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Rockies Decline Justin Morneau’s Option

By Steve Adams | October 29, 2015 at 3:50pm CDT

The Rockies announced that they have declined their half of Justin Morneau’s $9MM mutual option. The first baseman and Relativity Sports client will instead be paid a $750K buyout and hit the open market in search of a new team.

Morneau, 34, signed a two-year, $12.5MM contract with the Rockies prior to the 2014 season after concussion and neck injuries nearly forced him into retirement late in his Twins tenure. The 2006 American League MVP enjoyed an outstanding rebound campaign in Colorado last year, hitting .319/.364/.496 with 17 homers. While it was low relative to previous league leaders, that .319 batting average earned Morneau the 2014 National League batting title.

The 2015 season, though, told a markedly different tale for Morneau. The Canadian-born slugger played in just 49 games total, as he missed most of the season with yet another concussion and further neck problems. Morneau was sidelined from May 13 until Sept. 4, although it is certainly worth noting that upon activation from the disabled list, he looked to have something left in the tank. Morneau hit .338/.423/.471 in 22 games down the stretch, although he failed to homer and was undoubtedly aided by a .434 BABIP in that time. Nevertheless, he drew 10 walks and struck out just 15 times in 78 plate appearances, suggesting that his strike zone knowledge and pitch recognition were still intact.

Morneau will enter a free-agent market that is headlined by Chris Davis and Korean star Byung-ho Park but offers little else in the way of full-time options. Even Morneau himself probably shouldn’t be considered a full-time player at this stage of his career, despite the fact that he batted .342/.375/.474 against southpaws this season. Those numbers look impressive, but they came in a sample of just 40 plate appearances, which is far less telling than the .224/.263/.307 batting line he’s compiled in 666 PAs versus lefties dating back to the 2011 season.

While Morneau’s injury shortened season was a disappointment for a player who looked to be on his way to rebuilding a significant portion of his stock with a nice 2014 season, I’d imagine the fact that he not only showed he was healthy enough to take the field but was also productive in the season’s final month will earn him an incentive-laden one-year contract this offseason, assuming he wants to continue playing after once again enduring the rigors of recovering from a severe concussion.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Alex Anthopoulos Leaves Blue Jays

By Steve Adams | October 29, 2015 at 12:58pm CDT

12:58pm: Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star writes that the higher-ups at Rogers promised Shapiro final say in player-personnel decisions, so the new five-year offer to Anthopoulos removed the autonomy from his position. If that’s the case, I agree with Griffin’s assessment that it’s a stretch to suggest that Anthopoulos “rejected” an extension offer, as the core function of his job over the life of that five-year term wasn’t the same as in his previous role, despite the lack of a title change.

Griffin also writes that Anthopoulos was wary of something like this happening as early as last offseason, and that concern prompted him to push for extensions for his top lieutenants. As such, assistant GMs Tony LaCava and Andrew Tinnish, special assistant Dana Brown, director of pro scouting Perry Minasian and others were eventually given contract extensions that ran through the 2016 season as a means of offering each some security.

10:38am: Davidi has tweeted a link to Rogers Media chairman Edward Rogers’ full statement on Anthopoulos’ departure, which reveals that Anthopoulos turned down a five-year offer.

10:34am: The Blue Jays have announced that Anthopoulos will not return for the 2016 season. Outgoing president and CEO Paul Beeston has issued the following statement on Anthopoulos’ surprising decision:

“After an exciting 2015 season, Alex Anthopoulos has reluctantly and regrettably decided that he is not going to return to the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club for 2016. Alex has done an unbelievable job and positioned us well for the future. He can take great pride in his past and while we do not know where his future is taking him, we do know wherever he is going, he will be successful. On behalf of all the employees of the Toronto Blue Jays, players, front office, scouts and player development staff we wish him good luck in the future and thank him for a job extremely well done.”

7:05am: Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has rejected an extension offer and will leave the team, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Davidi notes that while the specific reasons for the split aren’t 100 percent known, the shocking decision from Anthopoulos wasn’t due to financial reasons. The Blue Jays recently hired former Indians president Mark Shapiro to fill a similar role in Toronto, though the expectation was that Shapiro’s role would be be more business-oriented.

