Phillies Hire Juan Castro
The Phillies have hired Juan Castro as their new infield coach, the team announced after the news was reported by MLB.com’s Jon Morosi and Todd Zolecki (Twitter link). He takes the position vacated by Bobby Dickerson, who is now the Padres’ bench coach.
Castro was already with the Philadelphia organization, having served as its minor-league infield coordinator in 2019. He also played with the Phillies briefly in 2010 — one of the final stops in a big-league career that spanned 17 seasons and five clubs.
Despite possessing little in the way of MLB-worthy hitting ability, Castro commanded nearly three thousand lifetime plate appearances owing to his magical glovework. After wrapping up his playing career following the 2011 campaign, and before landing with the Phils, Castro worked in varying capacities with the Dodgers and the Mexican League’s Tijuana Toros.
Royals Release Jacob Barnes
Nov. 8: Barnes has been released after clearing waivers, the Royals announced.
Nov. 6: The Royals have requested unconditional release waivers on Barnes, per a team announcement.
Nov. 4: The Royals announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Jacob Barnes for assignment. The club needed to open a 40-man roster spot to facilitate the reinstatement of Salvador Perez and Kelvin Gutierrez from the 60-day injured list. Kansas City will have a week to trade Barnes or run him through outright waivers, with the latter path seemingly the likelier of the two.
Barnes, 29, recorded a combined 3.54 ERA with 9.3 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and 0.8 HR/9 in 147 1/3 innings for the Brewers from 2016-18. The 2019 season was an all-out nightmare, however, as he was clobbered for an ERA just shy of 7.00 in 19 2/3 innings as a Brewer before allowing 13 runs (12 earned) in 13 innings with the Royals. Barnes’ 93.7 mph average fastball in 2019 was down three full miles per hour from its peak. Perhaps correspondingly, he’s experienced a six percent drop in swinging-strike rate and an eight percent dip in his opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone.
Padres Release Eric Yardley
The Padres have released right-hander Eric Yardley, per the transactions log at MLB.com. He’d been designated for assignment earlier this week and was cut loose upon clearing waivers.
Yardley, 29, made his MLB debut with San Diego in 2019. The Seattle University grad went undrafted and pitched in the independent Pecos League out of college before signing on with the Padres as a minor league free agent. He’s been in their system since 2013 and long posted sharp numbers without getting a call to the big leagues.
That changed this past season, as Yardley parlayed a 2.83 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.42 HR/9 and 63.8 percent ground-ball rate in the extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League into his first taste of the Major Leagues. The 6’0″, 165-pound sidearmer acquitted himself well, too, allowing just three earned runs on 12 hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.
As with many sidearm pitchers, Yardley isn’t going to blow anyone away with velocity. His sinker checked in at an average of just 86.2 mph in the Majors this season. But, as has been the case in Triple-A (both this season and in years past), Yardley was a ground-ball machine with the Padres, inducing grounders at a 64.1 percent clip in his limited sample of work.
Padres To Name Larry Rothschild Pitching Coach
The Padres are set to hire Larry Rothschild as their new pitching coach, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The 65-year-old was recently let go by the Yankees with one year remaining on his contract. Rothschild will be replacing one of the game’s longest-tenured coaches, Darren Balsley, who will change gears and work as a special assistant working with the club’s minor league pitchers.
Rothschild has spent the past nine seasons as the pitching coach in the Bronx and spent nine years prior to that as the pitching coach for the Cubs. He has extensive experience working as a minor league pitching coordinator and Major League bullpen coach, and he was also the inaugural manager of the Rays — a role he held from 1998 to 2001. Balsley, according to Acee, is taking on a less-demanding role in the organization to spend more time with his son, who has committed to play for San Diego State once he graduates high school this spring.
It’s the latest of several changes in the San Diego dugout this offseason. Manager Andy Green was fired after four years on the job, and he’s been replaced by the Rangers’ Jayce Tingler. Meanwhile, the Friars are also set to announce the hiring of Phillies infield coach Bobby Dickerson as their new bench coach.
