AL East Notes: Morton, Zunino, Walker, Red Sox, Yolmer
Charlie Morton “wasn’t surprised” that the Rays declined to exercise their $15MM club option on his services, but the veteran right-hander told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the team’s decision “doesn’t mean we won’t try to work something out. If there’s mutual interest, the next step is gauging what that looks like.” Rays GM Erik Neander indicated yesterday that the team indeed hoped to bring Morton back for a third season. If an acceptable deal can’t be worked out with the Rays or another club, Morton reiterated to Topkin that he’ll gauge whether he wants to keep playing, weighing such “typical factors” as his health, playing for a contender, and “does it make sense financially and geographically?”
The Rays declined options on both Morton and (at $4.5MM) catcher Mike Zunino yesterday. Jet Sports Management represents both players, and agent B.B. Abbott told Topkin in a separate piece that there aren’t any hard feelings about the contractual decisions. “Their first choice was to be in Tampa, and it probably still is their first choice,” Abbott said, but now that Morton and Zunino are on the open market, “they owe it to themselves to see what’s out there.”
More from the AL East…
- Taijuan Walker figures to get a lot of attention in free agency this winter, but there is mutual interest between Walker and the Blue Jays in a return to Toronto’s rotation, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes. Acquired in a trade from the Mariners in late August, Walker posted excellent numbers (1.37 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 2.27 K/BB rate) in his six starts in a Jays uniform. Beyond the on-field results, Walker was also impressed by both the Jays’ long-term potential as contenders, and how the club treats its players. “They have really good staff, coaches, training staff. For me, it’s all about comfort and people,” Walker said. “Being connected and having that family, and that’s what it felt like.” Once one of baseball’s most highly-touted pitching prospects, injuries cost Walker virtually all of the 2018 and 2019 seasons but he has somewhat revived his stock after his solid 2020 performance.
- While the Red Sox have interviewed several candidates to be their next manager, “the managerial search appears to be centered on determining if Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora can work well together,” the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham writes. Of course, Cora was already Boston’s manager when Bloom was hired as the club’s chief baseball officer last October, though Cora’s firing and subsequent one-year suspension are undoubtedly considerations for Red Sox ownership and the front office in deciding whether or not to bring Cora back. While Cora’s return has been widely speculated, Abraham isn’t sure a rehire “is automatic,” opining that Cora could potentially wait to see if another high-profile job (perhaps with the Mets) becomes available.
- Now that Yolmer Sanchez has been claimed on waivers, the Orioles have some extra depth as they consider other infield moves, as MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski writes. No decision has yet been made about Jose Iglesias‘ $3.5MM club option, and with Sanchez now on hand as a second base candidate, the O’s could potentially non-tender Hanser Alberto, who is projected to earn between $2.3MM and $4.1MM in arbitration (depending on how arb salaries are calculated this winter). Sanchez is himself eligible for arbitration, however, and his projected $6.2MM arb figure last winter was the chief reason why the White Sox non-tendered him last November.
Red Sox, Alex Cora Have Been In Contact
A reunion between the Red Sox and Alex Cora may be in the offing. After a year away from the team because of a suspension, their former manager is a candidate to return in the same role. The Red Sox have been in contact with Cora, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports.
The Red Sox have already interviewed seven other candidates, as shown on MLBTR’s Managerial Search Tracker. Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza have received second interviews, according to Speier, who adds that Cubs third base coach Will Venable and Twins bench coach Mike Bell are no longer under consideration. Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta is also out of the mix, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. Among known candidates, that leaves Cora up against Kelly, Mendoza, Marlins bench coach James Rowson and Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker. However, Speier writes that there are other names under consideration.
No one from the Kelly-Mendoza-Rowson-Schumaker group has managed in the majors, so they certainly can’t match Cora’s accomplishments in the role. Cora managed the Red Sox to a 192-132 record from 2018-19, guiding the team to a World Series in the first of those seasons. But the Red Sox parted with Cora last offseason after Major League Baseball suspended him for a year because of the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Cora was the Astros’ bench coach that season.
