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Padres To Hire Bobby Dickerson As Bench Coach

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NOV. 1: It took a three-year pact to lure Dickerson, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). Additionally, Wayne Kirby will come over from the Orioles to serve as first base coach, Joel Sherman of the New York Post first tweeted. As Heyman points out, Kirby also has ample experience with Machado.

OCT. 31: New Padres manager Jayce Tingler is set to make an important hire as he prepares for his first year as a skipper. He’s likely to hire Phillies infield coach Bobby Dickerson as his bench coach, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweets.

Dickerson, who turned 54 in September, is a former minor league infielder who has never managed above the minors. But Dickerson has logged several years as a coach at multiple levels, and the hope for the Padres is that his vast experience will help Tingler break into his new role.

If the Padres do select Dickerson, his Philly tenure will conclude after just one season. Before joining the Phillies last winter, Dickerson worked in various coaching roles in Baltimore from 2010-18, a span in which he developed a close bond with ex-Orioles star and current Padres third baseman Manny Machado. Dickerson shared some insight into his long-running relationship with Machado with Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer last winter.

“I’ll say this: When Manny puts his mind to something, it’s just unbelievable to watch,” Dickerson told Lauber. “He’s that talented. In 2013, he was the best defensive player I’ve ever seen in my life. If he’s locked in, he can change the game with his glove. For sure, I’ve seen it. The challenge is his locked-in-ness, and that’s well-documented.”

Padres Decline Aaron Loup’s Option; Robbie Erlin Elects Free Agency

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It’s been a busy day transactional day for the Padres, and the team announced two more additional moves to clear space on the 40-man roster.  San Diego declined its $2MM club option on left-hander Aaron Loup, instead paying him $200K in a buyout.  The club also parted ways with left-hander Robbie Erlin, who cleared waivers and is now a free agent.

Loup came to San Diego on a one-year deal that paid him at least $1.4MM in guaranteed money (the $200K buyout and $1.2MM in salary for 2019).  Unfortunately for the veteran southpaw, his season was cut short after only four appearances, as he suffered a left forearm strain that sidelined him for the remainder of the year.  Loup also missed about a month in 2018 with a forearm strain, which creates even more durability questions for a pitcher who was a bullpen workhorse for the Blue Jays from 2013-17 (averaging 57 appearances per season).  It seems that Loup will almost surely have to settle for a minor league contract as he looks to rebound from his lost 2019.

Erlin will hit the open market after nine years in San Diego’s organization.  Long considered a potential staple of the Padres’ rotation, inconsistency and some notable injuries hampered Erlin’s progress.  He missed a good deal of 2014 due to elbow problems, and then virtually all of the 2016-17 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Since returning, he has pitched largely as a reliever and shown some promise, as his 5.37 ERA over 55 1/3 innings in 2019 was underscored by some much stronger ERA predictors (3.61 FIP, 4.14 xFIP, 4.07 SIERA), and could have been inflated by a .373 BABIP.  With a fastball that barely cracked the 90mph mark, Erlin isn’t a hard thrower, though his 8.46 K/9 in 2019 represents a new career best.

Erlin only just turned 29, and could draw some free agent interest in his new role as a multi-inning reliever.  He is projected to make $2MM this winter, in third and final year of arbitration eligibility.

Reds Acquire Travis Jankowski

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The Reds have acquired outfielder Travis Jankowski from the Padres, as announced on San Diego’s official team Twitter feed.  International bonus money will head back to San Diego in return.

2019 was essentially a lost year for Jankowski, who suffered a broken wrist in Spring Training and didn’t start playing until July, turning him into something of an afterthought in a crowded Padres outfield mix.  Jankowski ended up appearing in only 25 games and receiving just 24 plate appearances.  Given that abbreviated campaign, Jankowski wasn’t expected to receive much of an arbitration raise, as MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected the outfielder to receive only $1.2MM in his second of four arb years as a Super Two player.  (Jankowski earned $1.165MM in 2019.)

It’s a minor enough sum that, despite Jankowski’s struggles last year, he was still an interesting option for a Cincinnati club that is looking to add outfield depth.  Jankowski has displayed some solid glovework at all three outfield positions, making him a decent candidate for bench duty or perhaps as the left-handed hitting side of a platoon.

Between the Jankowski trade and other recent transactions, the Padres have now cleared four spots off their 40-man roster.  San Diego faces something of a 40-man roster crunch given the number of prospects that have to be protected from the Rule 5 draft, so we could perhaps see even more minor housecleaning moves from the team in the coming days.

Padres To Decline Option Over Adam Warren

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The Padres will decline their club option over right-hander Adam Warren, according to Emily Waldon of The Athletic (via Twitter). He’ll receive a $500K buyout rather than a $2MM salary.

Surprisingly, Waldon further reports, Warren underwent Tommy John surgery in September. That fact had not been publicly known. It’s likely he’ll be sidelined for the entirety of the 2020 campaign.

Warren was headed back to the open market regardless of his elbow health, but the procedure shut the door. He had struggled to a 5.34 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with the Friars. Warren turned in a 25:12 K/BB ratio and allowed nine home runs in his lone season in San Diego.

Phillies Claim Robert Stock

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The Phillies have claimed righty Robert Stock off waivers from the Padres. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the move (Twitter link), which was first aired on Twitter by Tyler Poitras.

Stock, who is closing in on his 30th birthday, finished the season on the 60-day injured list due to a biceps injury. The San Diego club faces tough decisions on several players with a rather tight 40-man roster squeeze.

