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Astros To Interview Dusty Baker

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The Houston Astros will interview veteran skipper Dusty Baker on Monday, writes MLB.com’s Matt Kelly (crediting Jon Paul Morosi). Baker has also drawn interest from the Mets to fill their recent opening. While the Astros and Baker have connected, Baker has yet to hear from the Mets (or Red Sox), per MLB Network insider Jon Heyman.

Baker managed an even 3,500 games across four stints in the majors. The Giants (1993-2002), the Cubs (2003-2006), the Reds (2008-2013) and Nationals (2016-2017) all enjoyed regular season success with Baker at the helm.

Baker hasn’t made much traction in the managerial market since parting ways with the Nationals, but unique circumstances in New York and Houston may open the door for the 70-year-old Baker to return to the bench. Certainly, Baker can handle the media scrutiny that will comes with stepping into the spotlight vacated by A.J. Hinch or Carlos Beltran, respectively.

Baker is no stranger to public scrutiny. He oversaw the Giants through Barry Bonds’ record-breaking home run season and the Cubs during their 2003 playoff collapse and the what-ifs of the Kerry Wood-Mark Prior era. He’s also the only manager in the last 24 years to take the Reds to the playoffs, which he did three times.

Playoff disappointment has also been a feature of Baker teams, however. After twice losing in the first round, Baker took the 2002 Giants to the World Series and lost. The Cubs heartbreak followed. He was unable to get either the Reds or Nationals out of the first round, getting eliminated in a winner-take-all game in each of his last four postseason appearances.

Of course, a manager cannot be solely held accountable for playoff losses, and Baker would certainly provide a semblance of much-needed stability to either franchise. Houston has said they want to have the opening filled by February 3rd.

Carlos Beltran Out As Mets’ Manager

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8:13pm: Beltran will not receive any of the approximately $3MM owed to him over the course of his three-year deal with the Mets, the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff reports.  The team has instead made a $200K donation to Beltran’s charitable foundation.

12:25pm: The Mets have formally announced Beltran’s ousting. COO Jeff Wilpon and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen issued the following statement:

We met with Carlos last night and again this morning and agreed to mutually part ways. This was not an easy decision. Considering the circumstances, it became clear to all parties that it was not in anyone’s best interest for Carlos to move forward as Manager of the New York Mets. We believe that Carlos was honest and forthcoming with us. We are confident that this will not be the final chapter in his baseball career. We remain excited about the talent on this team and are committed to reaching our goals of winning now and in the future.

12:07pm: Carlos Beltran’s time as manager of the Mets will apparently come to a close before he even suits up for a game. Yahoo’s Tim Brown reports (via Twitter) that Beltran has informed the Mets he feels it is best if he steps down.

Beltran was named in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the findings of his investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme earlier this week. While Beltran was a player at the time and wasn’t expected to be disciplined by the league as a result, reports over the past 24 hours have indicated that the Mets have been mulling his future in light of his connection to the scandal.

Whether the decision truly rested with Beltran or whether the wording of the reports (and, presumably, the forthcoming announcement) was structured in a way to allow Beltran to save face to some extent isn’t known at this time. Regardless, his ousting as manager now means that every person listed in Manfred’s Astros report — Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, Astros manager A.J. Hinch, Red Sox manager Alex Cora (formerly Houston’s bench coach) and Beltran — have now lost their jobs in the wake of a scandal that has increasingly shaken Major League Baseball as a whole.

It’s worth emphasizing that The Athletic’s report that broke the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal wide open was published two weeks after Beltran was named Mets manager. As such, there’s no reason to believe that Beltran was asked about the scandal during the interview process — let alone any reason to believe that he was untruthful with the Mets during interviews. That said, Beltran did tell the New York Post’s Joel Sherman shortly after the scandal was brought to public light that he was “not aware of that camera,” denying any improper utilization of technology.

Two months later, Manfred’s report indicated the following: “Approximately two months into the 2017 season, a group of players, including Carlos Beltrán, discussed that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter.”

The Mets, incredibly, are now the third team seeking a new manager in mid-January. They’ll likely interview a mix of internal and external candidates, and it’s worth noting that the club did interview bench coach Hensley Meulens and quality control coach Luis Rojas in its initial search following the firing of Mickey Callaway. While other clubs throughout the league might be less inclined to allow members of their coaching staff to interview now that Spring Training looms in the near future, ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez was also reported to be a leading candidate in New York’s most recent search. One would imagine that he could once again factor prominently into the club’s hunt for a skipper.