Latest On Red Sox Managerial Search
The Red Sox won’t be interviewing Red Sox bench coach Matt Quatraro for their managerial vacancy. Per Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom cannot hire anyone from the Rays for a period of two years. The condition was put into Bloom’s contract when the Rays allowed him to be hired away by Boston, which certainly makes sense, given the number of Rays executives who have been poached by other organizations the past couple of years.
Expanding the agreement to include uniformed personnel also makes sense, given that the Rays and Red Sox are divisional rivals. One might imagine the Rays being more amenable to letting someone like Quatraro take a promotion with, say, the Pirates, a league away. They proved once again to be rather prescient in putting this agreement in place before letting Bloom join Boston.
Bloom has no shortage of candidates, however. James Rowson of the Marlins, Will Venable of the Cubs, Mike Bell of the Twins, Skip Schumaker of the Padres, Luis Urueta of the Diamondbacks, and Don Kelly of the Pirates are all rumored to be in the mix. And while none of those names carry the public weight of, say, Alex Cora, the rumored favorite for the position, the process is sincere, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. Bradford is quick to point out that Kevin Cash was an unknown of a similar ilk when Bloom and the Rays chose him to be their manager.
Alex Cora remains the favorite until we hear otherwise, but these other candidates have time to make an impression. Boston cannot speak with Cora until after the World Series when his suspension will be lifted.
Front Office/Coaching Notes: Red Sox, Venable, Marlins, Denbo, Cubs, Epstein, Hoyer
The Red Sox are beginning the process of bringing in candidates for their managerial opening. Cubs coach Will Venable has already come in to interview, while George Lombard of the Dodgers and Don Kelly of the Pirates are likely on the list of incoming interviewees, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Venable has been a popular managerial candidate recently. He interviewed for openings with the Astros and Giants last season, ultimately returning to the Cubs to serve as their third base coach in 2020. The former player moved back into the dugout for the 2018 season after being hired by the Cubs as a special assistant. For the Red Sox opening, however, Alex Cora continues to be seen as the favorite, though he will not be able to interview for the role until his suspension lifts after the conclusion of the World Series.
- The Marlins are looking to hire a Team President that can complete their upper leadership group in the player ops department. That means augmenting and supplementing the work of Gary Denbo, their Director of Player Development and Scouting. Derek Jeter and Denbo are close, making it easy to presume that he could be a candidate to fill Michael Hill’s Team President role, but that’s not the case, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jackson provides a quote from Jeter that shines some light on his thinking for the position, as Jeter said, “Gary has done a great job where he is right now. You look at how you build an organization; you have to have a great scouting department and a great player development department. Gary deserves a lot of credit for what we’ve been able to do to this point. Where he is right now is where he is most important.”
- The Cubs and Theo Epstein remain aligned on the current plan for Epstein to play out the last year of his contract before likely departing after 2021. Executive VP and General Manager Jed Hoyer does not share Theo’s exit strategy, however, and it seems right now as if he’ll stay on to fully take control of the Cubs’ baseball ops department after Theo departs, writes The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney. Hoyer has served as Theo’s partner in the front office for many years, but Theo still steers the ship, as was the case specifically with the Cubs’ rigorous approach to COVID-19 testing this year when they were the only team in the majors without a positive test. Hoyer will preserve a healthy dose of continuity when Theo leaves, but there will be change when the buck officially stops with him.
White Sox Managerial Rumors: Hinch, Cora, La Russa
TODAY: The Angels have granted the White Sox permission to interview La Russa, Nightengale tweets.
OCTOBER 12: Despite earning their first playoff berth since 2008 this season, the White Sox have decided to make major changes in their dugout. The team parted ways with manager Rick Renteria and longtime pitching coach Don Cooper on Monday, leaving at least two significant holes in its coaching staff.
