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Brandon Gomes

NL Notes: Wieck, Gomes, Dodgers, Phillies

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Brad Wieck has been limited to 59 2/3 innings over his four big league seasons, as the Cubs left-hander has been hampered by a series of concerning health problems.  After being treated for testicular cancer in 2019, Wieck has faced heart issues in each of the last two years — a cardiac ablation in 2020, and then surgery last year to address an atrial fibrillation.  “I’ve had to deal with a lot in my career, but it’s one more thing that’s made me who I am,” Wieck told Mark Gonzales of The Daily Herald.  “I take pride in what’s made me, and all I can do is continue to work.”

The good news is that Wieck was cleared for baseball activity, and said “as of now, I feel great” as he ramps up for the 2022 season with a series of bullpen sessions.  Despite a 14.1% walk rate last season, Wieck didn’t allow a single earned run over 17 innings of work, and the southpaw has an impressive 35.9% strikeout rate over his brief MLB career.  In a Cubs bullpen that is lacking in surefire options, Wieck certainly looks like a candidate to win a job, and perhaps serve as the Cubs’ top left-handed reliever.

More from around the National League….

  • Multiple teams have approached Brandon Gomes with interview requests over his five years with the Dodgers, but Gomes consistently turned down those other opportunities to remain in Los Angeles.  Speaking with Jack Harris of The L.A. Times and other reporters, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman noted that Gomes was being sought after for several different roles, and “there aren’t a lot of people that you can say that about, that really are qualified to do so many different things.”  This versatility will continue to apply to Gomes’ new position as the Dodgers’ general manager, as Friedman said that Gomes’ specific day-to-day duties will evolve and “we’ll figure out what makes the most sense at any given time.”
  • “Given their roster construction, no team wants the designated hitter in the National League in 2022 as much as the Phillies,” NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman writes.  The Phillies aren’t a strong defensive team, and they have several veterans who battled injuries in 2021 and could benefit from the partial off-day provided by a DH spot.  However, the universal DH might also lessen the chances of a reunion between the Phils and Brad Miller, as Miller will have even more job opportunities open to him in free agency should the 14 other NL teams all have need for extra position player depth.

Dodgers Promote Brandon Gomes To General Manager

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The Dodgers announced this afternoon that they’ve promoted Brandon Gomes from assistant general manager to general manager. The move solidifies Gomes as a key member of a Los Angeles front office that also includes senior vice president Josh Byrnes and is helmed by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Gomes was mentioned as a candidate in the Mets search for a new front office leader earlier in the offseason, but reports out of New York fairly quickly suggested it likelier he would be promoted to Dodgers GM instead. (The Mets eventually landed on Billy Eppler). With Friedman still running the front office in L.A., Gomes’ promotion doesn’t come with the same level of roster control that landing the Mets job would have provided. Yet it affords him a notable step up in title and likely contains some form of pay bump for the 37-year-old to remain in a setting in which he’s obviously comfortable.

Gomes has climbed the front office ranks rather quickly over the past few years. The Massachusetts native began his pro career as a player in 2007, making his big league debut by May 2011. He spent the next four seasons as a middle relief option with the Rays. Tampa Bay outrighted Gomes off their 40-man roster following the 2015 campaign. After a minor league deal with the Cubs didn’t result in another big league opportunity, Gomes hung up his spikes and joined the Los Angeles front office. He reunited with Friedman — formerly Tampa Bay’s general manager — in Southern California.

Within a year, Gomes had ascended to director of player development. After a season in that role, he was promoted to AGM. Three years later, Gomes gets the nod as general manager, a notable step for the organization. With Friedman leading the charge as president of baseball ops, the Dodgers’ GM position has sat vacant in the three-plus years since Farhan Zaidi departed to become president of baseball operations with the archrival Giants.

By promoting Gomes to GM, the Dodgers could ward off interest among other clubs in poaching him, as the Mets apparently expressed this winter. Teams typically only allow their employees to interview elsewhere if a rival club is willing to offer a step up in title. A president of baseball ops or chief baseball officer position would qualify, but it’s unlikely the Dodgers would allow Gomes to assume a GM role — which, for most organizations, is now second in the front office hierarchy — with a new team.

