AL East Notes: Yankees, Rodriguez, Cespedes
Derek Jeter left today’s game with a hamstring injury, but the Yankees outgoing icon will play tomorrow in his final professional game. As the Jeter era comes to a close, New York will have to re-adjust to a familiar dilemma – what to do with Alex Rodriguez. Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that Rodriguez is a symbol of “expense, uncertainty, and awkwardness” for the Yankees.
- Also per Sherman, Rodriguez is not interested in playing winter ball, which will make it hard for the Yankees to project his role in 2015. The former star is owed $61MM for his age 39 through 41 seasons. His presence, along with other expensive, injury prone players like Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira, will make GM Brian Cashman’s job difficult (assuming Cashman is extended, his contract is up on October 31). Retaining Chase Headley while also addressing rotation, bullpen, and outfield depth could be difficult due to Rodriguez’s contract.
- Joe Girardi believes Dellin Betances is ready to take over as the Yankees closer, reports George A. King III of the New York Post. David Robertson, the current ninth inning man, is a free agent at the end of the season. It’s thought the Yankees could extend a qualifying offer to Robertson and may pursue re-signing him to a multi-year deal. If those plans fall through the cracks, Betances represents an attractive alternative.
- Yoenis Cespedes is unsure if he wants to pursue a contract extension with the Red Sox, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Boston is dealing with a lot of fluidity with their future. Deciding the role of Cespedes will likely influence many of their offseason decisions.
Minor Moves: Rusin
Here are the minor moves of the evening:
- The Rockies have claimed left-handed pitcher Chris Rusin off waivers from the Cubs, according to the MLB.com transactions page. From 2012 through 2014, Rusin pitched to a 4.97 ERA in 108 and two-thirds innings for the Cubs, including 20 starts and four relief appearances. The relief outings all came this season, in which he contributed a 7.11 ERA in 12 and two-third innings. The 27-year-old also made 23 starts this year for Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate.
NL Notes: Brewers, Marlins
Earlier today, we learned the Brewers will conduct an offseason review of the club. Owner Mark Attanasio and GM Doug Melvin met with media moments ago to discuss the state of the franchise. As part of the press conference, we learned that Melvin’s job is safe, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- Manager Ron Roenicke and the rest of the coaching staff will be evaluated after the season, according to Rosiak (also on Twitter). Melvin explained that the club will evaluate the team’s play at home (tweet). He also expressed some concern about clubhouse attitudes, saying, “I’m going find out about who cares about winning and losing (tweet).”
- Attanasio will also be involved in the evaluation process. He’ll meet with select players to learn what the club is missing, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Per Attanasio, “if we’re not making any changes, we’d better have a damn good reason for why.”
- It’s been 11 years since the Marlins have reached the postseason, and club president David Samson views Giancarlo Stanton as crucial to an October return, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. The Marlins, who haven’t seen postseason action since 2003, now possess the third longest playoff drought after the Blue Jays (1993) and Mariners (2001). As for locking up Stanton, Samson had this to say on the subject: “I’m very much looking forward to sitting down and talking to Giancarlo at the end of the season, which we promised to do and we want to do.”
East Notes: Yankees, Red Sox, Lester, Papelbon
Compared to the problems the Yankees face this offseason, the Red Sox‘ issues aren’t so bad, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. With a huge number of ugly contracts on the books (including those of C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran), they’ll be limited in their ability to upgrade. They will, however, get a modest boost in that Derek Jeter‘s $12MM salary will come off the books. The Red Sox don’t have as many onerous commitments as the Yankees, and they also have more interesting young players, so if they were to trade a veteran, they would be able to replace him with a young player like Mookie Betts. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- Being traded from the Red Sox to the Athletics helped reduce the amount of speculation surrounding Jon Lester as he approached free agency, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. “Everybody knows it’s two months and then probably not sign a contract with the Oakland A’s. We’re going to go our separate ways and go into free agency,” Lester says. In Boston, Lester faced months of questions about his impending free agency and whether he would re-sign with the Red Sox, but there are no such questions with Oakland. Now he’s about to enter free agency as one of the market’s top pitchers — MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently rated Lester the second overall free agent, behind Max Scherzer.
