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Bruce Bochy

NL Notes: Bumgarner, WGN, Cubs, Phillies

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Madison Bumgarner has made his last pitch of the 2019 season – and perhaps his career as a San Francisco Giant. The free-agent-to-be would have been in line to start Sunday’s season finale, but manager Bruce Bochy says they’ll watch the game together from the bench, per Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News. Sunday will be the last game of Bochy’s prodigious career as well, and it will be appropriate to take in the game alongside Bumgarner, with whom he won three world championships. If Bumgarner does move on this offseason, he will finish his career in San Francisco with a 119-92 record and 3.13 ERA/3.32 FIP across 1,846 innings – 8th on the Giants all-time bWAR leaderboard. Still just 30-years-old, Bumgarner wraps up 2019 with a 3.90 ERA/3.91 FIP while eclipsing 200 innings for the seventh time in his career. As the penultimate day of the 2019 season gets under way, let’s check in on a couple other teams from the senior circuit…

  • The Cubs say goodbye to WGN this week, the beloved television network known as the home of Cubs content for the last 72 years. The long-awaited Marquee Sports Network launches next year, but the revenue streams won’t provide real kickback for a couple of years, per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. The long-promised “wheelbarrow full of money” won’t be arriving at Theo Epstein’s baseball operations department from day one, but neither does Epstein see the new television deal affecting baseball decisions. Said Epstein, “We want to win the World Series. But it’s not because of the TV network. That’s the goal. It’s unrelated. There’s a wall between baseball decisions and anything related to the TV network.”
  • Trust is a process, and first-year Phillies pitching coach Chris Young understands that process takes a little longer with suboptimal results, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and Meghan Montemurro (subscription required). Young’s job was made all the more difficult when players bristled at the dismissal of his predecessor Rick Kranitz. Young’s analytics-driven philosophy was in lockstep with manager Gabe Kapler, but Philly pitchers are taking longer to buy-in, in part from its perception as an inflexible top-down approach. It was a frustrating season on the whole for Philadelphia’s pitching staff as the team regressed to 2017 levels after taking a big step forward in 2018.

Managerial Rumors: Angels, Callaway, Bochy

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The Padres have already moved on from skipper Andy Green, whereas Ned Yost has announced that this’ll be his final year managing the Royals. There’s been some recent chatter surrounding the fate of Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, as well, which stemmed largely from none other than Hurdle himself. It’s the time of year that’s typically filled with managerial/coaching/front office turnover, and there won’t be any shortage of rumblings on that front over the next several days. Here’s some of the latest from that arena…

  • Although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently suggested that the Angels would “consider” moving on from Brad Ausmus after just one season in order to pursue Joe Maddon (should he become available, as many expect), Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times writes in her latest Angels mailbag column that Ausmus is will be back in 2020. Torres adds that she’s received no indication that any members of the coaching staff are in particular danger of being replaced, either. Ausmus is signed through the 2021 season under a three-year contract he agreed upon just last offseason.
  • The Mets’ second-half Wild Card push fell short but was enough to at least raise speculation about Mickey Callaway surviving the offseason and returning for a third year. Nevertheless, SNY’s Andy Martino writes that multiple people connected to the team will still be surprised if Callaway is retained after the season. New York won’t make any final announcement on the matter until after the season has wrapped up, however, and team decision-makers are expected to discuss the manager’s future into early next week. Callaway himself campaigned a bit for his job prior to last night’s loss, per Mike Puma of the New York Post, telling the Mets beat: “I think a manager’s job is to get guys going in a direction and I think these guys never wavered from that, so I am definitely proud about that. … I understand the rigors of the job and I try to deal with it the best I can and try to stay even-keeled for the organization’s sake and for our players’ sake.”
  • There’s been speculation that Bruce Bochy could pursue other managerial jobs once he steps away from the Giants — some from his own players, even — and the future Hall of Famer discussed that speculation with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle this week. While Bochy doesn’t have any immediate plans to seek out other opportunities, he conceded that there’s no telling what the future holds. “Later on, when you get away from the game, who knows how you’ll react?” Bochy asked rhetorically. “I’m good with my call. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s been tough here at the end of the season realizing it’s ending. No, I’m fine with it. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future because I don’t know.”

Giants’ Players Discuss Bochy’s Future

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The Padres’ decision to fire manager Andy Green yesterday unleashed a firestorm of speculation about the franchise’s all-time winningest skipper. Bruce Bochy’s magnificent tenure at the helm of the Giants will come to a close next Sunday. What’s in the cards after that?

