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Mets, Matt Reynolds Agree To Minor League Deal

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Though the team did not formally announce it, the Mets agreed to a minor league contract with infielder Matt Reynolds earlier this month, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for the now-31-year-old Reynolds, a second-round pick of the Mets back in 2012. He spent parts of the 2016-17 seasons on the Mets’ big league roster and has since received very brief looks with the Nationals and Royals at the MLB level. In all, Reynolds is a .212/.282/.323 hitter through 251 plate appearances as a big leaguer.

Reynolds spent the 2021 season in the White Sox organization but hasn’t gotten a call to the big leagues since a that brief Kansas City audition in 2020. He played in 93 games for the ChiSox’ Triple-A affiliate last year, hitting at a solid .269/.373/.395 pace while splitting his time at the two middle-infield spots (in addition to a lone five-inning appearance in right field). In parts of seven Triple-A seasons, Reynolds is a .283/.363/.435 hitter.

Obviously, the infield is quite crowded in Queens, where the Mets have Robinson Cano, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme all slated for time on the big league roster. Reynolds will likely head to Triple-A Syracuse and see plenty of action at shortstop, though he also has experience at second, third and in all three outfield positions as well.

Giants Unlikely To Pursue Free Agents With Nine-Figure Asking Prices

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Prior to the lockout, the Giants worked quickly to revamp a rotation that appeared poised to lose as many as four members to free agency. Right-hander Anthony DeSclafani returned on a three-year, $36MM contract and was joined by lefty Alex Wood, who inked a two-year deal worth $25MM. Right-hander Alex Cobb was add to the mix on a two-year, $20MM deal.

That gives San Francisco three veteran arms to slot in behind burgeoning ace Logan Webb, but the Giants also allowed top 2020-21 starter Kevin Gausman to depart, declining to match the five-year, $110MM contract he received from the Blue Jays. The decision to let Gausman walk is of extra note now, as ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reports in his latest look at what to expect throughout the league, post-lockout, that there’s a belief the Giants aren’t keen on pursuing any targets with nine-figure asking prices.

That serves as a potential explanation for why the team ultimately let Gausman leave, and it could also be instructive when forecasting what’s on the horizon for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, GM Scott Harris and the rest of the front office. Zaidi has already thrown some cold water on the idea of re-signing Kris Bryant, for instance, and if the Giants are indeed averse to $100MM+ commitments, his return would seem highly unlikely. San Francisco didn’t seem like a great match for most of the remaining free agents with that type of asking price in the first place (e.g. Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Trevor Story), though eschewing contracts of this magnitude could take them out of the running  not only for Bryant but for Nick Castellanos, who has reportedly sought a seven- or even eight-year deal.

An aversion to lengthy deals of this magnitude would align with the approach employed by the archrival Dodgers during Zaidi’s time as general manager under L.A. president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Like the Dodgers, the Giants are a major-market team with huge payroll capacity, but we’ve yet to see them dole out the type of long-term arrangements that were more common under the prior Giants front office regime. That’s not to say Zaidi’s Giants definitively won’t sign a $100MM+ deal at some point — they reportedly pursued Bryce Harper when he was a free agent — but thus far, indications point more toward the shorter-term, higher-annual-value deals that are increasingly popular as many teams seek to mitigate long-term risk.

Whenever the transaction freeze finally thaws, the Giants still have some work to do. In addition to another proven rotation piece, at least one outfield upgrade would make sense, and there’s always room for a contending club to bolster its bullpen. The Giants have about $126MM in 2022 commitments and about $135MM worth of luxury-tax obligations at the moment, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez, which ought to leave ample room for spending. Michael Conforto, Kyle Schwarber and Seiya Suzuki are among the notable free-agent alternatives still on the outfield market, and the likely implementation of a DH in the National League would give the Giants further runway to explore creative options. As for the pitching needs, Carlos Rodon is seeking a multi-year deal but probably won’t command an especially lengthy deal after ending the season with shoulder concerns.

Beyond the free-agent market, the Giants (and other teams) have myriad trade opportunities to consider. The A’s and Reds are known to have starting pitchers available. The Mets’ recent wave of free-agent spending pushed some notable bats to the bench. Speculatively, San Francisco could swing for the fences and try to pry Ketel Marte from the D-backs or even Cedric Mullins from the Orioles. There’s no real limit to what paths the Giants could explore, particularly since the team’s farm system has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years (landing No. 5 among MLB clubs on Baseball America’s mid-August rankings).

