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Winter Meetings Previews: Royals, White Sox

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In advance of the winter meetings, let’s take a moment to quickly preview a couple teams from the American League Central…

  • The Kansas City Royals will look for value buys on the free agent market, per Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star. Given the sale of the team and the managerial transition underway, the Royals have more justification than usual for patience this offseason. With Kansas City, however, there’s often a sense that internal valuations of the talent on hand differs from those of the general public. The Royals continue to present the idea that they are happy with their core, an impression bolstered by the “moon, sun, and stars” type packages the Royals are demanding for players like Whit Merrifield, Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy. Senior VP of Baseball Ops & GM Dayton Moore refined his fence-walking trick recently while saying both, “…we’re very encouraged with where we are based on how our players performed individually last year,” and also, “I think we’ve got to upgrade everywhere, really.” Pitching is definitely a target, and Moore has been active in trade discussions already, enough to have a sense of where trades might happen – though from Moore’s comments, it seems the Royals are disinclined to be major players on the trade market unless opposing GMs become more amenable to Moore’s ask(s). They do have four open spots on the 40-man roster and should be active in the Rule 5 draft, per The Athletic’s Alec Lewis.
  • After being spurned by Zack Wheeler, the White Sox remain in the hunt for starting pitching, per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Chicago was also among the teams in on Jordan Lyles before the righty signed with the Rangers, tweets the MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Their rotation candidates are currently made up of high-ceiling but largely-unestablished youngsters, fronted by 2019 breakout superstar Lucas Giolito. Speculatively, Dallas Keuchel fits nicely from a culture perspective as the perennially-attention-starved White Sox have already added Yasmani Grandal from the nobody-believes-in-us free agent pool – and they like playing with a chip on their shoulder on the southside. As for position players, Chicago boasts close to a full house now that Grandal and Jose Abreu are officially on board. With prospects Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal expected to play a large portion of 2020 in the big leagues, they have one of the more intriguing groups on that side of the ball. Still, there’s definitely room to tinker around the edges, especially in the outfield, where Luis Alexander Basabe, Daniel Palka, Leury Garcia, Adam Engel, and Luis Gonzalez make up the flexible collection of candidates to join Eloy Jimenez and Robert in the outfield.

Organizational Notes: Falvey, Red Sox, Washington, Padres, Royals

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Some front office and dugout items from around the game…

  • Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey turned down a request to interview for the top baseball operations job with the Red Sox, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  There wasn’t much public news about Boston’s search prior to the hiring of Chaim Bloom as the new CBO earlier this week, though there had been rumors that the Sox might have interest in Massachusetts native Falvey, and Neal indeed writes that Falvey was “high on their list of candidates.”  Reports from earlier this month suggested that Falvey and the Twins could be close to a contract extension, in the wake of Minnesota’s 101-win season.
  • Braves third base coach Ron Washington was the runner-up in the Padres’ managerial search and also won’t be taking on a bench coach job with San Diego, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports (subscription required).  There had been speculation that Washington could provide a veteran counsel to first-time manager Jayce Tingler, though it appears that Washington will remain in his current job in Atlanta.
  • Lin’s piece also details the risk GM A.J. Preller is taking in hiring another first-time skipper in what seems like a must-win year for the Padres.  Going into such a pivotal season, however, Preller “preferred to take his chances with a candidate he clearly knows and has long held in high regard.”  Lin also notes that Preller originally tried to hire Tingler away from the Rangers when Preller first became San Diego’s general manager back in 2014.
  • The general consensus has been that the Royals would wait to hire their new manager until John Sherman officially took ownership of the franchise, though GM Dayton Moore tells Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that this isn’t the case.  “We have been given full autonomy to hire the next manager of the Kansas City Royals when we feel that we are ready and the process is complete.  That could be today, tomorrow or sometime prior to the winter meetings,” Moore said, noting that Sherman has already been involved in the search process.”  Since Moore described the front office as still being “in the middle of a very thorough process,” however, a new managerial hire doesn’t yet seem near.  Royals special advisor and former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has been widely seen as the favorite for the job, and to date, the only other publicly known candidates are also internal names, though the club has spoken to some external candidates.