When discussing the White Sox’s vacancy at manager with reporters Monday, GM Rick Hahn said the club plans on finding someone with recent championship pedigree to replace Renteria, and that person’s likely to come from outside the organization, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Unsurprisingly, then, former Astros manager A.J. Hinch has emerged as a possibility, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
Hinch helped lead Houston to a championship in 2017, but that accomplishment has been marred by a sign-stealing scandal that caused Major League Baseball to suspend him for this season and Houston to part ways with him after last year. But Hinch’s suspension will expire after the World Series, and he has already drawn interest from Detroit – a Chicago AL Central rival that’s also looking for a manager – so he could get back in the game in short order.
It also wouldn’t be shocking to see Alex Cora – Hinch’s bench coach in ’17 – receive consideration, but the White Sox haven’t shown interest in Cora yet, according to Nightengale. Cora also had to sit out this season, but he is only two years removed from winning a title as Boston’s manager in 2018.
There also seems to be a possibility that the White Sox won’t opt for a recent major league manager to fill the role. Rather, one of their former skippers, 76-year-old Hall of Famer Tony La Russa, could be their answer. In an unexpected twist, the White Sox plan to reach out to La Russa, reports Nightengale, who adds that the position intrigues the four-time Manager of the Year. Since managing the White Sox, Cardinals and Athletics from 1979-2011 and combining for three World Series titles (one in Oakland, two in St. Louis), La Russa has worked in the front offices of the Diamondbacks, Red Sox and Angels. As Nightengale notes, La Russa is close friends with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
Changes Made To Red Sox Coaching Staff
The Boston Red Sox announced a couple of changes to their coaching staff. Bench coach Jerry Narron and bullpen coach Craig Bjornson will not be returning in 2021, per WEEI’s Rob Bradford and others (via Twitter).
The Red Sox will bring in a new manager at some point this winter after announcing the dismissal of Ron Roenicke in September. Roenicke was promoted from bench coach when Alex Cora was fired following MLB’s investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. There have been rumblings that Cora could come back to resume his role as Red Sox manager, with MLB Insider Jon Heyman going so far as to say he is the favorite for the role.
In the meantime, many other members of the coaching staff appear to be returning in 2021 regardless of who takes the top job. Hitting coach Tim Hyers, assistant hitting coach Peter Fatse, pitching coach Dave Bush, assistant pitching coach Kevin Walker, third-base coach Carlos Febles, first-base coach Tom Goodwin, and coach Ramon Vazquez are all said to be returning, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). It’s still certainly possible that more changes could come whenever the manager role is filled.
A.J. Hinch, Alex Cora On Tigers’ List Of Managerial Candidates
The Tigers are in the market for a new manager after Ron Gardenhire announced his retirement on the heels of a 16-year managerial career. Asked at today’s end-of-year meeting with Tigers beat writers, general manager Al Avila confirmed that former Astros manager A.J. Hinch and former Red Sox skipper Alex Cora are on what the Tigers expect to be a lengthy list of initial candidates (Twitter link via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News).
Both Hinch and Cora lost their jobs in the wake of the investigation in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal. Hinch oversaw the team that orchestrated that sign-stealing scheme, while Cora, the club’s bench coach that season, was listed as one of the architects of the entire operation in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the investigation.
Manfred suspended Hinch until January 2021, and Astros owner Jim Crane fired him less than an hour after the league announced the findings of its investigation. Cora, meanwhile, had already moved on to become the manager of the Red Sox by the time the Astros scandal had come to light. That didn’t stop the Red Sox from firing him, however, even with Boston’s 2018 World Series win barely in the rear-view mirror.
Of course, that 2018 team was similarly investigated by the league for additional sign-stealing improprieties. The league’s investigation into the Sox deemed their transgressions to be less severe, pinning advance scout/replay coordinator J.T. Watkins as the primary offender. Cora was suspended by Manfred through the 2020 postseason, although the commissioner made clear that that was for his role in the Astros’ scandal — not due to anything that transpired with the Red Sox. Said Manfred in announcing his findings from the Red Sox investigation: “Communication of these violations was episodic and isolated to Watkins and a limited number of Red Sox players only.”
