Newsstand

Phillies Name Matt Klentak GM

By charliewilmoth | October 26, 2015 at 8:34am CDT

OCT. 26: The Phillies have announced the hiring of Klentak as vice president and general manager, adding that, at 35 years of age, Klentak is the youngest GM in the club’s history.

“In Matt we found an executive with the keen ability to understand cutting-edge baseball analytics, coupled with superior scouting, player development and leadership skills,” said president Andy MacPhail in the press release that announced the move. “Additionally, his commitment and resolve to build the foundation for a championship-caliber team was evident every step of the way through the process. I trust Matt to lead the Phillies as we all rededicate ourselves to return championship baseball to Philadelphia.”

OCT. 24: The Phillies will name Angels assistant Matt Klentak as their next GM, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets. Yesterday, it emerged that Klentak was a finalist for the job, along with Chaim Bloom of the Rays and Dan Kantrovitz of the Athletics. As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted (via Twitter), all three candidates were in their 30s and had Ivy League and analytics backgrounds.

Klentak began working in the Rockies baseball operations department soon after graduating from Dartmouth with an economics degree. He then worked in labor relations for MLB for several seasons and helped shape the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement. He departed to become director of baseball operations for the Orioles, where he worked under current Phillies president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. Following the 2011 season, he headed to the Angels, where he specialized in working with contracts, arbitration and roster issues. He was recently a candidate for the Angels GM position that went to Billy Eppler. (While with the Angels, Klentak was also one of the first-ever guests on the MLBTR Podcast, appearing one year ago today.)

“Matt brings so much to the table,” said then-Angels GM Jerry Dipoto. “Matt understands the inner workings of baseball from the field to the finance. He understands baseball from the staff in the clubhouse to the players on the field to how to communicate back and forth with a finance department and ownership.”

MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes (Twitter links) that Klentak did much of the Angels’ GM work once Dipoto resigned (even though Bill Stoneman was officially the Angels’ interim GM). Klentak is analytically oriented, but is regarded as a good communicator.

The Phillies’ 2015 season was, of course, a miserable one, but the situation Klentak is entering is in many ways rather favorable. Thanks to what appears to be a solid series of recent top draft picks and the strong trade of Cole Hamels to the Rangers, the Phillies have a very good collection of young talent headed by J.P. Crawford, Maikel Franco, Aaron Nola, Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro and Cornelius Randolph. The Phillies have also historically had relatively large payrolls, which could give Klentak the ability to add to that core once it matures.

Besides Klentak, Bloom and Kantrovitz, other interviewees for the Phillies’ position included former Marlins executive Larry Beinfest, MLB vice president of baseball operations Kim Ng, Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins, Cardinals director of player personnel Matt Slater, Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo and former Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Klentak’s departure is the second significant one for Eppler and the Angels’ front office this week — the Mariners just hired Klentak’s fellow Angels assistant Scott Servais to be their manager.

Latest On Nationals’ Managerial Search

By Zachary Links | October 25, 2015 at 9:52pm CDT

9:52pm: Black’s second interview will also take place on Monday, ESPN’s Jim Bowden tweets.

2:53pm: Dusty Baker and Bud Black will indeed receive second interviews for the Nationals’ managerial vacancy and, at this point, it appears that one of the two will get the job, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes. “Barring something strange happening,” Heyman writes that it will be one of the two experienced candidates since they are the only finalists remaining.

Baker will interview on Monday while Black’s interview will also take place early this week. Heyman notes that GM Mike Rizzo has a preference for experienced managers, though he made an exception in the case of Matt Williams.

In 1362 career games as a manager, all with the Padres, Black totaled a record of 649-713 despite routinely having to work with one of baseball’s lowest payrolls. A pitching coach prior to his work as a manager, he drew praise for his work with many of San Diego’s young arms over the course of his career in the dugout.

As the manager of the Reds, Baker led the club to a 509-463 record and three playoff berths across six seasons. The 66-year-old is also a three-time NL Manager of the Year and led the 2002 Giants to the National League pennant. In total, Baker owns a 1671-1504 record as manager of the Giants, Cubs, and Reds.

The Nats conducted a wide-ranging search for the position with names such as Ron Gardenhire, Giants coach Ron Wotus, Dodgers coach Tim Wallach, Alex Cora, and Diamondbacks minor-league manager Phil Nevin among those linked to the opening. Ex-Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly was conspicuously absent from their search and it doesn’t appear that Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. garnered consideration despite his stated interest in the job.