Report: Dayton Moore To Receive Extension Under New Royals Ownership

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The impending sale of the Royals from David Glass to John Sherman has created a lot of speculation about the team’s future, though one key face within the organization doesn’t appear to be changing.  According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman in the latest edition of the Big Time Baseball podcast (audio link), current Royals GM Dayton Moore “will receive a long extension and be there for a long time” once Sherman officially takes control of the franchise.  As a minority owner of the Indians, Sherman is no stranger to the AL Central, and thus “knows Dayton Moore well” and “is an admirer” of the GM and his work in Kansas City.

A new contract would keep Moore at the helm throughout the Royals’ ongoing rebuild, which would be the second time Moore has overhauled the club since first taking the general manager job in 2006.  That first rebuild, lengthy as it was though losing seasons from 2007-12, eventually paid off in major fashion.  K.C. won the American League pennant in both 2014 and 2015, and captured the franchise’s second-ever World Series title in 2015.

That success wasn’t sustained, however, and the Royals haven’t since topped the .500 mark.  In fact, over Moore’s 13 full seasons as general manager, Kansas City has only three winning seasons, so K.C. fans surely hope the team will be a bit quicker this time in returning to contention.  Nonetheless, Moore is a well-respected executive throughout baseball, and he has a proven track record in shepherding a small-market team all the way to championship glory.

It isn’t yet known how Sherman will operate the franchise or whether he’ll authorize a higher payroll, though Moore has already demonstrated that his front office can identify and develop young talent.  In fairness to Glass, he was willing to boost spending to try and extend the Royals’ contention window, though many of Moore’s big signings from the 2015-16 offseason (Alex Gordon, Ian Kennedy, Chris Young) didn’t pan out.

Moore’s current deal is believed to run through the 2020 season, though the exact terms of his 2016 extension weren’t officially revealed.  Heyman thinks the Royals may have given Moore another extension in the aftermath of the 2017 offseason, when the Braves heavily pursued Moore (who worked in Atlanta’s front office prior to taking Kansas City’s GM job) to run their vacant baseball operations department after John Coppolella’s shocking resignation as general manager.

While Moore may not be going anywhere, the same might not be true of manager Ned Yost, as Heyman said “the likelihood is that [the Royals] will move on.”  Though Moore has given his skipper more or less permanent job security, the 65-year-old Yost has indicated in the past that he is taking things on a year-to-year basis, even once citing the end of the 2019 season as a potential endpoint.  Yost is nearing the end of his 16th season as a Major League, and his 10th in Kansas City.  Yost will soon meet with Royals officials to discuss his future, Heyman said, with these meetings possibly taking place as early as this week.

Heyman’s Latest: Moore, Cain, Rangers, Vargas/O’s, Rodney/D-Backs

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In his latest Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag looks into the Royals front office. Owner David Glass is “considering a possible two-year extension” for GM Dayton Moore, writes Heyman, even though Moore has “no leverage” given that he’s already under contract for three more seasons. This all arises after Glass declined to allow the Braves to speak with Moore about changing squads. While Moore has expressed gratitude to ownership, his recent comments were interesting, if difficult to interpret with any precision. All told, it seems there could still be some unresolved matters in the Kansas City front office.

Let’s look at a few more items from Heyman of particular relevance to the still-developing hot stove season:

  • Top free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain has drawn some early interest from the Mets and Giants, according to Heyman. As regards the New York organization, this information seems to conflict with recent statements from Mets GM Sandy Alderson — though as ever it’s worth taking things with a grain of salt and acknowledging fluidity this time of year. As for the Giants, we at MLBTR pegged San Francisco as the likeliest landing spot for Cain, though some doubt whether the organization will go over the luxury tax line and sacrifice draft choices to land him. At a minimum, though, the organization would seem to be wise to do some diligence on the possibility.
  • The Rangers have “looked into” free agent righties Lance Lynn and Tyler Chatwood, says Heyman. While it’s not clear just how serious the interest is, the link isn’t surprising. Texas clearly needs arms; indeed, MLBTR guessed they’d land Lynn. While Chatwood doesn’t have nearly the track record of results that Lynn does, he is an intriguing option in his own right and shares some of the characteristics of Andrew Cashner — the former Ranger free agent signee who is himself back on the open market.
  • Another team with a desire to add several starters (and with reputed interest in Chatwood) is the Orioles. The Baltimore front office met with agents for lefty Jason Vargas during the GM Meetings, Heyman reports. The 34-year-old veteran seems to be a good match for the O’s, as we predicted, since the team needs to find so many rotation innings and can’t afford to make major long-term commitments to multiple starters.
  • The Diamondbacks are “open” to bringing back Fernando Rodney, GM Mike Hazen tells Heyman. Arizona is facing a difficult payroll situation but obviously will be looking to maintain and improve upon a Wild Card-winning roster. Though Rodney didn’t dominate last year, he’s still throwing mid-nineties heat and generating quite a few swings and misses — and obviously met with the approval of the D-Backs’ brass in the closer’s role. Beyond improving the pen, the Arizona priority is to improve in the outfield, per the report. That could mean pursuing under-the-radar additions; though Hazen says he’s not ruling out a return for J.D. Martinez, that’d almost certainly require the kind of payroll increase that does not appear to be under consideration.

GM Meetings Notes: The American League Central

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Royals GM Dayton Moore did not strike a particularly optimistic tone yesterday with regard to the the organization’s major free agents, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports on Twitter. “We’ll see what the market dictates, we’ll stay engaged with our current free agents,” said Moore. “But I’m not sure if it’s at the levels that everyone’s talking about. It may be extra challenging for us.” The Kansas City organization will get a chance to begin figuring out just how much it’ll cost to keep Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas when it sits down today with agent Scott Boras, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports.

  • Moore also discussed the fact that he’ll stay with the Royals after owner David Glass declined to allow him to interview with the Braves, as Dodd further writes. “I simply left that in Mr. Glass’s hands,” said Moore. “If he wanted to grant permission, then that would signal to me that he didn’t want me here. If he denied permission, that would tell me he wants me here.” That’s certainly an interesting perspective. Moore did emphasize, too, that he’s happy both to remain in charge of the Royals’ baseball ops and to put the speculation behind him. He is under contract in Kansas City through the 2020 campaign, Dodd further reports, and it seems as if there’s good cause to expect the relationship to continue for the foreseeable future.
  • Unsurprisingly, GM Rick Hahn suggests the White Sox are open to trading their few established veteran hitters this winter, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes. With the club still “focused on the long-term,” says Hahn, it will entertain offers on first baseman Jose Abreu and outfielder Avisail Garcia. Hahn explained: “At some point, not necessarily this offseason, we have to make the decision: Are we best served by extending them through what we project to be the bulk of our (competitive) window, or are we better off making a move like some of the others we’ve made and trying to reinforce the future with prospects?'” It’ll be interesting to see what kinds of offers are dangled for both players and whether Chicago truly seeks to initiate extension talks to create an alternative path.
  • The Tigers are diving right into talks on several players, GM Al Avila told reporters including Evan Woodberry of MLive.com (via Twitter). Avila said he has already discussed a few of the team’s players with rival organizations, including veteran second baseman Ian Kinsler. Detroit is also preparing to make some difficult 40-man roster decisions, Woodberry reports. Indeed, Avila says the process of whittling the players to protect from the Rule 5 draft has been “excruciating and painful.”
  • The Twins front office duo of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine faces quite a different situation in their second offseason with the franchise, as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune writes. Indeed, the team’s reported interest in some of the best free agent pitching serves to highlight the opportunities and expectations facing the organization this winter.