Giants’ GM Scott Harris Not Expected To Take Position With Mets

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The Mets continue to search for a new baseball operations leader, but it doesn’t seem they’ve yet zeroed in on a likely hire. Michael Mayer of Metsmerized reported this morning that New York had recently spoken with Giants’ general manager Scott Harris. Andy Martino of SNY confirms the Mets were in contact with Harris but now rules him out as a potential candidate.

Evidently, that’s due to Harris not wanting to leave San Francisco. Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (Twitter link) reports that the Bay Area native took himself out of consideration for the Mets’ job due to his preference to remain with the Giants. Harris has spent the past two seasons working as San Francisco’s GM, where he’s been second-in-command underneath president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. The Mets’ top baseball ops job would’ve been a step up in responsibility for the 34-year-old Harris, but it seems he’s content with his current role.

Mayer also reports that Dodgers’ assistant general manager Brandon Gomes is seemingly out of consideration for the Mets. He suggests Gomes is likely to receive a promotion in the Los Angeles front office instead, jibing with similar reports by Martino over the past couple weeks. A former big league reliever, the 37-year-old Gomes has spent the past five seasons with the Dodgers, the last three in an assistant GM capacity.

The Mets’ search initially involved high-profile targets Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and David Stearns. For various reasons, none of that trio is still a possibility for New York, and Martino adds that the team has pivoted to targeting younger, up-and-coming executives in the Harris and Gomes mold. The SNY scribe adds that there are “one or two” candidates for the position already in the organization, although he rules out AGM Bryn Alderson — the son of team president Sandy Alderson, who is partly responsible for deciding on the next hire.

In one final wrinkle, Martino suggests the new hire might be brought in with the title of general manager as opposed to president of baseball operations. There’s a bit of semantics at play there, since the incoming hire would be in charge of daily baseball operations either way. Still, the potential change in title could be dependent upon whom the Mets eventually tab.

Teams are typically reluctant to allow in-house executives to interview for lateral positions elsewhere. New York was initially reported to be seeking a president of baseball ops, a higher title would likely allow more leeway in pursuit of rival GM’s like Harris. Were the Mets to hire another club’s assistant general manager, though, they’d only need to offer that person a GM title to offer a step up.

That’s a small matter, since the Mets are in position to create either role depending upon the previous title of whomever they hire. Still, the Mets’ GM/president of baseball ops twist subtly highlights how leaguewide title inflation plays into the hiring of front office personnel each winter.

David Stearns May Have Vesting Option For 2023

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As the Mets continue their search for a new president of baseball operations, they may have to change tack, according to Andy Martino of SNY. It has long been reported that the top tier of their preferred candidates included Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and David Stearns. Martino reports that the Mets’ confidence of landing any of the three is apparently low, leading to them consider a change of strategy and targeting younger executives.

Stearns, the youngest of the group at 36, has had his name connected to the Mets in rumors for a while now, as it was widely believed the Manhattan native was entering the last year of his contract with the Brewers. However, Martino says it is “now believed” that the club has a vesting option for his services for 2023. It’s unclear what conditions need to be met for the option to vest, but that is a noteworthy development, if true. As Martino himself notes, this changes the calculation of how much leverage the Mets would have to compel Milwaukee to allow negotiations to take place. Many have speculated that the Brewers could allow Stearns to consider outside opportunities because he is nearing the end of his contract. But if that is not actually the case, it makes it less likely that they would be open to such a scenario.

Dodgers’ assistant general manager Brandon Gomes, 37 years old, has already been reported to be one of those under consideration, though Martino reports that the Dodgers could promote him to general manager in order to keep him from taking a GM job with the Mets. Martino also floats Brewers general manager Matt Arnold and Giants general manager Scott Harris as those that “could be in the mix.”

