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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.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Nationals

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The thrilling first game of the World Series just wrapped up with Washington pulling off a 5-4 victory in Houston. If you’re a neutral observer, you may be hoping for six more games just like that one. However long the series lasts, though, both teams stand to see some key contributors reach the open market thereafter. Let’s start with a review of the Nationals’ pending free agents…

Anthony Rendon, 3B:

  • I’m not going to tell you anything you don’t already know in regards to Rendon. The 29-year-old is coming off yet another world-class season, perhaps an MVP-level campaign, and is finally getting the national recognition his play has long warranted. As hands down the premier soon-to-be free-agent position player, Rendon has a strong case for a guarantee worth $225MM or more.

Brian Dozier, 2B:

  • Dozier was an elite second baseman with the Twins for a few years leading up to 2018, but he hasn’t been the same player dating back to then. After a down season divided between the Twins and Dodgers, the Nationals signed Dozier to a one-year, $9MM contract last winter. Dozier enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back regular season, hitting .238/.340/.430 with 20 home runs and 1.7 fWAR in 482 plate appearances. That’s still not great production, though, and odds are the 32-year-old will have to settle for another single-season guarantee (very likely for less money) in his next trip to free agency.

Howie Kendrick, 1B/2B/3B:

  • As with Dozier, Kendrick’s likely heading for a one-year deal. However, in Kendrick’s case, that has far more to do with age than performance. After all, the long-solid Kendrick, 36, has been an offensive machine all season. Kendrick slashed a jaw-dropping .344/.395/.572 with 17 homers in 370 PA during the regular campaign, when Statcast more than backed up his bottom-line output. Just four qualified hitters (some names you may recognize in Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich and Nelson Cruz) outdid Kendrick’s .418 expected weighted on-base average. Kendrick has further cemented himself in Washington lore with a productive postseason, with his decisive grand slam in Game 5 of the team’s NLDS victory over the Dodgers sure to count among the franchise’s greatest moments for decades to come.

Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B/3B:

  • The 33-year-old Cabrera has been an outstanding in-season pickup for Washington, which grabbed him off the scrapheap after Texas released him in early August. Cabrera was only a .235/.318/.393 hitter at that point, but he slashed an excellent .323/.404/.565 in 146 regular-season PA after donning a Nats uniform. Cabrera’s D.C. production should be enough to earn him another guaranteed deal in the offseason.

Gerardo Parra, OF:

  • It’s hard to believe, but Parra has turned into a folk hero in Washington since the club brought him on a low-cost deal toward the beginning of May. At that point, Parra was the owner of a paltry .546 OPS and someone the Giants understandably jettisoned despite obvious needs in their outfield. Not only has Parra hit a much-improved .250/.300/.447 in 204 trips to the plate since then, but his “Baby Shark” intro has helped make him a fan and clubhouse favorite. It doesn’t look as if Parra would be a bad investment on what’s sure to be another low-paying deal.

Daniel Hudson, RP:

  • The hard-throwing Hudson didn’t appear to be an exciting addition for the Nationals when they acquired him from the Blue Jays at the July trade deadline, but he has since established himself an indispensable part of their bullpen. Hudson pitched to a 1.44 ERA (with a 3.53 FIP) and totaled 23 strikeouts against two walks in 25 regular-season innings as a Nat. The brilliance has largely continued in the postseason for the 32-year-old, who has thrown seven frames of one-earned run ball and converted all four of his save chances. Hudson had to settle for a $1.5MM contract with the Jays right before the season started, but he should do far better next time. A two-year deal in the $10MM range could be in the offing this winter.

Jeremy Hellickson, RHP:

  • Hellickson was a quality member of the Nationals’ pitching staff in 2018, which led the club to bring back the former AL Rookie of the Year on a $1.3MM guarantee last winter. At that price, it was a gamble worth taking for the Nationals, but it didn’t work out. The 32-year-old Hellickson struggled into May before missing the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Assuming Hellickson signs somewhere in the offseason, he’ll be getting a minor league pact.

Fernando Rodney, RP:

  • This season has been a wild ride for the 42-year-old Rodney, who bombed with the Athletics in the early going, got his release in late May, signed a minors deal with the Nats a week later and is now part of a World Series roster. The nomadic arrow slinger tossed 33 1/3 regular-season innings of 4.05 ERA/3.72 FIP ball and posted 9.5 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 after the Nationals brought him up in late June. Rodney has added 2 2/3 scoreless frames during the playoffs. Will that be enough for Rodney to pick up a major league deal over the winter? Perhaps, but he’s obviously not going to break the bank.

