Tigers To Keep Brad Ausmus As Manager
Brad Ausmus will remain as manager of the Tigers, the team has announced. New GM Al Avila says Ausmus’ recent work with young players was a key reason the Tigers decided to keep him, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck (on Twitter). Avila says Tigers ownership allowed him to make the decision, writes Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. There have, however, not been any extension talks between the two sides (Twitter links). Ausmus is currently under contract through 2016, with a team option for 2017.
“On Friday afternoon, I met with manager Brad Ausmus and during our discussion I told him I wanted him to continue as manager of the Tigers in 2016,” said Avila in a statement. “It is my belief, and our collective belief within our baseball operations department, that Brad is the right manager for this team given where the team is, at this point in time, and for us to achieve our goals in 2016.”
As recently as last week, it had looked like the Tigers would fire Ausmus at the end of the season. Reporting earlier this month had suggested the Tigers had already decided to fire Ausmus, but Avila said in response that no decision had been made.
Ausmus is 162-153 in almost two full seasons on the job. That includes a 90-win performance in his first season and a 72-81 record this year. It’s been a tough season for the Tigers, who released longtime GM Dave Dombrowski from his contract in August and traded key veterans David Price and Yoenis Cespedes in July.
Going forward, the Tigers still have a core expensive veterans in Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez and Anibal Sanchez. Of those players, the only ones who have contributed at levels befitting their contracts are Cabrera and Kinsler. The Tigers are currently in last place, and they likely won’t be expected to contend in 2016, either, so Ausmus’ most important role with the Tigers could be helping them develop younger players like James McCann, Anthony Gose, Jose Iglesias and Daniel Norris.
Josh Byrnes A Candidate For Top Jobs With Angels
Former Diamondbacks and Padres GM Josh Byrnes is a candidate for GM or president of baseball operations with the Angels, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. Byrnes currently serves as vice president of baseball operations for the Dodgers.
Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler is reportedly the favorite for the Angels GM job. Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine and Angels director of pro scouting Hal Morris have also been connected to the position, however, along with Blue Jays assistant GM Tony La Cava, Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins, and Angels assistant GMs Matt Klentak and Scott Servais. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets that the Angels currently plan to hire one executive, not two, so if they were to hire Byrnes as president of baseball operations, it would appear they would not hire a GM.
Yesterday, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman mentioned another name in connection with the GM job: that of Kevin Towers, who ironically replaced Byrnes as Diamondbacks GM after Byrnes was fired in 2010. Two years later, Byrnes then headed to San Diego to take the GM job Towers had once occupied.
Giants Interested In Retaining Marlon Byrd For 2016
The Giants are interested in keeping outfielder Marlon Byrd in 2016, Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The Giants have an $8MM club option for Byrd’s services in 2016 as part of the deal he originally signed with the Phillies.
There are, however, other factors at play here. As Jeff Todd noted in his vesting options update from earlier this week, Byrd’s option automatically vests if he gets 550 plate appearances this season. Byrd currently stands at 513 with ten games remaining. If the Giants were to simply let him play every day for the rest of the season, it’s likely his option would vest. With a couple days off, Byrd could come up just short, in which case the Giants would get to make a decision. The Giants’ interest in Byrd suggests they could simply exercise the option even if it doesn’t vest, and that wouldn’t be unreasonable — Byrd is hitting just .250 with a .296 OBP this year, but with 22 home runs and a .456 slugging percentage, he remains useful.
Then again, Byrd is already 38, and it’s also conceivable the Giants could hope to retain him more cheaply than $8MM, especially since the injured Hunter Pence will be back in 2016, pushing Byrd to more of a fourth-outfielder-type role. The Giants will also likely want to spend money on pitching. Since they’re currently are all but out of the playoffs, they could easily defend having Byrd sit a game or two for the rest of the season in order to give an extra start to a September call-up like Jarrett Parker or Mac Williamson. That would likely prevent the option from vesting. Of course, Byrd might then see an attempt to sign him more cheaply as bad faith, which might cause him to sign elsewhere, particularly if he were assured of more playing time.