Gregory Polanco Reportedly In Talks With NPB Club

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Free agent outfielder Gregory Polanco is in talks with a team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Tenchy Rodriguez and Hector Gomez of Z101 Deportes report (Twitter links).

It’s been a swift decline for the now-30-year-old Polanco, who once ranked among the game’s elite prospects and was seen as a key building block in Pittsburgh. The longtime Pirates outfielder decimated Triple-A pitching while rising through the minor league ranks and eventually drawing praise as the No. 10 and No. 13 prospect in the entire game, respectively, on the 2014 rankings of Baseball America and MLB.com.

While Polanco did have a few solid seasons in the big leagues, including two with 20-plus homers and 10-plus steals (2016 and 2018), he only ever had one season where he was a decidedly well above-average offensive performer (2018). That year’s .254/.340/.499 slash (123 wRC+) feels like a distant memory, as Polanco has limped to a combined .203/.270/.364 batting line in 723 plate appearances since. His once minimal strikeout rate — he fanned at just a 14.6% clip in 2017 — has skyrocketed to 30.2% in the past three seasons.

In fairness to Polanco, injuries have undoubtedly taken their toll on his body and played a role in sapping his production. While he was mostly healthy through the 2017 season, save for a couple of minor hamstring strains, the 2018 campaign marked the beginning of more serious physical troubles. That September, while playing out the final weeks of the best year of his career, Polanco both dislocated his shoulder and sustained a significant bone bruise in his left knee on an awkward slide into second base while legging out a double.

The shoulder injury required surgery and came with a recovery timetable of up to seven months. Polanco missed the first three weeks of the 2019 season but clearly wasn’t right upon being activated. He appeared in just 42 games over the next seven weeks before returning to the injured list with inflammation in that surgically repaired shoulder, and he never made it back to the field that year.

Polanco continued to receive opportunities in Pittsburgh, due in no small part to both that prior prospect pedigree and the fact that he’d inked a five-year, $35MM extension early in the 2016 season. The Bucs had a pair of club options that would’ve covered the 2022 and 2023 seasons, so there was good reason to give Polanco every opportunity to recapture some of his pre-surgery form. That didn’t happen, and Pittsburgh finally released Polanco following a DFA late in the 2021 season. He signed a minor league deal with Toronto on Aug. 31 but didn’t end up playing in the Majors with the Jays; he did, however, post a huge .374/.436/.747 batting line in 101 plate appearances with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, perhaps lending some hope for more productive days ahead.

If Polanco does head to NPB and does manage to rebound, he’s still young enough that a Major League comeback is plenty viable. (He won’t turn 31 until Sept. 14 of next season.) A strong year in NPB could also simply open the door for a raise and/or multi-year deal to remain overseas. At the very least, signing in NPB would lock in a guaranteed 2022 salary for Polanco, which wasn’t likely to happen in Major League Baseball, where he’d presumably have been in line for a non-roster deal with an invite to Spring Training somewhere.

Phillies Sign Six Players To Minor League Deals

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Dec. 15: Bedrosian’s contract was actually agreed to on Dec. 1 but only formally announced by the team this week, MLBTR has learned. That explains any confusion surrounding how the deal was possible, as Bedrosian otherwise appeared ineligible to sign during the lockout by virtue of the fact that he ended the 2021 season on the Phillies’ Major League roster.

Dec. 14: The Phillies announced this evening that they’ve signed six players — all right-handed pitchers — to minor league contracts with invitations to big league Spring Training. Joining the organization are Cam Bedrosian, Andrew Bellatti, Jake Newberry, Joe Gatto, Tyler Cyr and Michael Kelly.

Bedrosian is the best-known of the group. He emerged as a high-leverage arm early in his career with the Angels, a stint highlighted by a brilliant 2016 campaign in which he pitched to a 1.12 ERA across 40 1/3 innings. Bedrosian remained in Anaheim through the end of 2020, but his formerly strong strikeout rate has dropped in recent seasons. That has come in conjunction with a downturn in fastball velocity from the 95-96 MPH range to around 92-93 over the past couple years.

The 2021 season was a struggle for Bedrosian, who split the year between the Reds, A’s and Phils. He combined to work 25 innings over 26 outings, posting a 5.04 ERA/5.27 SIERA. Bedrosian’s 19.8% strikeout percentage was a few points below the league average, while his 14.7% walk rate was a career-high. Still, the 30-year-old made a strong enough impression during a late-season run in Philadelphia to get another opportunity to crack the big league bullpen out of Spring Training. (As an interesting historical footnote, Bedrosian’s father Steve Bedrosian won the 1987 NL Cy Young Award in Philadelphia after saving a league-best 40 games).

