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Managerial Notes: Cardinals, Cubs, Red Sox

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Here's the latest on the search to fill the dugouts in St. Louis, Chicago and Boston….

  • Cards GM John Mozeliak tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he expects the Cardinals' new manager to be one of the team's six finalists for the job: Terry Francona, Chris Maloney, Mike Matheny, Joe McEwing, Jose Oquendo and Ryne Sandberg.
  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told reporters, including MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, that the team will "probably" not conduct any more interviews of managerial candidates.  "I wouldn’t rule out an additional candidate but it’s not a certainty," Hoyer said.  The Cubs have thus far spoken to Sandy Alomar Jr., Pete Mackanin, Mike Maddux and Dale Sveum.
  • The Cubs have no timetable for hiring their new manager.  "We want to make the right decision, not the quick decision," Hoyer said. 
  • The Red Sox have no plans to bring in any other interview candidates, tweets Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston.  The Sox also haven't asked other teams for "formal permission" to interview any currently-employed candidates.  Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo interviewed today and Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont will interview tomorrow, seemingly limiting the field to those two plus Alomar, Sveum and Mackanin.

Epstein, Zambrano Touch Base

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Carlos Zambrano is in no hurry to part ways with the Cubs, and by the pitcher's account the feeling is mutual. Zambrano told Carlos Alberto Zambrano at the Venezuelan newspaper Lider en Deportes (link in Spanish) that he received a "friendly" call from new team president Theo Epstein on Tuesday, the first contact between the two. According to Zambrano, the conversation started with introductions and ended with Epstein promising to call him at a later date to set up a personal meeting stateside.

"We talked for a while. Now I'm waiting for him to tell me when we'll meet," Zambrano said. "It might be after the winter meetings that the GMs have, which is in Milwaukee this year."

Zambrano had a rough start to his winter league sojourn last week, lasting only 2 2/3 innings for the reigning league champion Anzoátegui Caribes. And while the 30-year-old sounded eager to build a positive relationship with the new Cubs brass, he is not planning to step away from his duties in Venezuela to do so. 

"When I go to talk to the GM it will be a short trip. For example, supposing that I pitch on a Saturday, I'd leave that same night. We'd talk Sunday or Monday, and by Tuesday, I'd be on my way back to Venezuela. I'm not going for a week or even five days. It'll be quick-to meet each other. Talk in person. That's very important. I'd like to build a relationship from scratch with the new GM. Erase everything and start over."

The Marlins and Royals have been connected to Zambrano so far this offseason, but Royals GM Dayton Moore insisted on Monday that the team's interest was mostly theoretical.

Chicago Notes: Sox’s Payroll, Buehrle, Cubs’ Manager

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A few odds and ends from the Windy City as Thursday winds down …

  • White Sox GM Ken Williams said today that the South Siders' 2012 payroll would be "a little bit less" than 2011's $127MM figure, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. 
  • Williams also added that he has had dialogue with free agent starter Mark Buehrle but didn't offer much in regards to whether the lefty might re-sign with the only team for which he's pitched: "All we can do is wait until we get to the winter meetings and then have a better idea of where we sit and where he sits and see if there’s a match,” Williams said.
  • Cubs president Theo Epstein said the North Siders are in the "sixth inning" of their search for a new manager, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. So far, Pete Mackanin, Dale Sveum and Mike Maddux have interviewed for the position, and Sandy Alomar Jr. is slated to interview on Friday.
  • Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona badly wants to manage the Cubs, a source very close to Francona tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. Epstein has said that Francona probably wouldn't have to go through a formal interview if the Cubs wanted to award him the job, but right now it is unknown whether Francona is being seriously considered for the position.

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Marte, Brewers

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On this date in 2004, 42-year-old Roger Clemens won his seventh and final Cy Young Award. The Astros right-hander became the oldest pitcher to win the award and the first to win it with four different teams. Here are some links from Houston's division…

  • Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux told reporters, including MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, that he likes Chicago and is honored to be considered for the Cubs' managerial opening. As for Chicago executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, Maddux says they're young and bright like Jon Daniels and others in the Rangers' front office. "Highly educated, very motivated, but very true and very honest and that's about all you can really ask for," Maddux said.
  • If the Pirates decide to address needs at first, catcher and shortstop via trade, Starling Marte's name could come up, according to MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. 
  • At this stage in the offseason, "everybody has interest in everybody," Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Until teams and agents start exchanging figures, it's hard to say which players fit in which payrolls. Jose Reyes is a possible fit for the Brewers, who declined their club option on Yuniesky Betancourt last week.

