Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Ichiro, Garza, Greinke, Bell
On this date two years ago, the Mariners named former Brewers vice president Jack Zduriencik as their new general manager. His defense-heavy approach resulted in a 24 win increase in his first season at the helm, though team scoring dropped by 31 runs. The Mariners won just 61 games and scored a mere 513 runs in 2010, the fewest by any team in the DH era. Unsurprisingly, there's already talk that Jack Z. is on the hot seat.
These links don't have to worry about being on the hot seat, they've made this week's edition of BBWI…
- Speaking of the Mariners, Prospect Insider discusses the possibility of trading Ichiro.
- DRays Bay speculates about what the Rays could get in return for Matt Garza.
- Meanwhile, The Process Report looks ahead to Tampa's 2011 bullpen.
- The Tao Of Stieb wonders if the Blue Jays should get involved in trade talks for Zack Greinke.
- Redleg Nation asks the same Greinke question for the Reds.
- The Friarhood debates whether the Padres should trade or extend Heath Bell.
- Disciples of Uecker re-lives the history of Nelson Cruz.
- Monkey With A Halo reviews Angels GM Tony Reagins' 2010 moves.
- Royals Review wonders if Robinson Tejeda turned the corner in 2010.
- Yankeeist breaks down Cliff Lee as he approaches his massive payday.
- River Ave. Blues writes that Lance Berkman and Kerry Wood have gone from spare parts to important pieces for the Yankees.
- Cubs Packs wants to know if Jim Hendry can fix the team's bullpen.
- 1 Blue Jays Way offers up a quick take on Toronto's options.
- The Hardball Times looks at some players whose best position is DH.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Odds & Ends: Dodgers, Wood, D’Backs, A’s
Links for Wednesday, as the Yankees try to prolong their season…
- Baseball sources tell Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that the Dodgers are likely to bring Trey Hillman aboard as their bench coach.
- Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald wonders if Kerry Wood could have made a difference for the BoSox.
- Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks are expected to name Ray Montgomery their new scouting director. Montgomery has spent the last eight years in the Brewers organization.
- Bryce Harper will bat seventh in his Arizona Fall League debut tonight, according to the Nationals Baseball Media Relations department (via Twitter).
- The A's have announced several staff changes via press release. Gerald Perry has been welcomed back as hitting coach in place of Jim Skaalen. Joel Skinner, a longtime member of the Indians coaching staff, will take over as bench coach. Former bench coach Tye Waller will be reassigned as the first base coach. Waller replaces Todd Steverson who has been offered a position in the A's farm system.
- Mark McGwire is on the fence about returning as the Cards hitting coach, Tony La Russa told Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch.
- Former Angels scouting director Eddie Bane will join the Tigers scouting department, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law (on Twitter).
- MLB.com's Jason Beck introduces us to Tigers assistant GM Al Avila, the longtime Detroit exec who remains a GM candidate. The Tigers recently declined to let the Mets interview Avila.
- If you play fantasy baseball, head over to RotoAuthority, where Tim Dierkes examines the impact of Ted Lilly's new deal on the lefty's fantasy value.
- It doesn't look like Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima will become available to MLB teams this year, according to reports passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (Twitter link).
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat that he will "absolutely" welcome Ryne Sandberg back to Chicago's minor league system if the Hall of Famer wants to continue working his way to the major leagues. Sandberg, a finalist for the Cubs major league job, was disappointed when the team hired Mike Quade.
- Brewers managerial candidate Pat Listach was pleased with his interview, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
Manager Rumors: Jays, Sandberg, Mariners, Orioles
The Cubs made the day's big move, signing Mike Quade to a two-year deal, but there's lots of chatter about another candidate for the Cubs job and other teams around the league. Here are the details:
- Sal Fasano, Dave Martinez, Luis Rivera and Rob Thomson have all been informed that they're no longer candidates for the Toronto manager's job, tweets Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press. Don Baylor is also out of the running and is "not pleased about it," according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link).
- Ryne Sandberg, a finalist for the Cubs job, may leave the organization, a source tells Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (Twitter link).