MLBTR Poll: Will Mets Fire Carlos Beltran?

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The Astros’ sign-stealing shenanigans from their World Series-winning 2017 campaign have already taken down two prominent members of that team’s staff this week. Houston fired manager A.J. Hinch on Monday after Major League Baseball issued him a one-year suspension. Boston then canned skipper Alex Cora, formerly Hinch’s right-hand man and someone soon to receive harsh punishment from MLB, on Tuesday.

Check out our latest video on Beltran, as well as the Astros’ and Mets’ managerial vacancies (link for app users):

This scandal, one of the biggest in the history of baseball, may not be done taking down high-profile figures. Now the proverbial sword of Damocles is hanging over the head of yet another manager. This time it’s the Mets’ Carlos Beltran, who played for the Astros in 2017. According to commissioner Rob Manfred, Beltran discussed with teammates how to “improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter.”

Beltran was part of the league’s investigation, initially claiming no knowledge of the Astros’ scheme before admitting there was wrongdoing on the team’s part. Nevertheless, Manfred elected against punishing Beltran or any of the other players from the 2017 Astros.

Manfred may not have come down on Beltran, but the Mets might not be as kind to the 42-year-old potential Hall of Famer. Even though the Mets just hired Beltran as a first-time manager a little over two months ago, his job already appears to be in jeopardy. It’s a 180 for a club whose GM, Brodie Van Wagenen, said of Beltran in November: “Anything that happened, happened with another organization, with Houston. I have no idea if anything did or did not, but at this point I don’t see any reason why this is a Mets situation.”

Van Wagenen once called Beltran “trustworthy,” but the Mets’ confidence in him may be fading just weeks after his hiring and weeks before spring training opens. Furthermore, as Tim Britton of The Athletic notes, this is “an especially image-conscious team.”Beltran’s presence could be problematic for a franchise that’s always under the microscope, then, and now it’s possible his run as their manager will end before it’s truly able to start.

(Poll link for app users)

Carlos Beltran’s Role In Astros Scandal Poses Tough Questions For Mets

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2:54pm: There’s “legitimate concern” for Beltran’s job at the moment, Puma tweets.

7:36am: When Carlos Beltran was hired to manage the Mets on November 1st, his stint as a veteran anchor of the 2017 World Series-winning Astros was one of his better resume lines. With two other managers now fired for their roles in the Houston sign-stealing scandal, and Beltran cited as a participant in the report on the scheme, his time with the ’Stros now represents a stain that calls into some doubt his future in New York.

Beltran won’t be suspended by the commissioner Rob Manfred since he was a player at the time of the rules violations. And there is no specific indication at this point that Beltran’s new job is in jeopardy. But with Alex Cora following A.J. Hinch onto the unemployment rolls, it’s inevitable that the Mets will need to reach a decision on Beltran and address it with the media.

When the Astros scandal broke, Mike Puma of the New York Post notes on Twitter, Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen was rather dismissive  of the idea that it would have any impact on Beltran’s status. “I have no idea if anything did or did not,” said Van Wagenen, “but at this point I don’t see any reason why this is a Mets situation.”

The GM didn’t know then that Beltran would specifically be cited as a chief protagonist (alongside Cora) in the perpetration of the Houston rules violation scheme. And the magnitude of the scandal wasn’t yet clear. It also now seems that Beltran lied in his prior comments on the subject to the media.

At the moment, the Mets are taking a deliberative approach, per SNY.tv’s Andy Martino (Twitter link). While the Red Sox acted quickly to dump Cora, his departure was more obviously mandated by recent developments (including the fact of a separate investigation into the Boston organization). Beltran is at the moment preparing for his first Spring Training in the managerial seat, per Martino.

Indeed, we’re just a month out of the opening of camp, which will officially kick off a rather momentous year for the Mets organization. As Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post explain in their worthwhile summation of the subject, there’s a reasonable concern that the high-profile situation will create quite the distraction for the Mets. That’s all the more true given that Hinch and Cora will be sitting out spring camp; Beltran will be scheduled to engage with the media on a daily basis and was already sure to attract close coverage.

