NL Notes: Marlins, Raad, Mets, Regan, Amaro Jr.
The Marlins have hired Hadi Raad to be their new director of pro scouting, according to a tweet from Lindsey Adler of The Athletic (link). Raad is a five-year veteran of the Yankees front office, most recently serving as the club’s director of minor league operations.
Raad, a collegiate player with Wheaton College from 2008 to 2010, carries scouting experience in both the Yankees and Rangers organizations. That Raad has ties with the Yankees may come as no particular surprise, considering that the Marlins have on a few occasions attracted figures connected to the old club of Miami CEO Derek Jeter. Recently, the club was said to have offered former Yankee Hensley Meulens a coaching role on the staff of manager Don Mattingly.
More notes from around the NL, mostly of the front office and coaching variety…
- After a report indicated that the club would interview Jeremy Hefner of the Twins on Monday as part of their search for a new pitching coach, could the Mets still be considering old friend Phil Regan for the job? The club hasn’t “officially ruled out” Regan, who took over as New York’s pitching coach following Dave Eiland’s dismissal in mid-summer, as noted in a tweet from Andy Martino of SNY (link). Although references to Regan’s age (82) are applied perhaps a bit too liberally in the press, Martino rightfully points out that the club’s reported candidates–including Hefner and Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter–are clearly of a different profile than the veteran instructor Regan.
- Another well-traveled baseball figure, Ruben Amaro Jr., apparently still feels a deep connection with the Phillies organization for which he once served as GM, according to a profile from Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer (link). After a two-year stint with the Mets in which he served in both coaching and front office capacities, Amaro Jr. is again a professional “free agent” this offseason–and one unabashed about stating his desire to work with his old club in Philly. “I’d be lying to you if I told you I didn’t want to work in the organization in some capacity again,” Amaro Jr. said of the Phillies. “I would love to come back. It’s home for me.” The veteran baseball man and Philadelphia native also indicated to Brookover that there are currently a number of vocational paths open to him (as one would expect of someone with his resumé), but it’s still worth noting that the 54-year-old would welcome a return to the team that relieved him of his GM duties late in the 2015 season.
NL West Notes: Friedman, Giants, Oracle Park, Padres
As the Padres unveil some sharp new uniforms, let’s look at some news from around the NL West…
- It has been close to a month since Andrew Friedman said he was close to finalizing a contract extension to remain as the Dodgers‘ president of baseball operations, though there hasn’t since been any word about a deal. There doesn’t appear to be any real reason for concern, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets, as the two sides are “still dotting I’s and crossing T’s” on the new contract. Friedman has also been battling the flu for the past week.
- Construction has begun on Oracle Park’s new bullpens, which will result in a slightly moved-in portion of the outfield fence, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Relievers for both the Giants and visiting clubs will no longer have to warm up in foul territory, as the new bullpens will be located behind the center field and right-center field fences. As a result, the area of fence that runs across center field into the “Triples Alley” triangle will be lowered by about a foot and moved four-to-six feet closer to home plate. The apex of the triangle will also be a bit shorter to home plate than its current 421-foot distance.
- Also from Schulman (Twitter links), he reports that as of Friday night, the Giants still hadn’t made a decision in their managerial search, though one should be coming relatively soon. Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro and former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler are reportedly the final three candidates in the running.
- The Padres had some interest in Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara last summer, so Dennis Lin and Jamey Newberg of the Athletic (subscription required) tried to figure out a Mazara trade package that could help both clubs, in a lengthy exploration of how San Diego and Texas match up as trade partners. Some obvious links exist between the two franchises — Padres GM A.J. Preller and new manager Jayce Tingler both came to San Diego from the Texas organization, giving the Friars a lot of familiarity with Rangers players on both the MLB and minor league rosters. Lin and Newberg settle on a scenario that would see Mazara and right-hander Jonathan Hernandez go to the Rangers for Joey Lucchesi and catching prospect Blake Hunt.
