Wally Backman Says Lack Of Respect Led To Departure From Mets
Former Mets Triple-A skipper Wally Backman has long been said to have a tense relationship with the organization’s baseball operations department, and his recent departure has led to a public back-and-forth. Once viewed by some as a future MLB coach or even manager in the organization, Backman is now on the market looking for a new team after six campaigns with the Mets.
Things started when Backman left the organization recently, with GM Sandy Alderson stating that he had resigned. Reports surfaced suggesting that the former big leaguer — a member of the ’86 Mets World Championship squad — was actually relieved of his duties owing to a “pattern of defiance” in his handling of the Mets’ top affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.
Backman released a statement today (courtesy ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin, on Twitter) in which he thanked the ownership group but said he “didn’t see a future with the Mets at the major league level at this time.” Expressing a desire to coach or manage in the majors, Backman said he’d look elsewhere.
That all seemed peaceful enough, but Backman also stated in a WFAN interview that he felt “the respect wasn’t there” from the club (also via Rubin). He added that he “felt I earned more than I’ve been given,” citing his role in helping the organization to draw several big league contributors (James Loney, Rene Rivera, Jose Reyes). Backman further contested suggestions from reports that he had failed to follow organizational dictates to plug Brandon Nimmo in the leadoff hole and play Michael Conforto against lefties. “Whoever put that out there, the source within the system, they lied,” he said. “And that’s the part that pisses me off.”
Those comments did not include any particular vitriol against GM Sandy Alderson, who has reportedly never been a fan of Backman. The former 51s skipper said only: “I thought [Alderson] respected me as a baseball person. I guess I wasn’t the prototypical person that he liked.” But Alderson did not take kindly to the idea that Backman had been treated without proper regard in failing to earn a promotion to the MLB staff, as Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. “That’s disrespectful?” queried Alderson. “Yeah, right. Okay.”
Whether or not Backman will be viewed by other teams as a possible major league asset remains to be seen. He states that he is versed in and open to stat-driven approaches despite his old school reputation. Regardless, he’ll no longer be looked upon by Mets fans as a possible replacement for skipper Terry Collins, who has helped guide the club back into Wild Card position after some rough stretches in the middle of the year.
Coppolella On Braves’ Offseason Plans, Prospects, Olivera, Kemp
Braves GM John Coppolella took over his club’s Twitter account today to address the organization’s direction. While he expressed disappointment that the win-loss record hasn’t shown much improvement, the focus obviously remains on the future for Atlanta. Still, he continued to suggest that the expectation is for the on-field product to begin improving in the near term … and also left no doubt that he follows Braves fandom rather closely on social media.
Here are some of the key points, with all links to Twitter:
[Related: Braves Depth Chart]
- Coppolella predicts that the Braves will be quite active in free agency, saying that the team has “more money to spend than in the past 10 years.” Atlanta has never been one of the biggest spenders around, so it’s not exactly a lofty bar, but with only $50MM on the books for 2017 (before arbitration raises) there ought to be some added freedom this winter. Coppy adds that he’s interested in making “major [free agent] signings” to bring in “impactful” players, with a focus (whether in free agency or trade) on adding “at least two” starters and bolstering the catching unit. The latter area, at least, is one of some depth on the coming market.
- The upcoming crop of open-market starters, of course, is about as thin as we’ve ever seen. But that remains a need for the Braves, with Coppolella saying he was disappointed in the lack of progress from the club’s young rotation members. He adds that “opportunity time is over in 2017” for those pitchers, who will “have to earn a rotation spot once [the Braves] add free agents.” One still-youthful staff member, Julio Teheran, has turned in an outstanding year. While Coppolella did not address the topic, I’d note that it’ll be interesting to see whether there is any chatter regarding the talented righty, whose stock is firmly on the rise. He has often been mentioned as a trade candidate, but with Atlanta looking to add at the major league level, the time for a deal may have passed.
- There isn’t a general need for arms, Coppolella insisted. In addition to noting the many minor league talents who are in the pipeline, he says that the “bullpen is likely the least area of concern” entering the winter.
- Looking back, Coppolella acknowledges that acquiring Hector Olivera “still haunts me.” That deal obviously did not pan out on or off the field, and Olivera’s contract was sent to the Padres in the deal that netted Matt Kemp. The Braves GM copped to being “shortsighted” in commenting recently on Kemp’s poor conditioning, saying the veteran has been “terrific” in all regards since coming over. As for a trade that has gone in Atlanta’s favor, Coppolella expressed surprise at Shelby Miller‘s struggles with the Diamondbacks and said that as many as twenty teams attempted to acquire him last winter.