Central Notes: Tigers, Cain, Cubs, Barmes

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The Tigers signed Jhonny Peralta to a two-year deal on this date in 2010. The shortstop responded with 21 homers and a .299/.345/.478 line in 2011 and the Tigers won their division. Here's the latest from baseball's central divisions, starting in Detroit…

Royals Interested In Carlos Zambrano

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5:02pm: Moore clarified his remarks to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel and said he shouldn't have publicly discussed a player under contract with another team (link on Carrie Muskat's blog). 

“It’s our job as a baseball operations department to listen and explore every potential opportunity that would improve our team,” Moore said. “We spend countless hours doing so and we invite everybody’s opinion as to how it pertains to how we could improve our team. And if one of our people brought up Carlos Zambrano, I would listen and ask questions about why they believe that. That’s all that was and I responded in that spirit.”

12:05pm: The Royals have interest in Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano, Mark Carman at 610 Sports Radio learned from talking with GM Dayton Moore yesterday (CSNChicago.com's David Kaplan has Moore's quotes).  Moore's comments on Zambrano when asked:

"We would have to be interested. We would have to explore it because that's what you should do. You should explore every opportunity. Carlos Zambrano is a heckuva competitor.  Carlos Zambrano has had a lot of success in the major leagues. Carlos Zambrano is actually a very pleasant, easy going, classy person off the field. Sometimes, as with all of us the competitiveness takes over and brings out qualities in us that we are not proud of. Obviously the Cubs grew tired of some of his outbursts but I believe in our coaching staff and we'll always take a chance and a risk on certain players. We'll see how that particular situation unfolds."

Zambrano is owed $18MM in 2012, and has a $19.25MM option that vests for 2013 if he finishes in the top four of the 2012 Cy Young vote.  The option seems highly unlikely to vest, but if Zambrano is somehow that good in 2012, perhaps his team wouldn't mind another year.  Moore's comments on Z's contract:

"He has a no-trade clause for 29 other teams so he is going to have to be comfortable wherever he goes and there is a lot of money attached to his deal. There is a vesting option that is a part of that worth $18 or 19 million going forward. We certainly wouldn't want to put ourselves in a position where we have to honor a contract of that nature."

The Cubs expect to address the Zambrano situation this week, writes ESPN's Buster Olney.  As I wrote in August, the 30-year-old righty has major negative trade value.  As a pitcher he's worth a few million dollars, so maybe the Cubs could trade Zambrano for a low-level prospect while assuming $15MM.  That assumes Zambrano would approve a trade without requiring compensation.  Jed Hoyer told Kaplan he has the ability to eat any contract he feels is necessary to improve the club.   It'd probably be better for the Cubs to instead take on a similar bad contract and hope for some value out of that player.

Quick Hits: Maddux, Maine, Jackson, Darvish

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The Orioles officially announced that they’ll name Dan Duquette their executive VP of baseball operations tomorrow. While that front office change was expected, the Twins’ decision to replace Bill Smith with Terry Ryan was most certainly not. Here are some notes from around MLB on yet another busy day for front office movement… 

Heyman On Pagan, Braves, Pujols, Madson

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Terry Ryan is officially the interim general manager of the Twins, but Jon Heyman of SI.com hears that the longtime GM is recharged and may stay a while (Twitter link). Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors from SI.com:

  • The Mets have discussed Angel Pagan as a non-tender candidate, but they intend to offer him arbitration, according to Heyman (on Twitter). MLBTR projects a $4.7MM salary for the center fielder in 2012.
  • Meanwhile, Chris Capuano is looking for a two-year deal, but the Mets prefer one-year bargains (Twitter link).
  • The Braves are looking for a Zack Greinke-like return in a deal for Jair Jurrjens, according to Heyman (on Twitter). The Royals obtained Jake Odorizzi, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar and Jeremy Jeffress for Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt last offseason.
  • Twins executive Mike Radcliff and Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer weren’t that interested in the Orioles’ GM job, according to Heyman. The Orioles requested permission to interview them both, but the Twins denied the request and the Orioles hired Dan Duquette before setting anything up with Oppenheimer.
  • It's believed that Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava got a raise to stay in Toronto, according to Heyman.
  • It’s hard to tell Boston’s list of managerial candidates apart from the one the Cubs have, as Heyman explains.
  • It doesn’t appear that the Cardinals will be able to boost their nine-year, $200MM offer to Albert Pujols by much.
  • Ryan Madson is drawing lots of interest and the Red Sox, Phillies, Nationals, Rangers and Marlins are believed to be interested.
  • C.J. Wilson, Edwin Jackson, Mark Buehrle and Roy Oswalt are drawing lots of interest, as expected.
  • Heyman hears that Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is pushing for Prince Fielder or Pujols. The Marlins have also expressed early interest in Jose Reyes.