Mariners Name Scott Servais Manager

By Steve Adams | October 23, 2015 at 2:03pm CDT

The Mariners announced on Friday that Angels assistant GM Scott Servais has been hired as the team’s next manager. While there’s been no official announcement in regards to the coaching staff, Angels special assistant Tim Bogar is expected to be named bench coach. Both men worked closely with new Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto in his time as Angels general manager.

Dipoto is quoted in the press release announcing the move: “Through the course of the 20-plus years I’ve known Scott, I’ve come to see him as one of the most complete, well balanced and inclusive baseball people in the industry. … He is a communicator with strong baseball acumen and leadership skills. I truly believe his strong character and career experiences as a player, coach and executive have prepared him for this opportunity.”

Servais himself expressed excitement for the opportunity as well: “It has long been my goal to manage a big league team and while I took a slightly different path than many, I am confident in my ability to lead. We have a terrific core of players and I’m looking forward to bringing in a coaching staff that will help me establish a winning culture here as we work toward putting a championship-caliber team on the field for the fans of the Northwest.”

Servais, 48, is a former Major League catcher that enjoyed an 11-year playing career. He began his career as an executive working in the Rangers’ front office before being hired away by the Angels to serve as assistant GM and oversee the team’s scouting and player development operations. This offseason, Servais has interviewed for the Padres’ managerial role and the Angels’ GM vacancy, though the latter of the two positions went to former Yankees AGM Billy Eppler.

The Servais decision will continue the increasingly popular trend of hiring rookie managers, as we’ve seen names such as Mike Matheny, Walt Weiss, Robin Ventura, Brad Ausmus, Craig Counsell, Matt Williams and Paul Molitor hired without prior managerial experience in recent years. Some of those names (Williams and Molitor) did come with coaching experience, and others (Ausmus and Counsell) were similar to Servais in that each had experience working in a front office.

Bogar formerly served as the Rangers’ bench coach and was Texas’ interim manager when Ron Washington abruptly resigned late in the 2014 season. However, upon being passed over for the permanent opening, which went to Jeff Banister — Bogar did interview and was a consideration — he joined the Angels’ front office as a special assistant to Dipoto. He’ll now be with his third AL West club in a three-year span.

Adding Servais and Bogar to the Mariners’ dugout will give Dipoto a rapport with his field staff that he very obviously lacked in Anaheim. Dipoto’s summer resignation from his post as Angels GM was said to be fueled largely by feuds with manager Mike Scioscia over his distaste for being provided with analytical input from the Halos’ front office, and reports have since indicated that pitching coach Mike Butcher was also resistant to receiving that type of input from Dipoto and the rest of the front office. Servais and Bogar figure to be much more open to that style of input, which should be a significant departure from former Mariners skipper Lloyd McClendon, who employed a more traditional approach to his on-field duties.

Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reported that Servais had been hired (via Twitter) and added in a second tweet that Bogar would be the bench coach. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported last night that Servais had emerged as the front-runner for the position.

Photo courtesy of Seattle Mariners media relations.

Klentak, Bloom, Kantrovitz Are Finalists For Phillies GM

By Steve Adams | October 23, 2015 at 1:21pm CDT

1:21pm: MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets that Kantrovitz is the third finalist for the position. As Zolecki notes, Kantrovitz, Bloom and Klentak are all Ivy League graduates in their 30s with a backgroudn in analytics, which fits the mold of what MacPhail and Phillies ownership were reportedly targeting early on.

1:03pm: Picollo is no longer in the running for the position, reports Crasnick (via Twitter).

10:52am: Bloom is indeed one of the three finalists for the position, Crasnick now reports (via Twitter).

OCT. 23, 9:40am: Klentak is one of the three finalists for the vacancy, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).

Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes that the current postseason schedule gives MacPhail a nice window to make an announcement. While the league frowns on major news announcements on game days, the Phillies could make an announcement Monday morning on a scheduled off-day. That’d allow MacPhail and the new GM to be with the club for the onset of the Phillies’ organizational meetings. Sources tell Salisbury an announcement could very well happen on Monday.