Latest On The Braves’ Front Office Search

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10:14pm: The Braves are moving on from Moore, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports, as “hope evaporated this weekend” that Moore would be made available by the Royals.  In regards to Hart’s future, Bowman notes that since both Anthopoulos and Hendry are experienced general managers, either could take over the Braves’ baseball ops department should Hart no longer continue with the organization.  “The Braves likely will make a decision as soon as possible” about their new GM, and Anthopoulos looks like the favorite.

7:39pm: Dayton Moore is still the Braves’ top choice to become the club’s new general manager, though if Atlanta isn’t able to get Moore away from the Royals, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is “the preferred Plan B” option.  Three sources paint Anthopoulos as the front-runner for the job, given that there still seems to be little traction to the idea of Moore leaving Kansas City for Atlanta.

The situation is far from being finalized, however, due to the Braves holding out hope that Moore could still become available, Major League Baseball’s ongoing investigation into signing violations under former Braves GM John Coppolella, and the status of Braves president of baseball operations John Hart.  Sherman reports that Hart prefers Anthopoulos for the GM job, while club vice chairman John Schuerholz is thought to prefer former Cubs GM Jim Hendry.  Hart’s own contract with the Braves expired after the 2017 season, and it isn’t yet clear if he will remain atop Atlanta’s baseball ops pyramid or if the team could desire a clean slate with a new name in charge of the front office.  (In regards to Moore, he would reportedly want full control over the Braves’ operations if he were to join the organization.)

Anthopoulos, 40, worked as Toronto’s GM for six seasons, building the nucleus that led the Jays to consecutive runs to the ALCS in 2015-16.  He somewhat surprisingly left the job after his contract was up after the 2015 season, however, the presence of new Jays president Mark Shapiro meant that Anthopoulos would’ve essentially been demoted to second-in-command on the team’s depth chart of baseball decision-makers.

Anthopoulos has worked as the Dodgers’ VP of baseball operations since January 2016, and turned down offers from the Twins and Diamondbacks last year when the two clubs were in the midst of their own GM searches.  Family concerns were reportedly behind Anthopoulos’ decision to bow out of those searches, as he didn’t want to uproot his young children from the west coast so quickly.  As Sherman notes, however, the Braves’ job “is viewed as attractive” around baseball due to the team’s deep well of prospects, even despite the likelihood that MLB will level some type of punishment against the franchise.

Royals Deny Braves Permission To Interview Dayton Moore

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SATURDAY: The chances of Moore going to the Braves aren’t completely dead, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggests. If Hart loses his hold on the Braves’ baseball operations, it could pave the way for the team to pursue Moore in earnest, according to O’Brien. The “belief among some observers” is that the Royals would be willing to let Moore head to Atlanta if they’re adequately compensated, O’Brien reports.

FRIDAY: Royals owner David Glass denied a request from the Braves to interview GM Dayton Moore for Atlanta’s own top front office position, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports.  Moore is under contract with Kansas City through at least the 2018 season and thus permission was required for an interview.  Such permission is often granted if a promotion is being offered, though that wasn’t the case here since Moore already holds a job atop a team’s baseball operations depth chart.

The exact nature of what job the Braves were offering is of particular note, as John Hart is still Atlanta’s president of baseball operations.  Hart’s future, however, is up in the air due to the ongoing investigation about international signing improprieties within the Braves front office.  The investigation has also now extended into looking into alleged violations regarding the amateur draft — Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan detailed some of the complaints leveled against former GM John Coppolella in regards to pre-draft agreements.

Coppolella and international scouting director Gordon Blakely both resigned their positions earlier this month, and Hart’s own contract is up after the World Series is over.  It could be that Braves upper management decides to move on with an entirely new front office, regardless of what MLB’s investigation does or doesn’t report about Hart, and thus Atlanta would be able to offer Moore the full control that he has reportedly demanded if he were to change jobs.  Though Moore and other names have been connected to their front office opening, the Braves have yet to conduct any interviews with candidates, perhaps due to the uncertainty over Hart.  This is just my speculation, but it could also be the case that Moore was the Braves’ top choice, and they’ll now move onto secondary candidates since Glass has denied them a chance to speak to Moore.