Bochy, 64, has no interest in discussing his long-term future, pointing to the need to focus on San Francisco’s final seven games. Giants’ players, though, were more willing to take the long view, with a handful of notable names sitting down with the Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly to discuss their clubhouse leader.

None was more forceful than Jeff Samardzija, who tells Baggarly he’d “be surprised” if Bochy doesn’t take a managerial job elsewhere. There’s no indication Samardzija has spoken with Bochy about the situation, it should be noted; rather, his prediction of Bochy managing elsewhere is rooted in the daily intensity Bochy still brings to his current position.

Samardzija wasn’t alone in praising Bochy’s energy level, with myriad other veterans, including Madison Bumgarner and Brandon Crawford, joining in to applaud Bochy’s fiery in-game nature and continued willingness to play bullpen matchups, even with the 74-81 Giants long out of playoff contention. Despite his age, Baggarly notes that Bochy has become receptive to analytics in recent seasons, a prerequisite for assuming a position of power in the modern game. That said, his players pointed to Bochy’s track record of being adaptable in-game and willingness to deviate from script when he feels the situation demands it.

In addition to the Padres, Baggarly speculates (and, to be clear, it is entirely speculative at these early stages) the Phillies and Cubs could make sense for Bochy should they decide to follow San Diego’s lead and part ways with their current managers. Unlike Samardzija, Baggarly isn’t convinced Bochy will return to the dugout, noting that he may prefer to spend more time with his family following an illustrious career. Nevertheless, it’s notable to hear from those closest to the situation that Bochy’s fire for the game continues to burn as bright as ever.

If Bochy were to pursue managerial jobs elsewhere, it would surely reignite speculation that Farhan Zaidi’s new front office nudged Bochy out the door last winter. That, Baggarly says, would be unfounded, as there’s no indication Zaidi and company forced the respected manager’s hand. Rather, Bochy took it upon himself to step away out of respect for the new administration, not wanting to risk overstaying his welcome and forcing the front office into an awkward and uncomfortable situation if they were to decide at some point they would prefer to install a new voice in the dugout.

In these early stages, with Bochy himself playing things close to the vest, we’re left with more questions and speculation than definitive answers. With 2,000 wins, four pennants and three World Series titles under his belt, Bochy is a surefire future Hall of Famer, one of the most accomplished skippers in recent memory. Whether he continues that career in 2020 and beyond will be one of the more fascinating non-roster stories of the upcoming winter.

Bruce Bochy Noncommittal On Padres Opening

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Giants skipper Bruce Bochy recently recorded his 2000th victory behind the reins of a big league dugout–a nice capstone to what has largely been expected to be his final season as a manager. However, with the firing of Andy Green in San Diego, speculation has already mounted around a potential Bochy-San Diego reunion. As we previously relayed from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Bochy is indeed on the Padres shortlist of potential Green replacements, and reporters, including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, were quick to press Bochy today on his willingness to don Padre brown in 2020 (link).

“I’m not even going there,” Bochy said when asked about the San Diego opening, “I’m concentrating here right now doing what I’m supposed to do. That’s the last thing on my mind right now, as much as we’re in the last week here.”

While Bochy didn’t even want to entertain the possibility of an intra-division heel-turn, it’s worth noting that he has not necessarily ruled out a return to managing. Back in Spring Training, Schulman relays that Bochy said “Never is a long time” when he was asked if 2019 would truly be his final season as a manager.  As San Diego’s skipper from 1995 to 2006, Bochy amassed a 951-975 managerial record–a stretch that also contained one Manager of the Year award in 1996 and an NL pennant in 1998.

Besides his history with the organization, a few other factors may fuel Bochy-to-San Diego rumors in the short term. For one, the February announcement of Bochy’s retirement coincided with San Francisco’s integration of Farhan Zaidi as President of Baseball Operations this past November; although team officials dispelled notions at the time that Bochy was politely nudged toward the door with Zaidi’s arrival in SF, changes in leadership do often precipitate changes at the managerial level. Secondly, it’s also fair to note that Bochy makes his offseason home in the San Diego exurb of Poway, so speculation will likely continue until he definitively declines consideration for the Padres job.

