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Prospect Notes: Dodgers, Tebow, Skole

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Two of the best three prospects to graduate to the Majors this year are Dodgers products, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America writes. Shortstop Corey Seager and lefty Julio Urias rank Nos. 1 and 3 on BA’s list of the top ten graduated players, with only Trea Turner of the Nationals between them. Seager, of course, will almost certainly be the NL Rookie of the Year and is an NL MVP candidate after batting .308/.365/.512 while playing outstanding defense this season. Urias pitched just 77 innings for the Dodgers this season, but he only recently turned 20, and Glaser notes that his next step toward becoming a frontline starting pitcher is to build up his workload. Here are more quick notes on prospects.

  • The Mets’ signing of Tim Tebow to a minor league deal with a $100K bonus has received criticism lately, and it appears those criticisms could get louder, to judge from recent comments from a scout to NJ.com’s Randy Miller. “He’s pretty much a rookie ballplayer who’s 29. And I’m being nice,” said the scout, who watched Tebow in the Arizona Fall League. “He’s got a long ways to go. These guys are obviously way better than him.” The scout also criticized most elements of Tebow’s game, noting that Tebow struggled to hit fastballs and that Tebow might have to lose weight in order to play better defense. Tebow is currently hitting 0-for-9 with two walks in the AFL.
  • Former Rangers prospect and 2010 15th overall draft pick Jake Skole is on the opposite direction on Tebow’s path, heading from the diamond to the University of Georgia football program, according to Rusty Mansell of 247sports.com. Skole, who was born and raised in Georgia, will play a defensive position, although it’s unclear which one. As SportsDay’s Evan Grant notes, the Rangers released Skole in 2015, and he played in the Yankees organization this season. In parts of seven seasons in the minors, the former outfielder batted .227/.325/.330, topping out at Double-A and also receiving a 50-game PED suspension.

West Notes: Hernandez, Rockies, Hale

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The Dodgers left utilityman Enrique Hernandez off their roster for the NLDS, but they’ve added him for their upcoming series against the Cubs and will start him today against lefty Jon Lester, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets. The idea, perhaps, is that the Dodgers’ group of position players is lefty-heavy, and the Cubs have plenty of lefty pitching (including Lester, Aroldis Chapman, Travis Wood, Mike Montgomery, and rookie reliever Rob Zastryzny, who the Cubs have announced has replaced infielder Tommy La Stella on their NLCS roster). Hernandez gives the Dodgers an extra right-handed bat. While he struggled overall this season, batting .190/.283/.324 in 244 plate appearances, Hernandez has a career .270/.362/.478 line against left-handed pitchers. Here’s more from the West divisions.

  • It’s time for the Rockies to start spending heavily in hopes of making a playoff push, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Saunders cites Olney, who notes the recent correlation between spending and winning, with the Indians being the only team with a below-median payroll to make the playoffs. Whether some of Saunders’ proposed moves would actually propel the Rockies to the postseason is debatable — he suggests, for example, that the Rockies ought to consider sending Charlie Blackmon to St. Louis for Matt Adams and Trevor Rosenthal, should such a deal be offered. Adams’ power would likely play well at Coors Field, but the Rockies would sorely miss Blackmon, who joined Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu as one of the team’s best players in 2016.
  • The Athletics are talking to former Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale about their third base coach position, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The job opened when Ron Washington departed for the Braves. All the Athletics’ other coaches are expected to return next season. Hale was the Athletics’ bench coach for three seasons before heading to Arizona, and Slusser writes that he was popular with Athletics players.

Cubs Notes: Baez, NLCS Roster, Zastryzny

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Heading into the 2011 draft, the Cubs were set on Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. Rosenthal reports of a pre-draft conversation between then-Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken (now a special assistant with the Diamondbacks) and Padres exec Jason McLeod (now with the Cubs). The Padres wanted to take Francisco Lindor with the tenth overall pick and were curious about whether the Cubs would be selecting him. Wilken told McLeod that Baez was a “no-doubter” if he was still on the board when the Cubs picked. McLeod wasn’t as convinced: “I remember calling Jed after the game and saying, ‘This guy may be Manny Ramirez, or he might never get out of Double A!’ We weren’t convicted on the hit tool at the time and probably could have done a better job getting to know him personally.” In fairness to McLeod, Baez has struggled to control the strike zone in his young career, although he’s made up for that with defense and power. Either pick would have turned out just fine, of course, as both are now emerging young players who have already made noise in this year’s playoffs. The Indians ultimately took Lindor with the eighth pick; the Cubs took Baez at No. 9, as promised, and the Padres selected Cory Spangenberg at No. 10. Here’s more out of Chicago.