It was and still is rather baffling that Cora, who was at or near the center of both scandals, was banned from the game for a lesser period of time than either Hinch or former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow (who was also suspended by Manfred through January and fired by Crane). His role in the Houston scheme was clearly more hands on, but even if he wasn’t involved in the Red Sox’ violations, he’d seemingly be guilty of negligence.
What’s done is done regarding the suspension, and the shorter punishment would ostensibly allow Cora to be formally hired at any point after the World Series. It’s less clear how things would work with Hinch, who isn’t formally eligible for reinstatement until Jan. 13, 2021. Perhaps the Tigers could interview him but not officially hire him until his date of eligibility. It seems doubtful that they’d put their entire search on hold until he’s eligible to be reinstated, as doing so could cost them the opportunity to talk to other candidates of interest. Getting the manager on boarded early in the offseason is always preferable, though, and it doesn’t seem possible to do that with Hinch
It’s easy to focus on Hinch and Cora, of course, given their recent ties to high-profile cheating scandals that shook the sport to its core. But they’ll be just two of many candidates to whom the Tigers speak, and there’s nothing to indicate that either is somehow a preferred option.
Shedding a bit of light into the Tigers’ process for identifying candidates, Avila indicated that he’d consider both veteran managers and rookie skippers — but only those who have coached elsewhere in the Majors or managed in the minors (Twitter link via Jason Beck of MLB.com). Former players who lack coaching/managerial experience will not be considered.
The Tigers went that route in 2015 when they hired Brad Ausmus, just as the Cardinals had done a couple years prior with Mike Matheny. Since that time, Craig Counsell (Brewers), Aaron Boone (Yankees), David Ross (Cubs) and Carlos Beltran (Mets) have each hired former players who lack coaching experience. (Beltran, of course, was dismissed before managing a game as yet another ripple effect from the Astros’ 2017 scandal). Early interviews will be conducted primarily via Zoom, but the Tigers will eventually interview their finalists in person.
Quick Hits: Spring Training Sites, James Loney, Alex Cora
Given the spike of coronavirus cases in Florida and Arizona, the Mets and Yankees are both planning on moving their spring facilities to New York for the time being, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. Any potential 2020 season is likely to be heavily dependent upon regional play, so it makes a certain amount of sense for both New York franchises to get settled into their home state (especially considering the rash of breakouts that caused all 30 teams to shut down their training facilities for the time being). The Mets and Yankees might not be the only clubs making this move, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that all MLB clubs will be moving their spring training to their home cities. Nightengale does add the caveat that the Blue Jays may stay in Florida for the time being, and there were as many as five teams on Friday with thoughts of staying in Florida (Twitter links).
Let’s check in on other news from around the game…
- Former Dodgers first baseman James Loney has been hired by the GEM Agency in an advisory role, tweets Robert Murray. GEM launched in October 2019 based out of Dallas, Texas. They rep current big leaguers Justin Turner, Tommy Pham, and Roberto Osuna – which are all tracked in MLBTR’s Agency Database. Loney played 11 seasons in the big leagues, with his most productive years coming with the Dodgers from 2006 to 2012. He was eventually traded to the Boston Red Sox in the Dodgers’ monster deal for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. Loney would play just half a season in Boston before going on to post a pair of productive years with the Rays. He finished his playing career in 2016 as a 32-year-old with the New York Mets. For his career, the southpaw first baseman put up a line of .284/.336/.410 with 108 home runs in 5,487 plate appearances.