Latest on Mets’ Front Office Search

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October 13: The Mets’ wide-ranging search for a new PBO apparently won’t reach as far as the NFL.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports there had been some speculation that Paul DePodesta, currently the chief strategy officer for the Cleveland Browns, was being considered as a possible candidate, but DePodesta tells Sherman he’s not interested in leaving his current position. Prior to making the jump to football in 2016, DePodesta had a long run working in various MLB front-office jobs with Cleveland, Oakland, the Dodgers, San Diego and the Mets.

On the other side of the ledger, you can add Dodgers’ assistant GM Brandon Gomes to the list of names the Mets may want to interview, writes Andy Martino of SNY.  However, Martino suggests the Dodgers could consider promoting Gomes themselves if the Mets express serious interest in poaching him.

October 12: The Mets have discussed Josh Byrnes as a possibility in their ongoing search for a new president of baseball operations, reports Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). Byrnes has spent the past eight seasons as the Dodgers’ senior vice president of baseball operations.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network suggested last month that Byrnes might pop onto the Mets’ radar, and it indeed seems he’s caught the attention of owner Steve Cohen and team president Sandy Alderson. It’s rather easy to see Byrnes’ appeal. The Dodgers have been among the game’s most successful franchises over the past few years, and executives like Alex Anthopoulos (Braves) and Farhan Zaidi (Giants) have done quite well after taking over baseball operations elsewhere following stints in the L.A. front office. Byrnes interviewed for the Phillies’ leadership position that eventually went to Dave Dombrowski last winter but ultimately decided to remain in Los Angeles.

Byrnes also has plenty of experience running day-to-day baseball ops. Before joining Los Angeles, the 51-year-old had stints as the general manger of the Diamondbacks and Padres. In a somewhat ironic twist, Byrnes reportedly came close to landing the Mets’ GM job that went to Alderson back in 2010. Now, Alderson finds himself with a key role in settling on New York’s next baseball operations leader. While he assumed control over day-to-day operations for the final few weeks of this season, Alderson is planning to move back into a broader team president role for 2022.

Byrnes becomes the latest big name tied to the Mets, who are planning to request permission to interview A’s executive VP Billy Beane and Brewers’ president of baseball operations David Stearns. Unlike Beane and Stearns, Byrnes isn’t currently in charge of baseball ops elsewhere, which could make the initial hurdle of getting permission from his current club for an interview — should the Mets decide to take that step — easier than it is with the other candidates. The Mets already interviewed Theo Epstein, but the former Red Sox and Cubs leader will not be taking over in Queens.

Dodgers Announce Front Office Promotions

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The Dodgers announced a series of promotions within the team’s front office, including the elevation of Brandon Gomes to the new title of Vice President and Assistant General Manager.  Gomes’ old role, the Dodgers’ director of player development, will now be filled by assistant farm director Will Rhymes.  The director of baseball operations position will be filled by Alex Slater, while Duncan Webb becomes director of baseball resources.

Gomes’ promotion represents the latest step in his rather quick shift from player to prominent front office executive.  Gomes was a member of the Rays’ bullpen from 2011-15, and also pitched for the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016 before finally hanging up his glove.  Rhymes also played for the Rays in 2012, giving Andrew Friedman (the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations and formerly head of Tampa Bay’s front office) a pair of former players-turned-colleagues working under him in the Los Angeles baseball pyramid.

Gomes joins Jeffrey Kingston in the assistant general manager role, though the Dodgers still haven’t hired an official GM since Farhan Zaidi left to take over the Giants’ baseball ops department last fall.  At the time of Zaidi’s departure, reports indicated that Zaidi’s duties would be split between Gomes, Slater, and senior VP of baseball operations Josh Byrnes.  Since Friedman runs baseball operations anyway, it’s possible L.A. might not appoint a new general manager whatsoever.

NL West Notes: Pollock, Padres, McMahon, Dodgers

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There are no ongoing extension talks between A.J. Pollock and the Diamondbacks, Pollock himself tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Pollock hopes to remain with the D-backs long term, though like most impending free agents entering their walk year, he says he’s more focused on the upcoming season than his contract status. Arizona GM Mike Hazen offered little insight when asked about the situation, Piecoro notes. “It’s kind of tricky when you get into this range of time left, with a year before free agency,” said Hazen. “We’ll probably see where the year takes us. You never know.” As Piecoro highlights, there are some parallels between Pollock and newly signed Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain, who landed a five-year, $80MM contract this winter. And while Cain has been the more durable of the two, Pollock will enter free agency a year younger than Cain did.