Yankees Notes: Givens, Galvis, Lefty Hitting, Spending
Some items from the Bronx…
- The Yankees “tried hard” to land Orioles reliever Mychal Givens at the trade deadline, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reports. The right-hander was a popular figure on the rumor mill last July, with such clubs as the Indians, Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, and Nationals all reportedly showing interest in acquiring his services. It isn’t any surprise that the Yankees were also involved given how New York is constantly looking to reinforce its already strong bullpen, and it isn’t out of the question that the Yankees could ask about Givens again this winter. The 29-year-old is under team control for two more seasons (and projected to make $3.2MM in arbitration this winter), though Givens is coming off the worst of his five big league seasons. Givens posted a 12.3 K/9 and 3.31 K/BB rate over 63 innings but his ERA ballooned to 4.57, due in large part to a lot of problems keeping the ball in the park (1.9 HR/9).
- Sticking with Sherman’s piece, he wonders if the Yankees could perhaps try to land both Givens and Jonathan Villar from the Orioles in a package deal that would also address another team need — a lack of left-handed hitting. Interestingly, Sherman writes that there is some strategy behind this lineup imbalance, as the Yankees have preferred to deploy right-handed bats with opposite-field power rather than actual left-handed hitters, as lefty bats can be more easily hampered by defensive shifts. If the Bronx Bombers did decide to add more pop from the left side, however, Sherman feels the best possible solution would be switch-hitting superstar Francisco Lindor, if the Indians made him available in a trade. Beyond Villar, Sherman lists a few other players (old friend Didi Gregorius, Freddy Galvis, Tucker Barnhart, Jason Castro) who could be signed or acquired in trades to add left-handed balance to either the lineup or bench. In Galvis’ case, Sherman reports that he was the Yankees’ second choice as shortstop depth last offseason before they landed Troy Tulowitzki.
- The Yankees’ decision to exercise some financial restraint has drawn criticism from some fans and pundits, particularly since the club has now gone 10 full seasons without a World Series title. As Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards observes in a look at the last 20 years of Yankees spending, the franchise made a gigantic payroll spike in 2003-2004 (up into the $200MM-$240MM range, around three times as much as the average payroll) that possibly “outstripped what might have been reasonable compared to their revenues and financial status, and that staying at around $240 million reflected a necessary correction.” The Yankees’ average payroll increase hasn’t matched the rest of the league’s overall increase over the last decade, however, even while the Yankees franchise has increased its revenues.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Bloom, KBO, Kim, Reds
With the offseason now firmly underway, let’s survey the baseball landscape with a few brief Saturday notes…
- For Red Sox fans eager to gain an inkling as to how their team’s front office might behave under new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, it might be worth reading Jen McCaffrey’s latest work for The Athletic, in which she uses Tampa Bay’s moves in 2019 as a blueprint for how Bloom might operate in Boston. The Rays, of course, overcame one of baseball’s smallest payrolls and took the Astros to five games in the ALDS, while the Red Sox missed out on the postseason entirely despite a comparatively astronomical payroll. Boston can expect Bloom to deploy many of the same strategies that brought success to Tampa, though he’ll of course have a greater bank of resources at his disposal. One might liken Bloom to the Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman, another former Rays exec who inherited a big-market budget when he was hired to spearhead the Dodgers’ baseball operations.
- A flurry of teams sent scouts to watch Kwang-hyun Kim of the KBO’s SK Wyverns, according to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO. Scouts from more than ten teams—including the Padres, Twins, and Dodgers, among others—were recently spotted at one of Kim’s games. Though he hasn’t yet been posted, Kim has expressed his desire to play in the Majors in 2020, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, who also reports that his club is “weighing its options” regarding Kim’s posting. A 31-year-old lefty, Kim logged a 2.51 ERA in 190 1/3 innings of work in the 2019 KBO season, striking out 180 batters while walking just 38. He’s had previous opportunities to play stateside, most notably in 2014 when he and the Padres failed to agree on a contract. He could slot in as a mid-tier free agent option for clubs unwilling to pony up the money necessary to pursue the top options on the market.
