. The memories he helped create are cherished fondly by the generations of Astros fans that he touched.” MLBTR extends its condolences to Elston’s family and friends.  More from around baseball…

  • The Rangers have transferred rehabbing prospect Jurickson Profar to Double-A, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Profar is currently on track to return to the majors as a hitter-only sometime in September. He has not progressed far enough in his throwing program to take the field. He may join the Arizona Fall League as part of his rehab.
  • The Red Sox are no closer to hiring a GM, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters including Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Dombrowski is still in the process of interviewing internal candidates before looking outside of the organization. Boston’s vacant GM job is somewhat unusual. Dombrowski retains decision making authority on all baseball-related decisions. That will certainly make the position less attractive to some candidates.

AL Notes: Andrus, Ramirez, Rays

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After trying a number of ways of reaching underachieving shortstop Elvis Andrus, including threats of benchings and a trade, the Rangers finally got to him with a simple message, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. Following this year’s All-Star break, Rangers third base coach Tony Beasley asked Andrus who his role models were, and Andrus said they were Omar Vizquel and Derek Jeter. In response, Beasley said, “You are not a very good shortstop right now.” Beasley says he challenged Andrus to improve. In the second half this season, Andrus has hit .304/.333/.423, compared to .242/.301/.323 in the first. As Grant points out, it probably isn’t as simple as Andrus having a conversation with Beasley and then automatically improving, but whatever the cause, it appears possible Andrus is back on the right track. That could be crucial for the Rangers, who made a huge investment when they signed him to a $120MM extension in 2013. That deal just kicked in this year, so the Rangers are currently on the hook for significant salaries for Andrus all the way through 2022. Here’s more from the American League.

  • The Red Sox announced today that they’ve placed outfielder-turned-first-baseman Hanley Ramirez on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to August 27. On the surface, it’s a strange bit of roster manipulation, given that placing Ramirez on the 15-day DL doesn’t clear a 40-man roster spot and that active rosters have already expanded to 40 anyway. Via Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (on Twitter), though, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says the team placed Ramirez on the DL to “protect us from ourselves.” The move is designed, then, to keep them from inserting Ramirez into game action before he’s ready. When he does come back, it appears Ramirez will play at first base. Allen Craig played that position for the Red Sox yesterday, making his only big-league start at first since April.
  • Rays owner Stuart Sternberg hasn’t set the team’s 2016 payroll yet, but he would prefer it to be similar to that of this season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Via Cot’s Contracts, the 2015 Rays had an Opening Day payroll of about $76MM. That total includes relatively expensive deals a few vets who are either already gone or whose contracts will expire, including Grant Balfour, Asdrubal Cabrera and David DeJesus. With a payroll in the $76MM range, though, it appears, unsurprisingly, that the Rays won’t be big spenders on the free agent market this offseason.

AL Notes: Jays, Giavotella, Kelly

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The Blue Jays’ July additions of Troy Tulowitzki, David Price and others fundamentally changed the team, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes. Prior to yesterday’s 10-2 loss to the Orioles, the Jays had scored 200 runs and allowed just 97 in 32 games since acquiring Tulowitzki. Both those marks were the best in baseball in that time frame. Of course, Tulowitzki himself has a modest .696 OPS since joining the Jays, but GM Alex Anthopoulos suggests that pure numbers are only part of the picture.  Earlier in his tenure as GM, Anthopoulos says, “I was mostly focused on production.” But merely acquiring productive players didn’t work if those players weren’t the right fits for the team. “So I’m probably a little more balanced now, between production and fit,” he says. Here are more quick notes from the American League.