Jonny Venters, RP:

  • Venters, who has seemingly overcome one awful injury after another during his career, will have to do so yet again. No stranger to the operating table, Venters underwent yet another serious procedure (on a torn capsule in his left shoulder) in August. The 34-year-old’s career could conceivably be over, though he’ll try to get off the mat one more time.

Mets Notes: Managerial Search, Wheeler

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The Mets have begun narrowing the field in their managerial search, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that neither Padres first base coach Skip Schumaker nor D-backs director of player development Mike Bell will receive a second interview. Joe Girardi, Eduardo Perez, Carlos Beltran, Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas, Nationals first base coach Tim Bogar and Twins bench coach Derek Shelton are all in line for second-round interviews in the near future. New York’s search doesn’t appear to be as far along as that of the Phillies, who are reportedly down to three veteran candidates with Girardi reported to be in the lead. The Phils could make Girardi an offer well before the Mets’ search is near completion, which would further narrow the field but remove a prominent contender for the position.

Meanwhile, Newsday’s David Lennon explores the lack of clarity in the Mets’ search, opining that it’s strange that an organization that has likely expected to be seeking a new skipper since midseason would still be so uncertain regarding the qualities it hopes to find in a new manager. The Mets have indeed interviewed a rather wide-reaching slate of candidates, and the remaining group is fairly eclectic without a clear front-runner.

Here’s more out of Queens…

  • Everyone loves a “mystery team” in free agency, but how about a “mystery candidate” in a managerial search? Both MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and SNY’s Andy Martino suggested the that a “bombshell” candidate is in the mix if none of the presently known options distinguishes himself (Twitter links). That only furthers the notion that the Wilpon family isn’t sure what type of skipper they’re seeking. Speculation and or eye-rolls will surely abound, though both Heyman and Martino both ruled out David Wright, while Heyman adds that Alex Rodriguez could only laugh when asked about the possibility. MLBTR’s Connor Byrne put his money on Benny Agbayani, and I’m calling that the Mets double down on their Brodie Van Wagenen investment and make him the manager as well (kidding … mostly).
  • Turning to the Mets’ actual roster, The Athletic’s Tim Britton explores Zack Wheeler’s impending free agency and whether he’s a fit to re-sign with the team in free agency (subscription link). The call on issuing Wheeler a qualifying offer is an easy “yes,” he opines — we at MLBTR are inclined to agree — as is Wheeler’s decision to reject it. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently laid out, the Mets not only lack flexibility but are actually on pace to spend more on the current roster than they did in 2019. Britton notes that the Mets would need to be OK with surpassing or at least flirting with the luxury tax in order to re-sign Wheeler, though he contends that with Wright, Yoenis Cespedes, Jed Lowrie and Wilson Ramos all off the books following the 2020 season (to say nothing of Justin Wilson and Marcus Stroman), surpassing the luxury threshold would be justifiable for a win-now Mets club. Of course, despite playing in New York, the Mets haven’t crossed that line before and have not carried an Opening Day payroll greater than this season’s $158.5MM mark.

Trade Candidate: Jose Quintana

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The Cubs, in the wake of a 2019 showing that can’t be classified as much other than a brutal disappointment, are now facing several fascinating offseason questions. Among them: Which person should they choose to succeed ousted championship manager Joe Maddon? Should they shop Kris Bryant or any other stars? Should they make a serious effort to re-sign soon-to-be free agent Nicholas Castellanos? There may not be an obvious answer to any of those questions, but there is in regards to the future of left-hander Jose Quintana. Should the Cubs exercise his $11.5MM option (in lieu of a $1MM buyout) for next season? Absolutely.

To be clear, 2019 was not a stellar season for Quintana, whom the Cubs acquired from the White Sox in July 2017 in what could go down as a costly trade for the North Siders. The Cubs gave up then-prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease, two players who now look as if they’ll be cornerstones for the White Sox. It was understandable from the Cubs’ perspective at the time, as Quintana was then one of the game’s most underrated front-line workhorses – not to mention someone on a sweetheart contract.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, Quintana simply hasn’t produced like the under-the-radar standout from the White Sox since they got him. At that point, Quintana was coming off four straight seasons of 200-plus innings – an 814 2/3-frame span in which he notched a 3.35 ERA/3.34 FIP with 7.73 K/9 and 2.23 BB/9. The Cubs’ Quintana hasn’t amassed more than 188 2/3 innings in a season, and his run prevention has fallen off since his South Side salad days. Quintana owns a less impressive 4.23 ERA/3.95 FIP in 429 2/3 frames as a Cub.