More from the NL West…

  • Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune highlights the ongoing competition for the Padres’ starting second base job, which is currently down to Carlos Asuaje and Cory Spangenberg. Both have been impressive this spring, OPSing north of .900 in their small samples of work, but as Acee notes, there may only be room for one of them to make the roster. (Both have two minor league options remaining.) However, he does note that manager Andy Green’s tone on the matter has changed somewhat. After once characterizing the competition as an either-or scenario, Green took a softer stance Tuesday. “We’re not set in stone how we’re going to put the roster together all the way across,” said Green. “It’s going to be tough the way we’re currently constructed to carry both of them, but it’s not an impossibility.” The winner of the competition won’t have any time to get comfortable, though; as Acee notes, prospect Luis Urias is also looming and could debut early in the 2018 campaign as well.
  • Carlos Gonzalez’s return to the Rockies will lead to more time at first base for Ian Desmond, which clouds prospect Ryan McMahon’s role with the big league club, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. McMahon, who has had a strong Spring Training thus far, was perhaps in line to receive a fairly lengthy look at first but could instead be ticketed for Triple-A to get regular at-bats rather than occasional playing time in a limited role with the Rox. Manager Bud Black suggested to Saunders that the final two weeks of camp will be especially important for McMahon, as he’ll be facing higher-quality pitchers as teams begin to narrow their rosters. “That gives you a good gauge, the last couple of weeks, of what you are seeing,” said Black. “Not so much the first couple of weeks — for me.”
  • The Dodgers lost director of player development Gabe Kapler to the Phillies this season and also saw assistant director Jeremy Zoll take a promotion to join the Twins. Kapler’s replacement, former Rays reliever Brandon Gomes, isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel in Los Angeles and shares some philosophies with his predecessor, writes J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Hoornstra chats with Gomes about the point in his career at which he became interested in analytics and player development, as well as the transition from his playing days to more of an executive role. Beyond that, he takes a look at Gomes’ unique background and the 33-year-old’s ability to connect with the players he’s now working with on a daily basis.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/16/16

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Some minor moves from around the game…

  • Righty Brandon Gomes has been released by the Cubs, as Baseball America’s Matt Eddy recently reported. The 31-year-old had thrown 167 relief innings over the last five years with the Rays, working to a 4.20 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9. He had struggled with command this year at Triple-A in the Chicago organization, however. In his 22 2/3 frames, Gomes allowed ten earned runs on 14 hits and 14 walks while striking out twenty.
  • The Orioles have re-signed lefty Andy Oliver, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. Oliver, 28, had recently opted out of his minor league pact with Baltimore, but evidently did not find a better opportunity elsewhere. He owns a nice 2.08 ERA over 34 2/3 Triple-A frames on the year, with 8.8 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
  • Veteran catcher Gerald Laird has signed a contract with the Mexican League’s Tijuana Toros, MLBTR has learned. The 36-year-old Laird signed the with D-backs prior to the 2015 season but appeared in just one game before a back injury sidelined him into late August, at which point he was designated for assignment and released. Laird enjoyed a productive season with the Braves back in 2013, when he batted .281/.367/.372 in 141 plate appearances. In parts of 13 Major League seasons, Laird is a career .243/.305/.353 hitter. He’s spent time with the Rangers, Tigers and Cardinals in addition to Arizona and Atlanta.
  • The Angels announced that lefty David Huff has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 31-year-old made a pair of spot starts for the Halos this season but struggled in each and ultimately yielded seven earned runs on 13 hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He’ll have the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, though he could very well accept due to the fact that the injury-riddled state of the Angels’ pitching staff could afford him another crack at the Majors later this summer.
  • Former Major League right-hander Robert Coello has been waived by the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, as Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency writes. In his place, the Heroes will sign right-hander Scott McGregor, who had been pitching for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League (Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com reported the McGregor news earlier this week). The 31-year-old Coello hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013, when he posted a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings for the Angels. He had a 3.77 ERA in 62 innings out of the Heroes’ rotation this season, but Yoo notes that control problems (42 walks in those 62 innings) led him to be waived. McGregor, a longtime Cardinals farmhand, has a career 4.78 ERA at the Triple-A level and was throwing well for Somerset this season, having posted a 3.36 ERA with a 31-to-6 K/BB ratio in 59 innings.