Adding an experienced, championship-winning executive like Moore would go a long way towards settling the tumult within the Atlanta organization, particularly given Moore’s past ties to the Braves.  For his part, however, Moore has stated that he is happy with the Royals, and reiterated to Crasnick that “I’m focused on what we need to do here in Kansas City.”  While the Royals appear to be heading into a rebuild, Moore may also prefer the relative stability of his current position rather than join a Braves franchise that may be hit with some severe penalties, pending the results of the league’s investigation.

East Notes: Girardi, Travis, Braves

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Earlier this week, the Yankees announced that Joe Girardi will not return to manage the Bombers next season. But as Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated points out, 53-year-old Girardi might not have lost the job due to the team’s performance or his body of work. The three oldest managers in baseball (Terry Collins, Dusty Baker and Pete Mackanin) all lost their jobs this season, and John Farrell (55) will be replaced by the 42-year-old Alex Cora. This points to a trend in baseball wherein the game is being run by younger players, and it might just be that the ability of younger managers to connect with those youthful stars is being seen as a major asset. Fluency in analytics is also becoming increasingly vital to the manager position. As Verducci also points out, World Series skippers Dave Roberts (45) and A.J. Hinch (43) both fit the bill for this type of “modern manager”. With Girardi lacking the youth and analytic mindset required for the new mold, the Yankees may have simply decided he is no longer relevant in today’s game.

Some other items from around baseball’s Eastern Divisions…

  • Red Sox number four overall prospect Sam Travis received his first small taste of major league action this year. But he didn’t fare as expected in the power department, slugging just .342 in the majors and .375 at the Triple-A level. Alex Speier of Baseball America (subscription required and recommended) writes that he spent a lot of last offseason rehabbing from knee surgery, which may have contributed to his struggles. Still, Travis has been seen in recent years as player with a big-league ready bat who needed to improve his defense at first base, and the former second-rounder’s offensive performance didn’t match the billing in 2017. His vastly improved defense, however, has led the organization to give him a shot in left field in the Dominican League, which could improve his prospect stock headed into next season.
  • The Braves have been denied permission to speak with Royals GM Dayton Moore, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. The Braves organization is still reeling after the scandal broke surrounding then-GM John Coppolella, but they won’t have the chance to interview the 50-year-old Moore for the open position. Moore declined to comment on the request, stating that he’s “focused on what we need to do here in Kansas City.” The two ballclubs are in very different stages headed into 2018; the Royals are likely entering a rebuild with many key players set to reach free agency, while the Braves seem ready to come out of theirs and focus on contending. But because Moore signed a contract extension with Kansas City back in 2016, club owner David Glass would need to give explicit permission to any club interested in reaching out to him.

Dayton Moore Suggests He’s Not Interested In Leaving Royals

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Royals GM Dayton Moore has been mentioned repeatedly as a theoretical candidate to join the Braves’ front office. But he largely dismissed any such notion in comments today to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter link).

Moore, who has run Kansas City’s baseball operations since 2006, said that continuing on in that role is “doing what I’m supposed to be doing.” He also heaped praise upon Royals owner David Glass, saying he “adore[s] Mr. Glass and the opportunity he has given us.”

Needless to say, it doesn’t sound as if Moore has much interest in considering a new opportunity in Atlanta. The Braves are in need of a new GM after John Coppolella was forced to resign amidst an international signing scandal — the full fallout of which remains to be seen.

There were indications that Moore could at least consider the GM position — or, perhaps more likely, a move to replace Braves president of baseball operations John Hart at the apex of the baseball ops department — despite the success he has found with the Royals. (See here and here.) After all, Moore’s ties to the Braves run deep: he broke into pro ball with the organization and ascended to an assistant GM position there before leaving for K.C. And the Royals are entering what looks to be a transition phase after finally reaching the promised land in 2015.