There’s also the question whether an ethically compromised figure still ought to be trusted with the keys to the roster, a topic that the Post duo also broach. And perhaps there’s still some thirst around the game (and in the public sphere) to see further punishment meted out. That consideration doesn’t change the moral equation for the Mets, but does create added potential practical difficulties. On the other hand, making a change at this point obviously comes with a host of other risks.

It’s a tough spot for the Mets, who otherwise had no connection whatsoever to this scandal. How Van Wagenen navigates the situation could well weigh heavily on his own long-term job security.

NL Notes: Dodgers, Cards, Arenado, Beltran

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The Dodgers lost the 2017 World Series in seven games to a franchise that’s now embroiled in one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. The Astros, who defeated the Dodgers, fired the GM (Jeff Luhnow) and manager (A.J. Hinch) of their championship team Monday after the league determined they were key figures in a sign-stealing scandal from that year. Luhnow and Hinch received one-year suspensions before the Astros dismissed them, while the tea also lost four draft picks (first- and second-rounders in each of the next two years) and earned the maximum fine of $5MM. The Dodgers could perhaps feel slighted as a result of the Astros’ misdeeds, but the organization is prohibited from making any complaints known. The team issued a statement Monday, saying: “All clubs have been asked by Major League Baseball not to comment on today’s punishment of the Houston Astros, as it’s inappropriate to comment on discipline imposed on another club. The Dodgers have also been asked not to comment on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series and will have no further comment at this time.”

More from the National League…

  • The Rockies and Cardinals have engaged in preliminary negotiations centering on Rox superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has been on St. Louis’ radar for years. They’ve held talks with Colorado “at least dating back” to December 2018, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relays. A few months later, the Rockies extended Arenado for seven years and $234MM on a deal that will kick in this season. That money, not to mention Arenado’s no-trade rights and his ability to opt out after 2021, could help prevent an acquisition from materializing for the Cardinals or anyone else. The Cards haven’t been willing to meet the Rockies’ asking price for Arenado in the past, per Goold, though it’s unclear what Colorado asked for in return. Now, as you’d expect, Goold notes that the Cardinals are unwilling to trade young ace Jack Flaherty and also seem unlikely to part with high-end outfield prospect Dylan Carlson.
  • New Mets manager Carlos Beltran, a member of the Houston team in 2017, was part of the league’s investigation into the Astros. MLB did not issue him any punishment, however, after he was gave the league his full cooperation “and admitted to everything,” Andy Martino of SNY tweets. It seems Beltran changed his tune since the league’s investigation started in November, though, as he initially denied any knowledge of violations on the Astros’ part.

Hensley Meulens “Strong Frontrunner” To Be Mets’ Bench Coach

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Hensley Meulens is a “strong frontrunner” to become the next bench coach for the New York Mets, though the team is not confirming any new hire decisions at this time, tweets Andy Martino of the SNY Network. Jennifer Mercedes of La Vida Baseball (via Twitter) is hearing that the Mets and their newly-hired manager Carlos Beltran are ready to tab Meulens in the role now. This level of scuttlebutt often leads to an announcement from the team, though Martino suggests nothing official is imminent.

Meulens has made the rounds the past couple of seasons as a new manager candidate, and he would come to New York highly-regarded after a defining career on the coaching staff of the San Francisco Giants. He spent the past two seasons in the same role he’ll potentially man in New York, serving as bench coach to Bruce Bochy. He was Bochy’s hitting coach from 2010 to 2017, during which time the Giants won three championships. Beltran, of course, crossed paths with Meulens during his short stint in a Giants uniform in the 2011 season.

The Marlins reportedly offered Meulens a role on Don Mattingly’s staff, with whom Meulens was a teammate for parts of five seasons from 1989 to 1993 as a player with the New York Yankees. Meulens was also in conversation with the Giants about their open managerial position before being informed recently that he was no longer in the running.

Joey Cora, Fredi Gonzalez, Jerry Narron, and Terry Collins have also been named at various times as potential candidates to assume the role of Beltran’s right-hand man. Meulens has less managerial experience than some of the other candidates listed, though he did manage the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and 2017. Along with his many years under the leadership of Bochy, Meulens would presumably provide plenty of insight and guidance for the Mets’ rookie skipper.