Quick Hits: Ordonez, Rangers, Myers, Cubs

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Remember – the deadline to make picks for MLBTR's first-ever free agent prediction contest is tonight at midnight central time.  Only ballots with picks made for all of the top 50 free agents will be counted; incomplete ones will not be eligible.  So dot your I's, cross your T's, and give yourself a chance at a piece of $1000 worth of great prizes.  For information about the contest rules and prizes, click here.  When you're done with that, check out these links..

  • MLB.com's Jason Beck chatted with Carlos Guillen, who has been talking with Magglio Ordonez since the season ended and the veteran relayed that Ordonez plans on playing again next year.  That news matches up with what we've been hearing recently.  Reportedly, it's very unlikely that Guillen or Ordonez will return to the Tigers next year.
  • In a piece for MLB.com, Peter Gammons praises Rangers GM Jon Daniels, assistant GM Thad Levine, senior director of player personnel A.J. Preller, and the rest of the club's front office for their work in recent years.  Gammons runs down some of the club's best calls, including their 2010 to trade for Cliff Lee which propelled them to win the pennant and reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
  • The Braves had trade talks with the Royals about Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado but talks have stalled, likely because Kansas City does not want to part with top prospect Wil Myers.  Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star believes that Myers is a player with star potential that can be used to net the club a potential impact starting pitcher in a trade.
  • Either Dale Sveum or Mike Maddux would make sense as the Cubs' next manager, writes Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com.  Meanwhile, the club has a huge void in its rotation and pitching figures to be their biggest need this offseason.  In his Offseason Outlook for the Cubs, Tim Dierkes writes the Cubs could easily spread their surplus among four or five veterans rather than go for a big splash.
  • Josh Goldman of Fangraphs brings us three visuals to analyze baseball's previous $100MM contract recipients and how they performed.  Recently, our own Ben Nicholson-Smith checked in on how baseball's newest $100MM players fared in 2011.

Cafardo On Gonzalez, Rays, Davis, Ortiz

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The Cubs and Red Sox are after managers that will take a lot of input from their front offices, writes Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe.  In fact, the two teams have quite a bit of overlap on their lists.  Meanwhile, the Cardinals will also be looking for their next skipper and it'll be interesting to see what type of manager they look for.  Cafardo writes that the important thing for the new managers in any of these cities is that they know the ground rules from the start.  Here's more from Cafardo's Sunday column..

  • A's lefty Gio Gonzalez remains a viable trade option for many teams, including the Red Sox and Marlins.  Meanwhile, the Athletics probably aren’t ready to contend.  The club appears to be buying time until they can build a new stadium in the San Jose area.  Until then, they may be in the mode of developing players and dealing them for players who might emerge a few years from now.
  • When all is said and done, the Rays are expected to be willing to deal right-hander Wade Davis this offseason.  A major league source says that while Tampa Bay will listen on James Shields, Davis is the pitcher they will likely end up dealing for an outfielder or a catcher.
  • Free agent David Ortiz seemed upset that the Red Sox did not re-sign him during the exclusivity period, but it made no sense for the club to do so with the veteran's limited options.  While Ortiz wants a three-year deal, the BoSox can wait and survey the market before committing to a multiyear deal for the 36-year-old hitter.
  • Red Sox assistant GM Allard Baird removed himself from the Orioles GM search this week and Cafardo wouldn't be shocked to hear of a new title for him within the Sox organization.
  • Cafardo envisions Tim Bogar winding up with a significant role with either the Cubs or Red Sox.
  • Former Rangers and Red Sox skipper Kevin Kennedy says that he enjoys his broadcast career but he sometimes gets the itch to return to the dugout.  Kennedy says that he would even consider being a bench coach.
  • Larry Bowa, currently working as an analyst for MLB Network, also has aspirations of managing in the majors again.
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