Cubs To Sign Brandon Gomes

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Among the players signing minor league deals with the Cubs was righty Brandon Gomes, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter links). He’ll join the pen competition with another recently-added righty, Jean Machi.

Gomes, 31, threw 59 frames for the Rays last year, posting a 4.27 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. He has thrown 167 total innings over the last five years in Tampa Bay, finding some success at times. But Gomes has been limited by a tendency to serve up the long ball.

Among the other arms heading to the Chicago organization this spring are righty Stephen Fife and southpaws Scott Barnes and Luis Cruz. Fife missed all of 2015 with Tommy John surgery but recently had a nice, 13-start showing in Venezuela. Barnes pitched in the Blue Jays organization last year and hasn’t cracked the majors since 2013. And Cruz, 25, lost his 40-man spot with the Astros this fall after throwing 116 innings of 4.27 ERA ball at Triple-A last year, with 7.2 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9.

Finally, the Cubs inked outfielders Juan Perez and Kelly Dugan. Perez has seen action as a reserve with the Giants over the past three years, compiling a .224/.267/.316 slash in 246 total plate appearances. The 25-year-old Dugan had previously spent his entire career in the Phillies organization. He struggled in his first taste of Triple-A last year.

John Axford, Daniel Nava, Brandon Gomes Elect Free Agency

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Right-hander John Axford has elected free agency after refusing an outright assignment from the Rockies following last week’s DFA, the club announced. Also electing free agency today from last Friday’s wave of DFAs were outfielder Daniel Nava and right-hander Brandon Gomes, both of whom were designated for assignment by the Rays.

Axford, 32, was perhaps the most surprising of the bunch to be designated for assignment. The right-hander spent much of the season as Colorado’s closer and worked to generally successful results. Axford admittedly struggled through a dreadful stretch that lasted nearly two months and saw him yield 19 runs in 17 2/3 innings, but he was dominant outside of that spell (seven earned runs in 38 innings).

All told, the veteran righty finished with a 4.20 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 10.0 K/9, 5.2 BB/9 and a career-best 56.1 percent ground-ball rate. Axford did carry a hefty $6.5MM arbitration projection (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), but his production, when considering his home park, was 11 percent better than the league-average (by measure of ERA+). Fangraphs’ FIP- pegged him at 15 percent better than league average. Axford may not land a guarantee as large as his arbitration projection, but he does figure to draw some Major League offers this winter.

Nava, 33 in February, suffered through the worst season of his career but has been a regular or semi-regular contributor in each season dating back to 2010 (primarily with Boston). The switch-hitter batted only .194/.315/.245 in 166 plate appearances between the Red Sox and Rays this year but is a career .265/.358/.383 hitter overall and sports an even more impressive .281/.377/.409 batting line against right-handed pitching. Nava’s track record against righties and history of above-average defense in the outfield corners should at least generate interest in him as a platoon option. He had been projected to earn $1.9MM.

As for Gomes, the 31-year-old has been a frequent contributor to the Tampa Bay bullpen over the past five seasons, amassing a career 4.20 ERA in 167 innings — 59 of which came in 2015 (a career high). Gomes has averaged 7.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 with a 32.7 percent ground-ball rate and a 91 mph average fastball as a big leaguer. His lack of ground-balls and susceptibility to home runs makes him a better fit for a team in a large park (and certainly one away from the AL East’s collection of relatively small stadiums), but Gomes has a useful track record and should at the very least lock down an invitation to big league Spring Training with a real chance to crack the bullpen somewhere this winter. He’d been projected at $900K for the 2016 season.

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