With no general manager openings left to fill around the game, it seems unlikely that Anthopoulos is leaving to fill the same role with another club. It’s possible that the Blue Jays told Anthopoulos that Shapiro would have a greater role in baseball operations than was originally anticipated, though that’s purely speculation. Perhaps Anthopoulos himself will land a greater role as president of baseball operations with another club, though there haven’t been any real indications that any teams are trying to hire anyone in that capacity.

Whatever the reason for the departure, the move is a shocking one. Anthopoulos’ decision to leave comes on the heels of the Blue Jays’ first postseason berth in 22 years — an emergence that was predicated largely on the trades made by the now-former GM over the past calendar year. Anthpoulos pulled off perhaps the most impactful trade in recent history last offseason, acquiring Josh Donaldson, one of the front-runners for the AL MVP, in exchange for Brett Lawrie and prospects Franklin Barreto, Sean Nolin and Kendall Graveman. No general manager was more active at the trade deadline, as Anthopoulos tirelessly worked to acquire Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, LaTroy Hawkins, Mark Lowe and Ben Revere to bolster his club’s roster as the team rode a blistering second half to the American League East Championship.

Of course, the Canadian-born Anthopoulos’ tenure as Jays GM wasn’t without questionable moves. (No GM’s time is.) The Blue Jays’ acquisition of R.A. Dickey in exchange for Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud looks like a misstep, assuming both young Mets continue the trajectory they’ve begun early in their careers. And the infamous blockbuster with the Marlins that offseason, in which Anthopoulos acquired Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson in exchange for Yunel Escobar, Henderson Alvarez, Justin Nicolino, Jake Marisnick, Anthony DeSclafani and Adeiny Hechavarria didn’t yield the immediate dividends he’d hoped (though Buehrle, like Dickey, has had three very solid seasons in Toronto’s rotation).

Like any general manager, Anthopoulos had his hits and misses, but the widespread expectation was that he’d quietly agree to an extension at some point after the season, as his recent hits far outweighed his recent misses. Toronto’s return to the postseason began with a victory over the Rangers in the ALDS and a loss at the hands of the Royals in the ALCS, and most were expecting Anthopoulos to lead Toronto’s front office this season as he looked to replenish the starting rotation and guide the Jays back to the postseason on the strength of its potent, unparalleled lineup.

Instead, it’s not clear who will fill that role. Shapiro himself has plenty of experience as a general manager, but it remains possible that the Blue Jays will seek a new GM to step in and fill the void. That could be an internal option like Tony LaCava or Dana Brown, each of whom was a candidate for other GM openings this offseason. Or, the team could look outside the organization and embark on what would be the fifth GM search of the offseason. The Mariners, Angels, Phillies and Red Sox have all seen changes at that position since the season ended.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Gardenhire, Sofield Are Finalists In Padres’ Managerial Search

By Steve Adams | October 29, 2015 at 8:50am CDT

OCT. 29: Scott Miller of Bleacher Report tweets that Sofield is now emerging as the favorite in the Padres’ search.

OCT. 28: Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and current Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield are the two finalists for the Padres’ managerial vacancy, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Gardenhire is the current favorite, Lin hears, though general manager A.J. Preller hasn’t made a final decision yet. (The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Biertempfel had previously reported that Sofield “appeared to be” a finalist.) An official announcement could come either on Thursday or Monday — both of which are travel days for the two remaining World Series teams. (Major League Baseball strongly discourages clubs from announcing significant news on the days that postseason games are played.)

Gardenhire sat out the 2015 season but reportedly wants to get back into the managerial world. He has also interviewed with the Nationals, though he’s not one of the reported finalists there. Gardenhire has extensive postseason experience from his time with the Twins, having led the club to six AL Central Division titles in 13 seasons and also bringing the team to a Game 163 tiebreaker that was lost to the White Sox in 2008. However, as Lin notes, Gardenhire has a disappointing 6-21 record in the playoffs, having only captured one series victory (against the A’s in 2002).

Sofield, on the other hand, has never managed in the Majors, though he does have six seasons of minor league managerial experience. He’s served on manager Clint Hurdle’s coaching staff in each of the past three seasons for the team’s trips to the postseason. Lin notes that Sofield is known for an “energetic” style.

Whoever is hired will have the ability to bring in his own coaching staff, and Lin writes that pitching coach Darren Balsley and bench coach Dave Roberts would be candidates to join Black were he able to land the managerial gig with the Nationals. Hitting coach Mark Kotsay is a candidate to be retained, he adds.

