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Mets Notes: Alderson, Warthen, Payroll

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The latest from Citi Field…

  • Sandy Alderson said he’ll be back with the Mets next season, the general manager told Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News and other reporters.  It has been widely expected that Alderson would return to the front office in 2018 even though his contract is up at the end of this season.  (There have been no details about an extension, and one may not yet exist, other than perhaps a handshake deal between Alderson and Mets ownership.)  There is some question as to whether or not Alderson will continue as GM, as there have been rumors that assistant general manager John Rizzo could take a larger role in the baseball operations department.  “I am very happy with the [front office] personnel we have.  The question is do we have the right organization structure, do we have all the right things that a season like this would cause us to take a look at.”
  • Noah Syndergaard gave pitching coach Dan Warthen a strong vote of confidence, telling Ackert and other reporters that “in my opinion, I think he is what’s best for our pitching staff and I want him to be my pitching coach for the remainder of my career.”  With a managerial change in the offing, there has naturally been speculation about the Mets’ coaching staff, with Warthen potentially on the way out after nine and a half years as the pitching coach.
  • Better health (especially with the starting rotation) is the biggest roster concern facing the Mets, Alderson said, via James Wagner of the New York Times.  The Mets’ offseason shopping list includes one or two hitters and Alderson likes the “foundation of the bullpen,” which could imply that New York will be looking for complementary arms to build around AJ Ramos, Jeurys Familia and Jerry Blevins.
  • The Mets are likely to cut salaries for next season, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post hearing that the payroll would drop as much as $20MM from their Opening Day 2017 payroll of just under $155MM.  Sherman lists five offseason moves the Mets could make while spending modestly, including getting mid-tier relievers or innings-eatings starters, addressing second and third base (including exercising Asdrubal Cabrera’s club option) and installing Juan Lagares as the regular center fielder to upgrade the outfield defense.

Terry Collins To Step Down As Mets’ Manager, Move To Front Office

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Terry Collins will resign as the Mets’ manager after Sunday’s game and shift to the team’s front office, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (on Twitter).

Terry Collins

Collins’ exit from the Mets’ dugout comes as no surprise, as the expectation was that the team would part with him on the heels of a tumultuous, injury-laden season. The 68-year-old has overseen a 70-91 club this season, one that entered 2017 with championship aspirations. Along the way, Collins reportedly lost the favor of some of the Mets’ front office decision makers and players.

While this will go down as a Murphy’s Law season for Collins and the Mets, his tenure as the team’s manager was successful overall. The Mets hired Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson after the 2010 season and have since posted a sub-.500 record (550-582), but they went to the playoffs twice in a row in 2015-16 for just the second time in franchise history. The high point of the Collins era was the Mets’ NL pennant-winning season in 2015, when the Royals upended them in five games to claim a World Series title.

Before taking the reins in New York, Collins managed the Astros from 1994-96 and the Angels between 1997-99. He mustered a plus-.500 record in Houston (224-197), the only place he achieved that feat. All told, Collins entered Sunday with a 995-1,016 mark across 13 seasons as a big league manager.

As is the case with Collins, Alderson is in a contract year. He’s expected to remain in his post, though, and will oversee the hiring of the Mets’ next manager. New York has already reached out to potential Collins replacements, and there have been reports linking the club to Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo and former or current Mets Robin Ventura, Alex Cora, Kevin Long, Bob Geren, and Chip Hale.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Mets, O’s, Jones, Showalter, Girardi

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Mets general manager Sandy Alderson isn’t pleased with the in-house finger-pointing directed at manager Terry Collins, who’s likely in his final season with the club. Alderson told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and other reporters Saturday that he “was exceptionally disappointed” in the member(s) of the front office who said earlier this week that Collins has lost favor with the team’s management. The GM added that “were I to know who that person was, that person would be terminated immediately. I think that this story and the aftermath overshadows, to this point, seven years of outstanding service” from Collins. Asked whether Collins has contributed to the Mets’ injury woes by overworking his players – something one club official has accused him of – Alderson said, “No, I wouldn’t agree to any of the substance of that conversation.”