GM Meetings Notes: Mets, White Sox, Red Sox

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The Mets have about $20MM to spend to stay under the luxury tax, and though they haven’t ruled out going over for a season, history suggests otherwise, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The rotation is largely set with Cy Young Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz locked into the top four spots. Despite the rumblings, GM Brodie Van Wagenen has been adamant about Syndergaard staying put, and as for the fifth rotation spot, relievers Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman are very real candidates. Free agent upgrades are more likely to bolster the bullpen, which is already a man down if Lugo or Gsellman jump to the rotation. Of course, the best upgrade they could hope for would come in the form of a bounceback season from closer Edwin Diaz. Diaz is putting in extra work this winter in Puerto Rico, and for what it’s worth, new manager and fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Beltran “considers mentoring Diaz one of his top priorities.” Here are some more notes coming out of the GM meetings…

  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn attempted to temper expectations before projecting bloated win totals for his club in 2020, per the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan. It’s an exciting time nonetheless for those on the south side of Chicago, with high-end youngsters Nick Madrigal, Luis Robert, and Michael Kopech expected to establish themselves as big leaguers. They have money to spend on pitching or an outfielder, and a tough decision to make on newly-minted gold glover Yolmer Sanchez. Madrigal is likely to unseat Sanchez from his regular role at second, and with Sanchez due to make roughly $6.2MM through arbitration, he’s definitely a possible non-tender. The Sox love him from a character perspective and aren’t eager to kick him curbside, but even with his new hardware in tow, $6.2MM after a .252/.318/.321 season is probably a touch too rich for the ChiSox.
  • The Red Sox are facing a different kind of offseason under the leadership of Chaim Bloom, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Scaling back the payroll is objective A, and the Red Sox are active in trade discussions around just about everyone on the roster. The media has Mookie Betts as the fulcrum of Boston’s trade activity, but he’s expensive on a one-year deal and unlikely to sign an extension, mitigating any trade return and making a deal unlikely. It’s more likely the Red Sox find their desired breathing room by trading from their rotation: David Price, Chris Sale, and/or Nathan Eovaldi. Meanwhile, discussions with free agents are largely on the backburner as they look for creative ways to free up space in the payroll.

NL Notes: Rockies, Marlins, Mets

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The Rockies pitching staff collapsed in 2019, and it led to a myriad of attempted fixes, per The Athletic’s Nick Groke. So far, however, the Rockies remain at a loss. There is concern about the state of the baseball and how it reacts in Colorado’s altitude, but scouts around baseball also point to a habit of “careless deliveries” among Colorado hurlers as a cause for concern. Bud Black and his team are hard at work trying to diagnose the issue(s), and without payroll flexibility over the winter, identifying internal solutions might be their best chance at improvement in 2020. Still, it’s a dispiriting read for Colorado’s fans, as the Groke writes that the Rockies went so far as to “shut down their top starter, 24-year-old German Márquez, in late August, in part to save him from the bombardment.” They’ll have a clean slate in 2020, but a long road ahead as the Dodgers remain a juggernaut, while the Diamondbacks and Padres are rising contenders. Let’s check in elsewhere around the NL…

  • The Marlins feel much differently about the future of their pitching staff. This season definitely opened some eyes to the burgeoning talent in Miami’s rotation, but the best may be yet to come. Miami management believes they have a dozen or more identifiable arms in their system with big-league rotation potential, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jose Urena has been the big name of the rotation in year’s past, but his future is uncertain with Caleb Smith, Sandy Alcantara, Jordan Yamamoto, Pablo Lopez, and Elieser Hernandez all competing for regular roles next year.
  • Managing the Mets is not the easiest job in baseball, but in tabbing Carlos Beltran for the role, New York found someone who knows what to expect and is ready to handle the unique challenge of managing in Queens, per The Athletic’s Tim Britton. Beltran is a long-respected clubhouse leader, and though he’ll be new to the managing role, he is no stranger to the New York spotlight. Ownership rarely takes a backseat for the Mets, but Beltran’s existing relationships will help him in that department as well. The biggest obstacle to a successful tenure for Beltran remains in Atlanta, DC, and Philadelphia.

Mets Name Carlos Beltran Manager

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The Mets have officially named Carlos Beltran their next manager. He’ll reportedly earn approximately $3MM over the guaranteed three-year term, with a club option to follow.