- The Braves did not promote young infielder Ozzie Albies to the majors this year because they “didn’t feel Ozzie was ready,” says Coppolella. But he notes that the youngster “will get an opportunity to fight for a [major league] job” this spring despite being passed over. Generally, Coppolella added, the organization expects to “continue to push players and provide opportunities.” He hinted that service time won’t be a factor in determining when the club’s touted minor league assets make it to the bigs.
- With a laundry list of interesting young arms on the farm, Coppolella singled out towering, 22-year-old righty Patrick Weigel, who he says has a “chance to be a frontline starter.” The 2015 seventh-round draft pick has posted 149 2/3 innings of 2.47 ERA ball at the High-A and (briefly) Double-A levels this year, with 9.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9, leading Coppy to name him the most improved minor league pitcher in the organization. The GM cited outfielder Dustin Peterson as the recipient of that honor on the position-player side after his .282/.343/.431 batting line and 12 home runs over 578 plate appearances at Double-A. Peterson came over as part of a group of increasingly interesting prospects in the Justin Upton trade, with lefty Max Fried also drawing praise from the organization’s baseball operations triggerman.
- All said, it promises to be another interesting winter in Atlanta. It’s generally a quiet time right now on the rumor front, but Coppolella says the club is already holding talks on prospective offseason trades. Primary attention seems to be going to the major league roster at present, but Coppolella suggested that he will continue to focus on infusing young talent to the system, writing that the organization “will always try to trade for draft picks” when possible.
5 Reasons Rich Hill Will Get $45MM+ In Free Agency
I believe Rich Hill will land a three-year contract worth $45MM or more in free agency this winter. A year ago, that would’ve seemed insane. Today marks the one-year anniversary of Hill’s return to a Major League starting rotation after a five-year hiatus. That September spot start for the Red Sox turned into four, which led to a one-year, $6MM free agent deal from the Athletics in November. Hill’s success continued this season, albeit with significant time missed due to injuries. The lefty’s season culminated with seven perfect innings for the Dodgers against the Marlins Saturday night, though it’s not over yet. Here’s why I believe Hill will get $45MM or more this winter.
- His performance has been otherworldly. Over the last year, Hill has authored 124 innings of 1.74 ball – the best in baseball over that period. Hill has ridden his knee-buckling curveball to strike out more than 30% of batters faced (10.6 K/9) during that time. Even if you just look at pure, total value, Hill ranks 14th with 4.6 wins above replacement. Hill’s last 124 innings were worth roughly the same as Johnny Cueto‘s last 229 2/3 frames. Hill has pitched 95 innings this year, and FanGraphs values his performance at $28MM.
- His age won’t stop him from getting three years. Hill will turn 37 in March. Three-year free agent deals are rare at that age, because teams are wary of injuries and decline. However, I expect Hill to get three years for the same reason Carlos Beltran did in his last contract: it’s the cost of doing business. If demand is strong enough for Hill’s services, teams will simply have to make three-year offers to have a chance to sign him, even if they don’t expect the contract to end well. Hill can also make the argument that he will age well, since he’s not reliant on fastball velocity and has less mileage on his arm than a typical pitcher his age.
- His injury history won’t stop him from getting three years. Rich Hill has an extensive injury history dating back to 2008. He endured shoulder and elbow surgery in his career, and he’s missed 79 days this season due to a groin injury and blisters on his throwing hand. I still think he can get a three-year deal, for the same “cost of doing business” reason stated above. It’s why Scott Kazmir got three years and Brandon McCarthy got four (albeit both from the Dodgers). It’s true that Hill brings issues of both age and injury history, but his performance has been far stronger than that of a Kazmir or McCarthy. Plus, many teams throw rationality out the window in free agency.
- Rich Hill can be a game-changer for under $50MM. Why did Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pull Hill in the midst of a perfect game, with 89 pitches thrown? It’s partially because they know what a huge weapon he can be for them in the postseason if they can keep him healthy. Simply by virtue of having Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill in a short series, the Dodgers will be a fearsome playoff opponent. So maybe you sign Hill to a three-year deal and can only count on 100 innings a year from him. Those 100 innings could be ace-caliber, and have a large impact on a team’s chance at winning the World Series. It’s akin to the way a reliever like Aroldis Chapman can have a high overall impact despite throwing only 60 regular season innings. A lot of teams don’t mind “overpaying” for relievers in free agency, because a Chapman or an Andrew Miller can make such a huge difference at crunch time. However, Chapman and Kenley Jansen will require contracts well beyond $45MM this winter. $45MM just isn’t a lot of money in MLB these days, and the upside makes Hill worth the risk.