Here’s more from the East Coast:

  • Orioles center fielder Adam Jones is scheduled to enter a contract year in 2018, when he’ll make $17MM, but he explained to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com and other reporters that he won’t push for an extension. “I’m not going to advocate for anything,” Jones said Saturday. “I just don’t think you can go to the owner and say, ‘Mr. Angelos, I would like this.’ Nah, that doesn’t work. I think everybody would do that if it worked that way. I think the thing is, they know I’m here throughout next year. There’s nothing I can do about that part, but beyond that, it’s up to them.” Jones is one of a few key Orioles whose team control will expire after next season, with Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Brad Brach joining him. As such, 2018 figures to be the last hurrah for a core that has helped the franchise to a couple recent playoff runs. Long one of the Orioles’ top players, the 32-year-old Jones slugged 26 home runs this season, his seventh straight campaign with at least 25 long balls, and batted a respectable .285/.322/.466 in 635 plate appearances.
  • The Orioles’ skipper, Buck Showalter, could draw interest from teams during the offseason, but the O’s are unlikely to let him leave to manage someplace else, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes. Showalter still has another year left on his contract, and Connolly doesn’t expect owner Peter Angelos to allow him to bail out early if he’s interested in doing so. As Connolly notes, Angelos denied general manager Dan Duquette the opportunity to become the Blue Jays’ president in 2015, which suggests he’d repel any potential Showalter suitors. Since the Orioles hired Showalter in 2010, they’ve gone 622-567 with three playoff berths.
  • The Yankees’ Joe Girardi aims to keep managing beyond this season, but he’ll speak with his family before making a final decision, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets. The Yankees are headed to the playoffs for the sixth time under Girardi, whom they hired prior to 2008 and who oversaw a World Series winner in 2009, and are 200 games over .500 on his watch (909-709). The 52-year-old Girardi is not under contract past this season, nor is five-time World Series-winning general manager Brian Cashman, so either or both could be elsewhere in 2018. However, considering the success Girardi and Cashman have enjoyed in the Bronx, it’s difficult to imagine the team letting either leave without a fight.

NL Notes: Mets, Solarte, Ichiro

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Former White Sox manager Robin Ventura and current Mets hitting coach Kevin Long are the favorites to replace Terry Collins as the Mets’ manager, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. Collins, of course, still has the job, but is widely expected not to be retained when the season ends, and the Mets have reportedly already begun the process of reaching out to replacements. Ventura, Long, and other rumored candidates (including Alex Cora, Bob Geren and Chip Hale) have ties to the Mets. Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo is another potential candidate. Here’s more from the NL.

  • Infielder Yangervis Solarte acknowledges that the Padres could trade him, but says he wants to stay in San Diego, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. “If they want to trade me, what am I going to do? If I’m playing all these positions, I know there’s going to be teams that have interest in that versatility,” he says. “I want to stay here, I want to be here, but if they decide to trade me, I would just be thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me.” The 30-year-old Solarte has batted .255/.315/.419 while playing all four infield positions this season. He’s under contract for $4MM for 2018, and he has $750K buyouts on relatively cheap team options for both 2019 and 2020. His versatility, and the flexibility his team will have with his contract, could make him an attractive trade target this winter.
  • Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki wants to play until he’s “at least 50,” he tells Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel through an interpreter. Ichiro adds that he would like to play for the Marlins again next season. The team has a $2MM option on him for 2018. Ichiro will be 44 next month and struggled badly in April and May, but he recovered to post a .396 OBP in the second half and ended up with a .259/.322/.337 line over 212 plate appearances. With the Marlins having three very capable (and healthy) starting outfielders, Ichiro’s chances to play were somewhat limited this year, although manager Don Mattingly tells Healey that Ichiro could play more in 2018 — particularly, Healey notes, if trades clear more space in the outfield.

Mets Have Already Reached Out To Potential Replacements For Terry Collins

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That the Mets don’t plan to retain manager Terry Collins next season is baseball’s worst-kept secret. Today, Adam Rubin tweets a new wrinkle to the story — the team has already been in touch with potential replacements, he reports.

It’s unclear who the Mets have contacted, although there have already been reports linking them to Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo, as well as former or current Mets Robin Ventura, Alex Cora, Kevin Long, Bob Geren, and Chip Hale. Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and GM Sandy Alderson have reportedly attempted to fire Collins at various points over his seven-year stint at the Mets’ manager, only to be blocked by owner Fred Wilpon. It now appears that Fred Wilpon will not intervene to save Collins’ job. Via Newsday’s Marc Carig, the Mets’ front office takes issue with Collins’ leadership style, as well as his use of relievers like Jeurys Familia, Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed to pitch on consecutive days.

Collins has managed the Mets for seven seasons, posting a 550-582 record in that period, including 69-91 this year. His contract expires at the end of this season. Despite frequent reports about the possibility the Mets will dismiss him, he has indicated he doesn’t plan to retire.

