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AL East Notes: Dombrowski, Red Sox, Orioles

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Now that Dave Dombrowski is on board as the Red Sox’s chief decision maker, his No. 1 objective will be to acquire an ace for the rotation, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes.  Fortunately for Dombrowski, this year’s market for top-end starters will be strong with options such as David Price, Johnny Cueto, and Zack Greinke, if he opts out of his deal with the Dodgers.  Failing that, Bowden wonders if Boston could parlay its young talent into landing an ace like Sonny Gray or Chris Sale.   Here’s more from the AL East..

  • There’s a team interested in working out a trade for recently DFA’d Orioles outfielder David Lough, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets.  There should be a resolution on his situation today, he adds.  If no trade is worked out, Lough will likely be outrighted to Triple-A.  To keep track of Lough and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.
  • Jonah Keri of Grantland reflected on Ben Cherington’s time in Boston and his missteps with the Red Sox.  Cherington whiffed on deals for Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval this offseason while largely neglecting the team’s pitching needs.  Later, despite his reluctance to give a long-term deal to a pitcher, Cherington locked up hurler Rick Porcello to a sizable contract.  Still, despite his mistakes, Keri gives Cherington a good deal of credit for building the team’s farm system.
  • Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com reflected on Dombrowski’s trade history and wondered if he’ll trade away the Red Sox’s prospects to win in the here and now.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Stanton, Astros

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Even though they’re likely to make the postseason, the Dodgers are one of the 10 most disappointing teams in baseball, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. From the mouth of one NL executive, “they have done the near impossible – they have a $300 million payroll and yet they haven’t gone all in for 2015.” Of course, they still have time to find a patch or two for their beleaguered bullpen. While they aren’t my vote for most disappointing, it’s fair to wonder why they’re only 1.5 games up on the Giants.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Of Sherman’s 10 disappointing teams, the Nationals, Tigers, and Red Sox are likely to receive the most attention. Boston struggled from day one. In retrospect, nobody was surprised by the shoddy pitching staff. However, the vaunted offense never arrived after March. The Nationals and Tigers are surprising candidates. Detroit is only four games out of the second Wild Card, but they packed up shop at the trade deadline by cashing in on Yoenis Cespedes, David Price, and Joakim Soria. The Nationals are viewed as the more likely of the two to reach the postseason, but they’re 4.5 games behind the Mets and 9.5 back from the Cubs. However, they do have better roster cohesion and only one team to leapfrog in the standings.
  • The Marlins also appeared on Sherman’s list, and slugger Giancarlo Stanton expects to see “big changes” over the offseason, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Meanwhile, club president David Sampson mentioned a non-personnel change that could be coming for 2016. The fences may be lowered and moved in prior to next season. Miami is a tough park for home runs, but run scoring is roughly neutral. Closer walls could help Stanton and others bash even more home runs.
  • The Astros and Dodgers are among the most forward thinking teams in the game, writes Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. The Dodgers obviously have a much larger war chest, but money doesn’t solve every problem. Per Los Angeles president Andrew Friedman, “more resources help you, at least in theory, more in the free-agent market. You look back over time, and it’s very hard to invest wisely. So coming from the Rays, you were almost insulated from making those mistakes in the free-agent market.” Both clubs are emphasizing the value of young, cost controlled stars. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow also commented on the process of discovering marginal advantages over other teams and hoping to hide them for as long as possible. The article itself is well worth your time with excellent quotes from several executives.

Cherington On Ramirez, Donaldson, Sandoval

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Ben Cherington, who recently stepped down as GM of the Red Sox, spoke at Saberseminar in Boston on Saturday (joking that the forum was “a progressive event that even invites the unemployed“) and was unusually candid about his work with the Sox and about being an executive for a big-league team. Here’s a bit of what he had to say, via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (Twitter links: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9).