Perhaps there’s still some room for a change of heart after today’s comments. But Moore surely said what he did for a reason — presumably, that ongoing speculation isn’t helpful as the Royals prepare for an important offseason. He was addressing the team’s future today, after all, when he announced that Dale Sveum will serve as bench coach while Mitch Maier will coach first for the organization next year. (Twitter links via Flanagan.)

Heyman’s Latest: Royals, Cobb, Hendry, Snitker, Dickey, Werth

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Within his latest AL Notes column, FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes that Royals GM Dayton Moore doesn’t appear to be going anywhere despite rumors about him possibly taking over the Braves’ front office. Moore, who cut his teeth in the front office world as a Braves exec, has been an oft-rumored replacement for John Coppolella in Atlanta following his resignation as general manager.

In other Royals news, the team is planning to give a qualifying offer to center fielder Lorenzo Cain, though the team hasn’t firmly decided on that option just yet, per Heyman. It seems like a no-brainer in my view. Despite the fact that Cain will be 32 next season, he hit .300/.363/.440 season at the plate with15 homers and swiped 26 bases while playing elite center-field defense in 2017. The Royals undoubtedly expect Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to reject QOs, so the minimal risk of Cain accepting would hardly put an exorbitant strain on payroll, though it’d limit their maneuverability for the remainder of the winter. Cain should be able to shatter that mark even with draft compensation attached to him. Heyman also notes that hitting coach Dale Sveum will now be the team’s bench coach, replacing the departed Don Wakamatsu. As such, the Royals are on the hunt for a new pitching coach and a new hitting coach to step into Sveum’s spot.

A few more items of note…

  • Though payroll is always an issue for the Rays, they’re nonetheless expected to make righty Alex Cobb an $18.1MM qualifying offer, per Heyman. The 30-year-old logged a career-high 179 1/3 innings in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, pitching to a 3.66 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 47.8 percent ground-ball rate. Cobb should draw widespread interest, though I’d personally imagine that the fact that he’s yet to ever reach even 180 innings in a single season (to say nothing of 2017’s diminished strikeout rate) will limit his marketability to some extent. Still, Cobb should be able to score a more lucrative multi-year deal, and it’s difficult to imagine him accepting a QO.
  • There’s a belief that former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, currently a special assistant with the Yankees, could be brought over to the Marlins by Derek Jeter, Heyman reports in his NL roundup. He’d work in baseball operations department under president of baseball ops Michael Hill, per Heyman, and while this particular report doesn’t specify a role, MLB Network’s Peter Gammons referred to Hendry as the “anticipated GM” in a column yesterday. Even if Hendry were to assume that title, however, Hill’s status as president of baseball ops would presumably still make him the top decision-maker for the Marlins.
  • The Braves were leaning toward a managerial change before last week’s scandal with now-former GM John Coppolella, Heyman reports. Internal candidates Bo Porter and Ron Washington, both former big league managers, were the leading candidates to take over the dugout, and Heyman writes that one of the two would “likely” have been handed that job. Instead, Brian Snitker will keep his post. Meanwhile, with Moore likely to remain loyal to the Royals, some candidates that are “in the mix,” per Heyman, include former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, former Marlins general manager Dan Jennings and current Nationals assistant GM Doug Harris.
  • Also on the subject of the Braves, Heyman writes in his NL Notes roundup that the team is waiting for R.A. Dickey to determine whether he wants to play in 2018 or retire. Atlanta would be “happy” to pick up his $8MM option for the 2018 season after he ably served as an innings eater and a veteran mentor to the team’s young pitchers.
  • Though Jayson Werth is 38 years of age and has dealt with injuries in recent years, the well-respected veteran doesn’t appear to have any inclination to call it a career after his seven-year, $126MM contract with the Nationals expires this season. Per Heyman, Werth has stated that he’d like to play another three or four years, at the least, before retiring from the game. Werth struggled in his return from a left foot injury this season but had hit .262/.367/.446 with eight homers, five doubles, a triple and four steals through 196 plate appearances before landing on the shelf in early June.

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