- The Reds have hired a new assistant pitching coordinator, with Eric Jagers announcing on Twitter that he’ll join the Reds staff after a year in the Phillies organization. With the Phillies, Jagers worked in the minor league player development department, filling a new position in the organization as a pitch strategist. He broke into the MLB coaching scene after cutting his teeth as Driveline Baseball’s pitching coordinator. Notably, with the Reds he’ll work alongside another Driveline alum, Kyle Boddy, who founded the company and parlayed its success into a position as the Reds’ pitching coordinator. The addition of Jagers continues the organizational overhaul of its pitching infrastructure, which began with the team’s hiring of Derek Johnson, who coached the club to the National League’s fourth-lowest ERA in 2019.
AL East Notes: McNeil, Rays, Didi, Shapiro
“The Rays were focused on” super-utilityman Jeff McNeil in trade talks with the Mets last offseason, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. McNeil’s multi-position ability and pre-arbitration salary status make him an ideal target for the Rays, making Sherman wonder if Tampa Bay could again target McNeil this winter, though the Mets’ asking price has surely gone up in the wake of McNeil’s outstanding 2019 season. Sherman’s piece floats some potential trades to help the Mets address their center field need, including his speculative suggestion of a Kevin Kiermaier/Yonny Chirinos for McNeil swap. The Rays would get their desired “low-cost Swiss Army Knife” of a player and also get Kiermaier’s contract off the books, with Chirinos involved to add a young arm to New York’s rotation and entice the Mets to swallow Kiermaier’s $36MM in remaining salary. Sherman looks further within the AL East to cite the Red Sox as another possible trade partners for the center field-needy Mets, as Jackie Bradley Jr. could be available, or there’s always the “pipedream” of a one-for-one swap of Mookie Betts for Noah Syndergaard.
More from around the East…
- The Yankees decided against issuing a one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer to Didi Gregorius, leaving SNY.tv’s Andy Martino wondering if the shortstop’s days in the Bronx could be over. One industry source describes the chances of Gregorius returning to New York in 2020 as “a very close call,” especially since Martino notes that Gregorius and his representatives believe they can find a multi-year deal in free agency. Even after an injury-shortened down year, Gregorius is still the best shortstop option on the free agent market; MLBTR ranked him 12th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents and predicted he’d land a three-year, $42MM contract. It’s worth noting that this deal would work out to less in average annual value than the one-year cost of the QO, so it isn’t out of the question that the Yankees could still try to bring back Gregorius for multiple years, though at a smaller hit to their 2020 luxury tax number.
- Blue Jays president/CEO Mark Shapiro discussed Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s offseason training regiment, baseball labor relations, and some hot stove business amidst a variety of topics in a radio interview with The Fan 590’s Scott MacArthur, Ashley Docking, and Mike Zigomanis (audio link). The Blue Jays are known to be looking for pitching this winter, with Shapiro saying “we’re going to have to be aggressive on every level of the free agent starting pitcher landscape.” This could mean at least checking into the top-tier names on the pitching market, though given Shapiro also noted that “if you look at the history of free agent pitching contracts, it is a really, really, really high-risk area to play in.” All things considered, the odds seem to be against Toronto landing an elite arm like Gerrit Cole at this point in their rebuilding process. “Dollars are not going to be our challenge, which hasn’t always been the case,” Shapiro said. “It’s going to be where we fit with Gerrit’s alignment of interests…same thing with every free agent we pursue. What I am confident is, that throughout the free agency process we’ll be able to get better this winter, and we’ll have the resources to do it.”
- There have been rumors about a possible extension between Shapiro and the Blue Jays since 2020 is the last year of the CEO’s deal, though he didn’t give any new details on that front. Shapiro did reiterate his desire to stay in Toronto and “I’ve received nothing but positive feedback from the people that I report to about wanting me to remain here.”