Bellatti has appeared in two MLB seasons, six years apart. After working 23 1/3 innings of relief with the Rays in 2015, Bellatti bounced around between various high minors and independent clubs without getting a return opportunity in the majors. His long-awaited break came this past July, when he cracked the Marlins’ MLB roster.

The 30-year-old bounced on and off the Miami roster a few times down the stretch, averaging 94.3 MPH on his heater over a three-game cameo. He spent the bulk of the season with their top affiliate in Jacksonville, where he posted an impressive 1.52 ERA over 29 2/3 frames. Bellatti punched out a lofty 33% of opponents at the minors’ top level while walking a decent 8.7% of batters faced. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected minor league free agency at the end of the season.

Newberry is the other of the Phils’ newcomers with MLB experience. The 27-year-old has suited up with the Royals in each of the past four campaigns. He’s tallied 70 2/3 cumulative innings over 65 relief outings, pitching to a 4.84 ERA with worse than average strikeout and walk numbers (21.9% and 12.7%, respectively). Newberry, who became a minor league free agent at season’s end after being outrighted off the Kansas City roster, has a 4.06 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons.

None of Gatto, Cyr nor Kelly has pitched in the big leagues, although Gatto and Kelly have been a part of clubs’ 40-man rosters in the past. Gatto, 26, split the 2021 season between the Rangers’ top two affiliates. He posted a 3.32 ERA with solid strikeout and walk rates (29.2% and 8.1%, respectively) but never got a big league look in Texas. Cyr, 28, has spent his entire career in the Giants’ system, topping out at Triple-A, where he owns a 4.66 ERA. Kelly, 29, has pitched in the Padres, Orioles and Astros systems. He has a 4.76 ERA over four seasons at the minors’ highest level.

Coaching/Organizational Notes: Padres, Williams, Nationals, Pirates

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The Padres still have a few vacancies to fill on manager Bob Melvin’s coaching staff, including both base coaching positions. As part of his latest reader mailbag, Dennis Lin of the Athletic writes that San Diego has been in contact with Matt Williams about the possibility of serving as third base coach. As Lin points out, the 56-year-old Williams spent the 2018-19 seasons on the A’s staff as third base coach during Melvin’s time as Oakland skipper.

Of course, Williams is better known for his 17-year big league playing career and two seasons as Nationals’ manager. A five-time All-Star as a player, Williams took over the Washington dugout in 2014. He was named the National League’s Manager of the Year in his first season at the helm, a year in which the club went 96-66 to claim the NL East title. Yet the Nats disappointed the following season, and Williams was dismissed and replaced with Dusty Baker after the 2015 campaign. Most recently, he spent the 2020-21 campaigns managing the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization. Williams and the Tigers mutually agreed to part ways at the end of this past season.

A couple more staffing notes around the game:

  • The Nationals are planning to expand their scouting, player development and minor league coaching staffs, writes Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. As Dougherty explores, Washington has had one of the smaller player development groups around the league in recent seasons. General manager Mike Rizzo and player development director De Jon Watson each recently spoke with Dougherty about the changes, which will see the Nats attempt to streamline their use of video and data in player development. Not coincidentally, the increased emphasis on the minor leagues comes a few months after the club kicked off an organizational reboot at the July 30 trade deadline. Barring changes to the service time structure, the Nationals will control Juan Soto for three more seasons via arbitration. Soto’s potential post-2024 free agency only adds to the urgency for Washington to develop ancillary contributors around their superstar outfielder.
  • The Pirates are also embracing a philosophical change on the farm, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chronicles adjustments to the club’s pitching development processes. The goal, coordinator of pitching development Josh Hopper says, is to more effectively tailor training regimens to individual hurlers as opposed to dictating a universal, top-down approach throughout the organization. Prospects like Tahnaj Thomas and Quinn Priester tell Mackey they’re excited about the new direction, with both righties implying the previous approach was not as personalized. Mackey writes that the Bucs have become increasingly willing to embrace different drills as certain pitchers prioritize development of velocity, command, biomechanics efficiency, etc. Mackey chronicles numerous training methods used by different prospects in a piece that’s worth a full read for Pirates’ fans.