OCT. 22: 10:07pm: Former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry also interviewed for the Phillies’ GM vacancy, Crasnick tweets, and while he could land in Philadelphia, it’d be in an advisory role as opposed to GM. Hendry is currently working in the Yankees’ front office as a special assignment scout.

8:30pm: Crasnick adds (also via Twitter) that Rays VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has also interviewed for the position, though he doesn’t specify whether or not Bloom is among the finalists.

8:25pm: The Phillies are down to three candidates in their hunt for a general manager and could make a decision in the near future, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). The team’s organizational meetings begin on Monday, and while president Andy MacPhail recently said a hiring by that date would be ambitious, Crasnick’s report would seem to indicate that the team could have someone in place by Monday after all.

We’ve been keeping tabs on the list of GM candidates for Philadelphia since the team began its search to replace Ruben Amaro, who was dismissed late in the season. To this point, the known list of candidates to interview includes former Marlins GM Larry Beinfest, MLB’s vice president of baseball ops Kim Ng, Indians VP of player personnel Ross Atkins, Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak, Cardinals director of player personnel Matt Slater, Athletics assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz and Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo. However, Crasnick reported recently that Beinfest has been informed he’s no longer in the running, while Ng reportedly is not among the top candidates.

Earlier this week Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that Kantrovitz had received a pair of interviews. He’s the only known candidate to have interviewed twice, so he seems the likeliest of the listed candidates to be among the final three. Klentak has long been said to be a favorite, having worked underneath MacPhail with the Orioles, and Picollo has been oft-mentioned as well.

John Farrell’s Cancer In Remission

By Steve Adams | October 22, 2015 at 4:24pm CDT

The Red Sox have announced excellent news: manager John Farrell’s cancer is in remission. The skipper announced that he would step down for the remainder of the season back in August in order to undergo treatment for lymphoma. Bench coach Torey Lovullo served as manager on an interim basis through season’s end.

In a statement today, Farrell said: “I am extremely thankful for the outpouring of support I have received from the Red Sox, my family, friends, and fans throughout this process. I am also especially thankful for the talented doctors who cared for me in Detroit and here at MGH. I look forward to getting back to work and bringing another championship back to Boston.”

Earlier this month, the team announced that Farrell would return to manage the club in 2016, adding that Lovullo had signed a two-year extension to remain in his role as bench coach. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in today’s press release that the organization is “thrilled to hear the great news about John” and is looking forward to having Farrell return as manager next season.

Don Mattingly Won’t Return As Dodgers Manager

By Jeff Todd | October 22, 2015 at 11:02am CDT

Don Mattingly and the Dodgers have mutually decided to part ways, as first reported from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The 54-year-old had served as the team’s manager for the last five seasons. Los Angeles will pay Mattingly the salary he was owed for 2016, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports on Twitter.

It was a successful run overall for Mattingly, who oversaw three straight NL West division winners and five consecutive winning ballclubs. While his .551 overall winning percentage was impressive, though, the Dodgers’ post-season performances haven’t matched their regular season marks. Los Angeles won just one playoff series under Mattingly’s command.

Heyman describes the situation as amicable, even in parting. The front office continues to hold plenty of respect for Mattingly, who in turn does not feel mistreated by upper management. The broad issue, according to Heyman, is that “there wasn’t support for the long-term” for Mattingly.

It appears that the sides considered a continued relationship, as both acknowledged in announcing the move. Mattingly’s contract did have one year remaining on it, and some manner of extension was contemplated. (ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that an extension was offered, while Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets that it was discussed conceptually, but never formally offered.)

Ultimately, it does seem clear that all agreed to part ways. In a prepared statement, Friedman said that extensive discussion “evolved to a point where we all agreed that it might be best for both sides to start fresh,” a conclusion that ultimately was confirmed after further deliberation. Mattingly, meanwhile, echoed that, saying that “a fresh start would be good for both the organization and me.” He thanked the organization and said he hopes to continue managing with another team.

For Mattingly, it’s not a bad time to be hitting the open market. Numerous clubs — including the Marlins, who are said to have interest, as well as the Nationals, Mariners, and Padres — are in search for new skippers. There’s little doubt he’ll draw interest after managing winning teams under two rather different front office regimes, in a huge market, and with a variety of high-priced and somewhat volatile players to be accounted for. As Heyman notes, though, his in-game strategy has drawn some critics.