For what it’s worth, Bob Nightengale of USA Today divulged this afternoon that San Diego was eating about $2.5MM in firing Green with two years left on his contract (link). Terms of Green’s 2017 managerial extension had been previously unreported, so the revelation of his approximately $1.25MM yearly salary may be relevant in trying to pinpoint his potential successor. Bochy has been performing under a $6MM per annum contract with San Francisco since the 2017 season, so a southbound move to San Diego would require either a substantial pay cut for Bochy or an unprecedented budgetary bump from the Padre ownership group.

Bruce Bochy To Retire After 2019 Season

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Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced today that he will retire at the end of the 2019 season (Twitter link). Baseball’s longest-tenured skipper, Bochy is entering his 13th season as the Giants’ manager. In that time, he’s overseen three World Series championships (2010, 2012 and 2014) and helped guide the Giants to a 979-965 record.

A surefire Hall of Famer, the 2019 season will be Bochy’s 25th as a Major League manager, as he also previously enjoyed a 12-year run at the helm for the Padres. The 63-year-old surprisingly only took home one NL Manager of the Year title in those 24 seasons (1996 with the Padres), but his track record is among the most impressive of any manager in the past three decades. As MLB.com’s Jon Morosi points out, Bochy is one of only 10 managers to win three World Series titles, and the other nine are in the Hall of Fame (Twitter link).

As for his future, Bochy indicated that he’ll still be involved in the game in some capacity (Twitter link via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic). He’s already spoken with CEO Larry Baer about alternative roles with the Giants organization and didn’t sound as if he had much interest in pursuing a role with another club, plainly stating: “I’m a Giant.”

With general manager Bobby Evans recently dismissed from his post and Brian Sabean moving into more of an advisory capacity with the team, the departure of Bochy will be the next major step in an organizational overhaul. Ownership tabbed former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi as the organization’s new president of baseball operations early in the offseason, and after the 2019 season, Bochy’s retirement will give the Giants’ new front office an opportunity to handpick a replacement to serve as a new voice for the next generation of Giants.

Quick Hits: Angels, Giants, Braves

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GM Billy Eppler reiterated the Angels’ plan to build upon the growth of their farm system in 2018, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The plan is clear: build a Top-5 system, and then use their financial muscle to supplement (Fangraphs pegs their current farm as the 12th most valuable system in the league). The Angels aren’t out on all trade candidates, however, as Eppler makes an important distinction in stating that they haven’t traded anyone “impactful” from their farm. Deals that don’t require surrendering top prospects remain theoretically in play, though such a strategy likely won’t yield any of the sexier names being bandied about these winter meetings, such as Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer or J.T. Realmuto. Fletcher suggests Sonny Gray, Francisco Cervelli and Julio Teheran as the types of trade targets that might be within their reach. These types of targets are likely better fits for their financial outlook as well.

  • Behind the leadership of President of Baseball Ops Farhan Zaidi, the San Francisco Giants will open their playbook to more modern pitching strategies next season, per Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News. A staff comprised of injury-prone veterans like Jeff Samardzija and up-and-comers potentially on innings limits (Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez) may lead manager Bruce Bochy to employ the Opener strategy or, as Zaidi puts it, “different forms of pitching staff constructions” in 2019. Bochy is a noted traditionalist in the dugout, but in lieu of finding five starters capable of pitching 200 innings, he and Zaidi will be forced to adapt by building a pitching strategy tailored to their current personnel. The Giants may still add to their stable of arms, but outfield is far-and-away the winter priority at this time, and they feel pretty good about where how the bullpen is currently constructed. That said, there has been considerably trade interest in Will Smith and Tony Watson, so the near-term outlook could change if a can’t-miss deal presents itself. Thus far, Zaidi is adhering to a patient approach in his first winter at the helm, which makes sense given the financial and talent makeup of the San Francisco roster.
  • The Braves lost out to division rival Philadelphia in the bidding for Andrew McCutchen, though Atlanta was never a serious contender once the price rose to include a third season, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. GM Alex Anthopoulos is perfectly content to wait until the new year before making any more additions, should that be what the market dictates. In the case of McCutchen, for instance, the Braves viewed the former Pirates outfielder as comparable to Carlos Gonzalez or Nick Markakis – corner bats that add value when secured on a shorter-term deal. They’ve vetted most outfielders available, and a bigger name like Michael Brantley is still in play for Atlanta, but the Braves aren’t eager to overpay for expediency at this stage of the winter. This mirrors the situation they faced earlier in the winter when they looked into possibly acquiring J.T. Realmuto. After feeling like the Marlins wouldn’t deal within the division, they moved on to free agent target Brian McCann. While the intra-division embargo seems to have passed, the Braves will not be reengaging the Marlins, as they secured a catching tandem they like, in McCann and Tyler Flowers, at a price they like.