Mariners Expected To Pursue More Rotation Help After Lockout

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The Mariners have made one of the biggest rotation pickups of the offseason already, signing Robbie Ray to a five-year, $115MM guarantee shortly before the lockout. Even after landing the reigning AL Cy Young award winner, Seattle is expected to pursue additional rotation help whenever the transactions freeze is lifted, writes Corey Brock of the Athletic.

The group behind Ray already looks pretty solid. Chris Flexen had a nice 2021 campaign in his return from a stint in South Korea. Marco Gonzales had some uncharacteristic home run struggles this past season, but he’s a reliable mid-rotation arm. Logan Gilbert posted a 4.68 ERA as a rookie, but his peripherals were more impressive and he’s one of the most highly-regarded young arms around the league.

A top four of Ray, Flexen, Gonzales and Gilbert is a solid start, and it seems there’s only one season-opening spot left up for grabs. While the Mariners ran a six-man rotation at points last season, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto suggested earlier this offseason that’s not the plan in 2022. Dipoto noted that last season’s six-man starting staff was primarily a function of the club’s concern about a drastic pitcher workload spike on the heels of a 60-game schedule in 2020. “Now that we are a full season removed from the truncated 2020 season, we feel the five-man rotation is a perfectly reasonable way to go,” Dipoto said (via Brock).

Seattle has a few in-house options for the final spot, albeit none with a whole lot of certainty. Justin Dunn and Justus Sheffield were each well-regarded prospects coming up, but they’ve been up-and-down as big leaguers. Dunn had a 3.75 ERA over 11 starts last season, but neither he nor Sheffield had especially promising peripherals. Nick Margevicius remains on the 40-man roster, but he missed most of last season after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome.

Each of Dunn, Sheffield or Margevicius could conceivably hold down a rotation role until one of the Mariners’ top young arms is ready for a call-up. Matt Brash was selected to the active roster during the final week of the regular season, but he didn’t see any major league action. Both Brash and fellow top prospect George Kirby topped out at Double-A in 2021, so it’s possible both righties are in line for a bit of Triple-A time to start next season. That’s also true of southpaw Brandon Williamson, a well-regarded young arm himself who has posted monster strikeout numbers in the minors.

Given the volume of near-MLB options already in the organization, it’s arguable that starting pitching needn’t really be a priority for Seattle. Yet the AL West is seemingly shaping up to be a competitive race, and the Mariners may not be content relying on a breakout from one of Sheffield or Dunn or on immediate success from their top prospects. Acquiring another starter could also kick Sheffield and/or Dunn to the bullpen and give the club some extra depth in the event of injuries that typically affect pitching staffs around the league.

Brock suggests the Mariners could look into either free agency or trade in pursuit of another hurler. The top of the free agent rotation market has already mostly come off the board. Aside from Carlos Rodón and Clayton Kershaw, most of the remaining free agent starters are back-end types. It’s possible Seattle targets a lower-cost veteran stabilizer — speculatively speaking, a reunion with midseason trade acquisition Tyler Anderson could be under consideration — but the trade market presents a broader array of higher-impact options.

Reds’ hurlers Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Sonny Gray have been the subject of trade rumors over the offseason, with Gray seemingly most likely to wind up on the move among that trio. The division-rival A’s could make any of Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt and/or Sean Manaea available. The Marlins are reportedly willing to trade from their surplus of quality young arms. Landing a pitcher of Castillo’s or Mahle’s caliber and remaining club control would likely require surrendering a top prospect, something Dipoto has already suggested Seattle’s not willing to do. Acquiring a rental like Bassitt or Manaea likely wouldn’t require surrendering that kind of young talent, though.

Even after signing Ray, the Mariners’ payroll outlook is fairly clear. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource estimates Seattle’s 2022 player commitments at just under $87MM, including projected salaries for arbitration-eligible players. That’s well shy of the club’s franchise-record outlays in the $155MM range (via Cot’s Baseball Contracts). Dipoto and his staff should have plenty of leeway to pursue multiple upgrades whenever the offseason resumes. In addition to the desire to bolster the rotation, the Mariners are on the hunt for another infielder, a search that has already seen them tied to players like Trevor Story and Kris Bryant.

Angels, Dillon Thomas Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels and outfielder Dillon Thomas are in agreement on a minor league deal with an invite to Major League Spring Training, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. Thomas wasn’t on a 40-man roster or Major League injured list at season’s end, making him eligible to sign a minor league deal even with the lockout/transaction freeze ongoing.