- Jonathan Papelbon‘s age and contract give the Phillies reasons to try to trade him this offseason, but Papelbon says he would not mind staying in Philadelphia, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “I’ve said the perfect ending to this equation would be me on this team righting this ship and possibly closing out a World Series or getting in the playoffs and making a nice run and seeing what happens from there,” says Papelbon. “I think that would be a fairy tale ending if there is one.” Papelbon had previously said he wanted to play for a contender and was willing to waive his limited no-trade clause to do so.
Latest On The Astros’ Managerial Search
The Astros are without a permanent manager at the moment, having dismissed Bo Porter after some philosophical disagreement with the club’s front office. Tom Lawless is filling in on an interim basis, and reports have indicated that former big league managers Manny Acta, A.J. Hinch and Don Wakamatsu could be candidates, as could Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo and Angels bench coach Dino Ebel, among many others.
Here’s the latest on the team’s search …
- Another potential candidate could be Steve Buechele, the manager for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Drellich notes that Buechele has spoken to the Astros about the job. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram tweets that Buechele had a phone interview with the Astros.
- Astros third base coach Pat Listach will interview today, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweets. Prior to joining the Astros, Listach had served as a bench coach and third base coach for the Cubs and a third base coach for the Nationals. He also has four seasons of experience managing in the high minors in the Cubs system.
- The Astros have contacted Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets that the Astros have already interviewed Banister twice for the job. Banister has spent his entire 29-year career in affiliated baseball with the Pirates, briefly playing for them in 1991 and then working his way up through their minor league system as a coach and manager. He has also managed in the Arizona Fall League. As Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel points out (via Twitter), Banister had a cameo in Ben Lindbergh of Grantland’s recent article about the strong bond between the Pirates’ field staff and their statistical analysts. Banister’s ability to work in such a system would surely interest the Astros.
Earlier Updates
- Nevin expressed keen interest in the position, saying that Houston is a special place for him as his first MLB organization, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports.
- The Astros met with Lovullo face-to-face on Boston’s off-day this week (Monday), according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). This is the first report of an in-person meeting with a managerial candidate. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe recently profiled Lovullo, breaking down his background and managerial philosophies
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Astros have spoken with five candidates via phone: Ebel, Hinch, Lovullo, Wakamatsu and Rays bench coach Dave Martinez (Twitter link). Martinez has previously stated that he would be very interested in the position after having a good experience when he interviewed the last time Houston was looking for a manager.
- Ebel, however, tells MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez that he has not spoken to the Astros about their managerial vacancy at this point (Twitter link).
- Lawless will interview for the position on a permanent basis this Saturday, reports MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Lawless, who has 35 years of experience in baseball (10 as a minor league manager), has been received favorably by the current Astros’ players, McTaggart adds. Houston is 10-10 under Lawless, but McTaggart notes that the team’s September results won’t factor much into the equation. He’ll be asked the same questions as other candidates. Lawless looks forward to the opportunity, he says: “I’m just going to be myself and just talk honestly about what baseball means to me and the passion I have for baseball. [General manager Jeff Luhnow] has a tough decision, and the organization is going in the right direction. I think we can make this thing better.”
- The Astros have receive permission to interview former big league slugger Phil Nevin, who is currently managing the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. Nightengale adds that Nevin will also be a candidate for the D’Backs if they decide to part with manager Kirk Gibson.
Brewers To Conduct Review During Offseason
Following an extremely disappointing ending to their season that saw them slip from first place to completely out of playoff contention, the Brewers will conduct an “extensive review” following the season, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman writes. GM Doug Melvin is concerned about the team’s inability to stop losing streaks once they start, and about the team’s offense. That means that manager Ron Roenicke and hitting coach Johnny Narron could be under review, even though both are respected within the organization.
The Brewers had a 6 1/2 game lead on the rest of the NL Central in early July, but they went 9-16 in July and 13-14 in August, and they’re now 8-16 in September. Ryan Braun, Scooter Gennett, Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay have all struggled as the Brewers’ offense has sputtered in the second half. The Brewers were eliminated from the playoff race Thursday.