  • Cherington says he misjudged how Hanley Ramirez would transition from the infield to the outfield. “We didn’t know what he would be defensively,” Cherington says. “We made a bet based on the history of what players look like going from middle infield to outfield. … It hasn’t gone well.” Ramirez has rated as well below average in left field, and his defensive struggles this season have coincided with a decline on offense, arguably making Ramirez one of MLB’s worst position players while still in the first year of his contract.
  • Cherington adds that the Red Sox contacted Billy Beane and the Athletics about trading Josh Donaldson last offseason, only to be told the A’s weren’t interested in dealing Donaldson. They did, of course, ultimately trade him to Toronto, and Cherington says he credits the Blue Jays for their persistence.
  • Instead, the Red Sox signed Pablo Sandoval to play third, a move that hasn’t worked out thus far. Cherington says he didn’t necessarily expect the run-scoring environment at Fenway Park to be a boon for Sandoval, but instead was mostly focused on filling what had been a “black hole” at third. Sandoval has hit fairly well at home this season, batting .304/.347/.451. But he’s batted just .216/.271/.337 on the road.
  • Some of Cherington’s mistakes as GM came as a result of rushing decisions, he says.
  • One of the most crucial aspects of being a GM is interacting with team ownership, Cherington says, noting that it’s a sensible and necessary part of the job.
  • Cherington seems happy with the state in which he left the Red Sox’ farm system, saying that there are prospects who can turn out to be special players and also areas of organizational depth.
  • One decision Cherington says he won’t rush is determining the next step in his career. Instead, he’ll take his time in making that decision.

Red Sox Notes: Dombrowski, Buchholz

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Former Braves GM Frank Wren might be the front-runner for the Red Sox’ open GM position, but ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes looks at other potential candidates for the job now that the Sox have hired Dave Dombrowski to be their president of baseball operations. Given the Sox organization’s strong interest in analytics, some of Edes’ potential candidates, like former Cubs GM Jim Hendry and former Dodgers exec Ned Colletti, seem to me to be somewhat unlikely. Edes notes that Hendry worked with Dombrowski in the Marlins organization, however, and that past ties often help determine who gets hired. Here’s more on the Red Sox.

  • Tim Britton of the Providence Journal looks at Dombrowski’s five best trades as GM of the Tigers and Marlins. Dombrowski’s 2007 acquisition of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for a package headed by Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin unsurprisingly tops the list, which also includes his less-remembered but still very helpful deals for Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco in Detroit and for Mike Lowell in Florida.
  • Clay Buchholz, currently on the 60-day DL with a right elbow strain, is not currently throwing, Tom Layman of the Boston Herald writes. “He feels good enough to throw, but we are evaluating him daily to see where he’s at,” says interim manager Torey Lovullo, who adds that Buchholz has not had a setback. Lovullo says the Red Sox haven’t determined that Buchholz will be shut down for the season. It seemingly wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t pitch again this season, however. There’s only a bit more than a month left, it takes time to be able to pitch enough innings to start, and the Red Sox are out of the playoff race.

AL Central Notes: Zobrist, Medlen, Shapiro, Dombrowski, Norris

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Recently-acquired Royals utilityman extraordinaire Ben Zobrist says that he’s very much open to a return to Kansas City, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports. “Certainly, this had been one of the teams I liked the look of,” he said. “And now, since I’ve been here, it’s a place I want to stay longer. Being here has certainly done nothing but make this [team] go up on my list.” Of course, the versatile and still-productive 34-year-old figures to be as widely pursued on the winter’s free agent market as he was at this year’s trade deadline. Zobrist was already playing well before the trade, but has slashed an outstanding .357/.446/.600 in his first 83 plate appearances with his new club.