Likewise, the Dodgers should have no trouble attracting candidates to their open post. With a talented roster (and the deep pockets to add to it), Los Angeles figures as a perennial contender. Of course, running the Dodgers ship is also one of the higher-pressure gigs in the game. It’s hard to know at present what direction president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman might go with a new hire. He inherited Mattingly when he came to L.A., and only oversaw one manager (Joe Maddon, now with the Cubs) while serving as the general manager of the Rays.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2015-16 MLB Free Agent Tracker Now Available

By Tim Dierkes | October 21, 2015 at 3:35pm CDT

We’ve been obsessing over MLB free agency for nearly a decade here at MLB Trade Rumors, and this offseason is going to be a good one. The market features unprecedented starting pitching, with David Price, Zack Greinke, Jordan Zimmermann, and Johnny Cueto. Sluggers Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, and Justin Upton will be well-compensated, but Jason Heyward might top them all. Everything you need to track all of the signings can be found in MLBTR’s Free Agent Tracker for the 2015-16 offseason.

We’ll be updating the free agent tracker quickly after signings this winter, and you can filter by team, position, signing status, qualifying offer, contract years and amount, and handedness. Here’s the link again; let the roster-building begin!

By the way, you can catch all of the latest MLB news and rumors by following us on Twitter:

Follow @mlbtraderumors

Blue Jays Claim Pat Venditte, Designate Darwin Barney

By Steve Adams | October 19, 2015 at 2:55pm CDT

The Blue Jays announced today that they’ve claimed switch-pitcher Pat Venditte off waivers from the Athletics. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Darwin Barney has been designated for assignment. Venditte isn’t eligible to pitch in the postseason with Toronto.

As an ambidextrous pitcher, the 30-year-old Venditte grabbed quite a few headlines in Oakland when he made his big league debut earlier this season. Venditte logged 28 2/3 innings with the A’s in the Majors, totaling a 4.40 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 32.9 percent ground-ball rate. Venditte was hit hard by right-handed hitters — particularly in the few instances where he had to face them as a left-handed pitcher. However, he excelled in lefty-lefty matchups, limiting opponents to a .116/.188/.256 batting line in such situations.

Formerly a 20th-round pick by the Yankees in 2008, Venditte also grinded his way through eight minor league seasons before emerging at the Major League level in Oakland this year. His minor league track record is exceptional, as he’s worked to a 2.39 ERA, averaging 10.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 along the way. Venditte doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging just 84.6 mph and sitting in the mid-80s from each side. However, that hasn’t limited his effectiveness in the minors, and the Blue Jays will hope that he can be a contributor for him in future seasons. If nothing else, he’s a nice depth piece for a team that is currently slated to lose LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe to free agency.

The 29-year-old Barney, a fixture in the Cubs’ infield from 2010-14, came to the Blue Jays by way of trade from the Dodgers in September. Toronto had a need at second base with Devon Travis again sidelined by injuries, and Barney was picked up to fill that role despite the fact that being acquired after Sept. 1 made him ineligible for the postseason. Barney spent most of the season in Triple-A with the Dodgers, where he batted .277/.325/.354. While those numbers don’t exactly leap off the page, Barney’s calling card has long been his defense at second base, where he won a Gold Glove in 2012. He also has experience at shortstop and third base.

Eddy Julio Martinez To Sign With Cubs

By Steve Adams | October 19, 2015 at 1:47pm CDT

Cuban center fielder Eddy Julio Martinez’s free agency has been surrounded by controversy, but the 20-year-old has officially signed with the Cubs, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.

Expectations for Martinez were high heading into this year’s international free agency period, with some outlets estimating that he’d sign a $10MM+ bonus. Martinez rumors went quiet for an extended period of time, though, before it was reported that he’d hired new representation and is now represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council. Martinez agreed to a $2.5MM signing bonus with the Giants — an agreement which GM Bobby Evans publicly acknowledged — but it was soon reported that Martinez wouldn’t sign with the Giants and instead sought a $3MM bonus.

That bonus materialized shortly thereafter, as the Cubs swooped in and reached a reported agreement. However, it was soon revealed that that Major League Baseball was determining whether or not the Giants’ agreement was binding. At the heart of the issue was that Martinez had multiple agents negotiating on his behalf, with his BHSC reps striking the deal with the Giants via a series of texts and emails. Martinez was also employing multiple “buscones,” or street agents, who brokered the deal with the Cubs. Had the agreement with the Giants been ruled to be binding, it would have superseded Martinez’s larger agreement with the Cubs.