Phillies GM Matt Klentak On Rotation, Free Agency, Kingery
The Phillies’ pair of playoff misses in 2018-19 prompted a managerial change, and with veteran skipper Joe Girardi now at the helm, postseason expectations are even higher. With those postseason aspirations comes the expectation of an active offseason — a topic which general manager Matt Klentak discussed with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on the 94WIP Midday Show yesterday (link includes full audio). Unsurprisingly, bolstering the rotation is a key goal for the Phils.
“We’ve built a pretty solid core, we think, on the position-player front,” said Klentak. “So I think it makes sense for us to look to pour some more resources, and our time and attention, into improving our run prevention. That starts in the starting rotation.”
Aaron Nola will once again head up the Phillies’ starting staff in 2020, and Klentak said within the interview that Jake Arrieta is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training after undergoing August surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow. (The hope, of course, is that better health from Arrieta will lead to better results than 2019’s 4.64 ERA in 135 innings.) Beyond that pairing, 25-year-old righty Zach Eflin seems likeliest to have a tentative rotation spot, although he briefly lost his starting gig in 2019. The team’s other primary starters in 2019 — Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas — either struggled greatly (Pivetta, Velasquez), have since departed via free agency (Smyly) or both (Vargas).
At bare minimum, it’d seem the Phillies have two rotation vacancies to address. The good news is that this year’s free-agent market is deeper than many recent offseasons in terms of starters. Fans, however, shouldn’t necessarily hang their hopes on Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg or Zack Wheeler coming to town. While Klentak didn’t firmly decree that the team won’t sign a player that has rejected a qualifying offer, he implied that the organization will need to stop doing so at some point.
“I’m more bullish on the farm system than some,” the GM explained when asked about improving his minor league talent base. “One of the things we’ve got to try to do, if we can, is to not forfeit draft picks, and that’s hard when you’re fishing in the deep end of the free-agent pond. But we lost our second-round pick last year and our second and third the year before. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s where Scott Kingery comes from. That’s where Spencer Howard comes from. That’s where Connor Seabold comes from. … We’ve got to try to hang onto that as much as we can.”
Again, it’s not a firm declaration that such a move won’t happen. The Phillies certainly have the payroll capacity, in both the short- and long-term, to add a high-end arm on the open market, and they’ve clearly been willing to make draft sacrifices recently. But if the preference is to maintain as much draft capital as possible, the team could also look to non-qualified free agents to bolster the staff. Cole, Straburg, Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner and Jake Odorizzi are the five starters that received (and will likely reject) qualifying offers.
Reigning NL ERA leader Hyun-Jin Ryu was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer, though, and the Cubs opted not to extend a QO to old friend Cole Hamels, who just yesterday expressed interest in a return to Philly. Other notable free-agent names include Dallas Keuchel, Michael Pineda and Rick Porcello, among many others.
Beyond the pitching staff, Klentak briefly touched on some notable points pertaining to the lineup. McCutchen, like Arrieta, is expected to be ready for day one of Spring Training after suffering a season-ending ACL tear back in June. Barring setbacks, he’ll reclaim a spot in the outfield, but the composition of that unit is in many ways dependent on the status of Odubel Herrera, who sat out the final 85 games of the season under a domestic violence suspension.
Klentak was noncommittal on Herrera’s future when asked, instead focusing his response on the competition that arose in center field during his absence. Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn and Kingery impressed in center, per the GM. Kingery, in particular, drew extensive praise from Klentak, who noted that the 25-year-old’s versatility is not only a luxury for the manager but for the front office.
“If we’re looking to add a bat, for instance, we don’t have to look at just one position,” said Klentak. “We can look at a variety of different spots, knowing that Scott Kingery can not just capably, but masterfully, fill in defensively just about anywhere. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say he’s our best defensive second baseman, shortstop, third baseman and center fielder.”