Giants Notes: Front Office, Bochy, Holland

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The Giants’ recent front-office shakeup is designed to “bring a new approach to Giants baseball,” CEO Larry Baer explained in the wake of the firing of GM Bobby Evans. As Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News writes, longtime exec Brian Sabean will be in a key role in making a new hire, though the incoming baseball ops head will report directly to Baer. The CEO says he’s looking for a “next-gen” executive — a statement that could perhaps be interpreted in several ways but nevertheless offers an interesting hint as to the organization’s intentions.

  • Notably, the top hire likely won’t be the only one. Baer acknowledged that any new baseball ops leader may want to bring in some of his or her own people. And Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that there’s actually already an expectation of creating a two-tiered structure. The Giants, he says, are looking for both a VP of baseball ops and a general manager.
  • Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, meanwhile, says that the upper management changes don’t impact his preference to continue in his job, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Bochy is only under contract through 2019, but he says that “lame duck” status won’t be an issue heading into his 13th season on the job. Clearly, he’s also not concerned that the club’s competitive outlook is at best uncertain. The fact that Bochy will remain in place adds an interesting dynamic to the front office situation, though the veteran skipper says he’s committed to meshing well with whoever steps in. Potential baseball ops hires may prefer to choose their own manager, though it’s also not hard to imagine that many will feel comfortable with the highly respected Bochy for at least one campaign.
  • Whoever ends up taking over the baseball operations department will face a number of challenges, along with questions on existing players. The pitching staff, in particular the bullpen, has some potential trade candidates. It also has one potential candidate to be re-signed in Derek Holland, who has turned in a bounceback year and is set to return to the open market. Through 168 2/3 innings, the southpaw carries a 3.63 ERA with a career-high 8.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. The 31-year-old says he’s interesting in continuing his career with San Francisco, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, and Bochy adds his endorsement. At this point, though, it’s anyone’s guess whether that will be of interest to the new top decisionmakers.

Giants Notes: Front Office, Bochy, Belt

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Although the Giants are mired in their second straight poor season, expectations are that both executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy will return in 2019, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. General manager Bobby Evans may not be as fortunate, though, as Nightengale reports that he’s on the “hot seat.” Evans, previously San Francisco’s assistant general manager, took over the GM role from Sabean in April 2015 as part of a series of promotions. The Giants were the reigning World Series champions at the time, but their results have been disappointing since then, even though they’ve been among the game’s highest-spending teams.

More from San Francisco, which has dropped 11 of 12 this month to fall to 10 games under .500:

  • Giants first baseman Brandon Belt’s season may be over. Belt underwent an MRI on his sore right knee, and if the results aren’t to the Giants’ liking, they’ll shut him down for 2018, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report. Belt has been dealing with knee issues since late July, when he landed on the 10-day disabled list and missed two-plus weeks. The 30-year-old’s OPS has dropped nearly 100 points since he returned from the DL (from .842 to .756), which may be thanks in part to his knee. Between Belt’s injury and the fact that the Giants have nothing to play for as their season nears an end, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them put Belt on ice until 2019. Belt remains a key cog for the organization, as he’s due another $48MM on the five-year, $72.8MM extension the Evans-led Giants awarded him in April 2016.
  • While it appears Bochy will return next year (something he’d like to do), at least one member of his staff won’t. The club dismissed strength and conditioning coach Carl Kochan on Thursday, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports California. Kochan had been in his seventh season with San Francisco, and his firing is just the first of multiple changes that could occur. The Giants are evaluating “all levels of the organization” at this point, Pavlovic writes.

Bruce Bochy Says He Hopes To Manage Giants In 2019

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Long-time Giants skipper Bruce Bochy left little doubt that he wants to return next season in a chat with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. His current contract expires after the 2019 campaign.

Certainly, the results haven’t been there over the past two seasons — and, especially, in recent weeks. Even if the postseason long seemed a difficult objective after a disastrous 2017 effort, the club hung in the hunt for most of the current season. But the Giants are now closer to last place in the NL West than they are to third, reflecting a brutal stretch of play.

