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AL Notes: Lindor, Oakland Stadium, Cash, Boone

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In a lengthy piece for The Athletic, Zack Meisel charts the different courses the Indians could take with regard to the contract status of star shortstop Francisco Lindor (link). As Meisel takes pains to point out, Lindor has taken a chilly posture to the idea that he would offer his club a discount in potential extension talks. Besides speaking vocally in support of 2018 free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper securing “every single penny that they can get“, Lindor was blunt in stating during the 2019 preseason that Cleveland would need to pay him full value if the club is interested in preventing him from reaching free agency after the 2021 season. “Who knows?” Lindor replied to a gathering of reporters during Spring Training when asked if a longterm extension would interest him. “Can you afford to pay me? If you pay me, I’ll stay.” Noting that the Indians have never signed a contract north of $60MM (Edwin Encarnacion in 2016), Meisel wonders if the time may be ripe for the club to consider trade options involving the 25-year-old shortstop.

While the writer ultimately seems to lean toward the idea of keeping Lindor, allowing him to play out his last two arb years, and then living with the possibility that he leaves in 2022, it is tantalizing to imagine the interest Lindor’s name could stir up on the trade market. As a mid-20s, up-the-middle player with five consecutive seasons of four-plus fWAR valuations, Lindor remains one of the game’s steadiest producers and most marketable stars.

More notes from around the American League in advance of Game 2 of the World Series…

  • In an attempt to rid themselves of the current legal quagmire surrounding their new ballpark project, the Athletics have offered to either buy out the city of Oakland’s half share in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum site for $85 million or enter into a long-term lease, per Phil Matier of The San Francisco Chronicle (link). The team has offered a “community benefits package” to the city that includes affordable housing provisions and apprenticeship programs, with the expectation that the city drops its lawsuit against Alameda County in return. Alameda County, which holds the other half share of the Oakland Coliseum site, recently offered to sell its own half share to the A’s, but a city-initiated lawsuit has stalled that potential agreement. Work on the new Oakland Ballpark is expected to begin in the city’s Jack London Square area in 2021.
  • Rays manager Kevin Cash was honored as one of Sporting News’ several award recipients today, with the outlet naming Cash as American League Manager of the Year (link). Cash was tasked in 2019 with a roster chock-full of trade acquisitions and overlooked players, ultimately leading Tampa to a 96-win season and an ALDS berth. Cash also deserves credit for getting his guys to surmount injury trouble–just two Rays players appeared in over 140 games–although there was another manager in his division who was tasked with some truly Herculean challenges with regard to roster management in 2019. Yankees manager Aaron Boone could be seen as something of a snub for this honor (which is not to be confused with the BBWAA awards that receive far more coverage and recognition) after his Bombers sent an MLB-record 30 players to the injured list en route to an AL East title in 2019.

Red Sox Sign Taiwanese Prospect Chih-Jung Liu

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The Red Sox have agreed to terms with 20-year-old Taiwanese righthander Chih-Jung Liu for $750K, reports Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe (link).

Liu is a former two-way player with a fastball clocked as high as 98 mph in recent months. Abraham notes that a large high school workload forced Liu to abandon pitching in his first collegiate year with Taipei City’s Culture University, but a 2019 return to the bump yielded newfound velocity. Liu teamed with Red Sox infield prospect Tzu-Wei Lin on Taiwan’s national squad in this month’s Asian Baseball Championship series, taking home tournament MVP honors en route to his country’s first ABC gold medal. Liu is set to play for Taiwan in the upcoming Premier12 tournament, an Olympic qualifier trial.

Following the firing of former Team President Dave Dombrowski, it’s fair to say that the Red Sox farm has seen better days. MLB.com’s midseason ranking identified just one “Top 100” prospect within their system (infielder Triston Casas placed 85th), and other organizational rankings generally placed Boston’s young ranks as among the game’s bottom-third. Under the temporary leadership quartet of Eddie Romero, Zack Scott, Brian O’Halloran, and Raquel Ferreira, it appears that Boston’s operations staff is searching far and wide in their search for farm reinforcement.

Pirates Expected To Hire Travis Williams As Team President

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Just hours after announcing the exit of Team President Frank Coonelly, the Pirates have reportedly identified new leadership. Travis Williams, former Chief Operating Officer for the crosstown Pittsburgh Penguins, will be named as Pittsburgh’s new prez within the next week, per a report from Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (link).

Williams has been working as the President of Business Operations for the NHL’s New York Islanders since last November, following eleven years spent working in the Penguins organization (including eight as the club’s COO). According to the Penguins’ website, Williams was chiefly involved with the oversight of “day-to-day business and arena operations”; Mackey indicates that the Pirates organization might expect their new President to focus more on similarly business-centric concerns, which would mark something of a departure from Coonelly’s active hand in day-to-day baseball operations.

Interestingly, Williams’ professional profile with the Penguins also included work as the team’s liaison with building manager (and entertainment monolith) AEG. Williams’ strong background in arena development and event operations could have been viewed as an asset in the eyes of Pirates owner Bob Nutting, who was reportedly dissatisfied with declining attendance under Coonelly’s watch.

Before entering the professional sports industry, Williams was partner at global law firm Reed Smith LLP. The Indianapolis native holds degrees from both Penn State and Duquesne. Mackey suspects that the team will withhold an announcement on Williams’ hiring until Monday.

Kris Bryant Grievance To Be Heard This Week

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Kris Bryant’s longstanding service time saga could be nearing its conclusion. MLB will address Bryant’s 2015 grievance at some point this week, reports David Kaplan of NBC Sports (via Twitter).

Bryant’s grievance concerns the date of his MLB call-up: April 17, 2015, one day after the date at which he would have accrued a full year of big league service. In other words, had the Cubs called Bryant up on April 16 or any day before, he would be scheduled to hit free agency after 2020. Instead, he’s currently ticketed for free agency in the 2021-22 offseason.

Of course, the Cubs (and onlookers) were fully aware of the service time implications at the time. Indeed, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote the day of Bryant’s selection to the active roster, “the Cubs opted to delay Bryant’s promotion by 12 days in order to extend their control over the phenom for an additional season.” While Bryant’s case wasn’t the first to feature “coincidental” timing shortly after a relevant service barometer passes, it may have been the most visible. Bryant was then baseball’s top prospect, had destroyed the high minors the year prior, and was even coming off a monster spring training. While the Cubs justified Bryant’s demotion by citing defensive shortcomings, it seems as apparent now as it was then that Bryant’s promotion date was tied entirely to service reasons. As Bryant reflected to Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic in February, “now I can look back on it and just laugh about it because I was told to work on my defense…and I think I got three groundballs in those games that I played. So it’s like, ‘Oh, now he’s ready.’”

If Bryant and agent Scott Boras were to prevail and Bryant were awarded an extra year of service, the consequences would no doubt be far-reaching. Most obviously, Bryant would become a free agent in one year’s time instead of two, which would have enormous effects on the Cubs and potential suitors. After all, Bryant has more than justified his prospect hype, combining to slash .284/.385/.516 (139 wRC+) and accruing 27.8 fWAR in nearly five seasons. He’d certainly vault near the top of any free agent class he is a part of.

Equally interesting would be the ripple effects a Bryant victory could have on the league as a whole. Similar, highly-publicized situations have taken place in recent years with top prospects (perhaps most visibly with Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.). Bryant’s grievance, four years in the making, will certainly make for an interesting referendum on the permissiveness of prospect promotions so narrowly after service deadlines.

NL Notes: Urias, Rockies, Wieters, Marlins

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We’ve already seen a pair of headline-grabbing moves by National League clubs this morning. We’ll round up some smaller reports from the Senior Circuit.

  • The Padres aren’t prepared to hand the second base job to Luis Urías without competition, reports A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com as part of a reader mailbag. While the organization remains bullish on the 22-year-old long-term, the Pads must find alternative options in case his early-career woes persist, Cassavell opines. Despite elite minor-league numbers, Urías has gotten off to a rocky start as a big leaguer, slashing just .221/.318/.331 (79 wRC+) in his first 302 MLB plate appearances. Interestingly, Cassavell expects the Padres to at least gauge rival teams’ interest in Urías- which would surely be robust- this offseason, if for no other reason than to “learn what (he would) be worth.”
  • The Rockies are likely to non-tender pitchers Chad Bettis and Tyler Anderson, observes the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders in a broader look at the upcoming offseason. Both Bettis and Anderson were useful back-end starters for Colorado not too long ago, although injuries and/or underperformance made this outcome inevitable for each. Bettis slogged to a 6.08 ERA in 39 appearances (36 in relief) this season. Anderson, meanwhile, was limited to five starts before suffering a season-ending knee injury, and Saunders reiterates that he’s not expected to be fully recovered by next spring. Jettisoning Bettis (projected $3.8MM salary) and Anderson (projected $2.625MM salary) will save payroll-tight Colorado around $6-7MM.
  • The Cardinals are likely to pursue another one-year deal with catcher Matt Wieters, opines Anne Rogers of MLB.com as part of a mailbag. The 33-year-old signed with St. Louis for $1.5MM last offseason and figures to command a similar salary this go-round, Rogers adds. Wieters again ranked among the worst defensive catchers in baseball this season, but he offers respectable power for a catcher (.214/.268/.435 in 183 PA in 2019). The Cardinals also value Wieters’ veteran presence and switch-hitting bat off the bench, Rogers adds.
  • The Marlins are set to hire Wellington Cepeda as bullpen coach, reports Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Cepeda, 42, managed the Diamondbacks’ rookie-level Arizona League affiliate in 2019, his first season as a minor-league skipper. Cepeda has a background as a minor-league pitching coach, Frisaro adds. He’ll work with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, Jr., who is returning for a second season. Cepeda will have his work cut out for him, as Miami’s young bullpen was among MLB’s worst in 2019.

Pirates Not Believed To Be Shopping Starling Marte

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At the moment, the Pirates don’t appear intent on moving Starling Marté this offseason, reports MLB.com’s Adam Berry as part of a reader mailbag. In fact, Berry’s sources believe the standout center fielder will open next season in Pittsburgh.

Marté being marked off limits in trade would be quite the blow to those shopping for a center field upgrade in a very shallow market. The upcoming free agent class doesn’t boast an obvious everyday option to play up the middle on the grass. Brett Gardner and Avisaíl García are each coming off productive seasons in which they logged center field time, but each seems better suited to a corner. Jarrod Dyson and Billy Hamilton (whose team option is sure to be bought out by the Braves) are cleaner defensive fits but neither brings enough offensively to be a high-end option.

Turning to the trade market, Mookie Betts would be any contender’s dream, but it’s still unclear whether the Red Sox would actually move the franchise icon. Boston is more likely to shop Jackie Bradley, Jr., but he’s had three straight mediocre seasons at the plate. Marté, then, seemed to offer the best combination of production and realistic availability on the center field market.

Of course, as Berry notes, any inclination at this stage is hardly set in stone. The organization is looking for a new manager, for one, so perhaps the front office will only turn its attention to player transactions once their search for a clubhouse leader is complete. Berry stops short of calling Marté untouchable, and the organization would presumably listen if a caller bowled them over with an offer. Nothing on Marté is yet definitive, with Pittsburgh’s front office having been tight-lipped about everything since announcing their decision to fire manager Clint Hurdle.

To be honest, it would be quite surprising if Pittsburgh didn’t at least listen on Marté at some point this offseason. The Pirates completely melted down in the second half en route to an NL Central-worst 69-93 record, and there’s little reason to expect an immediate bounce back. Pittsburgh’s position players were below-average both offensively and defensively, per Fangraphs, while ace Jameson Taillon is already believed out for next season after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. Even if the club gets returns to peak form out of starting pitchers Trevor Williams and Chris Archer, it’s difficult to imagine them contending in 2020.

That becomes problematic with Marté’s control window dwindling. Surely, the club will exercise his $11.5MM team option for next year, and he has a similarly appealing $12.5MM option for 2021. While Berry notes it’s more in the organization’s M.O. to trade players before they enter their final season of club control, it seems wise for them to get a head start in Marté’s case. As mentioned, the center field market is extremely shallow this offseason. Holding Marté will only diminish his trade value as his team control shrinks. For all the club’s struggles, Marté was again productive, slashing .295/.342/.503 (119 wRC+) in 2019. In all likelihood, the 31 year-old is probably as good now as he’ll ever be moving forward.

All these factors combined to make Marté, on the surface, one of the offseason’s most obvious trade candidates. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd even identified some potential suitors. While hardly foreclosing the possibility of a deal, Berry’s report certainly adds an interesting wrinkle. How General Manager Neal Huntington and his front office choose to proceed with Marté will be among the top storylines of the Pirates’ winter.

Pirates, Team President Frank Coonelly Part Ways

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The Pirates and Team President Frank Coonelly have mutually agreed to part ways, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (The organization has since announced the move). Coonelly, 59, had been with the organization since 2007. The club will name Coonelly’s replacement next Monday, adds Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). While Coonelly was responsible for the hiring of General Manager Neal Huntington just a month after the former came on board, Heyman adds that Huntington’s job remains safe.

Mackey reports that Pirates owner Bob Nutting was, unsurprisingly, significantly involved in today’s move. Nutting has become increasingly dissatisfied with the Pirates’ attendance, Mackey adds, although he also notes it difficult to gauge how much blame Coonelly should shoulder given the team’s underwhelming performance in recent seasons. Nutting himself, of course, has come under fire at times for the club’s payrolls, which consistently sit among the bottom third of the league.

This season was an unmitigated disaster for the organization. Not only did the team fall flat on the field, limping to a 69-93 record, it dealt with significant issues off it. Clubhouse discord bubbled to the surface and was leaked to the public, to say nothing of the heinous criminal acts allegedly committed by one of the organization’s highest-profile players. Coonelly certainly doesn’t deserve blame for all of the franchise’s woes, but it did seem that something of a house cleaning was in order, and Coonelly follows fired manager Clint Hurdle out the door.

It’s not yet clear what ramifications, if any, this will have on the Bucs’ baseball operations. 2020 could certainly be a make-or-break year for Huntington, at least. The organization is making changes both above and below him in the pecking order, so questions about his future as GM figure to persist in the coming months.

Latest On Giants’ Manager Search

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The Giants continue to vet candidates to be Bruce Bochy’s replacement. After sitting down with Cubs first base coach Will Venable last Friday, the organization recently spoke with Astros bench coach Joe Espada over the phone, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It doesn’t appear they have yet met in-person with Espada, who Heyman quips has been “pretty busy” in recent weeks. Not only has Espada had postseason work to handle, he’s also twice interviewed with the Cubs for their managerial opening and at least garnered some consideration from the Pirates for the same role. Heyman notes that Espada remains in play in Chicago and Pittsburgh, although most recent indications are that the Cubs will turn elsewhere.

Espada’s inclusion in the Giants’ mix reflects the organization’s patience and willingness to cast a wide net in search of their new skipper, opines Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). There’s been recent chatter that A’s quality control coach Mark Kotsay is the favorite to land the job. However, Schulman pumps the brakes a bit, reporting that the organization isn’t yet set on either Kotsay or former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, both of whom have clear ties to President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi.

With so many names still floating around, it doesn’t seem any decision is imminent. Indeed, Schulman predicts the search will last into November (Twitter link). That would give the club more than enough time to formally sit down with Espada if they so desire, as the World Series wraps up October 30 at the latest (assuming, of course, Espada doesn’t get a managerial offer somewhere else in the meantime). Regardless, it seems clear Zaidi’s leaving no stone unturned in his first chance to handpick a dugout leader.

Stay up to date on all the league’s managerial rumors here.

Phillies Hire Brian Barber As Director Of Amateur Scouting

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The Phillies announced yesterday the hiring of Brian Barber as Director of Amateur Scouting. The 46-year-old will take over for Johnny Alamaraz, who voluntarily transitioned to a special assistant role with the organization after five years of overseeing the club’s drafts (as initially reported by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports).

Barber was a first-round draft choice of the Cardinals as a right-handed pitcher in 1991. While he suited up in parts of four big league seasons for MLB’s pair of Missouri franchises, he’s really carved out a niche in his post-playing career as a talent evaluator. After hanging up the spikes following the 1999 season, Barber moved into scouting, where he’d spent the better part of the last two decades in the Yankees’ organization.

Barber got his feet wet as an area scout for the Bombers before being promoted to East Coast crosschecker in 2007. For the last ten seasons, Barber has served as a national crosschecker under Yankees’ VP of Amateur Scouting Damon Oppenheimer. As Salisbruy reports, Barber was instrumental in the organization’s selection of Aaron Judge in the first round out of Fresno State in 2013, no doubt the Yankees’ best war room decision in recent memory. He’ll now get his first opportunity to head an organization’s amateur scouting efforts.

Latest On Royals’ Managerial Opening

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It continues to look as if the Royals’ next manager will come from within the organization. Special advisor Mike Matheny is still “the strong favorite” to land the position, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links). However, the Royals aren’t simply going to hand him the job. They just completed a two-day interview with bullpen coach Vance Wilson, Sherman reports.

Matheny, who managed the Cardinals from 2012-18, has also landed on other clubs’ radars this fall. But he rebuffed at least one team – the Mets – per Sherman, who adds Matheny indicated to New York he’s focused on getting the KC gig. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see that happen, as the 49-year-old Matheny has looked like an obvious potential successor to now-retired manager Ned Yost since the Royals hired the former last offseason. Of course, that’s not to say Royals fans would be content with the selection of Matheny , who was an oft-derided figure during his time in St. Louis.

Like Matheny, Wilson brings several years’ experience as a major league catcher to the table. Although Wilson hasn’t gotten a chance to manage in the majors yet, he did serve as a skipper for multiple low-level Royals affiliates for a combined seven years. The team promoted Wilson, 46, to its MLB coaching staff entering the 2018 season.

Aside from Matheny and Wilson, two other Royals assistants – quality control/catching coach Pedro Grifol and bench coach Dale Sveum – have been mentioned as possibilities to take over for Yost. There’s no word on whether they’ve formally interviewed anyone but Wilson, however, and Grifol has drawn serious interest from at least one other known club (the Giants). With an ownership change on the way, the Royals don’t have much choice but to take their time with this decision.

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