To Quintana’s credit, he has struck out 8.55 hitters per nine against 2.83 walks since changing Chicago addresses. His 91-92 mph average fastball velocity and roughly 8 percent swinging-strike rate have also remained intact in recent years. So, unlike some other prominent pitchers whose bottom-line results have recently declined (Chris Archer?), Quintana’s far from broken. It’s pretty clear Quintana’s still an asset, though whether the Cubs see him as integral enough to keep in 2020 – his last year of team control – is up in the air.

Again, it should be a slam dunk to say yes to Quintana’s option. But will the Cubs shop the soon-to-be 31-year-old around after picking it up? On one hand, the answer should be no. The Cubs don’t have clear non-Quintana solutions in their rotation aside from Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish and Jon Lester, especially with Cole Hamels set for free agency, and they’re not teeming with young starters who are about to take the league by storm. With that in mind, keeping Quintana would be a perfectly defensible choice from the team’s perspective. On the other hand, there’s a case the Cubs are really in position to shake things up this winter, and parting with Quintana could prove to be part of their restructuring. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein was upset with Chicago’s performance off a playoff berth a year ago, so he may well be apoplectic behind the scenes now after a late collapse and no October ball this season.

One problem for Chicago, which is leery of the luxury tax, is that it hardly has an endless supply of spending room. The Cubs opened 2019 with a payroll a little over $203MM, per Cot’s. MLBTR’s Chicago aficionado, Tim Dierkes, forecasts something in the $205MM range (slightly below the tax) for next season. Including arbitration projections and excluding likely non-tender Addison Russell, the Cubs come in around $180MM. Finding a way to shave Quintana’s money via trade would free up quite a bit more spending space for the club while perhaps opening the door for a major upgrade (would it pursue Gerrit Cole?). And it shouldn’t be that challenging for the Cubs to find a taker for Quintana, who’s better than the extreme majority of pending free-agent starters.

Pound for pound, aside from Cole, opt-out candidate Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Madison Bumgarner, are there any free agents-to-be who are clearly preferable to Quintana? Hamels? Dallas Keuchel? Jake Odorizzi? Arguably, but they’ll all come at higher commitments than what Quintana’s owed next year. Quintana’s affordability could help persuade the Cubs to retain him, but if they shop him in an effort to make over their roster, there should be a solid amount of interest from around the league.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

MLBTR Poll: Record Money For Gerrit Cole?

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Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole is just moments away from taking the ball against the Nationals in Game 1 of the teams’ World Series matchup. It’s a well-deserved honor for Cole, who has perhaps been the premier pitcher in baseball this season. The 29-year-old logged a sterling 2.50 ERA/2.64 FIP with a ridiculous 13.82 K/9 against 2.03 BB/9 over 212 1/3 regular-season innings in 2019. He was far and away the league leader in strikeouts (326), totaling 26 more than second-place finisher and Astros co-ace Justin Verlander.

Since his incredible regular season ended, Cole has added to his mystique with what has been a legendary playoff run. Cole dismantled the Rays and Yankees over three starts and 22 2/3 innings during the AL playoffs, yielding a mere one earned run on 10 hits with 32 strikeouts against eight walks. Unsurprisingly, the Astros went 3-0 in those games.

Cole may next help pitch the Astros to a World Series title in the coming days, but he’ll have plenty ahead of him after that. Not only does Cole look like a strong possibility to win his first Cy Young Award when the Fall Classic ends, but he might be weeks from scoring the largest contract a pitcher has ever received. To this point, just four hurlers – David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer (Cole’s Game 1 World Series opponent) and Zack Greinke (now a Cole teammate) – have landed guarantees of $200MM or more. For now, the most valuable pact ever continues to belong to Price, whom the Red Sox signed for seven years and $217MM entering 2016.

There may have been skepticism earlier in the season in regards to Cole’s chances of joining Price and the rest of the $200MM club, but there shouldn’t be anymore. The question now doesn’t seem to be whether Cole, a pending free agent, will land a $200MM-plus guarantee; rather, it’s by how much his next deal will exceed that mark. The only potential free-agent starter who’s anywhere close to Cole’s stratosphere is Nationals righty Stephen Strasburg, a World Series foe, but he’s not even a lock to reach the open market. For Strasburg, doing so would mean opting out of the four years and $100MM left on his pact. Should Strasburg do it? Probably. But even if he does, it won’t preclude Cole from securing one of the richest (if not the richest) contracts anyone in the game has ever received.

