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David Buchanan Signs With KBO’s Samsung Lions

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Former MLB hurler David Buchanan has inked a deal with Korea’s Samsung Lions, per Yonhap News (h/t MyKBO’s Dan Kurtz). He’s slated to receive a $100K signing bonus, $600K salary, and $150K incentive package.

The 30-year-old Buchanan is now well removed from his time as a big league hurler. He made 34 starts for the Phillies in 2014 and 2015, producing good results in his debut campaign but faltering in his sophomore follow-up effort. Buchanan spent 2016 with the Phils’ top affiliate but didn’t get a call-up.

Since that time, Buchanan has plied his trade in Japan. The groundball-oriented hurler delivered solid numbers in his first two seasons with the Yakult Swallows, checking in with earned run averages of 3.66 and 4.03. But he stepped back to a 4.82 ERA in 130 2/3 frames last year.

Astros Interviewed Buck Showalter

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The Astros have moved quickly to line up discussions with candidates to take the club’s open managerial position. Veteran skipper Buck Showalter had a sit-down yesterday, per Ken Rosenthal and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Owner Jim Crane certainly isn’t taking his time with the process of replacing A.J. Hinch, who was fired just three days ago. Of course, Crane also had the advantage of knowing his own thinking. He was presumably able to prepare for the situation that broke publicly when commissioner Rob Manfred issued Hinch a one-year suspension, with a firing announcement coming close behind.

The Astros are slated to meet with John Gibbons today, putting those two squarely on the list of top candidates for the open position. Internal option Joe Espada is perhaps the primary alternative candidate known to this point, though a few others have been tied to the position as well.

Showalter, 63, sat out the 2019 season after wrapping up a nine-year stint with the Orioles. He has spent two decades at the helm of one team or another, with prior time coming at the helm of the Rangers, Diamondbacks, and Yankees. Showalter’s charges have won 1,551 and lost 1,517 games under his command. He has been named the American League Manager of the Year on three occasions — with remarkable timing (1994, 2004, 2014).

Do you have a favorite? Participate in MLBTR’s poll on the topic.

MLBTR Poll: Pick The Astros’ Next Manager

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Dropping A.J. Hinch wasn’t just a momentous occasion for the Astros. It also created an entirely unexpected opportunity for some as-yet-unknown skipper-to-be. The keys to an extremely talented Houston roster are lying on the dugout bench, waiting to be claimed.

Astros owner Jim Crane will be looking for a steady manager who can both guide the players and put a trustworthy face on the organization as it navigates choppy waters. It’s a tough and somewhat unusual gig, at least at the outset, but you can bet there’ll be no shortage of interest.

We’ve already seen an initial slate of candidates. It’s about what you’d expect.

The ’Stros will consider current bench coach Joe Espada along with former big leaguers Raul Ibanez and Will Venable. Espada is familiar and already under contract. But his presence in 2018 may cause some problems. While we don’t have any indication what (if any) role he played in the team’s sign-stealing efforts at that time, it’d certainly raise some questions and would not really represent the clean slate that Crane purports to seek. It’s not yet clear whether the latter two names will really be available at all: the former has spurned interest from other clubs previously while the latter is slated to play a significant role on the Cubs’ staff.

Most of the attention is sure to focus on the other possibilities. It makes sense, at first glance, for the Astros to bring in a highly experienced skipper. No surprise, then, to see Dusty Baker, Buck Showalter, and Bruce Bochy listed as possibilities. It isn’t really evident whether Bochy would have interest in jumping back in the saddle; he has indicated he would prefer at least a one-year respite after wrapping up his tenure with the Giants. But Baker and Showalter would no doubt love a shot at driving the Astros bus. Jeff Banister is also said to be of interest to the Houston organization. He has much less experience at the helm than the other three former managers but did spend a few years with the cross-state, division-rival Rangers.

We’re just at the outset of the search, though it’s expected to move quickly. From the names we’ve seen named already, who do you think the Astros ought to hire? (Poll link for app users; response order randomized.)

AL Notes: Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers, Mathis

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Thanks to scandal-besieged Alex Cora’s firing on Tuesday, the Red Sox are in the unfortunate position of having to find a new manager as spring training nears. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke about the situation Wednesday, telling Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and other reporters that the Red Sox don’t yet have an idea where they’ll turn for Cora’s replacement. Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox seem prepared to consider in-house and external candidates for the position. Bloom praised Boston’s current assistant coaches, calling them “an impressive group” and adding, “No reason to think that a number of them wouldn’t deserve consideration for this.” Meanwhile, the Red Sox haven’t yet asked other teams for permission to speak with their assistants. Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro – whom Bloom knows from Tampa Bay – has come up in speculation since Cora’s ouster. However, it’s “unlikely” he’ll be a candidate because the division-rival Rays may not permit Bloom to pilfer other members of their staff, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.

More on a couple other AL teams…

  • This has been a busy winter for the Blue Jays, who have made several notable acquisitions as they try to climb back to respectability in 2020. General manager Ross Atkins’ heavy lifting could be done, but the executive stated Wednesday that the team’s still open to another pickup that would make a “significant impact,” per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Atkins revealed such a move would more likely come via trade than free agency, but he cautioned, “Executing trades of significant impact is very difficult to do.” Center field is one area that could still use some help, Atkins suggested, while Nicholson-Smith points to a reliever and a utility player as possible late-winter additions.
  • To this point, the Blue Jays’ biggest offseason add-ons have been starting pitchers. On paper, they’ve greatly upgraded their rotation with the acquisitions of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark and Chase Anderson. Those three and Matt Shoemaker seem like locks to make up four-fifths of the Blue Jays’ season-opening rotation. Shun Yamaguchi, yet another member of the Jays’ offseason haul, will get an opportunity to win a starting job, according to Atkins (Twitter links via Nicholson-Smith). So will Sean Reid-Foley, who divided his nine major league appearances between Toronto’s rotation and bullpen last season.
  • It doesn’t appear the Rangers’ signing of catcher Robinson Chirinos will put fellow veteran backstop Jeff Mathis’ roster spot in jeopardy. GM Jon Daniels said Wednesday that his expectation is that Chirinos and Mathis will open the season as the Rangers’ catchers, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. If that proves to be the case, Jose Trevino will begin the year at the Triple-A level. But it’s possible Mathis, who’s due a $3MM salary in 2020, may first have to justify his place on the team in spring training. The soon-to-be 37-year-old has been a light-hitting defensive maven throughout his career, but his first season in Texas went poorly on both fronts. Mathis batted .158/.209/.224 en route to an almost unfathomable 2 wRC+ over 244 plate appearances, earned negative defensive marks from Baseball Prospectus and ranked last among position players in fWAR (minus-2.1).

MLBTR Poll: Will Mets Fire Carlos Beltran?

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The Astros’ sign-stealing shenanigans from their World Series-winning 2017 campaign have already taken down two prominent members of that team’s staff this week. Houston fired manager A.J. Hinch on Monday after Major League Baseball issued him a one-year suspension. Boston then canned skipper Alex Cora, formerly Hinch’s right-hand man and someone soon to receive harsh punishment from MLB, on Tuesday.

Check out our latest video on Beltran, as well as the Astros’ and Mets’ managerial vacancies (link for app users):

This scandal, one of the biggest in the history of baseball, may not be done taking down high-profile figures. Now the proverbial sword of Damocles is hanging over the head of yet another manager. This time it’s the Mets’ Carlos Beltran, who played for the Astros in 2017. According to commissioner Rob Manfred, Beltran discussed with teammates how to “improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter.”

Beltran was part of the league’s investigation, initially claiming no knowledge of the Astros’ scheme before admitting there was wrongdoing on the team’s part. Nevertheless, Manfred elected against punishing Beltran or any of the other players from the 2017 Astros.

Manfred may not have come down on Beltran, but the Mets might not be as kind to the 42-year-old potential Hall of Famer. Even though the Mets just hired Beltran as a first-time manager a little over two months ago, his job already appears to be in jeopardy. It’s a 180 for a club whose GM, Brodie Van Wagenen, said of Beltran in November: “Anything that happened, happened with another organization, with Houston. I have no idea if anything did or did not, but at this point I don’t see any reason why this is a Mets situation.”

Van Wagenen once called Beltran “trustworthy,” but the Mets’ confidence in him may be fading just weeks after his hiring and weeks before spring training opens. Furthermore, as Tim Britton of The Athletic notes, this is “an especially image-conscious team.”Beltran’s presence could be problematic for a franchise that’s always under the microscope, then, and now it’s possible his run as their manager will end before it’s truly able to start.

(Poll link for app users)

Astros To Interview John Gibbons

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The Astros have lined up their first reported interview as they search for a new manager. They’ll meet with veteran skipper John Gibbons on Thursday, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26.

The Texas-raised Gibbons is one of many experienced possibilities to reportedly land on the Astros’ radar early in their quest to replace A.J. Hinch. Gibbons has nearly 1,600 games on his resume, all of which have come with the Blue Jays. The 57-year-old had two separate stints as Toronto’s manager (one from 2004-08, the next from 2013-18), combining for 11 years, a 793-789 regular-season record and a pair of playoff berths. The Blue Jays advanced to the ALCS in each of those two seasons.

After the Blue Jays parted with him, Gibbons spent last season out of coaching. Gibbons made it known back in the fall that he was hoping to get back into managing, but he didn’t receive any reported interviews before now.

White Sox Sign Andrew Romine

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The White Sox and utility player Andrew Romine have agreed to a minor league contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Romine will earn a $900K salary if he reaches the majors in 2020.

A fifth-round pick of the Angels in 2007, Romine debuted in the majors in 2010 and has since combined for 1,323 major league plate appearances with the Halos, Tigers and Mariners. While Romine has lined up all over the diamond in that span, offensive success has been hard to come by for the 34-year-old switch-hitter. So far, Romine has only managed a .235/.291/.301 line with 10 home runs.

Romine saw at least some MLB action in each season from 2010-18, but he spent all of last year in Triple-A ball with the Phillies. He slashed .289/.342/.409 with eight homers and 21 stolen bases across 417 trips to the plate.

Latest On Astros’ Managerial Opening

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After firing suspended manager A.J. Hinch on Monday, the Astros suddenly find themselves in the unenviable position of trying to find a new skipper just weeks before the start of spring training. But there’s no shortage of candidates to replace Hinch, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26.

The Astros have an in-house option in bench coach Joe Espada, but they otherwise appear to be looking outside the organization. Veteran managers Dusty Baker, Buck Showalter, Bruce Bochy and Jeff Banister are on the team’s list of candidates. So are Raul Ibanez and Will Venable, who – like Espada – carry no managerial experience at the MLB level.

Baker, Showalter and Bochy are three of the most accomplished managers of the past couple decades. It’s already known Baker, who last managed in 2017, has interest in the position. Baker and Showalter were serious contenders for the Phillies’ managerial job before they hired Joe Girardi in the fall. Bochy, meanwhile, doesn’t seem likely to take the helm in Houston or anywhere else this year. The soon-to-be 65-year-old told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he’s hitting “pause” after managing in every season from 1995-2019.

Banister, 56, has prior managerial experience in Texas. He led the Rangers for four years, but they parted with him after the 2018 campaign, and he spent last season in Pittsburgh’s front office. Ibanez has been working in the Dodgers’ front office – a role he seems content to keep. As of October, Ibanez wasn’t interested in interviewing for managerial posts, but perhaps the Astros will be able to change his mind. Venable, the Cubs’ third base coach, did meet with Chicago as well as the Giants regarding their managerial openings before those teams went in other directions earlier this offseason.

Along with trying to find a new manager, the Astros and owner Jim Crane will have to land a GM to succeed the ousted Jeff Luhnow. They hope to reel in Hinch’s successor by Feb. 1, per Berman, and Brian McTaggart of MLB.com writes that they’re likely to fill that position before tabbing Luhnow’s replacement.

Dodgers Designate Casey Sadler

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The Dodgers have designated right-hander Casey Sadler for assignment, the team announced. The move clears roster space for left-hander Alex Wood, whose deal with the team is now official.

This could go down as a short Dodgers stint for Sadler, whom they acquired from the Rays last July. In terms of bottom-line results, though, Sadler was quite effective with both teams in 2019. The 29-year-old put up a stingy 2.14 ERA over 46 1/3 innings between the clubs, also notching a terrific 51.8 percent groundball rate and walking only 2.53 batters per nine.

Sadler also posted a career-high 95 mph average fastball velocity in the majors last season, but he barely struck out six hitters per nine. He also managed a bel0w-average 9.1 percent swinging-strike rate, and ERA indicators such as FIP (4.38), xFIP (4.78) and SIERA (4.58) weren’t high on his work.

Last year may have been a mixed bag at the MLB level for Sadler, but there’s no disputing that he was a standout in the minors. Sadler worked 38 2/3 innings innings in Triple-A ball and recorded a 3.26 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against just 1.4 BB/9. That performance, not to mention Sadler’s run prevention in the majors last season, may put him on other teams’ radars. However, the fact that Sadler’s out of minor league options could work against him.

Rangers Rumors: Castellanos, Ozuna, Arenado

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After posting their third straight losing season in 2019, the Rangers have been active in upgrading their roster this winter. They don’t appear to be done, as they continue to be connected to free-agent outfielders Marcell Ozuna and Nicholas Castellanos in the rumor mill. Now that third baseman Josh Donaldson has joined the rest of this offseason’s class of elite free agents in coming off the market, Ozuna and Castellanos stand as the top two players on the board.

In Texas’ case, it seems the 27-year-old Castellanos is preferable to Ozuna, 29. At this point, Castellanos is “a strong option” for the Rangers, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. TR Sullivan of MLB.com corroborates that, reporting that Castellanos is seemingly the Rangers’ No. 1 target, and he adds that it doesn’t look as if Ozuna is near the top of the club’s list. That could be disappointing news to Ozuna, who indicated last week he was deciding between the Rangers and Cardinals for his next team.

If Castellanos dons a Rangers uniform in 2020, it’s unclear where he’d line up. The former third baseman has been an outfielder for the Tigers and Cubs over the past few seasons, but the Rangers would reportedly want to use him at first base – a position he hasn’t played. Nevertheless, at least offensively, Castellanos would give the Rangers a significant upgrade over Ronald Guzman, who played the majority of games at first for the team from 2018-19 and provided little offense along the way.

Across the diamond, the Rangers have been part of trade rumors centering on superstar Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. However, Sullivan notes that a deal for Arenado “seems unlikely.” The Rangers did just land a viable veteran third baseman in Todd Frazier, though he’s no substitute for Arenado and could end up at first in the improbable event Texas lands the latter in a trade.

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