Rosenthal On Bogar, Astros, Brewers, Dodgers
Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a video on FOX Sports:
- The Rangers‘ strong finish might almost force them to hire interim manager Tim Bogar as the permanent replacement for Ron Washington, Rosenthal says. The Rangers have gone 13-7 since Bogar took over. Their late-season surge also means they won’t get the top overall draft pick next season.
- The Astros have talked to Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister about their managerial job, but Rosenthal says that most within the industry feel the job will go to former Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch or Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo.
- Many within the Brewers are frustrated with their team’s collapse, although Rosenthal notes that the feeling throughout baseball was that the Brewers overachieved throughout much of the early season anyway, and that GM Doug Melvin and manager Ron Roenicke should not be fired for the Brewers’ late-season troubles.
- The Rockies could make some sort of change in their front office, and the Dodgers could even make front office moves if the team struggles in the playoffs, Rosenthal reports. That would leave the Giants as the only NL West team not to make a significant front office change this offseason.
Orioles Designate Preston Guilmet For Assignment
The Orioles have announced that they’ve designated reliever Preston Guilmet for assignment. In a corresponding move, they’ve purchased the contract of infielder Alexi Casilla.
Guilmet, 27, pitched 10 1/3 innings for the Orioles this year, striking out 12 batters and walking just two but giving up two homers and six earned runs. Guilmet, a long-time closer in the Indians’ system, has always posted strong numbers in the minor leagues, but hasn’t gotten a clean shot at a big-league job, perhaps in part because of his underwhelming stuff — most of his fastballs don’t top 90MPH, and he doesn’t get many ground balls.
Casilla tells Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter) that he thought his season was over, and that he had been getting ready to play winter ball in the Dominican. The 30-year-old Casilla hit .264/.315/.320 in 213 plate appearances for Triple-A Norfolk this year. He has not played since August 30 due to a hamstring injury. He is in the Orioles’ lineup today, playing third base.
East Notes: Blue Jays, Badenhop, Marlins
The Blue Jays‘ offseason agenda could include re-signing Melky Cabrera, acquiring a second or third baseman (for whichever position Brett Lawrie doesn’t play) and pursuing relief help, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star writes. The Jays are likely to extend Cabrera a qualifying offer and be proactive in trying to sign him. They’ll also need to patch up a bullpen that struggled this year and is likely to lose Casey Janssen to free agency. Pursuing starting pitching probably will not be a top priority, Kennedy suggests. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- Red Sox manager John Farrell says he would like his team to re-sign reliever Burke Badenhop, WEEI.com’s Alex Speier tweets. Badenhop posted a stellar 2.33 ERA in his first season with the Sox, albeit with less inspiring peripheral numbers (5.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9). He pitched reasonably well in the Marlins, Rays and Brewers bullpens before joining the Red Sox via trade last November.
- The Marlins have shown interest in Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas and second baseman Hector Olivera but are unlikely to seriously pursue either, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes. Tomas will be expensive, and the Marlins already have a strong trio of outfield starters. Olivera is older and doesn’t have Tomas’ star power, so the Marlins could simply depend on Donovan Solano and Enrique Hernandez at second base instead.
Week In Review: 9/20/14 – 9/26/14
Here’s a look back at this week at MLBTR.
Key Moves
- The Braves fired GM Frank Wren and replaced him with John Hart on an interim basis.
- The Diamondbacks hired Dave Stewart as their new GM and dismissed manager Kirk Gibson and bench coach Alan Trammell.
- The Mets signed GM Sandy Alderson to an extension through 2017 and announced that they would retain manager Terry Collins.
- The Reds extended GM Walt Jocketty.
- Outfielder Bobby Abreu announced his retirement.
Claimed
- Pirates – P Chaz Roe from Yankees (link)
- Yankees – OF Eury Perez from Nationals (link)
Designated For Assignment
- Yankees – P Josh Outman (link)
Outrighted
- Braves – P Ryan Buchter, P Carlos Perez (link)