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AL Central Notes: Tsutsugo, Lindblom, Royals, Indians

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Past reports have already linked the Blue Jays and Marlins to Yoshitomo Tsutsugo’s market, and now MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that three AL Central teams are also in the mix.  The White Sox, Tigers, and Twins all have some interest in the Japanese slugger, who has hit 185 homers for Yokohama since the start of the 2014 season.  Tsutsugo’s left-handed power would fit in any of the three teams’ lineups, though his limited defensive capability as a first baseman or outfielder could see him mostly play first base if he wound up in Minnesota, since Nelson Cruz is locked into DH duties.  Chicago could deploy Tsutsugo along with Jose Abreu in the first base/DH mix or play Tsutsugo in the outfield on days when Yasmani Grandal is getting a DH or first base day, while Tsutsugo would simply step right into an everyday role for the hitting-starved Tigers.

Any team that signs Tsutsugo will have to pay his former team, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, a release fee that will be determined by the size of Tsutsugo’s eventual MLB contract.  The 30-day posting window for Tsutsugo to find a contract in North America ends on December 19, so there is still lots of time for one of his five known suitors or perhaps other teams to strike a deal.

Here’s more from the AL Central….

  • Morosi reports on another potential Detroit target in another tweet, noting that the Tigers and Angels are two of the teams interested in Josh Lindblom.  The right-hander is looking to return to the majors on the heels of two outstanding seasons in South Korea’s KBO League, and some very impressive spin rate numbers on his four-seam fastball.  Morosi writes that Lindblom has already received multi-year offers from more than one team, which isn’t surprising given how Lindblom would be an inexpensive yet high-ceiling addition to a lot of pitching staffs (such as rebuilding teams like the Tigers or hopeful contenders like the Angels).
  • The Royals announced their 2020 coaching staff under new manager Mike Matheny, with a few new faces in the mix and some familiar faces returning in some different roles.  Pitching coach Cal Eldred and hitting coach Terry Bradshaw will remain in their positions, while Pedro Grifol moves to bench coach from his past quality control/catching coach job, and Vance Wilson goes from bullpen coach to third base coach.  Rusty Kuntz will become the Royals’ first base coach for the third time in his 12-year stint as a member of the K.C. organization, while Larry Carter will take over as bullpen coach after 22 years in various minor league roles for the club.  John Mabry joins the staff as a Major League coach, after working under Matheny as the Cardinals’ hitting coach when Matheny was the St. Louis manager.  Former coaches Dale Sveum and Mike Jirschele will remain with the Royals in as-yet-unassigned new roles.
  • The Indians’ homegrown pitching has been the backbone of the team’s success in recent years, and The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (subscription link) looks at how the organization has been able to turn the likes of Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and other relatively unheralded — none were drafted before the third round by the Tribe or other teams — arms into top-flight hurlers.  Ruben Niebla, formerly the minor league pitching coordinator and now the big league team’s assistant pitching coach, has been a key figure in the system of finding what works for each pitcher, getting the pitcher to buy into the strategy, and then tailoring that development through all levels of the pitcher’s trip up the organizational ladder.  “That communication is vitally important to us, that we make sure we have continuity and the same message as he goes through. There’s no confusion. It’s clear,” Niebla said.

Dale Sveum Not In Running For Royals Managerial Opening

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The Royals are believed to be looking internally for their next manager, but it probably won’t be bench coach Dale Sveum, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Instead, Sveum has expressed a desire to take on a “different role” within the organization, which Flanagan reports is being “worked out.”

Special advisor Mike Matheny still appears to be the favorite for the manager job in Kansas City, although Sveum would have been a logical target in his own right. He’s spent the past six seasons with the organization, including the last two as Ned Yost’s bench coach. He’d served as KC’s third base and hitting coach prior to becoming Yost’s right-hand man.

Sveum also has MLB managing experience on his resume. Somewhat ironically, Sveum’s first MLB managerial job came after a Yost departure. He took over in an interim capacity for the Brewers in 2008 after Yost was fired amidst a September swoon. Milwaukee righted the ship and made the postseason, where they were bounced in the NLDS. Sveum is probably more famous for his two years at the helm of the Cubs from 2012-13. Those teams combined for a woeful 127-197 record, although he hardly had much on-field talent with which to work, with Chicago in the early stages of the large-scale rebuild that paid off in the latter half of the decade.

Nevertheless, it appears Sveum will not return to the top step of the dugout in Kansas City. It isn’t clear from Flanagan’s report whether Sveum will stay on the coaching staff in 2020, although it does appear he’ll remain in the organization in some capacity.

In addition to Matheny, bullpen coach Vance Wilson and quality control coach Pedro Grifol have garnered consideration, with Wilson known to have already interviewed. While the internal candidates are the favorites, Flanagan notes that the organization hasn’t completely closed the door on external hires, either. The hiring process has been a slow one, perhaps related to the franchise’s ongoing sale, although GM Dayton Moore apparently has free reign to make a hire whenever he so desires.