- Sandberg told ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago that he would like to manage elsewhere, though he was disappointed not to get the Cubs job.
- Daren Brown, who managed the Mariners after Don Wakamatsu's dismissal, will either manage at Triple-A or be on the major league staff next year, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times (on Twitter).
- Wedge said he's looking forward to working with Milton Bradley again, according to Stone (on Twitter). "I don’t hold any grudges," Wedge said. Bradley said yesterday that he's open to Wedge's hiring.
- Orioles manager Buck Showalter will meet with president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and owner Peter Angelos to discuss the team's offseason approach, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.
- Earlier today, Jon Heyman of SI.com reported that the Mets "love" Joe Girardi and noted that the Yankees skipper lost some leverage when Quade got the Cubs job (Twitter links).
Tankersley, Others Hit Free Agency
Taylor Tankersley and a number of others with big league experience recently hit free agency, as Baseball America's Matt Eddy reports. Joining the left-hander on the open market are Bobby Scales (Cubs), Justin Lehr (Reds), Paul Phillips (Rockies), Juan Rincon (Rockies), Hector Luna (Marlins), Anderson Hernandez (Astros), Adam Stern (Brewers), Denny Bautista (Giants), Brandon Medders (Giants), Willie Eyre (Rangers) and Sean Henn (Blue Jays).
Tankersley, the Marlins' first round pick in the 2004 draft, succeeded early in his career, but has since struggled. Still just 27, Tankersley brings a career 8.8 K/9 to the free agent market and could become a lefty specialist. He missed all of 2009 with a stress fracture in his elbow, but it wouldn't be surprising to see a team like the Diamondbacks take a flier on the former prospect.
Bautista, who turns 28 this weekend, is another interesting arm. He posted a 3.74 ERA with the Giants this year and struck out (11.8 K/9) and walked (7.2 BB/9) tons of batters in 33.2 innings. The right-hander has always walked lots of hitters, but his mid-90s fastball and ability to induce strikeouts may tempt teams looking to buy low on live arms.
Cubs Hire Mike Quade
The Cubs signed manager Mike Quade to a two-year deal with a club option for 2013, according to the team. Quade, 53, became Chicago’s interim manager on August 23rd after Lou Piniella retired. He was the team’s third base coach from 2007-10 after managing the Triple-A Iowa Cubs for four seasons.
Iowa’s most recent manager, Ryne Sandberg, was also a finalist for the major league managerial job. Mariners manager Eric Wedge interviewed for the position and the Cubs also appeared interested in Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose contract expires after the season.
Quade led the Cubs to a 24-13 record down the stretch, though he had never before managed in the major leagues. He has managed for 17 years in the minors, though, and got his first managerial gig 25 years ago.
Odds & Ends: Greinke, Marlins, McGwire, Daniels
As Cliff Lee continues his domination of the Yankees, here's some news from around baseball…
- Zack Greinke has until after the World Series to notify the Royals about the 8-10 teams on his no-trade list, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- Bo Porter is not "the front runner" to be the next Marlins manager, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Rodriguez also notes that Florida would've kept Cody Ross had the team not fallen out of the pennant race. Since the Marlins faded, Ross was expendable given the club's desire for Cameron Maybin to get playing time.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears from Tony La Russa that Mark McGwire is "really torn" about returning as the Cardinals' hitting coach (Twitter link).
- In the wake of Jeff Wilpon's statement that the Mets might not hire their new GM for a few weeks, Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog.com wonders if the Mets are waiting for the postseason to be over so they can speak to Rangers GM Jon Daniels.
- Speaking of Daniels, he tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald that he saw the Jarrod Saltalamacchia trade "as an opportunity to give [the catcher] a fresh start."
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson looks at a few hot stove items from Washington in his latest mailbag. He has some strong words about Jason Bergmann, who was released by the Nationals last week, and doesn't think there's any chance of Adam Dunn getting an early extension completed with Washington a la Ted Lilly's deal with the Dodgers.