That sort of maneuvering doesn’t seem typical of the Giants, however. They’re usually loyal to their players, frequently extending or re-signing veterans (including Pence, Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo, Jake Peavy, Javier Lopez, Ryan Vogelsong, Jeremy Affeldt and Marco Scutaro) shortly before or shortly after they hit free agency. Byrd’s value certainly seems close to $8MM, so if the Giants want to keep him, they seem likely to try to do so in such a way that his impending option situation doesn’t cause strife. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to watch the box scores for the rest of the season to see how much Byrd plays.
Dodgers Release Mat Latos
SEPTEMBER 25: The Dodgers have announced that they’ve released Latos.
SEPTEMBER 17: The Dodgers have designated righty Mat Latos for assignment, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. His 40-man spot will be used for the activation of reliever Carlos Frias from the 60-day DL.
Latos, 27, was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline in a complicated, three-team deal. That move also brought several other pieces to Los Angeles, with the bulk of the assets (featuring lefty Alex Wood and infielder prospect Jose Peraza) coming from the Braves.
It was certainly a calculated to risk to add Latos, who has an excellent track record but had dealt with injuries and performance issues in recent years. He had shown improved velocity and results in the run-up to the deadline, suggesting that his still-youthful arm could have some punch left down the stretch.
Needless to say, Latos did not perform to expectations for the Dodgers. He surrendered 18 earned runs over just 24 1/3 innings, though he did manage a fairly typical 18:6 strkeout-to-walk ratio.
It is hard to see any other teams having interest in the righty for the rest of the season, given his recent struggles and the fact that he wouldn’t be eligible to pitch for a new club in the postseason. But he’ll still probably draw plenty of interest as a buy-low arm when he hits free agency in a few months. Latos will hit the market in advance of his age-28 season, and organizations will no doubt recall that he averaged about 200 frames of sub-3.30 ERA pitching annually over the 2010-2013 seasons.
Red Sox Name Frank Wren Senior VP Of Baseball Operations
The Red Sox announced this afternoon that former Braves GM Frank Wren has been hired as the team’s senior vice president of baseball operations. Wren, 57, worked with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski previously in the Marlins and Expos organizations. He will add to the team’s new-look front office, which also features newly appointed general manager Mike Hazen, who was promoted yesterday after previously serving as the team’s assistant GM. Boston also announced that assistant director of player personnel Jared Banner has been promoted to director of player personnel.
Wren was rumored to be a candidate to step in as the new Red Sox general manager immediately upon Dombrowski’s hiring, although Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported last week that he may ultimately sign on with a title other than GM. That appears to be the case, though based on Wren’s title, one can imagine him playing a significant role in baseball operations decision-making.
Per the press release announcing the move, Wren“will serve as a talent evaluator and will assist Dombrowski in all aspects of baseball operations.” Based on that description, Wren will report directly to Dombrowski, though he’ll still be underneath Hazen in terms of organizational hierarchy. As Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal tweets, it seems that Wren will be an aide but, unlike Hazen, won’t handle negotiations with agents or other teams.
The final years of Wren’s tenure as Braves general manager was marred by organizational missteps, as Atlanta made questionable free agent signings and extensions alike. Most notably, the signing of Melvin Upton Jr. and extensions for both Dan Uggla and Chris Johnson went south quickly. That’s not to say that none of the moves made with Wren in the GM chair panned out, of course; the acquisition of Justin Upton still looks to have been a win for the Braves, even if Upton has since been traded. Similarly, the Braves gave up little in the way of impact talent to acquire Michael Bourn and were rewarded with a season and a half of excellent play as well as draft compensation upon Bourn’s departure. (Here’s a full list of Wren’s transactions while serving as a GM, courtesy of the MLBTR Transaction Tracker.)