You can keep track of all the managerial news and rumors around the game here.

Royals GM Dayton Moore Discusses Managerial Search, Roster Needs

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Royals GM Dayton Moore held a brief chat with Jon Heyman and Josh Lewin on the Big Time Baseball Podcast (audio link). We’ll touch on some of the highlights here.

With long-tenured manager Ned Yost having retired at the end of the Royals’ season, finding his successor is among the most important tasks on Moore’s plate. As of now, though, the Royals are still “vetting candidates” for the job and “have yet to go through a formal interview” with anyone, according to Moore. It seems in an ideal world, the club will promote Yost’s replacement from within. Moore talked up Royals assistants Mike Matheny, Dale Sveum, Pedro Grifol and Vance Wilson, declaring that they’re “strong candidates.”

Matheny, who possesses by far the most managerial experience of any of the Royals’ possibilities, was at the helm of a Cardinals club that went 591-474 with four playoff berths and an NL pennant from 2012-18. Moore, cognizant of the success St. Louis had in the standings during that run, contends Matheny’s “an amazing leader” who “won every single year” with the franchise. Although Matheny received plenty of criticism throughout time with the Redbirds, Moore’s impressed that he was able to successfully transition from a long career as a big league catcher to that of a manager – all while taking over for Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.

Since last November, a few months after his in-season firing with the Cardinals, Matheny has been serving as a special advisor in Kansas City. He’s “done excellent work” in that capacity, per Moore, who revealed Matheny “has options” and has been “sought out” by other clubs (though it’ s unclear if that implies teams are interested in Matheny as a manager).

Whether the Royals tap Matheny or someone else for the role, that individual will be facing the grueling task of trying to get immediate results in the standings for KC. The Royals are coming off their second straight 100-loss season, though Moore & Co. nonetheless “feel good about our core group of young position players.” He specifically named third baseman Hunter Dozier, right fielder Jorge Soler, shortstop Adalberto Mondesi (“one of the best talents in the game; just needs to get more consistent) and second baseman Nicky Lopez as potential building blocks who have age on their side. With the exception of Soler, whose contract is more complex than most, all of those players come with a few seasons of affordable control. As of now, it’s unknown whether the Royals will try to extend Soler, who’s coming off an age-27 season in which he mashed 48 home runs.

As effective as Soler was in 2019, second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield still may be the centerpiece of the Royals’ cast of position players. Merrifield will turn 31 during the offseason, but having signed a team-friendly extension last winter, the rebuilding Royals aren’t under pressure to deal him. Moore has always resisted doing so despite vast interest from other clubs. Now, “nobody is untouchable,” and the Royals need to be “open-minded” until they know which opportunities could present themselves. However, Moore continues to regard Merrifield as a “special talent” and a “special person,” which suggests the club’s more than content to move ahead with the well-rounded All-Star.

While the Royals do have some gems among their position players, they don’t look as well off on the pitching side. The Royals’ hurlers posted the majors’ fourth-worst ERA (5.20) this year, and Brad Keller – a 2017 Rule 5 acquisition – was their lone starter to put up average or better production across a full season. With those struggles in mind, Moore acknowledged that the Royals “gotta do a better job of developing pitching, acquiring pitching.”

Looking ahead to 2020, the Royals will likely be in for another lean year. “We’ve got a ways to go,” said Moore, who didn’t offer a timeline on a possible return to contention. As you’d expect, though, the longtime exec indicated he and the franchise are bent on orchestrating a turnaround.

Latest On Royals’ Managerial Opening

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A managerial job somewhat surprisingly opened Monday when Ned Yost announced he’s retiring from his post in Kansas City after a decade at the helm. The Royals will spend the coming weeks attempting to fill the position for the first time since before the 2010 season. Although ex-Cardinals skipper and current Royals special advisor Mike Matheny looks like a candidate for the opening, he’s not the only member of the organization who will garner consideration for the role. Two of Yost’s assistants, bench coach Dale Sveum and quality control and catching coach Pedro Grifol, “are definitely in the running,” per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com.

The 55-year-old Sveum is about to wrap up his sixth season on Yost’s staff and his second in his current role. He also has two full seasons of managerial experience at the major league level, having overseen the Cubs from 2012-13. The Cubs put up an unsightly 127-197 record during Sveum’s tenure, though those rosters weren’t exactly loaded with talent. He’d face the same non-contending problem in KC, at least initially, as the club has sewn up its second straight 100-loss season.

Grifol, who will turn 50 in November, has spent seven years with the Royals – including the past in the job he has now. While Grifol has only managed in the low minors (with the Seattle organization from 2003-05 and in ’12), he was among those who interviewed for the Baltimore job that ultimately went to Brandon Hyde last offseason.

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