- The free agent market for starting pitching is terrible. The 2016-17 free agent market for starting pitching is historically bad. Have a look. Would you rather throw $30-35MM at Jeremy Hellickson or Ivan Nova, or $45-50MM at Rich Hill? I don’t know whether the current draft pick compensation system will remain similar under a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, but if it does, Hill could come with the added bonus of not requiring compensation by virtue of his midseason trade.
The X factor in Hill’s future earnings is his own personal preference. Certainly, he could take less money to pitch in a certain part of the country, as players sometimes do. Let’s hear your thoughts in the poll below (direct link for mobile app users).
How much money will Rich Hill get in free agency?
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$45 million or more 52% (2,726)
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Less than $45 million 48% (2,547)
Total votes: 5,273
Knocking Down The Door: All-Snub Team
The best way to close out the debut season of “Knocking Down The Door” here at MLBTradeRumors is to recognize those players who did everything possible to earn a big league call-up without actually getting called up. Here is the 2016 Knocking Down The Door: All-Snub Team …
Note: A few players on this list, who are currently playing in the Triple-A playoffs, could still be promoted in the near future. However, I’ll still consider them as snubs since there will be little time left in the regular season.
Hunter Renfroe, OF, San Diego Padres
If I told you before the season started that Renfroe would be one of the most productive hitters in Triple-A, the Padres would be able to trade both Matt Kemp and Melvin Upton Jr. by the end of July and Jon Jay would miss significant time with an injury, is there any way you’d believe that Renfroe would still be in the minors on September 13th?
To be fair to the Padres’ decision-makers, Travis Jankowski and Alex Dickerson have done more than enough to continue occupying two of the starting spots. But giving at-bats to Jabari Blash, Patrick Kivlehan and Oswaldo Arcia while Renfroe continued his assault on Triple-A pitching—he finished the regular season with an .893 OPS and 34 homers—is a lot more difficult to explain.
While it doesn’t affect Renfroe’s chances to make the Opening Day roster in 2017—he’ll likely enter Spring Training as the favorite to land the starting right field job—an early jump on facing big league pitching in a low-pressure environment could’ve been valuable.
Twins Eyeing Royals’ J.J. Picollo In Front Office Search
5:42pm: Minnesota actually already sat down with Picollo, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. The meeting occurred when the Royals were in town, and took place with the blessing of K.C. GM Dayton Moore.
2:13pm: The Twins intend to interview Royals vice president/assistant general manager J.J. Picollo in their search for a new president of baseball operations, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Picollo has been mentioned in speculation prior to this point, but this appears to be the first definitive link between the two sides. It’s unknown if the Twins have received permission to conduct the interview just yet, but Heyman calls it a “given” that permission will be granted. Indeed, the Royals have given Picollo permission to pursue previous GM openings, most recently with the Phillies — an opening for which he was a reported finalist before Philadelphia’s hiring of Matt Klentak last offseason.
Picollo joined the Royals back in 2006 as the team’s director of player development and has steadily risen through the ranks in the Kansas City organization. He also spent seven years in the Braves’ player development ranks, rising from area scouting supervisor to assistant director of player development to director of minor league operations. General manager Dayton Moore, unsurprisingly, would not comment to Heyman on the possibility of one of his top lieutenants interviewing for the Twins’ vacancy, with Moore instead simply stating that Picollo is a “tremendous leader” and a “big part of our success.” The George Mason University grad, who was drafted three times and had a brief career in the Yankees’ minor league ranks in the early 90s, has long been heralded as a candidate to run his own baseball operations department someday.
Picollo joins Cubs senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod among known candidates for the Twins’ top baseball ops position. Last night, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the Twins have already begun conducting interviews and have shown an inclination for an analytically inclined leader, though they’re not ruling out the possibility of hiring someone with a more traditional scouting background. The Twins are also reportedly interested in Cubs assistant GM Shiraz Rehman and Cubs pro scouting director Jared Porter.
Pirates Shut Down Gerrit Cole For Remainder Of Year
The Pirates have shut down star right-hander Gerrit Cole for the rest of the season, as Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first suggested on Twitter. It does not seem as if there is any concern about a significant injury, with the team likely deciding that it isn’t worth continuing to press a critical piece of the team’s future rotation.
Cole is continuing to deal with discomfort and inflammation in his right elbow, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Specifically, per a club announcement, “posterior inflammation” is the reason that Cole will end his year on the 60-day DL.
