AL Central Notes: May, Jackson, Jimenez, Smith
The White Sox announced that Opening Day center fielder Jacob May has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. A corresponding roster move will be made tonight. As CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes writes, May winning the Opening Day gig in center was a surprise that was fueled by a strong spring performance, but his 2-for-36 start to the season ended his first taste of the Majors. “He might have been a little overmatched,” manager Rick Renteria said of May. “That’s just the bottom line. You want to make excuses for it. Might have been a little overmatched right now. … His energy has always been the same. It’s very consistent. He’s done everything for the work in the field and working with the guys in the cages and everything else we could have asked of him.” With May in Triple-A, Leury Garcia figures to continue to receive quite a bit of time in center field. The 26-year-old is off to a .306/.323/.484 start to his season through 65 plate appearances.
More from the AL Central…
- Indians outfielder Austin Jackson exited last night’s game with an apparent injury, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes. Jackson seemingly injured his left leg or foot when attempting to leg out an infield single, as he landed awkwardly on the first base bag. As Bastian points out, Jackson had left knee surgery last season, though manager Terry Francona said after the game that Jackson’s foot would be examined rather than his knee. Jackson was able to walk off the field under his own power, though he was in noticeable pain after beating out the throw to first base. The 30-year-old Jackson is off to a nice start with Cleveland, hitting .273/.368/.485 through 38 plate appearances.
- The Tigers optioned right-hander Joe Jimenez back to Triple-A on Sunday, and MLive.com’s Evan Woodberry writes that he was sent down with the specific goal of improving his slider. The 22-year-old Jimenez was knocked around for six runs in 3 1/3 innings in his most recent stint with the big league club. “…[T]hat slider could be the difference-maker, in terms of making the jump to the big leagues and sticking,” said manager Brad Ausmus. Tigers relievers have a league-worst 6.19 ERA on the season, and Jimenez is the team’s most promising relief prospect, so it stands to reason that he’ll likely be back with the big league club in the relatively near future.
- Minor League Baseball announced yesterday that former Twins general manager Bill Smith has been hired as an assistant to president and CEO Pat O’Conner. “[Smith’s] wealth of experience in all aspects of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball will be helpful as we continue to grow our operations and improve the teams’ ability to serve our fans and partners at Major League Baseball,” said O’Conner of the hiring. “Bill is respected throughout the industry and his abilities are unquestioned.” Per MiLB’s release, Smith will focus on facility improvements, scheduling and minor league baseball’s international leagues.
Bill Smith To Remain With Twins
FRIDAY: Smith is officially back as an assistant to the president and GM, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
WEDNESDAY: Former Twins general manager Bill Smith is in the process of finalizing a new role in the Minnesota organization, according to Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com. Smith will likely become a special assistant to the president and GM. In that role, he would oversee Latin America development and plans for the team's Spring Training facility.
Twins owner Jim Pohlad let Smith go last month after the team lost 99 games. Longtime Twins GM Terry Ryan accepted the challenge of fielding a respectable team again. "Bill was equally motivated to achieve that goal,” Pohlad explained at the time. “But we differed in the scope and approach that was required." The Twins won two division titles in Smith's four years as GM.
Pohlad Talks About Twins’ Future
Twins owner Jim Pohlad spoke to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the future of the team. A few highlights:
- Smith blames the Twins' disastrous 2011 season on "the perfect storm of injuries" as well as players failing to match their 2010 performances. He also admitted there were fundamental issues with players called up from the minors.
- Manager Ron Gardenhire and GM Bill Smith will be back in 2012, with Pohlad noting that the Twins are not a "knee-jerk reaction organization."
- Told about the potential $40MM+ the Twins have coming off the books, Pohlad said, "Well if what you just said, if that's true, that gives us tons of flexibility." The owner also said, "My guess is we're probably going to have to do more than one impact player."
- Pohlad was noncommittal on bringing back Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, and gave a non-answer regarding the team renewing their interest in Hisashi Iwakuma. Said Pohlad, "I think probably everybody is on our radar."
- Pohlad says the team's $115MM payroll is "going to come down naturally" but it won't be slashed and will be "right up there."
- Based on our arbitration estimates, a $105MM payroll could give the Twins about $30MM to spend in 2012 salaries.
GM Trade Histories: AL Central
Brendan Bianowicz has more GM Trade History series updates for us. Click below to download Excel spreadsheets with info on the AL Central GMs (trades, free agent signings, and top draft picks).