- Alex Cora will be eligible to return to Major League Baseball in 2021, and the former Red Sox skipper would love to return to the managing ranks, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe writes. How soon there will be interest in Cora as a manager remains to be seen given his role in the investigations into both the Astros and Red Sox sign-stealing allegations. Still, he has a tremendous track record in his short time as the Red Sox manager. Like many of us, Cora remains in wait-and-see mode for the time being. Said Cora, “If this was a regular time and they were playing games, I would say yes [to managing in 2021]. I would love to be back in 2021 in some capacity. I love managing at the big league level. But right now, I’m still kind of like putting my game plan together. It’s not where I want it to be. But obviously with everything that’s going on, with my daughter going into her senior year of high school, we as a family have to see what we want to do.”
MLBTR Poll: Will Alex Cora Manage Again In MLB?
Thursday evening was one of the few times that former Red Sox manager Alex Cora has spoken publicly since the club fired him in late January. At the outset of the offseason, no one would have expected such a horrid outcome for Cora, who was wildly successful during his two years as Boston’s skipper. But Cora found himself embroiled in a couple of scandals – one for the Astros’ sign-stealing violations from a World Series-winning 2017, when he was its bench coach; the other came as a result of Boston’s sign-stealing from the 2018 campaign, in which Cora was a rookie manager who helped the team to a championship.
The Red Sox felt it was best to part with Cora as MLB was deliberating his fate. After months of reviewing the evidence, the league decided in April to suspend Cora through the 2020 postseason. However, it only banned Cora for the role he played as Houston’s assistant in 2017, not Boston’s manager the next season. Cora has since acknowledged the errors he made with the Astros, including when he took responsibility on Thursday (via Marly Rivera of ESPN.com) and said: “I deserve my suspension and I’m paying the price for my actions. And I am not proud of what happened.”
The 44-year-old Cora went on to admit he’d eventually like to return to baseball. It’s anyone’s guess whether he’ll get back into the game in any capacity, but if teams are willing to believe he has learned his lesson, he could re-emerge as a managerial candidate down the line (perhaps he’ll first have to prove himself again as an assistant). Cora did hold his own in that position in the pressure cooker known as Boston, where he guided the team to 192-132 regular-season record and the aforementioned championship. With that in mind, do you think some MLB franchise will ever give him another shot as a manager?
(Poll link for app users)
Will Alex Cora ever manage again in MLB?
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No 54% (5,706)
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Yes 46% (4,774)
Total votes: 10,480
Alex Cora On Suspension, Future
Former Astros bench coach and Red Sox manager Alex Cora was among those who bore the brunt of the punishment Major League Baseball handed down over Houston’s sign-stealing scandal from its 2017 World Series-winning campaign. Although they were just over a year removed from winning their own title under Cora in 2018, his first season as their skipper, the Red Sox parted with Cora back in January. MLB then suspended Cora through the 2020 postseason this past April.
Shortly after the league banned Cora, he issued a statement taking “full responsibility” for his role in the Astros’ misdeeds. Cora remains contrite for his actions as a Houston assistant, per Marly Rivera of ESPN.com, but he’s unhappy that he and former Astros designated hitter Carlos Beltran have gotten so much blame in comparison to many other members of the organization.
Rivera’s piece is worth reading in full for all of Cora’s quotes, but he said, in part: “Out of this whole process, if there is one thing that I completely reject and disagree with is people within the Astros’ organization singling me out, particularly [former general manager] Jeff Luhnow, as if I were the sole mastermind. The commissioner’s report sort of explained, in its own way, what happened. But the [Astros players] have spoken up and refuted any allegations that I was solely responsible.”
Cora added that “it was not a two-man show. We all did it.” However, he admitted that the ban the league handed him was deserved and he has to pay for his mistakes.
It now remains to be seen whether some of the key members of the scandal will return to the majors. Luhnow and ex-Astros manager A.J. Hinch received one-year suspensions in January. Beltran, now retired from playing, became the Mets’ manager in November, but the team ousted him around the time the league booted Luhnow and Hinch. Cora, though, could be helping his cause with the remorse he has shown throughout this process. He’s also just 44 years and someone with an excellent track record as a manager. And for what it’s worth, Cora told Rivera he “absolutely” wants to get back in the game at some point. For now, though, he’s focusing on his family.