Orioles Notes: Elias, Middle Infield, Mancini, Ynoa, Mallee
Orioles GM Mike Elias addressed several topics in an interview on 105.7 The Fan radio tonight, with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter links) and MLB.com’s Joe Trezza (Twitter links) among the reporters who shared some highlights. Elias noted that the Orioles’ winter shopping list includes pitching, veteran middle infield help, and a defensive shortstop. Such a focus on the middle infield doesn’t necessarily indicate a change from the combination of shortstop Jonathan Villar and second baseman Hanser Alberto, though given Villar’s big $10.4MM projected arbitration salary has led to a lot of speculation that the O’s will look to trade or non-tender him. While not mentioning any names, Elias said the club has to make “tough decisions” in regards to whether or not to tender contracts to all seven of their arb-eligible players.
In other general transactional news, Elias again stated that his front office is open to listening on trade offers for any player as Baltimore continues its rebuild. This includes Trey Mancini, though Elias said “we expect him to stay here,” noting that he hopes Mancini could be signed to a long-term contract.
More from Charm City…
- Gabriel Ynoa re-signed with the Orioles the same day that he was outrighted off their 40-man roster last offseason, though another quick reunion doesn’t appear likely this winter, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. It isn’t to say that Ynoa might not return on another minor league deal, but the righty will first see if he can land a Major League contract — possibly a tall order after a 2019 season that saw Ynoa post a 5.61 ERA, 2.58 K/BB rate, and 5.4 K/9 over 110 1/2 innings for Baltimore, while surrendering a whopping 29 home runs. The O’s may also look for more accomplished pitching options before maybe circling back to Ynoa later in the offseason.
- From that same piece, Kubatko also reports that the Orioles had John Mallee as a candidate to join the team’s coaching staff before Mallee accepted a position with the Angels as their new assistant hitting coach. Mallee had some significant ties to the Orioles, as he and manager Brandon Hyde both worked together on the Cubs’ coaching staff under Joe Maddon, and Mallee was the Astros’ hitting coach in 2013-14 when Baltimore GM Mike Elias was working in Houston’s front office.
Red Sox Notes: JDM, Betts, Trades, Porcello
Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy felt J.D. Martinez‘s opt-out decision “was a hard one to read” and “I honestly thought it could go either way,” though Kennedy is obviously pleased to have Martinez back in the fold, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo writes. Martinez’s choice will naturally have a big impact on Boston’s financial situation, particularly since the team is looking to shed some payroll and possibly get under the luxury tax threshold, though Kennedy was only focused on what Martinez’s return will mean for the club on the field.
“You never want to lose a talented player. Of course, there are hard decisions teams have to make in terms of parting ways with guys in every sport,” Kennedy said. “What J.D. Martinez has done for the Red Sox and hopefully will continue to do, is not just a big bat in the middle of the lineup. He also helps elevate other players on the team and that’s widely documented. That’s helpful. That’s a good thing. Now we move on.”
More from Fenway Park…
- It isn’t yet known if Martinez staying will make it more likely that the Sox could trade Mookie Betts in order to solve their luxury tax issues, though Kennedy said (via Cotillo) the club is still hoping to enter into extension talks this winter. “We love Mookie Betts….We’ve engaged in discussions with him and his representatives in the past and we’ll continue to engage with them,” Kennedy said. No negotiations have taken place to date this offseason, which isn’t surprising given that most teams wait until closer to Spring Training to begin extension talks (plus, Chaim Bloom was only just hired as Boston’s new chief baseball officer). While the Sox have been proactive in locking up in-house stars over the years, most recently inking Xander Bogaerts and Chris Sale to extensions last spring. Betts, however, has been clear about his desire to test the free agency after the 2020 season, and with the open market now less than a year away, it remains to be seen if the Red Sox can get anywhere in convincing him to stay.