Carlos Beltran | Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

If indeed a deal is ticked and tied, it’ll launch a fascinating new chapter in Mets history. Beltran, a recently retired former Mets star who left the organization on less-than-pleasant terms, will pair up with ever-interesting sophomore GM Brodie Van Wagenen as the club does battle in a tough NL East.

Beltran, 42, had previously interviewed for the Yankees’ managerial opening that went to Aaron Boone. While he missed on that gig, Beltran joined the Bronx-based organization’s front office as a special advisor. That experience ended up functioning as a transition time for Beltran, who’ll now get back in uniform.

When last he donned Mets duds, Beltran was still a star-level performer. Though there were indications of sore feelings when he departed via trade in the middle of the 2011 season, things worked out well enough for the Queens denizens. Beltran hit well enough over the first half of that year — his final of a seven-season contract — to return a highly valuable player in the form of Zack Wheeler. While we likely won’t get the interesting optic of Beltran removing Wheeler from games — the righty is expected to receive a qualifying offer but decline it in favor of the open market — that swap still makes for an interesting reference point.

Beltran shouldn’t have any problems commanding respect in the clubhouse and with the media. He’s a rightly revered figure in the game and will likely check into Cooperstown during his time as the Mets skipper — so long as his tenure at the helm of the dugout is longer than that of his predecessor. Mickey Callaway came from quite a different place when he entered the gig, but did finish with a flourish over the final two-thirds or so of the 2019 campaign. That wasn’t enough to save his job.

The expectations will be lofty for Beltran’s debut campaign, at least within the organization. It’s postseason or bust for Van Wagenen and co., particularly after doubling down on the existing core slate of players at the 2019 trade deadline. It is difficult to fully assess the odds of the club cracking the postseason for the first time since 2016, given that we don’t yet know just what the roster will look like when camp breaks early next year. As we explored recently, the organization faces some obvious obstacles to improving the on-field product it will entrust to Beltran.

Sid Rosenberg of TalkRadio 77 WABC had the first word on Twitter. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com independently reported the news (via Twitter). Marly Rivera of ESPN (via Twitter) reported the deal structure, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link) covering the salary.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets Reportedly Narrow Managerial Search

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The Mets’ managerial search is down to two names, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). Former Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran and former Astros bench coach/current ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez are the last two men standing. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman recently tweeted that Milwaukee bench coach Pat Murphy was out of the running, though Heyman suggested shortly before Feinsand that Twins bench coach Derek Shelton was still involved alongside Beltran and Perez.

Neither Beltran nor Perez has any big league managerial experience, but Perez did manage a pair of winter ball clubs in Puerto Rico and managed Team Colombia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. In addition to a brief stint as the bench coach in Houston, Perez spent a pair of seasons as the Marlins’ hitting coach earlier this decade. Beltran, who only retired as a player after the 2017 season, has spent his short post-playing days as a special advisor to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

Hiring Perez would, in many ways, mimic the crosstown Yankees’ hiring of Aaron Boone and the Cubs’ recent hiring of David Ross. Both were retired players hired away from ESPN jobs, though Perez, unlike that duo, does have the aforementioned coaching/managing experience. Beltran, notably, would jump from player to manager even more quickly than Ross did — if he is indeed hired. Ross retired after winning a World Series in 2016, while Beltran retired after winning a World Series in 2017. Perez was reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale last week to be the “clear front-runner,” but the search then carried on into a third round of interviews.

The Mets’ managerial search has dragged out even longer than the GM search that led the organization to hire then-CAA-agent Brodie Van Wagenen late last October. While a whopping eight teams entered the offseason in search of a new skipper, most identified a smaller set of initial candidates than New York. The Mets, meanwhile, not only conducted first-round interviews with a wide slate of candidates, they also carried a significant list of hopefuls all the way into a third round of interviews. (Most other organizations seemingly only went through two rounds.) At least five candidates — Perez, Beltran, Shelton, Murphy and Nats first base coach Tim Bogar — seemingly advanced to this stage.

The Mets, Pirates and Giants are the three remaining clubs that have yet to name a manager for the 2020 season. The Angels (Joe Maddon), Phillies (Joe Girardi), Cubs (Ross), Royals (Mike Matheny) and Padres (Jayce Tingler) have all hired new skippers since the regular season ended.

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