Managerial Notes: Mets, Phillies, Klentak, Bochy, Guillen

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David Wright and Jacob deGrom were two of several Mets players who weren’t pleased by the teammates who anonymously criticized manager Terry Collins in a recent piece by Newsday’s Marc Carig.  “It was cowardly, in my opinion,” Wright told Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News.  “I have been very fortunate in my career.  I haven’t had too many gripes, but when I did, I went and talked to Terry or whoever the manager is.  His door has always been open and he’s always listened.”  It seems a foregone conclusion that Collins won’t return to manage the Mets in 2018, and the manager himself didn’t want to comment on many of items in Carig’s piece, other than to take exception to the idea that his usage of Jeurys Familia contributed to the reliever’s surgery to address an arterial clot in his right shoulder.

Some more managerial notes from around baseball…

  • “In my mind, we have reached a turning point in this rebuild,” Phillies GM Matt Klentak told reporters (including PhillyVoice.com’s Ryan Lawrence) about why Pete Mackanin was moved to a front office position rather than manage the Phils next season.  “We see our roster right now is littered with young players who look to have a very, very bright future. It’s time to look forward. That’s the message today: it’s time to look forward.”  In Lawrence’s view, Klentak’s answers were somewhat indirect, especially since Mackanin was just given a contract extension in May.  Both Lawrence and Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer believe Klentak is now taking a larger role in the Phillies’ rebuild, given that several of the team’s top young talents were brought into the organization by previous (since fired) front office personnel.  Brookover figures the new skipper will be younger and more analytically-minded, and he cites Dusty Wathan as “the smart choice” for the job since Wathan is so familiar with Philadelphia’s young players.  Wathan has managed in the Phillies’ farm system for the last decade, including managing the Triple-A affiliate in 2017.
  • Sources close to Giants manager Bruce Bochy believe he’ll certainly stay on until his contract is up after the 2019 season, CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic writes.  Despite the Giants’ dreadful season, there is no danger of Bochy being fired, and though the manager has undergone some health issues in recent years, Bochy is intent on righting the ship next year.  “I want to leave the Giants organization better than when I came here and I want to get this team back on track. This is my passion,” Bochy said.
  • Ozzie Guillen hasn’t received an interview request since being fired by Miami four years ago, but the former Marlins and White Sox manager is still hopeful of another chance at managing a big league team, he tells Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.  Fenech believes Guillen would be an interesting candidate for the Tigers job as the club embarks on a rebuilding process, though it isn’t clear whether Guillen is one of the names under consideration for the job.

Rays Notes: Montoyo, Mets, Sternberg, Payroll, Cobb

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The Mets have an interest in talking to Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo about their upcoming managerial vacancy, Adam Rubin reports (Twitter link).  Montoyo has been a fixture in the Rays organization even before the franchise’s first MLB game, managing his way up the farm system ranks from 1997-2014, including eight years at Triple-A Durham.  He joined the big league staff in his current role prior to the 2015 season after receiving some consideration for the manager’s job that eventually went to Kevin Cash.  Montoyo also interviewed with the Mariners prior to Scott Servais’ hiring.  With Terry Collins widely expected to not be returning to the Mets’ dugout in 2018, Montoyo is the latest of several names already rumored to be in the running to be New York’s new manager.

Here are some more Rays-related items, stemming from a Q&A between principal owner Stuart Sternberg and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (part one; part two)…