- Whether Betts is part of a blockbuster deal or not, Bloom’s hiring would seem to indicate that the Sox will be much more active on the trade market under their new front office boss than they were under Dave Dombrowski. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe notes that since the start of November 2016, when Bloom and Rays GM Erik Neander took over Tampa’s front office, the Rays swung 65 different trades. In that same timeframe, the Sox made only 21 deals. While the two franchises are obviously in quite different places in terms of payroll and roster creation strategy, it does stand to reason that trades may be a much larger part of Boston’s efforts to reshape the team.
- Could a reunion with Rick Porcello be in the cards? The Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato looks at the pros and cons, noting that Porcello perhaps could have a rebound year and, at worst, will eat innings within a rotation full of injury question marks. That said, Bloom (who has no past history with Porcello) could prefer to acquire a starter with a higher potential ceiling, and who’d cost less than what Porcello is likely to find on the open market. MLBTR projects Porcello for a one-year, $11MM contract — no small amount for a Red Sox team that is ideally trying to avoid the luxury tax.
NL Notes: Carpenter, Giants, Mets
A quick look around the National League…
- The 2019 season was surprisingly pedestrian for Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter, a normally excellent producer who fell flat after the team signed him to a two-year, $39MM extension in April. Carpenter stepped to the plate 492 times and hit a mediocre .226/.334/.392 with 15 home runs, giving him the lowest wRC+ (95) and fWAR (1.2) he has posted over a full season since debuting in 2011. But Carpenter, who will turn 34 later this month, seemingly hasn’t lost the confidence of Cardinals brass. ”‘Carp’ obviously will have a better season, we expect. He’s highly motivated,” chairman Bill DeWitt said this week (via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). President of baseball operations John Mozeliak echoed that sentiment, saying the Cardinals’ confidence in Carpenter is “high” and calling this year “an outlier.” Of course, the Cardinals don’t have much choice but to publicly show faith in Carpenter, whom they’re likely stuck with because of the money left on his contract and his no-trade clause.
- As of last week, Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol was reportedly one of the finalists to become the Giants’ next manager. That no longer seems to be the case, though. Grifol is now completely out of the race, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea, who names ex-Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, current Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as the last candidates standing. Grifol, Kapler, Espada and Quartaro make up four of 10-plus candidates who have interviewed with the Giants, per Shea. There’s no deadline to hire a new skipper, however, and with the Giants one of just two teams without a manager, there’s seemingly no reason to rush.
- The Mets negotiated with relievers Daniel Hudson and Jake Diekman when they were free agents a year ago, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports. The club ultimately didn’t land either, instead watching Hudson sign with the Angels on a minor league contract and Diekman land with the Royals for a guaranteed $2.75MM. Hudson then wound up with the Blue Jays and finished the season as a member of the Nationals, with whom he emerged as one of many key cogs during their improbable World Series run. Diekman concluded the campaign with the Athletics, who traded for him in July. Now that Hudson and Diekman are back on the open market, the Mets – who remain in need of competent relievers – could again push for one or both, though there’s no indication they plan on doing so.
AL East Notes: Chapman, Yankees, Liu, Edwin
Some items from around the AL East…
- Negotiations between Aroldis Chapman and the Yankees about the closer’s contract extension apparently came down to the final moments before the deadline for Chapman to decide whether or not to exercise his opt-out clause, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. Chapman was hoping to have two extra years added onto the remaining two years on his pre-existing contract, but ultimately settled for just one extra season ($18MM for the 2022 season).
- The impact of Chapman’s new contract on the Yankees‘ luxury tax situation is examined by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who observes that the extension won’t lead to any savings due to the “true-up charge” associated with the specific breakdown of how Chapman’s salaries were paid out over the first three years of his deal, largely due to a signing bonus payout. As a result, Chapman’s new tax number is $17.5MM over the next three years, which doesn’t help alleviate the crunch for a Yankees team that Sherman figures is already approaching the $208MM threshold for 2020 just with pre-existing roster talent. The Yankees will face tax penalties for surpassing the second level ($226MM) of the tax threshold in 2019, and it remains to be seen how far over the $208MM threshold ownership will allow the front office to go in 2020. As Sherman notes, ownership would presumably balk at surpassing the top penalty level of $248MM, which would impact the Yankees’ chances of adding a mega-salary (i.e. for a Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg) and retaining free agents like Didi Gregorius or Dellin Betances.