  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says the process by which the team sets its NLCS roster will involve a “lot of yelling,” as Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic writes. That roster will be announced this morning. “The first one to get to this point was a lot of back and forth. This will obviously be a quicker meeting with less time to make the decision,” says Hoyer. It’s just one decision, whether we want to do 12 or 11 [pitchers]. A lot of that will depend on the opponent.” Sharma outlines the decisions in play this time, suggesting that infielder Tommy La Stella, outfielder Matt Szczur, lefty Rob Zastryzny and others could be on the bubble.
  • Since they’re facing the Dodgers (whose collection of left-handed hitters includes Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager, Chase Utley, Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Josh Reddick and Andrew Toles), the Cubs seem likely to add Zastryzny, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune writes. Gonzales notes that the rookie left-hander has already faced the Dodgers once in his brief MLB career, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings against them in a strong outing April 27. “I looked at their lineup. I watched (Game 5 of the NL Division Series),” says Zastryzny. “I have thrown against them before.”

Dodgers Notes: Greinke, Payroll, Free Agents

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Jon Heyman’s latest column for FanRag Sports takes a look at the Dodgers’ summer trade talks and how the club is positioning itself for the future…

  • The Dodgers were known to have had brief talks with the Diamondbacks about a possible Zack Greinke trade this summer, and Heyman reports that the Dodgers offered to cover roughly $25MM of the $34.4MM average annual value owed to Greinke through the 2021 season.  D’Backs ownership didn’t want to retain any of Greinke’s contract and rejected the offer, saying the Dodgers “had plenty of money” to afford all of the right-hander’s massive future salary commitments.
  • While Los Angeles obviously hasn’t been shy on spending in recent years, Heyman notes that the club “might have stricter limits on term that you’d think.”  For instance, the Dodgers were only willing to offer Greinke five years (for $155MM) in free agency last winter, and some in the organization even felt that was a “stretch.”  The Dodgers even floated a two-year offer to Greinke with a very high AAV of close to $40MM per season.
  • With the Dodgers’ concerns about term length in mind, there are some mixed signals about how far the team is willing to go to re-sign its top free agents this winter, such as Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner, Rich Hill and Josh Reddick.  While L.A. will “at least try” to retain all of them, at least one or two of the players could sign elsewhere.  One rival official believes the Dodgers might let all of their own free agents walk, though later reasoned that Jansen is perhaps too important to the Dodgers’ bullpen to let go.
  • Speaking of Dodgers’ spending, some in the front office believe there’s a chance the team could manage to get below the $189MM luxury tax threshold in the near future.  The Dodgers have so many impressive prospects on the horizon that an influx of cheap, controllable young talent would allow the club to eschew the higher-priced names that ballooned their payroll to over $300MM in recent years.  Heyman notes, however, that the Dodgers have already trimmed spending (by their standards) from that record high, with a 2016 Opening Day payroll of just under $250MM.  It’s also possible that the luxury tax limit will be raised from $189MM in the new collective bargaining agreement, so Los Angeles and other big-market teams would have a bit more spending flexibility.  Needless to say, getting under the luxury tax limit just once would provide massive financial savings for the Dodgers.

Quick Hits: Mets, Indians, Rockies, Dodgers

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Durability is the main reason the Mets should re-sign impending free agent Bartolo Colon, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The right-hander will be 44 next season, but he still led the Mets in starts (33) and innings pitched (191 2/3) this year. Colon hasn’t thrown fewer than 190 1/3 frames in a season since 2012, and he’s one of just 14 pitchers to make 30-plus starts in each of the past four campaigns, notes Sherman. It also helps that Colon remains highly effective, having logged a 3.43 ERA to go with 6.01 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 this year. If they let Colon go, the Mets will have plenty of other rotation options on hand in Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman, though injuries or inexperience are concerns with certain members of the group. Whether it’s with the Mets or someone else, Colon should be in line for a raise over the $7.25MM he made this year.

Here’s more from around the majors:

  • An important reinforcement could be on the way for the Indians, who will have a chance to sweep the Red Sox on Sunday to advance to the ALCS. Injured right-hander Danny Salazar threw a 35-pitch bullpen session in Arizona on Friday and is hoping to come back from a month-long absence if the Indians advance, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Salazar started in all 25 of his regular-season appearances before succumbing to a forearm strain in early September, but he’ll work out of the bullpen in the event of a return. As of now, Salazar is only throwing fastballs and changeups because his curveball was his main source of discomfort, per Bastian.
  • With Walt Weiss gone and the Rockies in search of a new manager, the team parted with multiple members of his coaching staff Saturday, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Colorado let go of bench coach Tom Runnells, hitting coach Blake Doyle, first base coach Eric Young, and catching coach/defensive coordinator Rene Lachemann. Pitching coach Steve Foster, bullpen coach Darren Holmes and third base coach Stu Cole are still with the team, but it’s unknown if they’ll keep their jobs.
  • Nationals outfielder Chris Heisey didn’t enjoy his one-year stint with the Dodgers, he told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Heisey joined the club prior to the 2015 season and then spent the year shuffling between Triple-A Oklahoma City and LA. The Dodgers optioned Heisey five times, recalled him five times, and also released and re-signed him. “On the personal side, they may not realize the toll it may take on a player’s confidence when he’s going up and down, taken off the roster, put back on the roster, in my case released and signed back,” said Heisey. “It was a crazy year. I made some good friends there, so it wasn’t all bad. But it was tough.” Heisey collected 72 plate appearances as a Dodger and another 262 in OKC. The 31-year-old then signed a minor league with the Nationals during the offseason, but all 155 of his PAs since have come with Washington. “I think this year has been a lot better in that regard — being comfortable, being with the same guys all year, competing at the highest level and not having to go back and forth and say goodbye to my family so many different times. That was one of the harder parts,” added Heisey, whose Nats dropped the first game of the NLDS to the Dodgers on Friday.

Alex Anthopoulos Turns Down Diamondbacks

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The Diamondbacks contacted Dodgers vice president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos about their vacant general manager position, but the 39-year-old told Arizona he’s not interested, reports FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman. Anthopoulos is content in Los Angeles, per Heyman, who notes that the former Blue Jays GM’s two young children just started school in the area.

Anthopoulos previously spurned the Twins, who wanted to meet with him regarding their open president of baseball operations position, so his decision to reject the Diamondbacks isn’t necessarily a shot at them as much as a desire to remain in LA. Regardless, Heyman doesn’t expect the D-backs to have difficulty finding a successor to Dave Stewart. Although multiple executives across baseball have expressed concerns about Arizona’s recent lack of front office stability, someone with interest in the position told Heyman that it’s “BS,” noting that “only 30 of these jobs” exist.

Since the Diamondbacks parted with Stewart on Monday, ex-Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, MLB senior vice president Kim Ng, fellow league executive Peter Woodfork, and Brewers VP of scouting Ray Montgomery have all emerged as outside candidates to replace him. In-house options include assistant GM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell.

Ned Colletti Reportedly A Candidate In Diamondbacks’ GM Search

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Former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is on the Diamondbacks’ list of potential GM candidates, reports J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group.

The 62-year-old Colletti served as GM in Los Angeles from 2005-14 before giving way to current president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman at the end of the 2014 campaign. The Dodgers retained Colletti as a senior advisor to team president/CEO Stan Kasten, but he no longer plays a role in the decision-making process when it comes to baseball operations. Hoornstra adds that whoever is ultimately hired will not report to Tony La Russa — a sentiment that meshes with previous reports which have indicated that La Russa will no longer be calling the shots in the Arizona front office even if has not been let go by the team.

The Dodgers reached the postseason in six of Colletti’s nine seasons as general manager, and he was the GM for a number of critical trades, free-agent signings and extensions that still impact today’s iteration of the Dodgers. Most notably, Colletti helped orchestrate the blockbuster trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto from Boston to L.A. in exchange for James Loney, Ivan De Jesus, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa back in 2012. He also signed Zack Greinke to a six-year, $147MM contract with an opt-out clause after the third season (which Greinke exercised, netting the Dodgers a 2015 first-round pick after rejecting a QO) and worked out extensions for Andre Ethier (five years, $85MM) and Clayton Kershaw (seven years, $215MM with a third-year opt-out). Colletti also acquired Manny Ramirez in 2008 — arguably the most successful half-season rental in recent history — and re-signed him to a two-year, $45MM deal that proved less successful. Los Angeles’ two-year, $36.2MM deal for Andruw Jones late in his career also proved to be a significant misstep.

On the international front, Colletti gave the approval on a number of expensive signings that yielded no return for the Dodgers, including Erisbel Arruebarrena and Alex Guerrero, though the team’s signing of Yasiel Puig to a seven-year, $42MM contract has to be deemed a success even if Puig’s performance never returns to its 2013-14 heights. And, the signings of Hiroki Kuroda out of Japan and Hyun-Jin Ryu out of Korea both provided tremendous value to the pitching staff, though Ryu’s contributions have been cut short due to shoulder problems that have sidelined him for nearly all of the 2015-16 seasons after two terrific years in 2013-14.

Colletti is one of six names that has been linked to the D-backs since the season ended, as reports have indicated that league executives Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork (a former D-backs assistant GM) are in the mix, as is Brewers VP of scouting Ray Montgomery (a former D-backs exec himself). Internal candidates reportedly include assistant GM Bryan Minniti and farm director Mike Bell.