D-Backs Triple-A manager Phil Nevin also received a second interview in San Diego but no longer appears to be in the running. Also interviewed by the Padres were former big leaguers Alex Cora and Tom Gordon, D-Backs third base coach Andy Green, newly minted Mariners skipper Scott Servais (still an assistant GM with the Angels at the time) and Kotsay. With the exception of Gardenhire and Sofield, each of the interviewees had fairly recent Major League experience as a player. (Both Gardenhire and Sofield played in the Majors as well, though Sofield’s career ended in 1981 and Gardenhire’s ended in 1985.)

Marlins To Hire Don Mattingly

By Steve Adams | October 29, 2015 at 7:28am CDT

The Marlins will hire Don Mattingly as their next manager, reports Molly Knight of Vice Sports. Mattingly has agreed to a four-year deal with the club, but there may not be an official announcement until the World Series comes to a close, she adds.

Incredibly, the 54-year-old Mattingly becomes the Marlins’ eighth man to manager the Marlins since the 2010 season, Knight points out (though that does count bench coach Brandon Hyde, who managed just one game on an interim basis in 2011). Mattingly will replace GM-turned-skipper Dan Jennings, who bizarrely transitioned from the front office to the dugout in nearly unprecedented fashion earlier this year after Mike Redmond was fired as manager. The Marlins will pay Redmond through the 2017 season and only recently had Redmond’s predecessor, Ozzie Guillen, come off the books, as his four-year contract expired upon completion of the 2015 season despite the fact that he was fired three years ago.

The Marlins interviewed a wide variety of candidates, though reports throughout the interview process indicated that owner Jeffrey Loria would consider Mattingly the favorite were he to part ways with the Dodgers. That scenario came to fruition last week, when Mattingly and the Dodgers mutually parted ways. Mattingly is said to feel that the team didn’t want to commit to him for the long haul, though some form of extension was discussed prior to his departure. (Speculatively speaking, it seems plausible that the Dodgers only offered Mattingly a one-year extension of his contract, which would’ve extended it through the 2017 season.)

Though Loria is notoriously fickle with his managers — as evidenced by the fact that seven men have filled that role from 2010-15 — the New York native is said to be a huge fan of Mattingly dating back to Mattingly’s days as a six-time All-Star first baseman with the Yankees. Perhaps, then, that will buy Mattingly more leeway than was afforded to the men he is succeeding in his new role.

In five seasons as manager of the Dodgers, Mattingly posted a 446-363 record, guiding his club to the NL West Division title in each of the final three years of his term. While the team won only one postseason series in four attempts under Mattingly, he recorded a winning record in each of his five seasons and was generally well-regarded by his players. Notably, Mattingly managed in an extremely high-pressure market while juggling a large number of highly paid players on his roster, many of whom had been reduced to part-time roles. Managing the number of egos and dealing with the L.A. media undoubtedly took a toll on Mattingly, and he’s likely to encounter a more low-key environment in Miami. Mattingly said in a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show that he’s intrigued by the Marlins’ young core and considered it a “new challenge” that appealed to him (this was prior to his reported hiring but after his initial interview).

Knight notes that it’s unclear whether or not Mattingly will be able to bring any of his field staff from Los Angeles to Miami. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and bench coach Tim Wallach would be candidates, though Wallach is still in the running for the managerial vacancies in both L.A. and San Diego. The Dodgers did tell their coaches at season’s end that they were free to pursue opportunities elsewhere, so perhaps Honeycutt could jump ship with Mattingly.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals To Name Bud Black Manager

By Steve Adams | October 28, 2015 at 8:20pm CDT

The Nationals will hire former Padres skipper Bud Black as their next manager, reports James Wagner of the Washington Post. The team has yet to confirm the move or make an official announcement, as Major League Baseball frowns upon teams announcing major news on the days that World Series games take place. Black was said to be one of two finalists, with former Giants/Cubs/Reds manager Dusty Baker the other reported name under consideration.

Black, 58, served as the Padres’ manager from 2007 until June of this past season, when he was fired. On the heels of a highly active offseason, the Padres entered the season with high expectations but failed to deliver the results that the front office and ownership had hoped to see. Black’s dismissal surprised many in the game, as he was among baseball’s longest-tenured and most respected managers. His time in San Diego represents Black’s only Major League managerial experience. He managed the team to a 649-713 record in that time, the Padres routinely dealt with payroll constraints that hampered the team’s ability to field competitive rosters. Prior to his time in San Diego, Black was the Angels’ pitching coach from 2000-06, where he won a World Series ring in 2002.