The Phillies have a pair of trade/non-tender candidates at second base (Cesar Hernandez) and third base (Maikel Franco) in addition to the aforementioned uncertainty in center field, making that comfort with Kingery at four different positions particularly noteworthy. That creates a relatively blank canvas for Klentak and his staff when looking to improve the lineup and/or the defense. As is the case with the rotation, Klentak will have virtually innumerable avenues to explore, setting the stage for another offseason of heavy lifting for the Philly front office.
Hiroshima Carp To Post Infielder Ryosuke Kikuchi
The Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced this week their intention to allow second baseman Ryosuke Kikuchi to pursue an opportunity in Major League Baseball via the posting system, the Japan Times reports.
The 29-year-old Kikuchi doesn’t carry eye-popping offensive totals throughout his career. He’s a lifetime .271/.315/.391 hitter, including .261/.313/.406 in 619 plate appearances in 2019. He walked at a 6.6 percent clip this past season and struck out in 16.4 percent of his plate appearances, which is roughly in line with the solid contact numbers he’s posted throughout his career.
Where Kikuchi shines, however, is with the glove. He’s regarded as one of Japan’s best defensive players and has won a Golden Glove honor in each of the past seven years. There’s no shortage of highlights available on YouTube, and fans of the World Baseball Classic may recall some standout plays from the 2017 tournament (as well as an opposite-field, game-tying home run against Team USA’s Nate Jones).
Late in September, Will Hoefer of Sports Info Solutions profiled Kikuchi while looking at some NPB players who might try to make the jump to MLB this winter, noting that Kikuchi led all NPB second baseman with 20 Defensive Runs Saved in 2018-19. Kikuchi is only listed at 5’7″ and 152 pounds, but Simon notes that he’s a plus runner, which helps him take advantage of the aforementioned contact skills.
Whether Kikuchi’s defensive prowess will garner the attention of big league teams remains largely an unknown at this point. The offseason market for second basemen already has plenty of serviceable options in free agency, as Howie Kendrick, Brian Dozier, Starlin Castro, Jonathan Schoop, Ben Zobrist, Jason Kipnis, Eric Sogard, Brock Holt and Wilmer Flores are among the many veterans available. The trade market, too, figures to have a few options, including Jonathan Villar.
Under the current iteration of the posting system, the Carp can post Kikuchi anytime between Nov. 1 and Dec. 5. The old blind bidding and set release fee systems are no longer in place, having given way to a new system that entitles a player’s former club to a release fee that is determined based on the size of the contract he signs in Major League Baseball. That posting fee is equal to 20 percent of a contract’s first $25MM, plus an additional 17.5 percent of any guaranteed money from $25-50MM and finally another 15 percent for any dollars over $50MM. With regard to minor league contracts, the posted player’s former club would receive a release fee equal to 25 percent of the signing bonus (plus a supplemental release fee if the player is added to the active roster and receives a Major League salary).
The Carp have yet to announce the specific date on which Kikuchi will be posted. He’s the second NPB player known to be up for posting this winter, joining Yokohama DeNa BayStars slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. Seibu Lions center fielder Shogo Akiyama, meanwhile, is seeking a Major League opportunity as well but is not subject to the posting system, as he has more than nine years of service time in NPB. He’s a pure free agent who can sign with any team.
AL East Notes: McNeil, Rays, Didi, Shapiro
“The Rays were focused on” super-utilityman Jeff McNeil in trade talks with the Mets last offseason, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. McNeil’s multi-position ability and pre-arbitration salary status make him an ideal target for the Rays, making Sherman wonder if Tampa Bay could again target McNeil this winter, though the Mets’ asking price has surely gone up in the wake of McNeil’s outstanding 2019 season. Sherman’s piece floats some potential trades to help the Mets address their center field need, including his speculative suggestion of a Kevin Kiermaier/Yonny Chirinos for McNeil swap. The Rays would get their desired “low-cost Swiss Army Knife” of a player and also get Kiermaier’s contract off the books, with Chirinos involved to add a young arm to New York’s rotation and entice the Mets to swallow Kiermaier’s $36MM in remaining salary. Sherman looks further within the AL East to cite the Red Sox as another possible trade partners for the center field-needy Mets, as Jackie Bradley Jr. could be available, or there’s always the “pipedream” of a one-for-one swap of Mookie Betts for Noah Syndergaard.