  • Sternberg is disappointed at the team’s late fade from playoff contention but doesn’t regret spending extra money and dealing prospects for midseason upgrades.  “We’d do it 10 times out of 10 again…I’d love to be in that position every year to be able to do that with the kind of team we thought we had, and the team we had up until the All-Star break,” Sternberg said.
  • Those extra expenditures, however, will impact the team’s 2018 plans.  The payroll will “absolutely” drop from its current $80MM range, and though Sternberg doesn’t “anticipate” an enormous payroll dropoff and a shift towards a rebuild, he also didn’t entirely rule out the possibility: “The team is good enough clearly, and we have confidence in the guys, but we’ll see how the offseason goes. Who’s available to us? What’s available in trade for us? We try to react to what the market is going to bear.”
  • No management changes seem to be forthcoming, as Sternberg expressed confidence in the front office and in Kevin Cash’s work in the dugout.
  • “It’s a big stretch” to keep players like Alex Cobb to the very end of their contracts, given how the Rays often look to trade veteran stars and replenish the farm system.  Despite trade rumors throughout the year, Cobb stayed in the fold and delivered a solid season, leaving the Rays now potentially unable to get anything in return if Cobb signs elsewhere, given the risk involved in issuing him a qualifying offer.  Sternberg called Cobb “a quality guy” and praised the right-hander’s contribution to the team.
  • The Rays continue to lack revenue, as this season saw more low attendance despite a club that was contention for much of the year.  Sternberg cited lower-than-expected attendance numbers for visits from the Red Sox and Cubs, not to mention the unexpected shift of a home series against the Yankees moved to Citi Field due to Hurricane Irma.  “All in all, it was a minus-minus-minus. However, having said that, we’re incredibly fortunate for what could have been,” Sternberg said about the Citi Field series.
  • A new television contract is “way down the road” for the franchise, as Sternberg said that the Rays could end up receiving less than they currently do for broadcast rights “given what’s gone on with cord-cutting and the value of cable.”  Sternberg also hinted that the Rays could explore starting their own TV network.

Mets’ Owner Reportedly Halted Terry Collins’ Dismissal In Previous Years

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9:29pm: Puma and colleague Joel Sherman add more context to the story, reporting that Collins was on the brink of being fired last season when Fred Wilpon intervened. The Mets went on to rally and make a Wild Card appearance, which helped Collins’ cause. Alderson & Co. were also debating a managerial change at multiple points this season, per the Post duo.

Puma and Sherman add that Collins’ heavy usage of Familia early in the year flew directly in the face of advice from the front office. They also note that the absence of David Wright and the trade of Curtis Granderson removed two of the team’s most important veterans in terms of maintaining clubhouse order.

9:00pm: In a revealing, must-read piece for Newsday, Marc Carig reports that owner Fred Wilpon protected manager Terry Collins from being dismissed by COO Jeff Wilpon and general manager Sandy Alderson at multiple times over the course of Collins’ seven-year tenure as the team’s skipper. There have been multiple reports suggesting that Collins may not be back with the team in 2018, and the New York Post’s Mike Puma recently reported that if the decision is made to move on from Collins, the elder Wilpon isn’t likely to veto the decision this time around.

Carig cites “more than a dozen team insiders” in reporting that Collins has lost favor in the front office due to a lack of responsiveness to analytics, his overworking of multiple relievers and a clubhouse in which he’s lost control. As Carig points out, Collins rode Jerry Blevins, Addison Reed, Fernando Salas, Hansel Robles and Jeurys Familia extremely hard in the season’s first six to seven weeks; there were 21 non-Mets pitchers that had five or more appearances on zero days of rest by mid-May, while each of those five had already had five or more such outings. One club official tells Carig that Collins “abuses” relievers by overworking them and simply “doesn’t listen” when approached by the front office about extra rest for the ’pen.

Moreover, Carig spoke to a number of unnamed Mets players that suggested that Collins made his preference to give playing time to veterans over rookies perfectly clear. When the Mets traded away most of their veterans in July and August, the clubhouse was comprised largely of younger players who “had grown to resent the manager,” Carig writes. One Mets player states that Collins has always been “difficult” to communicate with, and another more bluntly tells Carig that following the wave of summer trades: “We were all miserable.”

Beyond Collins, the future of both pitching coach Dan Warthen and hitting coach Kevin Long is uncertain. Warthen’s potential exit has been reported on previously (most recently by Puma), and Carig writes that it’s not clear if Long would remain with the club if he’s not given consideration for a potential managerial vacancy. Carig’s column contains quotes from numerous team officials and players alike and shines plenty of new light on the disconnect between the dugout and front office.

Heyman’s Latest: Hosmer, Cain, Mariners, deGrom, Dee, Tigers

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Eric Hosmer and a few other big-name Royals are scheduled to hit free agency after the season, but the team is going to make a concerted effort to retain the first baseman, Jon Heyman of FanRag reports. The Royals may offer the Scott Boras client upward of $100MM, which, depending on the exact amount and length, could be a stunning commitment from a franchise that has never given a player more than $72MM (Alex Gordon in 2016). Gordon’s four-year contract has been disastrous thus far, and considering the up-and-down nature of Hosmer’s career, the Royals could be taking a substantial risk in handing him a big-money pact. Although, to the 27-year-old Hosmer’s credit, he has enjoyed an outstanding platform season, having slashed .319/.385/.496 with with 24 home runs in 660 plate appearances.

