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AL Notes: Duquette, Red Sox, Showalter, Neshek

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On the night that playoff baseball returns to Baltimore for the first time since 1997, we take a break from the action to catch up on the latest news and stories making headlines around the American League…

  • Orioles general manager Dan Duquette says there's no need to increase the team's payroll for next season given Baltimore's current success, says Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). The Orioles' payroll for the 2012 season saw the team spend $82MM — down $6MM from one season ago.
  • History says that the Red Sox will have to pay a steep price to the Blue Jays if they hope to secure John Farrell's services next season at manager, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Most recenly the Marlins sent the White Sox their fourth- and fifth-best prospects in exchange for manager Ozzie Guillen. The trade proved to be an ill-fated one for Miami as the front office may not retain Guillen for the 2013 season.
  • O's manager Buck Showalter has done a masterful job taking undesirable pieces and shaping a competitive club under his tutelage, says Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. "I kind of noticed this right when I got here," Nate McLouth said. "He's the kind of guy who even when he's not looking at you, he's watching you. He knows what's going on. All the time. Everywhere."
  • Mere days after the death of his newborn child, Athletics reliever Pat Neshek and his wife turned to baseball as a tool to aid in the mourning process, writes Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News. Neshek returned to the team on Saturday after tragedy struck on Wednesday to retire two batters in a row and successfully guide the A's out of a jam. "You could just see the emotion in his eyes," said Derek Norris. "You could see how much it meant to him."

AL East Notes: Jones, Red Sox, LaRoche, Blue Jays

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Yesterday, the Yankees informed Andruw Jones that he will not be on the ALDS roster against the Orioles.  Jones says that he understands the move and won't consider retirement as a result, writes Dan Martin of the New York Post.  “I’m going to be playing,” said the 35-year-old. “I don’t know where, but I’m not done playing.”  Jones will be a free agent this winter as his one-year, $2MM deal expires.  Here's more out of the AL East..

  • The Red Sox have plenty of money to work with this winter thanks to their blockbuster deal with the Dodgers, but there isn't much for them to spend it on, notes John Tomase of the Boston Herald.  Tomase could see Boston targeting Adam LaRoche and Mike Napoli, but the Red Sox would be wary of a substantial long-term commitment to the latter.
  • If the Red Sox can't pry John Farrell away from the Blue Jays, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald suggests that they could instead target Toronto's first base coach Torey Lovullo. 
  • The Daisuke Matsuzaka era in Boston came and went without a bang, writes Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald.  Despite Dice-K's less-than-impressive pitching with the Red Sox, Buckley hopes that the club continues to put a strong emphasis on international scouting.

Cafardo On Johnson, Soriano, Hernandez, Hamilton

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In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that there are some General Managers who have a few regrets regarding last winter.  Red Sox GM Ben Cherington wishes he had done more for the rotation.  Angels GM Jerry Dipoto probably would have liked to boost the bullpen more during the team's spending frenzy which netted Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson.  Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd was asked to assess his own mistakes and said, “How long is this article? Just kidding. We all have regrets. When you make the amount of decisions we do, you make mistakes. So this year [Jeremy] Guthrie was acquired to give us innings, but Coors [Field] got him and that hurt us. We had such a lack of experience everywhere else. There was no margin for error, and I screwed up.”  Here's more from today's column..

  • Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson will be trade bait, despite talk to the contrary.  Miami could get a ton from teams like the Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, Rangers, Twins, and Dodgers.  On the whole, the Marlins look like they're ready to clean house again.
  • Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano would make a lot of sense for the Rays as a DH, especially since the Cubs would pick up the bulk of his final two years under contract.  Soriano could also help the Blue Jays, Orioles, or Indians.
  • Indians GM Chris Antonetti says that he expects Shin-Shoo Choo to be back with Cleveland next season as he enters his walk year, but he will also listen to offers for the 30-year-old.  Choo could make sense for Boston as they face a similar situation with Jacoby Ellsbury.  Cafardo suggests a deal involving a pitcher like Justin Masterson.
  • Teams have offered the moon for Felix Hernandez in the past but there’s no chance that Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik is going to trade him now.  King Felix is under contract through 2014 and the M's have the money to keep him beyond that.  For his part, Hernandez is well-paid and loves playing in Seattle.
  • Josh Hamilton says that he won't take a discount to stay with the Rangers, but that's where he's likely to land as it's hard to read the market for him.  The Tigers, Nationals, Pirates, Phillies, Angels, Mariners, Blue Jays, and Orioles shouldn't be ruled out.  The Yankees and Red Sox also can't be crossed off the list but neither market is a strong fit for Hamilton.
  • Jake Peavy would appear to be a target for the Red Sox once his $22MM option is declined by the White Sox.  The 31-year-old could also end up staying put in Chicago or returning to the NL.
  • Former catcher Brad Ausmus, currently serving as a special assistant to the GM in San Diego, said that he would have interest in the Red Sox managerial vacancy.  As of Friday, however, he has yet to be contacted.  Ausmus turned down a chance to be interviewed for the Astros job earlier this fall.
  • The Red Sox are pursuing John Farrell, but Ryne Sandberg could be on their list, even though he was just named as the Phillies' third base coach and is likely being groomed for Charlie Manuel's job.  Cherington tried to get Sandberg to take Boston's Triple- A job a couple of years ago.
  • While some have accused Bobby Valentine of ignoring advanced scouting reporters, Cafardo says that he saw the manager reading them every time he visited his office.

Quick Hits: Phillies, Alomar, Red Sox, White Sox

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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

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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…

Red Sox Receive De La Rosa, Sands From Dodgers

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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).
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