Adam Liberatore To Undergo Left Elbow Surgery

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Dodgers lefty Adam Liberatore will undergo a debridement procedure tomorrow on his left elbow, the team announced. He is expected to be able to recover in time for a full 2017 season, per the team’s statement.

Liberatore, 29, was a revelation for the Dodgers in the first half of the campaign. He had only ever appeared in the majors previously in 2015 for L.A., but allowed just two earned runs over his first 33 innings on the season.

That pace proved difficult to keep up, especially as injury issues crept in. Liberatore ended up struggling through August and September, and ended the year with a 3.38 ERA ovr 42 2/3 frames, with an excellent 9.9 K/9 versus 3.6 BB/9.

Given his difficulties, Liberatore likely wasn’t slated to appear in the postseason for the Dodgers even before today’s news, as Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Still, it’s disappointing that he won’t even have a chance to appear if a need arises.

The Dodgers are no strangers to managing pitchers with health issues, so they’ll no doubt value Liberatore as a potential contributor next year. Still, he’ll need to earn his opportunities and prove his health next spring in order to claim a major role in the Los Angeles pen in 2017.

Hyun-Jin Ryu Undergoes Elbow Surgery

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The Dodgers announced that left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu underwent an arthroscopic left elbow debridement earlier today. The southpaw is expected to be ready for the 2017 season, according to the team.

Ryu, 29, had a brief return to the Majors in 2016 after missing the entire 2015 campaign due to shoulder surgery. Though he did make it back to the mound with the Dodgers this season, his return lasted for just one start — a 4 2/3 inning effort in which he yielded six runs on eight hits and two walks back on July 7. That represented his only big league work since Sept. 12, 2014.

Originally signed to a six-year, $36MM contract out of Korea (plus a $25.7MM posting fee), Ryu looked to be worth the investment for the Dodgers after a brilliant rookie season in 2013 and a strong sophomore effort in 2014. The former Hanwha Eagles standout finished fourth in 2013 Rookie of the Year voting after logging 192 innings of 3.00 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 and followed that up with a similarly excellent 3.38 ERA across 152 innings a year later. While the second two seasons of that six-year pact certainly haven’t gone as the Dodgers had hoped, Ryu still has another two seasons of cheap club control remaining. He’s owed just $7MM in each of the next two seasons — a manageable sum for virtually any club but especially the deep-pocketed Dodgers — though he’ll obviously fall shy of the requisite 750 innings (2013-17) that would allow him to opt out of his contract and test the free agent market a year early.

Most likely, the Dodgers aren’t banking on a full, healthy season for Ryu as they map out their 2017 season, but Los Angeles has built a virtually unprecedented staff in terms of overall pitching depth this year (as The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh recently profiled at length in an excellent piece), and it’s likely that they’ll do the same in 2017. Ryu joins Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy as pitchers that are already guaranteed contracts next season (though Kazmir does technically have an opt-out clause, even if he’s unlikely to exercise it), and the Dodgers also have Alex Wood, Jose De Leon, Julio Urias, Carlos Frias, Brock Stewart and Ross Stripling under control either via arbitration or as pre-arb rotation options. Nonetheless, they’ll also presumably be active on both the free agent and trade markets this winter as they look to remain atop the National League West.

Dodgers Release Bud Norris

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SEPT. 28: The Dodgers have released Norris, reports MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick (via Twitter).

SEPT. 20: The Dodgers announced today that they have designated right-hander Bud Norris for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for left-hander Alex Wood, who has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.

Norris, 31, signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Braves this offseason and recovered from a brutal month of April to deliver a dominant performance in May and June (2.08 ERA in 47 2/3 innings between the rotation and bullpen). That strong run allowed the Braves to trade Norris, Dian Toscano and a PTBNL (Alec Grosser) to Los Angeles in exchange for minor league pitchers Caleb Dirks (originally drafted by Atlanta and reacquired in this deal) and Phil Pfeifer.

Norris started out quite well for the Dodgers and made a handful of very effective starts during his time in L.A., but he also mixed in his fair share of clunkers and was torched in four separate bullpen appearances. Ultimately, his Dodgers tenure will finish with a 6.54 ERA in 42 2/3 innings split between the rotation and the ’pen. While that’s not a terrific stepping stone back into the free-agent market for Norris, his impressive run with the Braves should pique the interest of some clubs looking for a buy-low candidate. Norris, after all, received a Major League deal this past winter on the heels of an even more disappointing 2015 campaign, and free agency will present teams with even fewer rotation options this coming winter.

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