Thomas, 29, made his big league debut with the Mariners this past season, appearing in four games and going 1-for-9 with a single for his first MLB knock. He spent the rest of the season with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, batting .269/.377/.448 with 13 homers, 19 doubles, a triple and a dozen steals (in 13 tries). Strikeouts were an issue both in the big leagues, where he fanned in seven of his nine plate appearances, and in Tacoma, where he whiffed at a 29.6% clip.

A fourth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2011, Thomas spent six seasons in the Colorado system (2011-17) and another two in the Brewers organization (2018-19) in addition to last year’s stint with the M’s. He’s a career .262/.332/.394 hitter in the minors overall, with last year’s solid run in Triple-A marking his only real experience at that level. (He also had three plate appearances with the Rockies’ Triple-A club in 2017.) He’s primarily a corner outfielder, having logged more than 2200 professional innings in both right and left field, and he also has 465 innings in center under his belt as well.

The Halos already have numerous outfield options ticketed for the big league roster — Mike Trout, Brandon Marsh, Jo Adell, Justin Upton and utilitymen Tyler Wade and Andrew Velazquez — plus Taylor Ward also on the 40-man roster. Thomas will likely head to Triple-A Salt Lake and give the Angels some left-handed-hitting corner depth.

Could The Rockies Move An Outfielder When The Transaction Freeze Lifts?

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The Rockies find themselves in something of an unenviable spot, coming off a 74-win season likely losing two of their most talented homegrown players — Trevor Story and Jon Gray — in free agency. Gray has already inked a four-year deal with the Rangers, and Story is widely expected to sign elsewhere, leaving the Rockies with a compensatory draft pick. They’re also staring up from fourth place at a pair of 100-plus win teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as one of baseball’s most aggressive front offices (and largest payrolls) in San Diego.

Many clubs in this spot would rebuild, but the Rockies (despite a thin farm system) have signaled no intent to do so. Quite to the contrary, newly minted GM Bill Schmidt seems keen on attempting to put together a competitive club next year. The Rox already re-signed first baseman C.J. Cron and extended righty Antonio Senzatela and catcher Elias Diaz. They resisted trading not only Story and Gray but controllable pitchers like German Marquez and Kyle Freeland at the July 30 deadline. As recently as two weeks ago, they were reported to be among the teams with interest in signing Kris Bryant.

If the Rockies are going to contend, they’ll need upgrades at various spots on the roster, with shortstop, the outfield and the bullpen standing out as potential areas of need. Still, despite that outfield need, both Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post and Nick Groke of The Athletic have at least raised the possibility of trading an outfielder away when the current transaction freeze is lifted: Raimel Tapia.

The 27-year-old Tapia (28 in February) has taken the lion’s share of playing time in left field for the Rox over the past three seasons, hitting at a combined .282/.327/.394 batting line (solid on the surface but a 79 wRC+). Tapia has just 16 home runs through 1186 plate appearances in that time, but he’s swiped 37 bags (with a 77.1% success rate). His 6.3% walk rate over the past three seasons is well below the league average, but he also rarely strikes out (17.5%, including a career-best 13.1% in 2021).

Tapia has received solid marks in left field from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved (4), Ultimate Zone Rating (6.0) and Outs Above Average (7) since emerging as a regular in the lineup at Coors Field. He’s at least capable of playing center in a pinch, having logged 189 innings there in his career (15 this past season, none in 2020, 83 in 2019).

He’s not the star the Rox might’ve hoped for when he ranked among the sport’s 50 best prospects in the 2016-17 offseason, but Tapia is a solid defender with above-average speed and good bat-to-ball skills. With two years of club control remaining and a projected $3.9MM salary in 2022 (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), he’s also plenty affordable.

Perhaps that makes him something of an odd candidate to be moved, given the Rockies’ desire to compete, but it also wouldn’t be a surprise for the Rox to seek more punch in an outfield that was one of the least-productive in MLB last year. Rockies outfielders ranked 29th in MLB with an 82 wRC+, leading only the Royals (81). Only the D-backs (43) received fewer home runs from their outfielders as a group than Colorado (46, tied with Kansas City and Cleveland).

If the Rockies indeed secure an offensive upgrade in the outfield, it’s going to be tougher to find at-bats for Tapia. Charlie Blackmon, who’ll be paid $21MM next season, will remain a fixture in right field. Colorado has given Tapia all of 15 innings in center over the past two seasons even as Blackmon has moved off the position, suggesting that they prefer Tapia to remain in left. That’s where the vast majority of remaining free-agent outfielders would need to slot in, and if Colorado doesn’t want to play Tapia in center, he’d be left without a big role. He’s out of minor league options as well, so sending him down is out of the question.