Here’s more from Kansas City and the rest of the AL Central:

  • The Royals will hand the ball to Kris Medlen for his first start with the club on Monday, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets. Medlen, 29, has returned nicely after a long layoff for multiple Tommy John surgeries, tossing 14 1/3 innings of 2.51 ERA ball with 14 strikeouts against five walks. His average fastball velocity is as good as ever. Medlen is owed just $5.5MM next year and can be controlled with a $10MM option ($1MM buyout) in 2017. So far, that’s looking like a nice risk for the Royals.
  • Indians president Mark Shapiro declined to comment on recent reports indicating that he could be a candidate to take over the Blue Jays’ presidency, Zack Meisel of the Plain Dealer reports. The long-time Cleveland executive, still just 48 years old, could conceivably be enticed by the possibility of gaining “power and resources,” the Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes writes in an interesting piece.
  • There was a creeping sense of suspicion when he was not approached to discuss a new deal over the summer, former Tigers GM (and newly-minted Red Sox president of baseball operations) Dave Dombrowski tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). Dombrowski maintained, however, that he remains unaware what precisely led Detroit to release him from its contract when it did.
  • Just-added Tigers lefty Daniel Norris could end up missing the rest of the year with an oblique injury, Chris Iott of MLive.com reports. Manager Brad Ausmus says that Norris is likely to miss at least a month. The 22-year-old, added as the key piece of the David Price trade, figures to be a key piece of the Tigers rotation next year and for the foreseeable future. He recently joined the MLBTR Podcast to discuss that deal and his approach to the game.

AL East Notes: Dombrowski, Yankees, Shapiro, Gonzalez

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The hiring of Dave Dombrowski puts a new face atop the Red Sox’ baseball operations hierarchy but does not change the goal and the philosophy of the organization, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. As Silverman writes, the Red Sox were going to overhaul the roster this winter whether Dombrowski, Ben Cherington or someone else was leading the charge. Chairman Tom Werner and president John Henry both spoke about how the team will still use data and analytics to its advantage, while Dombrowski said he’s not planning to “blow up” Boston’s baseball ops department.

More from the AL East…

  • Tim Britton of the Providence Journal looks at how Dombrowski’s history will tie in with the Red Sox. Dombrowski has a reputation for trading prospects for proven talent after his time in Detroit, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, he notes. Part of successfully executing that philosophy is trading prospects at peak value and maximizing return — something the Sox failed to do with names like Will Middlebrooks and Anthony Ranaudo. Dombrowski spoke of dealing from a surplus in his introduction to Boston media, Britton writes, and he points out that center field, shortstop and catcher could all be areas of surplus/redundancy for the Sox. The other questions for Dombrowski in Boston will be how aggressively he’ll pursue top-flight free agent pitching this winter and whether or not he can rebuild a bullpen that has been largely problematic in 2015, writes Britton.
  • Praising the Yankees’ decision to hang onto the likes of Greg Bird, Luis Severino and other top prospects is premature, opines Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. While Bird and Severino have each contributed to the Bombers over the past few weeks, Martino writes that the true wisdom or folly of that decision won’t be known for quite some time. A dominant October run from Severino might speed up the process of proving GM Brian Cashman’s decision to be shrewd, but the possibility also exists that the Yankees’ coveted prospects will go the route of Jesus Montero. Martino doesn’t necessarily make the argument that Cashman should have traded prospects away, but rather just urges onlookers to take a less reactionary approach following a two-homer game from Bird and a trio of solid starts from Severino, as narratives can change quickly when looking at small samples from early in prospects’ careers.
  • On the heels of last night’s report from Ken Rosenthal, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes that he, too, hears the Blue Jays consider Indians president Mark Shapiro a “strong candidate” to replace retiring CEO Paul Beeston. However, Davidi notes that there may yet be others in the mix for the impending vacancy. Notably, Davidi writes that the “assumption” is that GM Alex Anthopoulos will be offered some kind of extension prior to his contract’s expiration on Oct. 31.
  • Miguel Gonzalez’s struggles with the Orioles are ill-timed, writes Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. The organization’s top alternatives at the minor league level — Tyler Wilson and Mike Wright — are both injured at the moment, and there aren’t many other options to give him a break from his troubles. As Encina notes, Gonzalez has struggled quite a bit when ahead in the count — even on 0-2 counts — which has contributed to a 6.48 ERA over his past 11 starts. I’ll add that the struggles are doubly problematic for Gonzalez, who is eligible for arbitration for the second time this winter and due a raise on his $3.275MM salary.