Things didn’t go well for Cole in his recent outing, as he tried to return from brief rest. While the big righty was working in the mid-to-upper nineties, he surrendered five earned runs on four hits and four walks in just two innings of work.
Puig-Braun Blockbuster Nearly Occurred, Likely To Be Revisited
We heard recently that the Dodgers and Brewers had worked on an August trade that would have sent Yasiel Puig to Milwaukee in exchange for fellow outfielder Ryan Braun. New reports provide interesting new details on the swap, which nearly took place and could well be a viable scenario for the coming winter.
One iteration of the talks would have packaged Puig with righty Brandon McCarthy and a pair of prospects, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy recently reported. Indeed, negotiations went right down to the wire before the August 31st deadline, with Braun camping out in the Miller Park clubhouse to await word. The sides “simply ran out of time,” per McCalvy, who adds that both the Giants and Braves have stated interest in the veteran slugger.
Whether or not other trade partners will be reconsidered remains to be seen, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today says that an offseason deal to send Braun to the Dodgers is actually “likely.” According to the report, Braun was advised by the Brewers to stick around and wait until the deadline because a deal seemed so promising at that juncture. Ultimately, the final prospect piece couldn’t be agreed upon.
Braun declined to address the matter, but did note that he grew up a Dodgers fan and spends his winters in the Los Angeles area. “When those conversations started, I think it was an interesting position for me to be in,” he said. Braun’s contract requires him to list up to six teams to which he can freely be traded, and the Dodgers were one club that had a green light this year. If he wanted to gain leverage, he could in theory switch the Dodgers out of that position when his next opportunity to re-name the teams arises, though it seems that Braun has compiled his list based primarily on geographic preference.
The above-noted trade parameters are obviously quite interesting, even before learning what type of prospects would’ve been included. McCarthy’s inclusion would help offset the $76MM in salary obligations owed to Braun after this year, as the veteran hurler will be paid $20MM over the next two seasons and has only just returned from Tommy John surgery. But he also might have filled some innings for Milwaukee while representing an interesting potential bounceback trade piece — especially if his 2019 conditional club option is available. (It has not been reported what type of injury would allow that option to be triggered, but it functions as a variation of the Lackey clause.)
Pirates Acquire Wade LeBlanc
The Pirates have acquired southpaw Wade LeBlanc from the Mariners, the teams announced. Seattle will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations in the deal.
LeBlanc, 32, was outrighted after his fifty-inning big league run for the M’s this year. He worked to a 4.50 ERA in that span, with a useful 7.4 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of today’s live chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
MLBTR Mailbag: Richard, Mets, Giants, Nova
As more and more teams fall out of contention, the subject matter of the questions in our inbox (mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com) increasingly turns toward the offseason — specifically free agency. That was eminently true this week, thus prompting the free-agency-themed edition of the Mailbag that follows…
(As a quick aside, remember that if we didn’t get to your question, you’re encouraged to join one of three weekly chats — Tuesdays at 2pm CST with myself, Wednesdays at 6:30pm CST with Jason Martinez and Thursdays at 2pm CST with Jeff Todd — to ask questions in a lengthier forum.)
Is Clayton Richard this year’s Rich Hill, and how much do you think it would cost the Padres to bring him back? — Adam
Richard may be the most comparable case to that of Hill’s 2015 September renaissance, but Richard hasn’t been as dominant as Hill was in Boston. While Richard’s 1.15 ERA is eye-catching, he’s averaged 7.5 strikeouts and 3.5 walks per nine innings with San Diego, whereas Hill averaged 11.2 K/9 and just 1.2 BB/9 in last year’s run. The nature of Hill’s dominance made it more believable that he could repeat his performance and led to widespread interest on the free agent market. He was dominating hitters, whereas Richard has relied more heavily upon getting favorable results on balls in play. The latter isn’t as sustainable as the former.
All of that said, Richard has been impressive in his return to San Diego. His 67.7 percent ground-ball rate, in particular, will pique the interest of pitching-hungry clubs, and his age gives him a significant one-up on Hill when juxtaposing Richard’s 2016 with Hill’s 2015 campaign. Hill broke out while on the brink of his age-36 season, whereas Richard turned 33 yesterday. (Happy birthday, Clayton!) Given the dearth of starting options, I think it’s possible that a team is willing to sign Richard for something in the vicinity of the Hill contract (one year, $6MM). That certainly has to be the benchmark that Richard and his reps at ISE baseball are aiming to match (and, more likely, to surpass). For what it’s worth, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes took the under on $6MM for Richard when we chatted about it earlier today.