The writing was already on the wall when CEO Larry Baer expressed clear support for the team’s leadership. But it could be that the sudden downturn, along with other unhappy developments such as season-ending surgery for Buster Posey, has upped the uncertainty.

As Shea explains, it’s unclear at the moment whether the club remains committed to Bochy. Similarly, the club’s long-tenured front office leadership has yet to receive any public assurances. Both Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans will enter the offseason with a single season left on their deals, too.

For his part, though, Bochy says he’s still fully on board. “I still enjoy this as much as I did my first year,” he tells Shea. Of course, he also made clear that his drive is based upon the fact that he “want[s] to get back to the postseason.” Just how much of a priority contention will be in 2019 isn’t yet clear.

All things considered, the Giants face an immense amount of uncertainty. The options are limited with about $125MM in salary commitments already written in stone for each of the next two seasons — much of which is tied up in underperforming players.

Whether the uncertainty will lead to wholesale change, though, remains to be seen. Certainly, it’d be hard to lay the struggles of the past two seasons at Bochy’s feet. The roster wasn’t quite up to snuff on paper, even before injuries and declines intervened. Whether or not Bochy shares a significant portion of the blame, though, he could be caught up in a broader shift — if, that is, the club’s ownership decides it’s time to blow up a leadership combination that has brought so much success.

Giants fans, in particular, will certainly want to give Shea’s piece a full read, as he covers a lot of ground on the broader subject of the organization’s situation.

Giants’ Leadership Addresses Organization’s Plans

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With it becoming increasingly apparent that the Giants won’t be mounting a late run at the postseason, the team’s top organizational figures have spent some time giving their impressions of the current season and the future outlook. CEO Larry Baer chatted with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic (audio/subscription link), while president of baseball operations Brian Sabean spoke with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Both men made clear that they don’t see the ballclub as being in the midst of a massive transition. “I don’t characterize it as a rebuild,” said Baer. Sabean, the club’s top baseball decisionmaker, said much the same: “We’re used to winning. We don’t feel we’re in a position, as a result of that, to have, quote, a complete face-lift.”

At the same time, there was certainly an acknowledgement that change will be needed. Sabean noted that the front office will “have to probably be ready to make some tough decisions.” And Baer acknowledged that, in applying what he described as Sabean’s “win and develop” approach to staying competitive while building for the future, it may be necessary to “”lean more toward the development” side of the fence.

If there’s a clear plan, it’s not clear from these interviews just what it is and how it’ll be implemented. When asked whether he expects to acquire a big-money player — which Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle argued today could be pursued even if the club otherwise doesn’t really expect to contend — Baer said it’s just too soon to know. His top baseball ops mean, though, said the club “still want[s] to put the most productive product on the field that we can,” which seems to keep the door open.

Certainly, it’s tough to see how the Giants would manage to embark upon anything like a true rebuilding effort with so many hard-to-move obligations on the books. That wasn’t necessarily the case last winter, when several veterans on long-term deals held greater trade value than they do now.

While the decision to push for a return to contention in 2018 hasn’t resulted in a postseason trajectory, that doesn’t mean the organization regrets it. Sabean says there was value in having “distanced ourselves from how last year went.” Both men suggested that the organization is pleased with having unearthed some young talent, too.

Of course, expectations were that this roster would struggle to keep pace in the division, just as has occurred. Some might have been higher on the Giants heading into 2018 had the team landed Giancarlo Stanton. In Baer’s estimation, the organization failed to convince the slugger to waive his no-trade protection to come to San Francisco mostly because Stanton was already frustrated with “the process” the Marlins undertook to try to deal him. Anyway, Baer says, the near-term payroll space that would have been locked up by Stanton was “re-expressed” in veterans Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria, and Tony Watson — a fact that actually left the club “very content” this spring, Baer says.

Longoria’s contract now looks to be another underperforming asset, further clogging the future balance sheets after the club so diligently stayed below the luxury tax line this year. But those are the risks it takes to acquire or keep established veterans. And the Giants obviously believe in their approach, having seen it result in three recent World Series titles.

It seems that, most broadly, the organization will back off the throttle in some respects — McCutchen could certainly be traded in the coming days, for example — but will otherwise push forward with its tried and true methods of roster building. Certainly, there’s every indication that Sabean and skipper Bruce Bochy will remain in their posts, with Baer telling Kawakami that the pair has an unmatched pedigree and expressing confidence in them with one more season left on their most recent extensions.

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