  • Angels infielder Johnny Giavotella has been out the past two weeks, and he said yesterday that he has fourth nerve palsy, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. The condition causes Giavotella to have double vision when he looks down or to the left. Giavotella says that the symptoms have improved, however, and that the condition will not be permanent. He hopes to return this season.
  • Red Sox starter Joe Kelly has had a frustrating season that’s included a demotion to Triple-A, but he’s fared much better lately and could be pitching his way into Dave Dombrowski’s plans for the 2016 Sox, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Kelly has made adjustments lately — via Brooks Baseball, he increased his total usage of breaking balls and changeups from about 28% of pitches in June to about 42% in August. He’s only allowed 14 runs spanning 43 innings in his last seven starts. “It’s something that I’ve learned that you can’t just throw fastballs, especially in this division with hitters we see all the time and are very good hitting ballclubs,” he says. “You’ve got to throw hitters offspeed throughout the whole entire game. It’s something that, hopefully going into next year, realizing what I’m doing, I just have to keep pitching like that.” Lauber notes that the team is likely to try to add a top starter this offseason, and Eduardo Rodriguez could join Clay Buchholz (whose option the Red Sox will likely pick up as long as he doesn’t have any trouble in his recovery from an elbow strain) and Rick Porcello in the 2016 rotation. Kelly could then potentially compete with Wade Miley and Henry Owens for a starting job. Of course, much remains to be determined — Dombrowski’s plans to remake the Red Sox in his first offseason on the job might turn out to be more extensive than the blueprint above suggests.

Front Office Notes: Dipoto, Hazen, Cherington, Angels

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The Mariners plan to interview current Red Sox consultant and former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. Seattle recently parted with former GM Jack Zduriencik and is on the hunt for a replacement. Seattle appears likely to choose a baseball operations leader with prior experience in a general manager role, though it’s also said to be considering internal options.

Here are more notes on the front office and managerial changes expected to take place this fall and winter:

  • Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen is a candidate for the Brewers’ general manager position, Rosenthal and colleague Jon Morosi report (Twitter links). Milwaukee has not yet begun a formal interview process, he adds. The Brewers say they’ll take their time in finding a new GM, but could be leaning toward a young, analytically-minded candidate.
  • Outgoing Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, meanwhile, may not be in a rush to reclaim that position with a new team, according to another tweet from Rosenthal. Cherington has received interest from clubs in unspecified opportunities, and he’s “in listening mode” rather than actively pursuing another GM post.
  • MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez discusses the Angels’ GM search, which as recently reported is expected to move quickly. The club has stayed quiet on its thinking thus far, says Gonzalez, but it seems reasonably likely that it will look to go with a first-time GM from another organization. Gonzalez lists a wide number of theoretical candidates.
  • Bob Nightengale of USA Today provides an overview of the actual and potential front office openings around the game. He breaks down the latest rumblings among all of the clubs that seem reasonably likely to pursue change.

East Notes: Bradley, Bour, Sabathia

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The Red Sox’ patience with Jackie Bradley Jr. is finally paying dividends, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes. As Bradford explains, it’s not just about the results on the field. Bradley has, of course, been producing at a remarkable rate since his most recent call-up, but he’s also presented a different kind of demeanor, coachability, and comfort. Always a highly-regarded defender and a consistent offensive producer in the minors, Bradley seems to be putting it all together at the big league level in his age-25 season.

A few more notes out of the game’s eastern divisions …

  • The Marlins are giving an extended look at first baseman Justin Bour to see if he could play an expanded role in the future, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes in a fan Q&A. The left-handed-hitting Bour is getting more plate appearances against southpaws at present. He owns a strong .252/.321/.449 slash with 15 home runs over 336 plate appearances, though he really has yet to be exposed to left-handed pitching at all to date. Another matter that could need addressing is the fact that defensive metrics are not fans of his efforts with the glove thus far.
  • Yankees lefty CC Sabathia says he’s feeling good about his progress as he works to return to the mound, as George A. King III of the New York Post reports. “No pain, I’m excited,” Sabathia said of this right knee. GM Brian Cashman said recently that Sabathia will be utilized as a starter when he is activated. There had been some indication that the club was considering utilizing the high-priced former ace in a relief role.
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