Quick Hits: Phillies, Alomar, Red Sox, White Sox
Here are some links from around the league as the League Division Series round of the postseason opens…
- “Center field is something we have to address. That will be one of our priorities," said Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Salisbury looked at some free agent and trade options who could fit the team's needs.
- The Indians hired Terry Francona earlier today, and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports (on Twitter) that interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr. has been offered a spot on the team's coaching staff.
- Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter) that had the Indians not hired Francona, he would have not taken the Tigers' manager job had they fired Jim Leyland after the season.
- The Red Sox have not yet begun their search for a new manager after firing Bobby Valentine on Thursday, a source insists to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (on Twitter).
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams confirmed to CSNChicago.com that the team's entire coaching staff will return next season.
Minor Moves: 28 Players Elect Free Agency
A total of 28 players — all with big league time under their belts — recently elected free agency after finishing the year in Triple-A. Here is the full list, courtesy of the International League and Pacific Coast League transaction pages…
- Infielders: Brian Bixler (Astros), Sean Burroughs (Twins), Blake DeWitt (Cubs), Alberto Gonzalez (Rangers), Angel Sanchez (Astros), Nate Spears (Red Sox), Drew Sutton (Pirates)
- Outfielders: Travis Buck (Astros), Ryan Langerhans (Angels), Mitch Maier (Royals), Darnell McDonald (Yankees), Jai Miller (Orioles), Trent Oeltjen (Dodgers), Jason Pridie (Phillies), Mike Wilson (Mariners)
- Right-handed Pitchers: Roman Colon (Royals), Mike Ekstrom (Rockies), Jack Egbert (Mets), Ryota Igarashi (Yankees), Evan Meek (Pirates), Scott Richmond (Blue Jays), Kip Wells (Padres), Randy Wells (Cubs), Dan Wheeler (Indians)
- Left-handed Pitchers: Alex Hinshaw (Cubs), Cesar Jimenez (Mariners), Zach Kroenke (Diamondbacks), Garrett Olson (Mets)
Red Sox Receive De La Rosa, Sands From Dodgers
The Red Sox announced that they have received right-hander Rubby De La Rosa and outfielder Jerry Sands to complete their blockbuster deal with the Dodgers from earlier this summer. In a related move, the club has designated catcher Guillermo Quiroz for assignment.
De La Rosa and Sands were already known to be the players to be named later in the August 25th swap, but the two sides had to wait until the end of the major league season to make that end of the deal official. The other two prospects in the trade, pitcher Allen Webster and infielder Ivan De Jesus, already joined Boston.
De La Rosa, 23, was sidelined for the bulk of the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The right-hander had a strong debut season in 2011, posting a 3.71 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in ten starts and three relief appearances. De La Rosa and Webster were considered to be the top pitchers in the Los Angeles farm system after two-sport standout Zach Lee.
Sands, 25, posted a .244/.325/.376 slash line with four homers in 251 plate appearances for the Dodgers over the last two seasons. He also owns a Triple-A batting line of .288/.362/.552 with 55 home runs in 940 plate appearances during that stretch.
Quiroz, 30, has seen time for the Blue Jays, Mariners (twice) , Rangers, Orioles, and Red Sox across eight big league seasons. He spent most of the year with Seattle's Triple-A affiliate, where he hit .278/.362/.483 with 15 homers in 89 games.
AL East Notes: MacPhail, Cano, Rays, Blue Jays
Bobby Valentine has officially been dismissed, which means the Red Sox will embark on their second managerial search in as many years. GM Ben Cherington has said he hopes to conclude the search earlier this time. Here are some notes on Boston’s division rivals…
- Former Orioles president Andy MacPhail told Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he's happy for the team’s fans, players and executives. He acknowledged that it "would have been a lot of fun" to be present for Baltimore's playoff run, but said he doesn't regret stepping down to spend time with his family. MacPhail said he's starting to think about working in baseball again and noted that, at 59 years old, he's "way too young" to do nothing. "I think there are a variety of things that would interest me," he told Connolly.
- MacPhail noted that Dan Duquette has done an excellent job of finding starting pitching depth this year.
- Executives suggest an extension for Robinson Cano could cost the Yankees $200MM, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan writes. The second baseman says he hasn’t “thought about anything," but the Yankees can’t allow him to hit free agency in Passan’s view. New York will exercise its $15MM option for Cano after the season, delaying his free agency until the end of the 2013 season.
- Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said he's "not going to be flippant" about Tampa Bay's impressive pitching depth this coming offseason, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Friedman also said he expects to talk with Larry Reynolds, the agent for B.J. Upton, even though the sides aren't expected to agree to a new contract.
- Mike Axisa rounded up the latest Red Sox-related rumors earlier today. Here's one more note from Boston: the Blue Jays would want “a decent player” in a deal for manager John Farrell, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports.
Red Sox Notes: John Farrell, Bobby Valentine
The Red Sox dismissed manager Bobby Valentine earlier today, and GM Ben Cherington will presumably begin the search for his replacement right away. Here's the latest on the AL East cellar-dwellers…
- Boston has targeted their former pitching coach and current Blue Jays manager John Farrell as Valentine's replacement, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. It would require compensation to lure him away from Toronto, however.
- Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (on Twitter) confirms that the Sox will go after Farrell, but they also won't rule out former captain Jason Varitek for their managerial post.
- In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about Valentine's tenure in Boston and where things went wrong. It started in Spring Training with an incident involving Mike Aviles.
- WEEI.com's Rob Bradford listed three key moments that contributed to Valentine's downfall with the Red Sox, including the Aviles incident.
Red Sox Fire Bobby Valentine
Manager Bobby Valentine will not return to the Red Sox next season, the team announced (on Twitter). GM Ben Cherington will lead the search for his replacement.