Front Office Notes: Dombrowski, Sox GM, Dipoto, Brewers

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Following a 45-minute introductory press conference for new Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald provided a rundown with some highlights. Dombrowski was blunt in stating that the Red Sox need to find some pitching, specifically stating his affinity for power arms. He also noted that a top-of-the-rotation arm is something he’d prefer to bring into to the fold. “Normally, if you’re going to have a world championship club, you need to have a No. 1 type of guy,” Dombrowski explained. He also addressed the team’s GM search. When asked about why he needs a general manager, when it’ll be Dombrowski who has the final say, the veteran executive replied, “This is a big market. There’s a lot going on, day in and day out. We have a lot of expenditure at the major-league level, pursue talent aggressively all over the globe. I think if you get the right person on board with you, if you can get that person and be in sync with them, that can only be helpful.” Dombrowski also touched on his familiarity with analytics as well as the fact that he doesn’t necessarily feel the need to make sweeping changes to a front office that already has “a lot of good people” with “good reputation.

A few more front office notes from around the league…

  • After speaking with multiple industry sources, Sean McAdam of CSN New England writes that four candidates for the Red Sox’ GM opening include former Braves GM Frank Wren, former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd, former Angels GM/current Red Sox advisor Jerry Dipoto and Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler. Wren has been oft-mentioned in the past few days, and O’Dowd has also popped up more recently in reports. Regarding Eppler, McAdam writes that he’s blocked in New York by Brian Cashman, and many expect him to land a GM job elsewhere this winter.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to one rival executive who said he would be “shocked” if the Dombrowski hired anyone other than Wren to serve as his new general manager (Twitter link). Of course, in the above-linked piece from Lauber, he writes that Dombrowski is in the early stages of compiling a list of candidates, and the Sox have assured the commissioner’s office that they’ll be interviewing minority candidates in their search.
  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links) that there’s some industry buzz that Dipoto is on the Brewers’ radar as they look for a new GM. Milwaukee is said to be looking for a younger, more analytical general manager following Doug Melvin’s announcement that he’ll transition to an advisory role. Crasnick also notes that there’s some speculation that Cherington would be a good fit for Milwaukee’s GM vacancy.

Podcast: Jason Mastrodonato On Red Sox’ Front Office Moves

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The Red Sox engineered a major front office shake-up this week, hiring Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations and parting ways with GM Ben Cherington. Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald joins the show to help digest the move and to look ahead at a fascinating offseason for the ballclub.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

More Reactions To The Dombrowski/Cherington Shakeup

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Earlier today, Jeff Todd rounded up some reactions from around the industry to the Red Sox’ franchise-altering decision to name Dave Dombrowski president of baseball operations and the subsequent resignation of GM Ben Cherington. There’s still plenty of buzz surrounding this move, however, so here are some additional reactions to one of the most impactful headlines of the summer…