Black will replace the recently fired Matt Williams, who came to D.C. without prior managerial experience and often looked overmatched with in-game decisions such as bullpen usage. However, perhaps more troubling were the reported communication issues that developed between Williams and the Nationals’ roster over the course of the 2015 season. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post wrote an extensive piece about rifts that formed between Williams and some of the team’s veteran players. Williams also appeared unaware of the extent to which a dugout altercation between Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper escalated in the season’s final weeks. Given Black’s experience managing in the Majors, such communication issues and day-to-day problems don’t figure to arise under his watch.

Washington also dismissed its entire coaching staff following the season, so Black will be allowed to hand-pick each of the coaches who serve alongside him. As Wagner reports, Rick Renteria, who formerly managed the Cubs but served as Black’s bench coach in San Diego prior to that job, is an early favorite to serve as Black’s bench coach with the Nationals.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Marlins In “Serious Talks” With Don Mattingly

By Jeff Todd | October 28, 2015 at 12:56pm CDT

The Marlins are in “serious talks” with Don Mattingly regarding the club’s open managerial position, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Both sides expect to reach agreement, per the report.

All indications have been that the former Dodgers skipper was the focus of Miami’s managerial search. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro said yesterday that an interview on Monday went well, with the sides seemingly set to talk about contract terms. And today’s report suggests that negotiations are progressing in earnest.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, a noted Yankees afficionado, is said to be a huge fan of Mattingly. Miami put a hold on its nascent managerial search to see how things would shake out with Los Angeles, and move quickly on Mattingly after he agreed to part ways with the team.

Though he was unable to guide the Dodgers deep into the post-season, he was seemingly successful at managing the club’s big contracts and big personalities. Under Mattingly’s leadership, the club carried a .551 overall regular season winning percentage.

The Marlins present something of a different challenge, of course. There’s much less media attention and a much lower payroll, though keeping a dugout job for a Loria-owned team has not proven easy over the years. In recent years, the organization has churned through Ozzie Guillen, Mike Redmond, and past (and future?) GM Dan Jennings.

As Heyman notes, the Dodgers remain on the hook for the remaining $1.6MM owed Mattingly under his prior contract. A new deal with Miami would be expected to “easily top” that amount in annual value, per the report.

It’s worth bearing in mind that a deal may well not be announced until after the conclusion of the World Series, even if it’s reached before that point. Frisaro tweets that the club likely will indeed hold off on officially naming a new skipper until that point.

Domonic Brown Elects Free Agency After Outright

By Steve Adams | October 26, 2015 at 9:35pm CDT

OCTOBER 26: Brown has elected free agency, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports on Twitter. That will bring his tenure in Philadelphia to an end, barring a somewhat surprising reunion.

OCTOBER 19: The Phillies announced today that former top prospect and starting right fielder Domonic Brown has been outrighted off their 40-man roster. As a player with more than three years of big league service time, Brown will have the option to elect free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple-A. Also outrighted were catcher/first baseman Tommy Joseph, outfielder Brian Bogusevic and outfielder Kelly Dugan.

Brown, 28, batted just .228/.284/.349 this season — a disappointing season and a near-mirror image of his 2014 batting line: .235/.285/.349. Ranked by Baseball America as the game’s No. 1 overall prospect midway through the 2010 season, many believed Brown to be ticketed for stardom. The former 20th-round pick batted .327/.391/.589 with 20 homers in just 93 games between Double-A and Triple-A in that 2010 campaign, leading to visions of future 30-home runs seasons from the powerful lefty batter.

Brown looked to be delivering on that promise in 2013 when he belted 27 homers and batted a hefty .272/.324/.494 in his age-25 season, but much of that production came in a torrid six-week stretch, and he’s been unable to recreate anything resembling that level of success. He’ll assuredly draw some interest from other clubs with the hope of buying low on his once-potent bat. Brown cleared four years of big league service in 2015, meaning any team that signs him would be able to control him for 2016 and 2017, if he’s productive enough to justify a spot on the roster for that long.