As a Mets fan, I’d like to know if you think the Mets will re-sign the trio of Neil Walker, Yoenis Cespedes and James Loney. I think Loney is a better option at first base than keeping Duda. — Lou
I strongly disagree that Loney is a better option at first base than Duda. Loney has been one of the least productive first basemen in the Majors since taking over for Duda, having turned in the fifth-lowest slugging percentage (.381) and seventh-worst OBP (.304) among the 37 first basemen with at least 300 plate appearances this season. He’s been about 15 percent worse than a league-average hitter, per metrics like OPS+ and wRC+, whereas Duda was 35 percent better than the league-average bat from 2014-15. There’s no comparison between a healthy Duda and Loney, and even half a season of Duda figures to yield more productivity than Loney. The Mets could re-sign Loney to a minor league deal as a safety net due to uncertainty surrounding Duda’s back, but I wouldn’t offer any more than that. And as far as tendering Duda a contract, giving him a bump to $7-8MM in arbitration is still a reasonable risk to take given his 2014-15 numbers.
Between Walker and Cespedes, they’re more likely to be able to work something out with Walker’s camp. Cespedes is the premier free agent on this winter’s open market, and I don’t envision him having the difficulty he had on last winter’s market. He won’t have Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Alex Gordon to compete with this season and is clearly a cut above the next-best corner options, which include Michael Saunders, a much older Jose Bautista, a struggling Josh Reddick and possibly Mark Trumbo (though Trumbo is clearly better suited for first base than the outfield). Cespedes has an easy case for $125MM+ this winter and could end up in the $140-150MM range depending on whether he pursues another opt-out provision. That’s probably too steep for the Mets, given their recent free-agent pursuits.
Walker, meanwhile, looked ticketed to top Chase Headley‘s four-year, $52MM deal before news of his back surgery broke. If four years are still on the table, I’d peg him to come in below Headley in light of that surgical procedure, and he might even be looking at three guaranteed years now as a result of the injury. There’s risk due to his back, but that’s a palatable price point considering Walker’s capabilities.
What are the best options for the Giants in free agency? Seeking a big time relief option or a power bat in the outfield? — D. Randa
I’d imagine that the Giants will be in on big-name relief upgrades, including Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon, though the asking price on each of those names is going to be sizable (especially the first two). While I see the merit of targeting a left fielder, third base looks like a larger priority for San Francisco. Eduardo Nunez can serve the Giants well as a utility player, but his disappointing performance in San Francisco has left his 2016 numbers looking virtually identical to his 2015 production. I wouldn’t bet on him outperforming those levels in 2017 when he hasn’t demonstrated a prolonged capability to do so at the age of 29.
Justin Turner would be a significant boost to the Giants, and Martin Prado would make a nice fit as well. While Prado offers the same high-contact/low-power profile as Nunez, he has a history of striking out even less, walking more and playing better defense than Nunez. Turner will be 32 next season and Prado will be 33, so there are some age-related concerns, admittedly.
If a left fielder is determined to be the priority, the Giants have both the funds and the need to make an earnest pursuit of Cespedes as well, though they’ll obviously face ample competition on that front. And, there will be more corner outfield options on the trade market than there will be legitimate third base upgrades.
Is Nova about to get “Happed?” Could he get something like 3/24 this winter given the weak market, or will his career-long inconsistencies limit his earning potential? — Michael G.
Three years and $24MM feels light at this point. That’s just tacking one additional year onto what Mike Pelfrey got coming off a disastrous three-year run with the Twins. Phil Hughes got that exact contract with Minnesota three offseasons ago coming off a clunker of a season in his own right. Neither of those pitchers were a part of a market as thin as the 2016-17 market, either.
Nova will pitch next season at age 30, so he has relative youth on his side, and he’s been outstanding ever since the move to Pittsburgh. Some teams will probably view his breakout as a bit more questionable than the J.A. Happ breakout referenced in the your question because it’s due largely to Madduxian control — Nova has walked just two of the 177 batters he’s faced as a Pirate — as opposed to Happ’s sudden uptick in strikeouts. But, the comparison is apt, as MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth recently examined at length, and I still believe that he can top $30MM on a three-year pact. Furthermore, I’m not fully closing myself off to the possibility of a fourth season. He’s more than three years younger than Happ was when he hit free agency, after all. Reaching four years would mean a concession in terms of average annual value, but the possibility isn’t outlandish.