- Carrie Muskat has her own MLB.com mailbag concerning the Cubs. Neither Derrek Lee nor Lance Berkman, she opines, are good fits for Chicago at first base next season.
- We heard earlier that Joey Cora will interview for the Brewers' managerial job on Tuesday, and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Pat Listach will also interview on the same day. Listach, Washington's third base coach, won the AL Rookie Of The Year Award as a Brewer in 1992 and played for Milwaukee from 1992 to 1996.
- CSNNE.com's Sean McAdam predicts that Paul Konerko is "likely staying put" with the White Sox. (Twitter link)
Amateur Signing Bonuses: Cubs
Time for another post in our series looking at the five largest signing bonuses each team has given to amateur players. The Cubs are up…
- Mark Prior, $4MM (2001)
- Corey Patterson, $3.7MM (1998)
- Josh Vitters, $3.2MM (2007)
- Luis Montanez, $2.75MM (2000)
- Bobby Brownlie, $2.5MM (2002)
You'd be hard pressed to find a team that pumped more money into high draft picks and received so little in return. Prior was undeniably special, going from USC to a third-place finish in the NL Cy Young voting within two years. His first 56 big league starts (377 innings) featured a 2.60 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 (removing intentional walks), but arm injuries wrecked the rest of his career. Prior last pitched for the Cubs (and in the big leagues) on August 10th of 2006. If his latest comeback attempt is unsuccessful, his career is likely to end with a 3.51 ERA, 10.4 K/9, and 3.1 BB/9 in 106 starts (657 innings).
Patterson and Montanez were the third overall picks in their respective drafts. Neither delivered on their promise, though Patterson at least managed to reach the big leagues for Chicago. He hit just .252/.293/.414 with 70 homers and 86 steals in 589 games for the Cubbies before being traded to the Orioles for a pair of minor leaguers before the 2006 season. Montanez spent six years in the Cubs' farm system before signing with Baltimore as a minor league free agent in 2007. He didn't make it out of A-ball until five years after he was drafted. Vitters, yet another third overall pick, reached Double-A at age 20 this season, but he's just a .275/.317/.435 hitter in the minors, walking only 46 times unintentionally in 1,178 plate appearances.
Brownlie, a Scott Boras client and the 21st overall pick in 2002, pitched very well in Cubs farm system for two years before his elbow started to act up in 2005. He was shifted to the bullpen and pitched terribly in 2006 (6.33 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9), leading to his release. Brownlie bounced around a bit after that, including a stint in an independent league, but he now coaches at his alma mater Rutgers. He never reached the big leagues, but did throw 199 innings at the Triple-A level.
Kosuke Fukudome matched Prior's signing bonus at $4MM, but he's not considered an amateur given all of his time in Japan despite having zero MLB experience when he signed.
Odds & Ends: Listach, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Hill
Saturday evening linkage as the Phillies and Giants kick off the NLCS…
- Nationals third base coach Pat Listach confirmed to Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel that he will interview for the Brewers' managerial opening on Tuesday.
- Nick Piecoro lists some candidates for the Diamondbacks' scouting director job (Twitter links): Tim Huff (Rays), J.J. Lally (White Sox), Chuck Ricci (Indians), and Jeff Schugel (Angels). ESPN's Keith Law tweets that Huff would be an excellent hire, and says he's surprised that Ray Montgomery (Brewers) and Rick Wilson (Angels) aren't on the list (Twitter link).
- MLB.com's Sarah D. Morris doesn't think the Dodgers need an overhaul.
- Lefty Rich Hill has already had discussions with the Red Sox about returning in 2011, tweets Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com.
- McAdam (via Twitter) also expects to see Darnell McDonald back in Boston next season.
- If Tony La Russa comes back to the Cardinals, he should sign a multi-year deal, says Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. learned how to build a successful team by working under Ed Wade and Pat Gillick, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- The San Francisco Chronicle's Gwen Knapp praises the Giants' homegrown talent.
Manager Roundup: Brewers, Blue Jays, Cubs
Here's the latest news concerning managerial vacancies, with more to come..