“This year’s won-loss record reflects a season of agony,” said Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino in a release. “It begs for changes, some of which have already transpired. More will come. We are determined to fix that which is broken and return the Red Sox to the level of success we have experienced over the past decade."
Valentine led the Sox to a 69-93 record and a last place finish in his only season at the helm. His dismissal is not much of a surprise, especially in light of some of Cherington's recent comments. Valentine was under contract for next season at $2.5MM, which the team is still obligated to pay him.
Cherington On Matsuzaka, Valentine, Pitching
It's been a busy day in Boston as we learned earlier today that the Red Sox plan to dismiss Bobby Valentine after a turbulent season in which the club lost 90 games for the first time since 1966. Then in the afternoon, General Manager Ben Cherington told reporters that he has begun contract talks with both David Ortiz and Cody Ross. Here's more on what Cherington had to say to the press in advance of their season finale against the Yankees..
- Even though the Red Sox have begun working on new deals for Ortiz and Ross, they haven't done the same for other impending free agents, including Daisuke Matsuzaka, tweets Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal. Mike Axisa recently looked at the Japanese hurler's stock, concluding that it's hard to envision him nabbing more than a one-year, low-base salary deal.
- Cherington once again decline comment on this morning's report that Valentine will be dismissed, but he didn't exactly offer an endorsement of the skipper, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. "I'm not going to talk about it. We have a game tonight," said the GM.
- Cherington isn't sure if the Red Sox will contend in 2013 and wouldn't offer a timetable, but insists that they will get back to winning at some point, Lauber tweets.
- The GM acknowledged that he didn't do enough to "help stabilize" the starting rotation last winter, MacPherson tweets. Cherington went on to say that the team's struggles in 2012 could not simply be blamed on injuries (Twitter link).
Red Sox In Talks With Ortiz, Ross
General Manager Ben Cherington confirmed to reporters that the Red Sox have begun contract talks with both David Ortiz and Cody Ross, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). Both players are set to hit the open market after this season.
Ortiz has made it clear that he is looking for a two-year deal this offseason, but isn't seeking anything longer than that. In the slugger's view, a two-year pact will allow him to avoid questions about his contract status in the 2013 and would mark a sign of respect from the organization. The soon-to-be 37-year-old earned his eighth All-Star selection this season, hitting .318/.415/.611 with 23 homers.
Ross, 31, says that his top priority this offseason will be signing with a contender. The Red Sox picked up the outfielder on a one-year, $3MM deal last winter and figures to see a significant bump in pay and contract length this time around.
Red Sox Intend To Dismiss Bobby Valentine
As expected, Red Sox upper management intends to dismiss Bobby Valentine once the season ends, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The firing is expected to take place soon after the regular season ends and could occur Thursday or Friday. GM Ben Cherington declined to comment on the matter, Heyman reports.
It's been widely expected that the Red Sox will dismiss Valentine following the regular season. Blue Jays manager John Farrell appears to be a top target of Boston's front office executives. The Red Sox enter the final game of the season with a 69-92 record, having lost 90 games for the first time since 1966.
Valentine told reporters today that he "had every opportunity to succeed and didn't," according to Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter links). The manager also said he regrets commenting about Kevin Youkilis' engagement level early in the season.
Quick Hits: Ruiz, Mariners, Vargas, Gathright
The Orioles' record-setting success in one-run games continued on Tuesday as they eked out a 1-0 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field. Both teams combined for just four hits in the game, with Chris Davis' solo homer accounting for the only run. James Shields was the tough-luck loser as he threw a complete game two-hitter while striking out 15 O's batters. The Yankees' 12-inning victory over the Red Sox tonight means that New York still holds a one-game lead over Baltimore for first place in the AL East.
Here's the latest from around the majors as we head towards the last day of the regular season…
- Picking up Carlos Ruiz's club option for 2013 is "a formality," said Phillies GM Ruben Amaro tells CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury, though the club will still wait until after the World Series to make it official. The 33-year-old Ruiz delivered a career-best .327/.397/.542 line in 416 plate appearances, making his $5MM option a foregone conclusion to be exercised.
- Mariners players are happy that Safeco Field's fences will be moved in next season, reports MLB.com's Greg Johns, both for their own sakes and to help the team in acquiring free agent hitters. "Every time a guy gets on first base, that's all they talk about, how terrible this place is to hit," said Justin Smoak. "Everybody hates hitting here…I'm sure there are a lot of guys out there that have declined coming here because of that reason. This should definitely change some things. Everybody is excited about it."
- Safeco Field's adjustments will also impact Mariners pitchers, to the point that Fangraphs' Dave Cameron wonders if the M's could non-tender Jason Vargas. MLBTR's Matt Swartz projects that Vargas will earn $8.1MM in his third trip through the arbitration process, a high price for a pitcher who has had severe home/road splits in three of his four seasons in Seattle. This season, Vargas has a 2.74 ERA in 14 starts at Safeco and a 4.78 ERA in 19 road starts.
- Joey Gathright has tested positive for amphetamines and will face a 50-game suspension when he signs his next contract, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Gathright last played in the Reds organization before being released by their Triple-A team in July.
- Gordon Blakeley, a long-time scout and special assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, is reportedly interested in leaving New York for a position with the Red Sox, reports ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes.
- The Rays and Angels fell short of the postseason due to injuries and unexpected rises from the Orioles and Athletics, but MLB.com's Matthew Leach also points the finger at both teams' failed low-cost signings. Luke Scott and Carlos Pena provided little offense for Tampa Bay, while LaTroy Hawkins and Jason Isringhausen didn't help stabilize the Halos' bullpen.