Nevertheless, the late missteps in Wren’s tenure outweighed the successes in the eyes of ownership, who replaced him with fellow veteran baseball ops exec John Hart. His new role with the Red Sox will be more limited, it seems, as he’ll serve primarily as a talent evaluator and will be based in Atlanta as opposed to in Boston, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe and Sean McAdam of Comcast Sportsnet New England (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Greg Holland Has “Significant” Tear In UCL; Tommy John Surgery Likely
4:08pm: Holland has a “significant” tear in his UCL, according to manager Ned Yost (via McCullough). Tommy John surgery is the likely course of action. Yost now believes Holland tore the ligament last August, meaning he pitched last September and the postseason as well as all of 2015 with a tear in the ligament. The Royals asked Holland to get his elbow checked out multiple times this season, McCullough adds, but he declined each time until last month.
3:55pm: Holland tells reporters, including McCullough (Twitter links) that an MRI taken earlier this month revealed ligament damage. He has, in fact, been battling discomfort since last August but did not want to undergo an MRI previously, as his desire was instead to pitch through the pain.
3:47pm: The Royals announced today that closer Greg Holland has been shut down for the season. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports that Dr. Neal ElAttrache will examine Holland’s elbow next week (Twitter links). Per McCullough, the possibility of Tommy John surgery is looming, but nothing will be known until next week.
Holland was recently removed from the closer’s role in favor of Wade Davis. The formerly dominant closer has seen his velocity dramatically decrease recently and has posted a dismal 5.50 ERA on 24 hits and 11 walks in 18 second-half innings. His decline and subsequent loss for the postseason is a huge blow to the Royals, who reached Game 7 of the World Series in 2014 based largely on the dominant performances of Holland, Davis and Kelvin Herrera. Holland’s departure from the bullpen mix makes GM Dayton Moore’s signing of Ryan Madson look like that much more of a coup, as the former Phillies closer has rebounded decisively after a three-year absence due to injury; Madson has a brilliant 2.31 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against just 1.9 BB/9 in 58 1/3 innings this season.
The injury to Holland will put the Royals in a precarious position this winter. Always a team on a tight budget, there were questions last winter about Kansas City’s ability to pay both Holland and Davis at relatively premium rates. Holland took home an $8.25MM salary via the arbitration process, and he’ll be arb-eligible for the third and final time this winter. That means that Holland, who recently hired Scott Boras as his new agent, could be in line for a salary near or in excess of $10MM in spite of his second half struggles.
In the event that Holland requires Tommy John surgery, he’d be an easy call to non-tender, although that would be a disappointing way to end the Royals tenure of such a key organizational figure. The real dilemma, however, will be what to do with Holland in the event that he does not require Tommy John or any form of major surgery. One would imagine that his trade value is down due to underperformance, salary and, now, injury. The Royals could roll the dice and tender him a contract, but this year’s $112MM payroll is a club record. For a team that typically has operated with a sub-$100MM payroll, paying a potentially damaged relief pitcher $10MM+ is a dicey proposal, so the prospect of a non-tender for Holland has to be considered even in the event that major surgery isn’t required.
Red Sox Name Mike Hazen GM
The Red Sox have filled their general manager vacancy from within, as the team announced today that assistant GM Mike Hazen will be promoted to the role of general manager to replace the departed Ben Cherington. Hazen, of course, will report to recently hired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
In his previous role as senior vice president/assistant GM, Hazen assisted Ben Cherington (who resigned upon Dombrowski’s hiring) in player acquisitions, player evaluation, contract negotiations, major league, and pro scouting, per the Red Sox. His time with the Red Sox dates back to the 2006 season when he was hired as the team’s director of player development. Before his time with the Sox, Hazen spent five years working in the Indians’ front office, focusing on player development and scouting. The Princeton grad played four years of college ball and was a 31st-round draft pick of the Padres in 1998. He played two minor league seasons before joining Cleveland’s scouting department.