Brewers
Bobby Valentine has had "conversations" with the Brewers but has yet to have a formal interview, according to the manager when he was a guest on SIRIUS XM's Mad Dog Radio yesterday. Bobby V added that he is unsure if he'll have another interview with Milwaukee, adding that he'll have to see what the next conversation leads to.
Meanwhile, the Brewers have asked for and received permission to talk to Nationals third-base coach Pat Listach, two baseball sources tell MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Listach, who managed in the Cubs' farm system for four seasons, will interview with GM Doug Melvin on Tuesday.
Blue Jays
In his interview with Russo, Valentine also said that he does not expect to have a follow-up conversation with Toronto. Yesterday we learned that the Blue Jays are looking into a whole lot of potential candidates for their managerial post.
Cubs
The Cubs are still scoping out Joe Girardi as a managerial candidate, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Wittenmyer also hears from a source that Eric Wedge had a strong interview with the Cubs before hooking on with the Mariners.
Manager Roundup: Jays, Pirates, Mariners, Cubs, Marlins
The managerial rumors don't take a break, even if the playoff schedule does. Here are yesterday's rumors and here are today's rumblings, with the latest updates at the top of the page:
Blue Jays
Rays bench coach Dave Martinez will interview for the Jays' opening, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
The Blue Jays have interest in a third Red Sox coach. Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun hears that John Farrell is in the mix for the Jays job, along with DeMarlo Hale and Tim Bogar (Twitter link). Lauber heard that Farrell hadn't interviewed for a managerial job yet, but perhaps he has an interview coming up.
Rosenthal reports that the Blue Jays will interview Farrell if they haven't already. The Blue Jays will also interview Padres first base coach Rick Renteria, but another NL West coach will not interview for the position. The Dodgers didn't allow the Jays to speak with Tim Wallach, though he was allowed to interview with the Brewers, according to Rosenthal.
Pirates
Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes the Pirates should be looking to land Bobby Valentine. According to Sherman, Valentine would be the perfect choice for Pittsburgh, since, in addition to being a great evaluator of talent, he could make the Pirates relevant. The team doesn't appear to be considering him though.
The Pirates interviewed former Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca for their managerial vacancy today, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
Mariners
Bobby Valentine’s interview with the Mariners went well, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. However, the Mariners’ other candidates also fared well and Valentine isn’t necessarily the favorite. As Rosenthal reminds us, Cecil Cooper, Eric Wedge, John Gibbons, Lloyd McClendon and Daren Brown are also options for Seattle.
Brewers
The Brewers have asked the White Sox for permission to interview Joey Cora, but Cora hasn't heard from Milwaukee yet, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. Bob Melvin remains the favorite to manage in Milwaukee, according to Levine.
Cubs
The Cubs have continued interest in Yankees manager Joe Girardi, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Several insiders tell Wittenmyer that they expect an announcement before the World Series begins, unless Girardi becomes a serious candidate. Rival teams have not asked the Cubs for formal permission to interview Mike Quade or Ryne Sandberg, according to the Sun-Times. As we heard yesterday, Quade has become the favorite for the Cubs job.
Meanwhile, Chris De Luca of the Sun-Times calls Eric Wedge a "bland tactician" and says Sandberg is the man for the job. The Hall of Fame second baseman tells De Luca that he is more qualified to manage in the majors than he was the last time the Cubs considered him.
Marlins
Red Sox coach DeMarlo Hale, a candidate for the Blue Jays and Mariners, may also be a candidate to manage the Marlins, according to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
Bobby Valentine turned down an offer to manage the Marlins, according to Sunil Joshi and Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Dave George of the Palm Beach Post says "some other Type-A scrapper still could be the ticket, someone whose ego is a match for Hanley Ramirez and whose confidence allows room to tell everyone in the organization, including the owner, to back off."
Edwin Rodriguez, who managed the Marlins to a 46-46 record after taking over midway through the season, told Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald that he'd accept a one-year deal to have a shot at managing the team for an entire season.