It’s not hard to imagine deep-pocketed teams like Cole’s Astros, the Angels, Yankees, Nats, Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs and Giants, not to mention lower-payroll clubs like the Twins, White Sox, Rangers and Padres, among those in the mix for his services. So, there ought to be plenty of competition for Cole, which should help agent Scott Boras’ cause as he shops his star client around the league during the offseason. With Boras’ help, Cole may be on the verge of reeling in the biggest contract ever for a pitcher. Do you expect it to happen?

(Poll link for app users)

Evan Gattis Not Actively Seeking Playing Opportunities

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Evan Gattis has stayed out of the spotlight for quite some time, with nary a word printed about whether the former catcher/designated hitter was pursuing a new contract until the Astros invited him to be a part of the first-pitch ceremony prior to tonight’s Game 1 of the World Series. (MLBTR reached out to Gattis’ camp earlier this season to inquire but did not receive a reply.) He’ll catch tonight’s first pitch from former teammate Brian McCann, who retired following Atlanta’s ousting from this year’s playoffs.

Gattis broke the silence surrounding his status today when he spoke with FOX 26’s Mark Berman today about his 2019 absence from baseball (Twitter link). Gattis has not formally retired, but he also doesn’t sound like he’s seeking out any new opportunities.

“I really don’t have an answer,” said Gattis. “I don’t even know if I could play, but right now I don’t want to. [Baseball] was a huge part of my life, but I was ready.”

At this point, if Gattis wished to make a return to baseball, he’d surely need to settle for a minor league pact, though the slugger didn’t seem to have any problem with that notion. “If I really want to play,” Gattis told Berman, “I’ll go play, whether it be in Double-A, Triple-A or the big leagues. But it has been such a big transition, much like before I came back to play in baseball again.” Gattis, for those unfamiliar with his remarkable journey, battled depression and drug use after walking away from baseball following high school (as chronicled by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale back in 2013).

Now 33 years of age, Gattis last suited up in 2018 when he appeared in 128 games for Houston and batted .226/.284/.452 with 25 home runs in 451 trips to the plate. He won a World Series ring with the ’Stros a year prior and spent parts of four seasons with the club (plus another two in Atlanta), becoming a fan favorite of many along the way. In all, he’s a career .248/.300/.476 hitter in 706 MLB games (2662 plate appearances).

Joe Girardi The Reported Favorite In Phillies’ Managerial Search

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Oct. 22: Girardi has emerged as the favorite in the Phillies search for a new manager, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen hears the same.

A match with the Phillies is not a foregone conclusion, however; Girardi is undergoing a second interview with the Mets today, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link), so he’s still very much in the running for one of Philadelphia’s division rivals. There’s been no indication of a contract offer to this point. Even if (or when) the Phils do make an offer, it’s possible that Girardi will prefer one of the other openings for which he’s interviewed. He’s been tied most prominently to the vacancies in Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, and it appears increasingly likely that he’ll be back in a big league dugout in 2020.

Oct. 21: Phillies owner John Middleton had the determining vote in the team’s decision to fire manager Gabe Kapler, and he could wield his power again in finding a new skipper. Middleton’s said to be “leaning toward” Joe Girardi as the choice, while other members of the Phillies’ hierarchy are fans of fellow finalist Buck Showalter, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. There’s no word on whether Dusty Baker, who has also been in the mix, is still a candidate for the job.

Girardi, reportedly the favorite for the position, had his second interview with the club Monday. Unlike Kapler, a first-time MLB skipper at the time of his hiring, Girardi brings a wealth of experience in the role. The 55-year-old oversaw the NL East rival Marlins back in 2006, when he led a low-payroll club to 78 wins en route to NL Manager of the Year honors. The dysfunctional Marlins fired Girardi in the wake of that season, though, and after a year off, he accepted the Yankees’ managerial job entering 2008. Girardi, who ultimately remained in the position through 2017, helped the Yankees to six playoff berths. In Girardi’s crowning achievement as New York’s manager, the team knocked off his next potential employer, Philadelphia, in the 2009 World Series.

Showalter, seemingly Girardi’s main competition, also comes with significant experience as a manager (20 years, to be exact). As of last week, Middleton was reportedly collecting information from players on Showalter. There’s already quite a bit of familiarity between Showalter and key members of the Phillies’ front office, making it unsurprising they’re interested in hiring the 63-year-old. Showalter last managed in Baltimore, where now-Philly president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak worked before landing their current gigs. MacPhail hired Showalter to steer the Orioles, but it doesn’t appear the two will be reuniting if Girardi truly is Middleton’s No. 1 target.

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