- A brief scouting report on newly-signed Red Sox right-hander Chih-Jung Liu is provided by former big leaguer Chien-Ming Wang to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, as Wang has worked with the 20-year-old prospect. Liu “needs to improve his slider and splitter to have a good out pitch” and “needs to build up his arm strength and pitch count,” Wang said. These aren’t unusual criticisms for any young pitcher, especially for a case like Liu, who mostly played shortstop in high school and only recently got back into pitching. Liu is also “bright” and “seems to be able to adapt to [a] new environment quickly,” Wang said, and he also noted that Liu asked him how to throw a sinkerball, Wang’s signature pitch. Abraham reports that the Phillies and Diamondbacks were among the other teams who had interest in Liu before the Red Sox signed him for $750K.
- Now that Edwin Encarnacion is officially a free agent, could the slugger potentially return to the Blue Jays? There is room on paper, as Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith notes that the Jays have a vacancy at first base/DH since Justin Smoak is also headed for free agency, and Encarnacion could likely be had on a fairly inexpensive one-year deal. However, with the Blue Jays still in rebuild mode, Nicholson-Smith figures it probably makes more sense for the club to “find the next Encarnacion instead,” i.e. a player who can be an important contributor for several years. Toronto GM Ross Atkins has also spoken of wanting a first baseman who can play multiple positions, while Encarnacion is limited to first base (and could best be suited for a DH role altogether).
Quick Hits: Twins, Cubs, Rizzo, Strike Zone
Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, and Hyun-Jin Ryu were named as three potential offseason targets for the Twins in MLBTR’s recent “Offseason Outlook” series, and that trio was also speculatively connected to the team in a piece from LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (link). Specifically, Neal takes a look at Minnesota’s extremely fluid rotation picture, which in 2019 featured four hurlers–Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda, Kyle Gibson, and Martin Perez–who project to enter free agency (assuming the club declines their option on Perez, as expected). The departures of those pitchers could create something of a vacuum in Minnesota, but payroll flexibility and a talented farm should position them well to address any openings, suggests Neal.
By the writer’s calculations, the club could have upwards of $50MM in payroll room this offseason, while youngsters like Brusdar Graterol and Randy Dobnak could step into the rotation for portions of time. That financial leeway could certainly put them in position for pitchers like Bumgarner or the rest of the post-Cole free agent pitching class, to say nothing of possible trade acquisitions.
More notes from around the baseball world…
- After making a pair of option decisions on Saturday, the Cubs are expected to exercise first baseman Anthony Rizzo‘s option imminently, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (link). 2019 saw Rizzo log his sixth consecutive season with a wRC+ north of 126 (his cumulative figure over that span is a whopping 141 wRC+), making him one of the easier club option decisions of the offseason. Rizzo carries a $14.5MM club option for 2020, with a soon-to-be-irrelevant $2MM buyout attached. Next offseason, Chicago holds an identical 2021 option over Rizzo, lining the slugger up for his first realistic shot at free agency in advance of the 2022 season. Rizzo will be 32 on Opening Day of that campaign.
- MLB experimented with an electronic strike zone in the Arizona Fall League this season, and it proved rather unpopular with pitchers and hitters alike, writes Josh Norris of Baseball America. While players effused praise for the system’s proficiency on the corners, calls at the top and bottom of the zone were less well-received. Additionally, the delay between the system’s tracking the pitch and relaying of that decision to the home-plate umpire caused some awkward exchanges. Of course, growing pains are to be expected, and the electronic zone is at least consistent, Norris adds, so MLB figures to continue to test its viability in lower-stakes games before considering a rollout at the big league level.