“Over his 10 years with the Red Sox, Mike has proven to be an invaluable member of the baseball operations department,” said Dombrowski in a press release announcing the move. “We are thrilled to have him in this position and I’m excited to have him working with me on every aspect of baseball operations.” Executive vice president/COO Sam Kennedy calls this a “great day” for the Red Sox organization, adding: “Mike’s leadership, work ethic, and passion for the game are second to none. His experience, combined with his local roots, make him the perfect choice to work alongside Dave as we head into 2016.”
The 39-year-old Hazen was one of many rumored candidates for the GM vacancy in Boston. Former Braves GM Frank Wren and former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd both were mentioned as possibilities, with Wren believed at one point to be a particularly strong possibility. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman recently reported, though, that it’s possible Wren could be hired to serve in a non-GM capacity. Boston is said to have recently interviewed Astros director of player development Quinton McCracken, and other names mentioned in the search included Yankees AGM Billy Eppler, D-Backs vice president De Jon Watson and former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto, who is currently working with the Sox in an advisory capacity. It’s unclear how, or if, the hiring of Hazen will impact Dipoto’s role with the club.
One would imagine that the hiring of Hazen bodes well for Boston’s chances at retaining a large number of the executives currently within the front office. It makes sense that Hazen, who comes with a good deal of front office experience and an obvious in-depth familiarity with the Sox’ farm system, would be selected to pair with Dombrowski atop Boston’s baseball operations pyramid.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported the promotion (via Twitter).
Yogi Berra Passes Away
It’s a sad day in the game of baseball, as reports late last night surfaced that one of the game’s all-time great players and personalities, Yogi Berra, has passed away. The Hall of Famer, three-time MVP and 10-time World Series Champion was 90 years old.
Berra spent parts of 19 seasons in the Major Leagues, debuting at 21 years of age in 1946 and would don Yankee pinstripes each season through 1963, also making a brief, four-game appearance with the Mets in 1965. An excellent defensive catcher (and eventually a plus defender in the outfield as well), Berra caught 49 percent of the baserunners that attempted to steal against him in his career and compiled a brilliant .285/.348/.482 batting line in 8359 big league plate appearances. He retired with 358 home runs, 1175 runs scored, 1430 RBIs and 704 walks against a minuscule 414 strikeouts in his career. Strikeouts, of course, were less common in that era than in today’s game, but Berra’s knack for putting the ball in play was nonetheless remarkable; he struck out just 12 times in 656 trips to the plate in 1950 and five times completed a season with more home runs than punchouts.
Berra would earn MVP honors in the 1951, 1954 and 1955 seasons, and he finished in the Top 5 of the award’s voting on five other occasions. He batted .274/.359/.452 in his illustrious postseason career, all of which contributed to the Yankees’ decision to retire his No. 8 alongside the rest of the legends of the franchise.
Following his playing career, Berra returned to the game as a manager, spending parts of seven seasons guiding both the Yankees and Mets. Though he finished with an overall record that was four games south of .500, Berra captured a pennant with each franchise, winning the AL pennant with the Yankees in 1964 and the NL pennant with the Mets in 1973.
Despite all of the aforementioned accolades, though, Berra is equally, if not more revered due to his affable nature and paradoxically quotable nature. Berra was a font of quotes throughout his career — the New York Post has compiled 35 of his most memorable “Yogi-isms” in tribute to the Yankee icon — responsible for now-classic sayings such as, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical,” “It’s deja vu all over again,” and “You can observe a lot by watching.”
Berra served as an inspiration to multiple generations of fans and players alike, and he’ll be remembered as one of the game’s true treasures. Though the game will never see another character quite like Berra, he leaves behind a wealth of irreplaceable memories that will ensure his presence remains ingrained in the very fabric of the game for generations to come. We at MLBTR join those in mourning his passing and offer our condolences to his three sons, the rest of his family and friends as well as the countless people whose lives were impacted and bettered by one of the game’s all-time great personalities.