More offseason-related highlights from Heyman via his latest American League and National League Notes columns:

  • While the Royals will attempt to keep Hosmer, it seems they’re resigned to losing center fielder Lorenzo Cain in free agency. The Royals aren’t optimistic they’ll be able to re-sign Cain, 32, as they’re bracing for him to land a lucrative contract of at least four years. The Mariners may be a fit for him, insiders have suggested to Heyman, who adds that Seattle will also take a look at first basemen Lucas Duda and Mitch Moreland if they hit the open market in the offseason.
  • The Mets will likely try to extend right-hander Jacob deGrom in the coming months, per Heyman. DeGrom has been the only Mets starter to survive their injury onslaught this year, turning in yet another excellent campaign with 201 1/3 innings of 3.53 ERA ball, to go with 10.68 K/9 against 2.64 BB/9. He’s already set to turn 30 next year and still has three arbitration-eligible seasons left, meaning deGrom can’t become a free agent until the age of 32. It could therefore behoove him to get some long-term security over the winter, and Heyman notes that a deal would likely span at least four years. If no agreement comes during the off months, he’ll build on this year’s $4.05MM salary in arbitration.
  • Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon has bounced back from a suspension-shortened 2016 to increase his trade value this year, Heyman writes. Along with providing top-notch defense, Gordon has hit .305/.339/.369 with 57 stolen bases in 678 PAs, which could put him on second base-needy teams’ radars in the offseason. But with either $38MM or $51MM coming his way over the next four years (depending on a $14MM club option or $1MM buyout in 2021), the Marlins may have to eat some money in order to trade the 29-year-old (30 next April), Heyman opines.
  • Giants third base coach Phil Nevin is a “strong candidate” to take over for Brad Ausmus as the Tigers’ manager, according to Heyman. Nevin played with the Tigers from 1996-97 and managed at their Double-A and Triple-A levels from 2010-13. Thanks to his work in the latter capacity, he’s already familiar with Tigers general manager Al Avila.

East Notes: O’s, Hellickson, Mets, Cabrera, Phillies

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Although the Orioles need multiple starting pitchers, they’re unlikely to re-sign Jeremy Hellickson, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com relays. Hellickson, whom the O’s acquired from Philadelphia in July, told Kubatko and other reporters that he has “loved” his time in Baltimore. The 30-year-old hasn’t looked like part of the solution since the trade, though, having pitched to an ugly 6.97 ERA with just 31 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings (10 starts). And manager Buck Showalter seems prepared to lose Hellickson, saying: “I’m sure he’s got some things planned for next year as a free agent. I know what he was like in Tampa. Nobody’s the same three or four years later. Everybody changes somewhat. I’m not going to get into some of the challenges that I think he’s faced here and this season. Hopefully, he’ll get them behind him and be a good pitcher for somebody next year.”

More from Baltimore and two other East Coast cities:

  • The Mets are “nearly certain” to pick up infielder Asdrubal Cabrera’s option for 2018, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. Whether to bring back Cabrera amounts to a $6.5MM decision for the Mets, who must choose between exercising the $8.5MM option or buying him out for $2MM. Cabrera, 32 in November, has posted solid production during his two years as a Met, including his respectable .273/.346/.422 batting line in 530 plate appearances this season. He has also played upward of 30 games this year at second base, shortstop (a position that now belongs to Amed Rosario) and third base.
  • Phillies manager Pete Mackanin continues to lobby for the team’s front office to acquire starting pitching in the offseason. “I think it would behoove us to get a bona fide starting pitcher,” Mackanin said Wednesday, adding that “I think we need a stabilizer at the top” (via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). The Phillies aren’t close enough to contention to vie for the absolute best soon-to-be free agent starters – Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta – notes Zolecki, who suggests that second-tier hurlers such as Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn and Jhoulys Chacin are more realistic possibilities.
  • Adding a left-handed bat will be an offseason priority for the Orioles, especially with outfielder Seth Smith likely to depart via free agency, according to Kubatko. Smith and Chris Davis have been the only lefty-swinging regulars this year for a Baltimore team that has managed a middling .260/.313/.436 line against right-handed pitchers.
  • Former Mets utilityman Joe McEwing has emerged as a potential successor to soon-to-be-ousted manager Terry Collins, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. McEwing, who played with the Mets from 2000-04, has been a coach in the White Sox’s organization since 2008. He served as their third base coach from 2012-16 before earning a promotion to bench coach prior to this season.
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