More from around the East…
- The Yankees decided against issuing a one-year, $17.8MM qualifying offer to Didi Gregorius, leaving SNY.tv’s Andy Martino wondering if the shortstop’s days in the Bronx could be over. One industry source describes the chances of Gregorius returning to New York in 2020 as “a very close call,” especially since Martino notes that Gregorius and his representatives believe they can find a multi-year deal in free agency. Even after an injury-shortened down year, Gregorius is still the best shortstop option on the free agent market; MLBTR ranked him 12th on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents and predicted he’d land a three-year, $42MM contract. It’s worth noting that this deal would work out to less in average annual value than the one-year cost of the QO, so it isn’t out of the question that the Yankees could still try to bring back Gregorius for multiple years, though at a smaller hit to their 2020 luxury tax number.
- Blue Jays president/CEO Mark Shapiro discussed Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s offseason training regiment, baseball labor relations, and some hot stove business amidst a variety of topics in a radio interview with The Fan 590’s Scott MacArthur, Ashley Docking, and Mike Zigomanis (audio link). The Blue Jays are known to be looking for pitching this winter, with Shapiro saying “we’re going to have to be aggressive on every level of the free agent starting pitcher landscape.” This could mean at least checking into the top-tier names on the pitching market, though given Shapiro also noted that “if you look at the history of free agent pitching contracts, it is a really, really, really high-risk area to play in.” All things considered, the odds seem to be against Toronto landing an elite arm like Gerrit Cole at this point in their rebuilding process. “Dollars are not going to be our challenge, which hasn’t always been the case,” Shapiro said. “It’s going to be where we fit with Gerrit’s alignment of interests…same thing with every free agent we pursue. What I am confident is, that throughout the free agency process we’ll be able to get better this winter, and we’ll have the resources to do it.”
- There have been rumors about a possible extension between Shapiro and the Blue Jays since 2020 is the last year of the CEO’s deal, though he didn’t give any new details on that front. Shapiro did reiterate his desire to stay in Toronto and “I’ve received nothing but positive feedback from the people that I report to about wanting me to remain here.”
Pirates Considering Ben Cherington As Baseball Operations Head
Blue Jays VP of baseball operations and former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is a candidate to be the Pirates’ next head of baseball operations, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Cherington has worked for Toronto for the last three-plus seasons, after taking a little over a year away from baseball after being fired by the Sox in August 2015.
Cherington joins Pirates assistant GM and current acting general manager Kevan Graves as the only known candidates to take over the Pittsburgh front office. Other notable names have already been mentioned as potential candidates, including another name from the Jays in senior VP of player personnel Tony LaCava, and another former Red Sox GM (and Orioles GM) in Dan Duquette. Interviews with potential candidates were expected to begin this week, though there isn’t yet any indication that Cherington has officially sat down with Pirates top brass.
The Pirates cleaned house after 69-93 season that was disastrous on and off the field, as the club parted ways with manager Clint Hurdle, team president Frank Coonelly, and GM Neal Huntington, though all in somewhat staggered fashion over the course of a month. Travis Williams has already stepped in as the new team president, though the managerial search that was already weeks old was put on pause while Huntington’s replacement was found.
After Theo Epstein departed the Red Sox following the 2011, Cherington (following 13 years in various role in Boston’s front office) took over as general manager. His tenure with the club saw the Sox finish in last place in the AL East in 2012, 2014, and 2015, yet win the World Series in 2013, giving him one of the most unusual resumes of any top executive in recent memory. While several mid-tier acquisitions were key to the 2013 championship, Cherington was hampered by bigger-ticket signings that didn’t pan out, most notably Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Cherington was credited, however, with the development of such young starts as Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, and Eduardo Rodriguez, all of whom were either drafted or largely developed during Cherington’s time as general manager.
Multiple teams have had interest in hiring Cherington for GM openings in recent years, though he declined interviews last year, with Rosenthal reporting at the time that Cherington was mostly interested in a situation that would allow him to completely rebuild a team. The Pirates could represent such a situation, as while the team has talent on hand, an argument could be made that a revamp could be necessary before the Bucs are able to again be truly competitive in the tough NL Central.
Yankees To Hire Matt Blake As Pitching Coach
The Yankees will hire Matt Blake as their new pitching coach, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). Blake is being hired out of the Indians front office, as he was promoted to the role of Cleveland’s director of pitching development just two days ago, after working as a pitching coordinator and assistant director of pitching development for the previous three seasons. Blake also has past ties to the Yankees, as he worked for the Bronx Bombers as an area scout before heading to Cleveland.
At only 33 years old, Blake will provide the younger and more analytic-based approach that the Yankees were seeking to find as they looked to replace longtime pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Of the four known candidates for the job, three (with former Yankees star David Cone as the outlier) were younger names in their 30’s without much any direct coaching experience on an MLB staff. University of Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter and Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs were the two other names linked to the Yankees’ search.
It’s difficult to say the Yankees pitchers exactly struggled last year, as both New York’s starters and relievers ranked in the top half of the league in most major statistical categories despite some key names (Luis Severino, Dellin Betances) lost to injury for virtually the entire season. However, a lack of reliable innings from the rotation quickly became an issue in the ALCS, as the Yankees leaned hard on their bullpen and ultimately came up short to the Astros in six games.
It will be up to Blake to modernize the Yankees’ handling of their arms, and it perhaps isn’t surprising that New York hired someone from a Cleveland organization that has excelled at developing homegrown pitching in recent years. Indians manager Terry Francona recently praised Blake’s work in preparing young hurlers such as Jefry Rodriguez, Zach Plesac, and Aaron Civale, with the latter two making their Major League debuts in 2019.
Orioles Notes: Elias, Middle Infield, Mancini, Ynoa, Mallee
Orioles GM Mike Elias addressed several topics in an interview on 105.7 The Fan radio tonight, with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter links) and MLB.com’s Joe Trezza (Twitter links) among the reporters who shared some highlights. Elias noted that the Orioles’ winter shopping list includes pitching, veteran middle infield help, and a defensive shortstop. Such a focus on the middle infield doesn’t necessarily indicate a change from the combination of shortstop Jonathan Villar and second baseman Hanser Alberto, though given Villar’s big $10.4MM projected arbitration salary has led to a lot of speculation that the O’s will look to trade or non-tender him. While not mentioning any names, Elias said the club has to make “tough decisions” in regards to whether or not to tender contracts to all seven of their arb-eligible players.
In other general transactional news, Elias again stated that his front office is open to listening on trade offers for any player as Baltimore continues its rebuild. This includes Trey Mancini, though Elias said “we expect him to stay here,” noting that he hopes Mancini could be signed to a long-term contract.
More from Charm City…
- Gabriel Ynoa re-signed with the Orioles the same day that he was outrighted off their 40-man roster last offseason, though another quick reunion doesn’t appear likely this winter, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. It isn’t to say that Ynoa might not return on another minor league deal, but the righty will first see if he can land a Major League contract — possibly a tall order after a 2019 season that saw Ynoa post a 5.61 ERA, 2.58 K/BB rate, and 5.4 K/9 over 110 1/2 innings for Baltimore, while surrendering a whopping 29 home runs. The O’s may also look for more accomplished pitching options before maybe circling back to Ynoa later in the offseason.
- From that same piece, Kubatko also reports that the Orioles had John Mallee as a candidate to join the team’s coaching staff before Mallee accepted a position with the Angels as their new assistant hitting coach. Mallee had some significant ties to the Orioles, as he and manager Brandon Hyde both worked together on the Cubs’ coaching staff under Joe Maddon, and Mallee was the Astros’ hitting coach in 2013-14 when Baltimore GM Mike Elias was working in Houston’s front office.