Korean Outfielder Ah-Seop Son Likely To Be Posted This Offseason
Korean outfielder Ah-seop Son plans to enter the posting system this winter in order to jump from the Korea Baseball Organization to Major League Baseball, reports Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. Son, a 27-year-old corner outfielder for KBO’s Lotte Giants, is being represented by agent Rick Thurman of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, per Passan.
The left-handed-hitting Son has batted .324/.412/.476 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 476 plate appearances this season, walking at a 13 percent clip while striking out in 19.5 percent of his plate appearances. Son has batted .306 or better for the past six seasons in KBO, posting a cumulative batting line of .330/.405/.471 that closely mirrors his overall production from the 2015 campaign.
Son will look to follow in the footsteps of Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang, whose four-year, $11MM contract and $5MM posting fee have proved to be perhaps this past offseason’s greatest bargain. Of course, it’s somewhat understandable that interest in Kang was mixed, as he’s the first position player to make the jump from KBO to MLB. Many questioned whether or not his prodigious power would translate to the Majors or if it was simply a product of the KBO’s notoriously hitter-friendly league. While Kang’s power didn’t necessarily translate, he has, as Passan notes, certainly performed well enough that clubs may be less wary of taking on hitters from Korea’s top professional league.
Korean players are subject to the traditional posting system in which all 30 clubs must submit blind bids, with the team that submits the highest amount being given a 30-day window to then negotiate a contract. Should the team and Son’s representatives at BHSC fail to reach a deal, the posting fee would be returned to the MLB team that submitted the winning bid, and Son would return to KBO.
If a team is unable to work out a deal with Son, however, he could still find himself in the Majors eventually. KBO players become unrestricted free agents following their ninth full season, after which they’re free to negotiate with all 30 MLB clubs. For Son, that would come after the 2017 season. Though he’s technically appeared in parts of nine pro seasons, he didn’t earn enough service time in his first few years to become eligible until after 2017.
Phillies Extend Manager Pete Mackanin
The Phillies have extended the contract of manager Pete Mackanin through next season, according to a team announcement. Philadelphia will also add a club option for the 2017 campaign.
Mackanin stepped in mid-year for the basement-dwelling Phils amidst significant organizational turmoil. When then-skipper Ryne Sandberg resigned in late June, Mackanin was given dugout duties on an interim basis. Not long thereafter, Philadelphia brought in new president Andy MacPhail and ultimately fired GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
While the general manager’s seat remains open, the Phillies apparently decided that they had seen enough positive results from Mackanin to keep him as the top uniformed personnel member. Philly is just 30-46 under Mackanin’s leadership, which isn’t much better than they were with Sandberg, but the team was never expected to contend and has also dealt with the loss of several more key veterans.
Of course, Philadelphia is less concerned with immediate results than it is with development at this stage, and Mackanin has overseen a fairly promising arrival of younger players. Having already helped to welcome key names such as Maikel Franco and Aaron Nola to the big leagues, Mackanin will be responsible for overseeing their continued maturation and the ongoing introduction of youthful talent onto the big league roster.
“The Phillies are pleased that Pete has accepted the position of manager for the 2016 season,” MacPhail said in a statement. “We believe that Pete is the best fit for the role. Since assuming the interim manager position in June, Pete has developed an excellent rapport with our players and has also connected well with the media and our fans. Equally as important is his eagerness to take on the challenge of rebuilding the team and further developing our players. We look forward to his contributions.”
Mackanin is a veteran baseball man, but this will be his first non-interim managerial stint. He has previously spent time as a stop-gap skipper for the Pirates and Reds. Before his more recent turn as the Phillies’ third base coach, Mackanin was the team’s bench coach over 2009-12.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images