That, clearly, was not the case though, as Eddy and MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez have both reported today that Martinez will go to the Cubs. He’ll add to an impressive crop of international talent signed by the Cubs, who spent $8.65MM on July 2. That means they’ll be taxed at 100 percent on their $3MM signing of Martinez, meaning they effectively paid $6MM to secure his services.

Barry Zito Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | October 19, 2015 at 12:41pm CDT

Left-hander Barry Zito officially announced his retirement from baseball today in an honest, insightful column for the Players Tribune. The 37-year-old spent his entire 15-year Major League career in the Bay Area, suiting up only for the Athletics and Giants.

Zito debuted with Oakland as a 22-year-old in 2000 just barely one year after being selected ninth overall in the 1999 draft. His rookie season yielded 92 2/3 innings of a 2.72 ERA and a sixth-place finish in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. Over the next several seasons, Zito would use his signature curveball to establish himself as one of Oakland’s “Big Three” alongside fellow hurlers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder — a formidable trio that kept Oakland in contention throughout much of the early 2000s. Zito took home AL Cy Young honors in 2002 with an excellent season that saw him post a 23-5 record to go along with a 2.75 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 229 1/3 innings of work. An absolute workhorse for the A’s throughout his tenure there, Zito started 34 or 35 games each year from 2001-06 and averaged 223 innings per regular season in that time.

Following the 2006 season, Zito signed what was, at the time, one of the largest contracts in baseball history — a seven-year, $126MM contract with the Giants. As he explains in the column announcing today’s decision, that move came with plenty of mixed emotions. Zito described his baseball career as being “full of euphoric highs and devastating lows,” and many of the lows came in a 2008 season that saw him post a 5.15 ERA in 180 innings while leading the NL with 17 losses. Writes Zito:

The year 2008 was the toughest of my life so far. I was being told by strangers in public places just how terrible I was — my own fans in San Francisco yelling obscenities to my face while I was in the dugout. I even found myself ringing my mother at times because I was literally losing my mind and needed five minutes of solace with someone who understood me. But that year taught me something: If there was still a reason to smile at certain points throughout those painful days, and if everything I thought had defined me as a person was crumbling down and yet I was still standing, then maybe what I thought defined me truly did not. I came to realize that I was defining myself through my achievements on the field and through the opinions of other people. In reality, that was just the surface of who I really was.

Zito’s tenure with the Giants was certainly less productive than his time with the A’s, but he still contributed to World Series Championships in both 2010 and 2012. While it wasn’t as the front-of-the-rotation type of arm he was early on in his career, Zito still delivered a 4.15 ERA in each season, logging 199 1/3 innings in 2010 and 184 2/3 innings in 2012. He also turned in a dominant effort with the Giants trailing the Cardinals 3-1 in the 2012 NLCS and, after San Francisco rallied back to take the series from St. Louis, he started Game 1 of the World Series. Zito took home a victory after 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball, which helped set the tone for a decisive sweep of the American League champion Tigers.

Zito returned to baseball — signing a minor league deal with Oakland — in 2015 after taking a year off in 2014. Though he spent the majority of the season pitching with Triple-A Nashville, Zito received a late-September call-up where he was given the opportunity to make the start against the Giants and his former teammate and “Big Three” member Hudson. (Hudson has also stated his intention to retire following the season.) The excellent gesture from a pair of non-contending clubs made for an emotional scene, with Mulder appearing as well. All three received a thunderous ovation from the Bay Area faithful — a fitting tribute to a group of players that made an unforgettable impact on baseball in that region.

All told, Zito will retire with a 165-143 record, a 4.04 ERA and 1885 strikeouts in 2576 2/3 innings at the Major League level. Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs value his career at 33.5 and 30.5 wins above replacement, respectively, and he earned more than $137MM in his playing career.

As he explained further in his column, Zito is “very excited to be a ’rookie’ all over again” in the field of songwriting, and he looks forward to a seeing where his music career will take him. We at MLBTR congratulate Barry on an excellent, memorable career and wish him the best of luck in his new career path and in his post-playing days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Newsstand

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect