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Mariners, Mel Stottlemyre Jr. Part Ways

By Connor Byrne | October 1, 2018 at 6:02pm CDT

The Mariners won’t retain pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. for 2019, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. The rest of manager Scott Servais’ staff has been invited back for next season, Divish adds.

To this point, the 54-year-old Stottlemyre has been Servais’ sole pitching coach since the latter took the reins as the Mariners’ skipper after the 2015 season. During its three years under Stottlemyre, Seattle’s pitching staff was a middle-of-the-pack group, ranking 14th in the majors in ERA (4.19) and 17th in fWAR (39.5).

It’s difficult to quantify how much credit or blame to assign to Stottlemyre for the work he did, though it’s worth noting the Mariners have seen hurlers James Paxton, Edwin Diaz and Marco Gonzales emerge as strong pieces over the past couple years. Their presences will surely carry appeal as the team searches for Stottlemyre’s successor.

East Notes: Mets, Cespedes, Yanks, Sanchez, Braves

By Connor Byrne | October 1, 2018 at 5:09pm CDT

With Yoenis Cespedes set to miss some portion of next season as he recovers from two heel surgeries, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon admitted on Sunday that the team will have to plan as if he won’t play in 2019 (via Tim Healey of Newsday). “You probably do have to plan that way, given the fact that it’s uncertain,” Wilpon said of Cespedes, who will enter the penultimate season of a four-year, $110MM contract in 2019. Fortunately for the Mets, it appears they have at least two starting-caliber corner outfielders on hand in 2018 breakout star Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto, and their presences should make Cespedes’ absence less noticeable for however much time he misses next year.

Here’s more from New York and one other East Coast city:

The re-signing of Cespedes in 2016 has been the Mets’ biggest free-agent splash in recent years, but Wilpon suggested that hasn’t been because of an unwillingness to spend on the team’s part; rather, it was outgoing general manager Sandy Alderson recommendation that the club avoid high-priced free agents, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Mets fans don’t seem to buy it, though, as the responses to Puma’s tweet indicate.
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has come under fire for his difficulty with blocking pitches – he was the majors’ third-worst catcher in that department during the regular season, according to Baseball Prospectus – but general manager Brian Cashman isn’t overly concerned about that aspect of his game. “Believe it or not, that falls down (the list) compared to the other things he brings to the table, including his bat,” Cashman told NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty, who goes into detail about Sanchez’s subpar regular season. After establishing himself as an elite offensive catcher from 2016-17, his first two seasons, Sanchez fell flat during an injury-shortened year with a .186/.291/.406 line in 374 plate appearances. The 25-year-old continued to provide considerable power, though, evidenced by his 18 home runs and .220 isolated slugging mark, and may have deserved better production in general. Not only did Sanchez post a .220 batting average on balls in play, down from .308 over the previous two years, but he logged a .357 expected weighted on-base average – up 53 points from his .304 wOBA (per Statcast). And for all the handwringing over his defense, Sanchez actually earned a positive overall mark from BP.
From a statistical standpoint, Braves utilityman Ryan Flaherty had a less-than-stellar 2018, though he told ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick over the weekend that he’s interested in continuing his playing career next season. The 32-year-old also added that he has already thought about his next chapter in baseball, which could include working as a coach, manager or in a front office role, Crasnick relays. Flaherty’s fluent in Spanish, which is an obvious plus, and his father, Ed, has been eminently successful as the manager at Division III Southern Maine. Of course, those factors alone don’t mean Ryan Flaherty’s qualified to coach, but Braves skipper Brian Snitker believes he’s cut out for such a role. “I think he’d be a great coach or manager,’’ Snitker told Crasnick. “He has a good feel for the game. He knows the game. He’s a baseball guy, and he loves everything about it. I think it would be awesome if he stayed in the game. The game needs people like that.”

Pirates Dismiss Jeff Branson, Jeff Livesey

By Steve Adams | October 1, 2018 at 3:58pm CDT

The Pirates announced Monday that they will not bring hitting coach Jeff Branson and assistant hitting coach Jeff Livesey back as Major League coaches for the 2019 season. No additional coaching changes are expected, per the press release.

“We appreciate all of the time, energy and effort that Jeff and Jeff put into the team,” said general manager Neal Huntington in an official statement. “Both are high-character, hard-working, good baseball men. We felt that this was the right time to take our Major League hitting program in a different direction.”

Branson, 51, appeared in parts of nine Major League seasons between the Reds, Indians and Dodgers from 1992-2001. Both Branson and Livesey had been in their roles with the Pirates since the 2014 season. Brandon spent 16 seasons with the Pirates organization, previously serving as a coach and, for five seasons, a manager in the team’s minor league system. Livesey, too, spent 16 years in the organization and has served as a minor league manager and as a minor league hitting coordinator. He’s also spent four seasons as a bench coach with the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and another as the bench coach for NPB’s Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

By Jeff Todd | October 1, 2018 at 3:28pm CDT

Oct. 1: Ohtani’s surgery was performed today, tweets Maria Guardado of MLB.com.

Sept. 25: Angels starter and DH Shohei Ohtani will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, the club announced to reporters including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). While the outcome was expected, it’s nevertheless significant for a player who has emerged this year as an unprecedented dual threat.

Renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the procedure. Ohtani will almost certainly not return to the mound until the 2020 season. Of course, the expectation is that he will continue to function as a hitter for the Angels in 2019.

It’s extremely disappointing to see Ohtani’s first season in the majors draw to a close with surgery awaiting. That said, his continued excellence as a hitter since being shut down as a pitcher certainly leaves plenty of cause for continued excitement, even during his TJ rehab.

Ohtani will be ready to hit far before he’s ready to pitch, of course, so he and the Halos anticipate that he’ll be a full part of the roster next season. (Whether he’ll be ready by Opening Day is, however, not yet certain.) Once he’s ready to do both, Angels GM Billy Eppler recently made clear, he’ll go right back to functioning as a hybrid weapon unlike any other in baseball.

Of course, it’s also worth remembering that damage to Ohtani’s ulnar collateral ligament was evident before he joined the Angels over the winter. When new damage arose in the middle of the 2018 season, Ohtani tried a surgical alternative. But he went down again after ramping back up, making TJS an all-but-foregone outcome.

Ohtani is still putting the finishing touches on his season at the plate, but currently sports an eye-popping .280/.361/.564 slash with 21 home runs in 347 plate appearances. While he only has ten MLB starts under his belt, the 24-year-old has shown ample ability in that area as well. Through 51 2/3 innings, he posted a 3.31 ERA with 63 strikeouts against 22 walks.

With Ohtani on the shelf, and Garrett Richards slated for free agency after another Tommy John surgery of his own the Angels’ rotation is now officially on the look for significant help. The top rotation options heading out of the 2018 season appear to be Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, Matt Shoemaker, and Jaime Barria.

Nationals Notes: Harper, Strasburg, Offseason

By Steve Adams | October 1, 2018 at 3:05pm CDT

Bryce Harper recently spoke about his love for the Washington, D.C. and for the Nationals organization, plainly stating that he hopes to remain there beyond the 2018 season but also adding that he “[has] no idea” if he’s a part of the front office’s plans moving forward. General manager Mike Rizzo responded in candid fashion yesterday in talking with reporters (link via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). “Of course he’s in our plans,” said the GM. “He’s a part of our family. … Like I’ve always said, with these type of deals, you’re not betting on the baseball player; you’re betting on the person. He’s a person we’d like to have with us.” Rizzo, of course, didn’t make any definitive statements about the possibility of re-signing Harper. And as Janes points out, such a massive financial decision will ultimately be an ownership-level decision.

Diamondbacks Part Ways With Dave Magadan

By Steve Adams | October 1, 2018 at 1:08pm CDT

The D-backs announced Monday that they’ve “mutually parted ways” with hitting coach Dave Magadan. The remainder of the team’s coaching staff — pitching coach Mike Butcher, bullpen coach Mike Fetters, quality control/catching coach Robby Hammock, first base coach Dave McKay, bench coach Jerry Narron and third base coach Tony Perezchica — will return for the 2019 season under manager Torey Lovullo. Assistant hitting coach Tim Laker will be part of the search for Magadan’s replacement.

Magadan, 56, enjoyed a very solid playing career, hitting .288/.390/.377 with more walks (718) than strikeouts (546) over parts of 16 big league seasons. The 2018 season was his third as the Diamondbacks’ hitting coach and his 16th on a big league coaching staff. He’s also spent time as the hitting coach for the Padres, Red Sox (including their 2007 World Series season) and Rangers since retiring as a player.

The Diamondbacks were in contention for much of the season but collapsed in epic fashion over the season’s final month, following out of contention as the Rockies and Dodgers surged to a first-place tie in the NL West. The month of September was the D-backs’ second-worst of the season from an offensive standpoint, as they combined to hit just .214/.287/.374 as a team with 98 runs scored. Jack Magruder of The Sports Xchange tweets that Lovullo stressed that the decision was mutual in nature but also added that the team “did not live up to the expectations we had,” offensively.

Wainwright Wants To Pitch In 2019, Will Discuss New Deal With Cardinals

By Steve Adams | October 1, 2018 at 11:07am CDT

There’s been plenty of speculation about whether Adam Wainwright was playing out his final season as a big leaguer, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Wainwright does want to continue pitching and has already been in touch with the Cardinals about a possible return. GM Mike Girsch seemingly confirmed as much, telling Goold that the two sides have had “general conversations” about a 2019 return.

The 37-year-old Wainwright’s future was in doubt for much of the year, as he pitched just 15 1/3 innings in April before hitting the disabled list due to elbow inflammation. Wainwright returned after a few weeks only to return to the disabled list (once again, due to elbow discomfort) after just 2 1/3 innings. That second DL stint lasted nearly four months.

Wainwright, however, rattled off 17 scoreless innings on a minor league rehab assignment and returned to the St. Louis rotation in September, making four starts down the stretch. He allowed four runs in three of those four outings and pitched to an overall 4.84 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, but he also turned in a dominant 25-to-4 K/BB ratio. Fielding-independent metrics pegged him for a true ERA more in the low-3.00s, and his average fastball sat at an even 90.0 mph — nearly identical to his career 90.4 mph average. Wainwright won’t turn 38 until Aug. 30 of next year, and it seems that he still has fuel left in the tank on what has been a terrific career to date.

[Related: St. Louis Cardinals depth chart and payroll outlook]

Exactly how he’d fit into the pitching staff, however, remains to be seen. The Cards project to have Carlos Martinez, Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, Michael Wacha and, if healthy, Alex Reyes in next year’s rotation. If Reyes’ injury troubles persist or if he’s moved to a bullpen role, the St. Louis organization has numerous internal alternatives in Luke Weaver, Dakota Hudson, John Gant, Austin Gomber and Daniel Poncedeleon, among others. Certainly, it’s a deep core of starting pitching options and one that seems unlikely to maintain wholly intact as pitching-hungry teams offer up MLB-ready bats to the Cardinals on the offseason trade market.

Reinserting Wainwright into that mix would only deepen the staff and further make trades easier to stomach for Girsch and president of baseball ops John Mozeliak, though the financials of a Wainwright return still need to be hammered out. It’s clear that Wainwright won’t command a salary along the lines of the $19.5MM annual rate that came with his previous five-year, $97.5MM deal, but the Cards would still likely need to make a reasonable guarantee, likely with the opportunity for additional earnings via incentives.

Speculatively speaking, even if the organization were to decide that there’s no room for Wainwright in the rotation, it’d be interesting to see if he’d be amenable to returning as a reliever. Wainwright, after all, cemented himself in Cardinals lore by closing out the NLCS and the World Series as an exuberant 25-year-old rookie back in 2006. The Cardinals’ closer role is currently up in the air, and a return to that job for Wainwright would represent something of a full-circle journey.

The Cardinals already have more than $110MM on the books for 2019, and that’s before arbitration raises for Wacha, Marcell Ozuna, Dominic Leone, and Chasen Shreve. It’d be a surprise, though, if St. Louis didn’t try to shed some payroll by moving some veterans whose performance makes it clear that they no longer fit with the roster. Dexter Fowler’s remaining $49.5MM over the next three seasons will be near impossible to move without absorbing a significant portion of that deal, but he no longer looks to be a par of the long-term outlook in the outfield. Relievers Brett Cecil and Luke Gregerson are on less onerous contracts and could potentially be moved in salary-motivated trades, as well. Mozeliak, Girsch and the rest of the front office figure to be in for an active offseason, with the Wainwright decision presumably serving as the first of many.

AL East Rumors: Rays, Blue Jays, Orioles

By Steve Adams | October 1, 2018 at 9:32am CDT

On the heels of a surprisingly strong season, Rays general manager Erik Neander tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the team’s “arrow [is] pointing up” as it looks to the future. Neander plainly suggests that the expectation for the club moving forward with this core will be consistent playoff berths, beginning next season. Tampa Bay, stunningly, has just over $9MM on the books in guaranteed contracts next season, though both Matt Duffy and Tommy Pham will be in line for arbitration raises. Both C.J. Cron and Jesus Sucre will also be arbitration-eligible, but Topkin suggests that Cron, Sucre, Carlos Gomez and Sergio Romo may all have played their last game with the organization. Cron is owed a raise on this year’s $2.3MM salary, while Sucre will see a raise on his own $925K salary. Both Gomez and Romo are free agents.

Giants Notes: GM Search, Pence, Hundley, Holland

By Mark Polishuk | September 30, 2018 at 11:15pm CDT

Some items out of San Francisco…

Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp, Brewers assistant GM Matt Arnold, and Blue Jays VP of baseball operations Ben Cherington have all been linked to the Giants’ general manager position, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Going into more detail on Cherington, Cafardo believes Cherington’s use of both traditional scouting and modern analytics makes him an ideal all-around candidate for both the Giants and Mets jobs, as Cherington is reportedly also under consideration in New York.
Hunter Pence may have played his last game in a Giants uniform on Sunday, but the veteran outfielder tells reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area) that he isn’t ready to retire. In fact, he said he plans to “reinvent myself” after two unproductive seasons; Pence intends to overhaul his swing this offseason, and is planning a winter ball stint in Mexico or the Dominican Republic. “I feel strong, I feel healthy, I feel fast. I’m going to work on flexibility and changing my swing completely. I want to still play. It’s uncertain — hopefully I can find an opportunity, and I’m going to look for it,” Pence said.
Free agents Derek Holland and Nick Hundley are both hoping to return to the Giants in 2019, the duo told reporters (including NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic). Holland signed a minor league deal last February but will command a much more significant commitment this winter after posting a 3.57 ERA, 8.9 K/9, and 2.52 K/BB rate over 171 1/3 innings. He’d be a nice addition to the Giants’ rotation if the price is right, given how many lingering injury questions remain within the team’s pitching staff. Hundley has spent the last two years with the Giants as Buster Posey’s backup, and Pavlovic notes that the team would prefer a veteran backup presence behind the plate given that Posey will be recovering from hip surgery.

Central Notes: Mauer, Perez, Bader, Cardinals, Kang, Pirates

By Mark Polishuk | September 30, 2018 at 10:37pm CDT

It isn’t yet clear if Joe Mauer will retire or return for the 2019 season, though if Sunday’s game was his last hurrah in the big leagues, it was a special one. Mauer went 1-for-4 in the Twins’ 5-4 victory over the White Sox, though the most memorable moments included Mauer’s two daughters running onto the field to greet him at first base for the national anthem, as well as one final appearance behind the plate. Making his first appearance at catcher since 2013, Mauer donned his old gear to catch the first pitch of the ninth inning before being substituted out of the game to a standing ovation from the Target Field fans. “It’s just been an emotional roller coaster,” Mauer told reporters, including MLB,com’s Jarrid Denney. “I’m not 100 percent sure [about retiring or not], and like I said, I want to make sure I have time just to take a deep breath and really be behind that decision. But I couldn’t have asked for a better last day of the 2018 season, and I’m looking forward to just taking a breath and spending some time with my girls, my family, and we’ll go from there.”

Here’s more from both the AL and NL Central divisions…

Salvador Perez will undergo surgery this week to repair ligament damage in his thumb, as per an announcement from the Royals (Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star was among those to report the news). Perez said he has been playing through the injury for the last six weeks, and that while he’ll face some rehab time, it won’t keep him from being ready for Spring Training. “Twelve weeks [off], then start to hit,” Perez said of his immediate timeline. While Perez hit 27 homers this season, he contributed only a .235/.274/.439 overall batting line in 544 plate appearances, as his bad thumb and a Grade 2 MCL tear suffered in March likely kept him from operating at close to 100 percent all year.
Harrison Bader will be the Cardinals’ incumbent center fielder going into 2019, GM Michael Girsch told MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch and other media today. “It’s pretty obvious that he’s the best defensive center fielder we have. He’s hit more than well enough to earn the first shot at it,” Girsch said. Bader posted 3.6 fWAR in his first extended stretch of Major League action, hitting .264/.334/.422 with 12 homers and 15 steals over 427 PA, while also displaying outstanding glovework (+23.3 UZR/150, +11 Defensive Runs Saved) over 607 1/3 innings in center.
While Bader is in center and Marcell Ozuna has left field spoken for, right field is a less certain area for the Cardinals, despite several options. The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (subscription required) thinks St. Louis could even target Bryce Harper to solidify the position, since the team has the funds to make a big splash in free agency. That would be an eyebrow-raising signing to say the least, in no small part because the Cards have right field options available, though all have question marks. Jose Martinez is a poor defender, Tyler O’Neill is unproven as a Major Leaguer despite a promising start, and Dexter Fowler endured an injury-shortened and mediocre 2018 season. It would likely require trades of both Fowler and Martinez to fit Harper, which would be difficult given Fowler’s struggles and big contract.
Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters (including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, MLB.com’s Adam Berry, and The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel) that if Jung Ho Kang returns to the team next season, it will be as a third baseman only. Forty-nine of Kang’s 187 Major League games have come at shortstop, though it doesn’t appear as though the Bucs have any interest in utilizing him even as a backup. As to the question of Kang’s $5.5MM club option, the Pirates “have significant interest in seeing if there’s a middle ground” if the option isn’t exercised, Huntington said, though no contractual decision has yet been made. Injuries and legal issues have kept Kang out of Major League Baseball for almost all of the last two seasons, so it isn’t surprising that the Bucs are seeing if they could bring Kang back at a lower price, given that his market as a free agent could be rather limited.
Since Kang isn’t being considered for the backup shortstop role if he does return, Jordy Mercer could be a fit to return as a utility infielder. Huntington said the Pirates will “keep the door open” about possibly re-signing Mercer and Josh Harrison, though Mercer seems the better bet of the duo to return, as Mercer can fill the part-time role behind Kevin Newman at short.

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