The Rockies could always carry Tapia as a reserve outfielder, but they also have Sam Hilliard, Garrett Hampson, Yonathan Daza and Connor Joe as options. All four will earn less than Tapia in 2022, and Daza, like Tapia, out of minor league options. Carrying a pair out-of-options outfielders on the bench obviously wouldn’t be an optimal setup, and the right-handed-hitting Daza better complements lefties like Blackmon and Hilliard than Tapia, a fellow lefty hitter.

The return on Tapia wouldn’t figure to be enormous. He could net the Rox some secondary prospects or perhaps be swapped for an arm to slot directly into the big league bullpen. With many teams needing some help in the outfield — the Phillies, Guardians, White Sox, Marlins and Nationals, to name a few — it stands to reason that an affordable 28-year-old with two years of remaining club control would generate interest. Tapia isn’t a middle-of-the-order bat, but his blend of speed, defense, bat-to-ball skills and affordable club control ought to be enough for a few other teams to inquire on the former top prospect as they look to round out their own outfield mixes.

Read The Transcript Of Dan Straily’s Chat With MLBTR Readers

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Dan Straily has put together an accomplished career as a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball as well as Korea Baseball Organization.  Straily is an eight-year MLB veteran of the A’s, Cubs, Astros, Reds, Marlins, and Orioles.  He finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2013 and has made at least 23 starts in four separate MLB seasons.  Straily won 14 games in 2016 with the Reds and tied for the NL lead with 33 starts for the Marlins in ’17.  He’s been on the other end of trades involving Jeff Samardzija, Dexter Fowler, and Luis Castillo, among others.

Over the past two seasons, Straily has started 62 games for the Lotte Giants of KBO with a fine 3.22 ERA, and he’s now a free agent who is free to talk to MLB teams.  You can follow Dan on Twitter @danstraily67.  Dan also runs the excellent Journeyman Podcast along with Ben Fleming.  Follow the podcast @journeyman_pod on Twitter, and listen to it on Apple Podcasts here.

Today, we proudly hosted Dan for a live chat with MLBTR readers.  Click here to read the transcript.  We’ve got several more chats coming up with MLB players, so be on the lookout!  And if you’re a current or former MLB player who would enjoy chatting with the readers of this site, drop us a line through our contact form.  It’s an easy, fun one-hour experience and you get to choose the questions you answer.

Mets Begin Second Round Of Managerial Interviews With Three Finalists

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Dec. 14: The Mets will begin the second round of interviews today, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Dec. 12, 4:17pm: Matt Quatraro joins Showalter and Espada as finalists, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).

3:55pm: The Mets’ managerial search has moved on to the next stage, with Buck Showalter and Joe Espada making up the field of known final candidates, as per Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of The New York Post.  It isn’t known if a third candidate could also still be in the mix, or if Showalter and Espada are the only two who will now interview with Mets owner Steve Cohen.

There was no surprise over Showalter’s inclusion, and there is an increasing expectation that the veteran skipper will ultimately be the Mets’ choice.  As SNY’s Andy Martino puts it, a Showalter hiring “feels almost inevitable,” and “folks in the industry are convinced Showalter is getting the job unless something goes horribly wrong in final stages.”

While the 65-year-old Showalter has 20 years of managerial experience, the 46-year-old Espada has never been a manager at the big league level, though he has a long resume as a coach.  Working for the last four years as the Astros’ bench coach, Espada also has seven previous seasons of experience as a third base coach with the Yankees and Marlins, as well as stints as a special assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman and as a coach and coordinator in the Marlins’ farm system.

Espada has been a popular managerial candidate in recent years, and if Showalter does end up as New York’s next manager, it would represent another near-miss for the Astros coach.  Espada has been previously linked to managerial openings with the Blue Jays, Giants, Angels, Cubs, Orioles, Twins, and Rangers, and he reportedly came close to being hired by the Giants before they decided on Gabe Kapler.  Should the Mets pass on Espada, another opportunity might come quickly, as Espada has also recently spoken with the Athletics about their current managerial vacancy.

If Showalter and Espada are indeed the Mets’ final two, it is somewhat symbolic of how the club has weighed both experienced dugout voices and first-time candidates throughout their search.  Besides Showalter, the Mets also interviewed former Tigers/Angels manager Brad Ausmus and former A’s manager Bob Geren.  On the less-experienced side of the coin, the Mets also spoke with Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, and they looked to speak with Pirates bench coach Don Kelly before Kelly took himself out of consideration.

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