Making this series of moves even more disappointing for the Phillies is that Joseph, too, once ranked among their top prospects. The main piece acquired from the Giants in the trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco, Joseph’s once-promising career has been slowed by injuries — most recently a series of significant concussion issues. Joseph’s first full year in the Phillies organization was marred by injuries, but he looked to have turned a corner in 2014 when he got off to a .282/.345/.551 start in 27 games at Double-A Reading. A left wrist issue that ultimately required surgery cut that season short as well, though, and he hit just .193/.220/.301 in Triple-A this season before moving to first base due to concussion woes.

The 25-year-old Dugan rated 17th among Phillies farmhands last offseason, per Baseball America, but batted just .221/.295/.298 upon reaching Triple-A for the first time this year. Bogusevic, 31, has bounced around the league since debuting with the Astros in 2010. He’s a lifetime .238/.311/.373 hitter in 834 big league plate appearances.

Torii Hunter To Retire

By Jeff Todd | October 26, 2015 at 6:53pm CDT

Twins outfielder Torii Hunter has decided to retire, he tells LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune. The 40-year-old played in parts of 19 years with three organizations.

“I’m sad because it’s all I’ve known for half of my life,” Hunter said. “This great game of baseball has done so much for me. I have learned a lot of lessons. … I still love the game, but time has taken a toll on me mentally and physically.”

Hunter ended things where he began by returning to Minnesota for the 2015 season. He broke in with the Twins back in 1997, earned regular playing time as a reserve in 1999, and locked down an everyday job with the club in 2001.

From that 2001 season through the end of 2007, Hunter put up over 4,000 plate appearances of .272/.326/.484 hitting with 178 home runs. Then serving as a center fielder, he received the Gold Glove award in every single one (and for two more years thereafter).

The winter of 2007 seemed to spell the end of Hunter’s tenure in Minnesota. He departed via free agency to join the Angels, who promised him $90MM over five years. Hunter continued to thrive, posting a .286/.352/.462 cumulative batting line in nearly 3,000 trips to the plate over the life of that contract.

Having transitioned to right field in the back half of his tenure with the Halos, Hunter caught on to take over there for the Tigers. He was a strong contributor to two good teams in his two years in Detroit.

While other organizations came calling before 2015, Hunter decided on a return to a Twins club that wasn’t expected to do much. But it proved more than a farewell tour, as the club surpassed expectations (and underlying performance barometers) with an 83-79 record.

Believers in the power of clubhouse chemistry would surely attribute some of the Twins’ success last year to the presence of the fiery Hunter, who is respected highly in that regard. He didn’t have a great season — to the contrary, he played at or below replacement level — but was still expected to be courted for a return, albeit in a reduced role.

Minnesota has plenty of options to proceed without the veteran, whose departure could open the way for some of the organization’s young talent. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained in his offseason outlook for the team, there are some options on hand that figure to step in.

As a forty-to-fifty win player who was more consistently excellent than great, Hunter seems unlikely to land in the Hall of Fame, though he surely deserves a spot in the proverbial “hall of very good.” He has come under fire for homophobic comments made in recent years, an area that tarnished his reputation to many, though Hunter is widely lauded as one of the game’s good guys. All told, Hunter enjoyed a memorable career as one of the better players of his generation.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

KBO’s Lotte Giants To Post Outfielder Ah-Seop Son

By Steve Adams | October 26, 2015 at 11:17am CDT

The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization will post right fielder Ah-seop Son for MLB teams to bid upon this offseason, according to the Yonhap News Agency (hat tip: Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). Lotte had reportedly been mulling over the difficult decision of whether to post Son or third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang, both of whom had asked the club to post them. However, KBO’s league rules state that a team can accept only one bid on a posted player per offseason, and a league ruling was made that Lotte could not simply post them simultaneously and then select the top bid.

Per Yonhap, if the Giants don’t receive a bid that is to their liking on Son, or they accept a bid but Son and the winning team cannot come to a deal on a Major League contract, the club will then immediately make Hwang available via the posting system. If a bid for Son is accepted and he does indeed sign with a big league club, then Lotte almost certainly will lose Hwang for nothing next offseason, as he’s set to become a true free agent next winter and could negotiate with MLB clubs without the restrictions of the posting system.

Because of that, it’s at least a mild surprise to see Son posted first, as he’d have been eligible to be posted next winter as well. However, the Yonhap report indicates that the Giants elected to post Son first due to a superior track record over the past five seasons. While Hwang set multiple career-highs in 2015, most notably in home runs (by a wide margin), Son’s been the steadier hitter over the past half-decade.