  • Cherington’s decision to step aside after the hiring of Dombrowski caught the Red Sox by surprise, sources tell Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Passan adds that he, too, hears that Dombrowski will hire a new GM, with not only Frank Wren serving as a possibility (as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported last night), but also former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd. From a bigger-picture perspective, Passan writes that Dombrowski’s success will be determined, to some extent, by the freedom he is given to make decisions without interference from ownership. Passan notes that Dombrowski inherits one of the best situations in baseball — a top-rated farm system with a young core in place at the Major League level. Of course, he’ll also have some work to do with the pitching staff and the albatross contracts of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.
  • Outgoing team president Larry Lucchino appeared on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan show today, and WEEI’s Judy Cohen has transcribed many of his comments. Most notably, Lucchino said that he expects “significant changes” in the baseball operations department, as Dombrowski may look to import members of the network of people he’s worked with over the life of his career. Lucchino offered strong praise for the work that Cherington did: “Ben has done a marvelous job, in my opinion. He is a terrific guy, and I think he’s built an organization that will serve Dave Dombrowski quite well in the months and years ahead, and so things will change.”
  • COO/vice president Sam Kennedy also weighed in on the move on WEEI (also via Cohen). Kennedy said that he, owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner felt “disappointment” that Cherington didn’t want to remain on board, but ultimately they understood that the now-former GM felt a “clean break” was in his best interest. Kennedy addressed the difference between Dombrowski’s more traditional scouting background and the Sox’ recent analytical tendencies, noting that data/analytics, traditional scouting, the eye test and keen instincts are all important to success in baseball operations, and the Sox look forward to a blend of those elements.
  • Alex Speier of the Boston Globe attempts to define Cherington’s tenure as GM of the Red Sox. Cherington, Speier notes, never allowed himself to be concerned with his own job security despite a firm belief that he was accountable for the entire front office in difficult times. Cherington, one source told Speier, was so committed to positioning the Sox for success that he was “100 percent” responsible for the hiring of Jerry Dipoto as a consultant. However, Cherington felt that the philosophical differences between him and Dombrowski would introduce an ideological tension that could have been detrimental to the organization. Cherington, according to Speier, could have stuck around at least through the end of the 2016 season, when his contract was scheduled to expire.
  • At today’s exit press conference, Cherington told reporters, including the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato, that the first he heard of the Sox’ interest in Dombrowski was this past Saturday. Said Cherington: “I was in my office and he came and let me know that he and Tom [Werner] were pursuing Dave for this role. That was the first I had heard of it. Yesterday I was told they had an agreement.” Cherington was caught off guard, as he’d believed his conversations with Henry and ownership had been open, honest and productive. Henry, on the other hand, maintains that he first spoke to Cherington about the pursuit of Dombrowski as early as Aug. 4. Cherington offered nothing but praise for Dombrowski, stating that he has “great respect” for an executive whose resume speaks for itself and will be “an asset, clearly,” going forward for the Red Sox.
  • Cherington will be paid for the remainder of his contract despite stepping down, a source tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (Twitter link).
  • Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe breaks down the new Red Sox chain of command in the wake of Lucchino’s impending departure and the changes on the baseball operations side of the hierarchy.
  • ESPN’s Jim Bowden writes 10 things that we can expect from the Red Sox now that Dombrowski is in charge of baseball operations. The most significant note, from a roster standpoint, is that Bowden expects the Red Sox to actively pursue the market’s top free agent pitchers, including David Price, Johnny Cueto and Jordan Zimmermann, with Price topping the team’s wish list. He also notes that we should expect Dombrowski to part with some of the team’s elite young talent in order to add a second top pitcher with some team control.

Red Sox Release Justin Masterson

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AUGUST 19: Boston has requested release waivers on Masterson, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. As Speier notes, that represents the first decision of Dave Dombrowski’s tenure with the club.

AUGUST 9: The Red Sox have designated Justin Masterson for assignment, Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal tweets.  Masterson was among several Red Sox players placed on revocable waivers last week, but there were no takers for the hurler.

Masterson is earning $9.5MM in 2015 after inking a one-year deal with Boston back in December.  The 30-year-old fell off significantly last year after a three-year run in which he averaged 205 frames and a 3.86 ERA (that included outstanding campaigns in 2011 and 2013 sandwiched around a dud in 2012).  In 2014, he scuffled to a 5.88 ERA in 128 2/3 innings last year, striking out 8.1 and walking 4.8 batters per nine while dealing with a variety of shoulder, knee, and back issues.

After injuries held him back, Masterson settled for a one-year deal rather than the long-term deal he probably envisioned for himself.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get back on track in 2015 to reassert his value.  Back in June, he admitted that he was open to a trade if it meant starting elsewhere.

“I dont know if it’s in my nature to do that, to say, ‘Beat it guys, trade me or put me in [the rotation],’” he said. “No, I don’t think that’s the time right now. Especially the way I see this team going and the way I believe in this team too.”

In nine starts and eight relief appearances this season, Masterson owns a 5.55 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9.  To keep track of Masterson and everyone else in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.

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