Dating back to 2011, Son has batted .333/.409/.476 as opposed to Hwang’s .289/.357/.438. Son has averaged 12 homers and 16 steals per year in that time, while Hwang has averaged respective totals of 12 and 17. (Hwang’s 26 homers in 2015 skew those averages somewhat, though so, too, do Son’s 36 steals in 2013.) The duo’s 2015 production — .317/.406/.472 for Son and .290/.350/.521 for Hwang — made the decision difficult for Lotte.

Son, who is represented by agent Rick Thurman of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, will turn 28 during Spring Training next season. He will be posted under the old, blind-bid posting system that still applies to KBO. As a reminder, that means all 30 clubs will have the opportunity to submit a bid of any amount to secure negotiating rights for Son’s services. If Son’s team accepts the bid — and the Giants could neglect to do so if they don’t think it to be a high enough price for one of their top players — that team would then have 30 days to negotiate a big league contract with Son and Thurman. If a deal can’t be reached, Son would return to Lotte for the 2016 season, and the MLB club that won the bidding would receive its money back. As noted above, should that scenario play out, the process would start over with Hwang, with all 30 teams being eligible to place a bid.

Son will become eligible to be posted starting on Nov. 1, and due to the possibility that Lotte could have to go through the month-long bidding process twice this winter, it’d make sense for the club to post him as early in the offseason as possible. Teams will be burning through their budgets over the course of the winter, and waiting until later in the offseason raises the possibility of a team feeling its spent all it can on free agency or of acquiring an alternative to either player either via free agency or trade.

For the time being, Son will join a crowded free agent market for corner outfielders that is headlined by Jason Heyward, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes but also features Colby Rasmus, Alex Rios, Steve Pearce and Rajai Davis, among others.

Red Sox Hire Ruben Amaro Jr. As First Base Coach

By Steve Adams | October 26, 2015 at 10:43am CDT

The Red Sox announced today what the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo first reported over the weekend: former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has been hired as the club’s new first base coach. He’ll also serve as Boston’s outfield instructor and assist in coaching the club on baserunning. Per the release announcing the move, Amaro signed a two-year contract.

“I was honored that Dave [Dombrowski] and John [Farrell] would consider me for this opportunity and add me to this dynamic coaching staff,” said Amaro in a press release announcing the unusual hire. “I am poised, focused, and ready to bring anything I can in terms of experience and knowledge to this position, and I look forward to being a part of the Boston Red Sox.”

Amaro’s transition from the top of a baseball operations hierarchy to a coaching staff is relatively unprecedented. Earlier this year, Marlins GM Dan Jennings moved from the front office to the dugout, although that was within his own organization after the club had fired skipper Mike Redmond. Amaro, on the other hand, leaves the only organization with which he’s ever been involved in the front office to join the coaching staff of an organization with which he’s never been affiliated. Amaro was a teammate of Farrell with the Indians in 1994, so the two men do have a preexisting connection.

Though Amaro doesn’t have prior coaching experience, he did spend parts of eight seasons in the Major Leagues as an outfielder. In 1051 plate appearances, Amaro batted .235/.310/.353 with the Angels, Phillies and Indians. He joined the Phillies’ front office the same year that he retired as a player, in 1998.

One would think that Amaro could have found a spot within a different front office as a special assistant or senior adviser to a different GM, as many previously fired GMs have done. For example, former Cubs GM Jim Hendry is currently in the Yankees’ front office, former D-Backs/Padres GM Kevin Towers is with the Reds, former Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is with the Mets and former Mets GM Omar Minaya spent several seasons as an assistant/adviser in the Padres’ front office before joining the MLBPA. (Those, of course, are just a few recent examples.) Amaro, though, clearly wants to go down a different path than peers who have found themselves in similar situations, and kudos to him for doing so even though it will likely open him up to come criticism.

The 50-year-old Amaro’s tenure as Phillies GM was littered with missteps that led to a widely expected dismissal in September, but his successor, former Angels’ GM Matt Klentak, thanked Amaro at today’s introductory press conference for the work he did in rebuilding the club’s farm system over the past year-plus. Amaro acquired prospects Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Jerad Eickhoff, Alec Asher, Ben Lively, Tom Windle, Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, Darnell Sweeney, John Richy and Joely Rodriguez in trades that sent Antonio Bastardo, Jimmy Rollins, Marlon Byrd, Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and Chase Utley to new teams over the final year of his tenure.

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