Though Stock failed to follow up on his strong 2018 debut in a tepid 2019 effort, he showed the same upper-nineties heat that made him so intriguing. He also managed to rack up forty strikeouts in 28 1/3 Triple-A innings. While he has struggled throughout his professional career to stay in the zone, Stock obviously has big-time stuff.

Padres Outright Brett Kennedy

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The Padres have outrighted righty Brett Kennedy, per the Pacific Coast League transactions page. That’ll clear another 40-man spot for the Friars to utilize in the coming months.

Now 25, Kennedy debuted in 2018 after a promising run through the San Diego farm system. He struggled in his initial MLB showing but seemingly had a good shot at a second chance and a useful big-league career.

That all may still come to pass, but Kennedy will first need to get back to health. He was sidelined early with lat/shoulder issues and ended up on the 60-day injured list. Kennedy attempted a rehab stint but made just one appearance.

Rather than adding Kennedy back to the 40-man, the Pads elected to run him through waivers. The club will still control the rights to the Fordham product.

NL Notes: Cubs, Epstein, Cardinals, Lindor, Padres

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For those looking for an indication of the Cubs’ offseason spending strategy, this week’s comments from president Theo Epstein provided little satisfaction–even if Epstein has previously shown a willingness to lift the curtain on club plans. “As an organization, we’re not talking about payroll or luxury tax at all,” Epstein is quoted as saying in an article from Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. “I feel like every time we’ve been at all specific, or even allowed people to make inferences from things we’ve said, it just puts us in a hole strategically.”

While North Side fans would likely love for the club to pursue upper-echelon free agents like Gerrit Cole or Anthony Rendon, Bastian calculates that such a development is unlikely given the club’s current payroll commitments. Chicago is accountable for roughly $107MM toward eight contracts next season, before providing for team options on Anthony Rizzo ($16.5MM) and Jose Quintana ($10.5MM). The Cubs opened 2019 with a payroll in excess of $203MM, before finishing with a disappointing 84-78 record and missing the playoffs.

In more news from around the NL…

  • After the Dodgers were connected to Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor this week, is it possible the Cardinals could also take a run at Cleveland’s superstar infielder? That’s a question pondered by Mark Saxon in a reader mailbag for The Athletic–with Saxon venturing that such a pursuit could be manageable for St. Louis (link). While it’s important to underline that this is only the speculation of one writer, Saxon draws up a potential trade package headlined by prospect Nolan Gorman and one of Paul DeJong, Tommy Edman, or Kolten Wong. While such a hypothetical package has its merits (and it’s laudable for a writer to go out on a limb regarding trade scenarios), it is worth pointing out that Gorman, at 19, is likely two years away from being considered an MLB-ready contributor. MLBTR readers, of course, took their own crack at projecting Lindor’s future in a recent poll.
  • After a 2019 season that saw the Padres use eight different rookie pitchers in their starting rotation, writer AJ Cassavell of MLB.com notes that–strange though it may sound–the club is likely more focused on offense heading into the offseason (link). As Cassavell notes, pitching prospects MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino promise to aid a 2020 rotation mix that includes Chris Paddack, Garrett Richards, Dinelson Lamet, Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, and Cal Quantrill, whereas the projected lineup of new manager Jayce Tingler provides a few more question marks. The veteran scribe underscores that, by virtue of wRC+, San Diego received worse-than-average production at every position save for shortstop in 2019. Although Cassavell offers second base, catcher, and outfield as areas in need of an upgrade, it might be added that San Diego ran out well-regarded rookies at those spots for much of 2019 in Luis Urias, Francisco Mejia, and Josh Naylor. It stands to reason that the club could simply look for sophomore improvements at those particular positions while moving to offset Eric Hosmer’s tremendous struggles against left-handed pitching (59 wRC+ against lefties in 2019) by way of a first base platoon addition.

Padres Hire Jayce Tingler As Manager

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Oct. 28: The Padres have announced the signing of Tingler to a three-year contract.

“Jayce has extensive experience in virtually every aspect of coaching, player development and baseball operations, and our entire group believes that he’s the right person to lead our talented roster,” general manager A.J. Preller said within today’s press release. “His multi-faceted skill set, combined with his ability to develop talent and help players reach their potential at the Major League level, were key factors in his selection as our manager. We are excited for Jayce to build upon the foundation we’ve laid in San Diego as we set our sights on October baseball.”

Oct. 24: The Padres are set to hire Jayce Tingler away from the Rangers as their new manager, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports (via Twitter). Tingler, 38, is currently the Major League Player Development Field Coordinator on skipper Chris Woodward’s staff.

By all indications, this hiring promises to be a pivotal one. The Padres are, after all, an organization wrapping up a decade largely spent in rebuild, with the recent front office regime led by general manager A.J. Preller struggling to field a competitive roster despite several big-money roster reinforcements and a farm system generally regarded as one of the game’s best.

Andy Green was tabbed as Preller’s choice for the managerial seat in 2016 following Bud Black’s dismissal midway through an ill-fated 2015 campaign, but Green’s tenure in San Diego produced just a 274-366 record. Recent indications had pointed toward Ron Washington and Tingler — two former Preller associates from his time with the Rangers — being the final two candidates, but it appears that the Padres will go with the younger of those two options.

Indeed, the 38-year-old Tingler becomes the second-youngest manager in the majors, behind only Rocco Baldelli of the Twins. Baldelli’s early success in the managerial seat — as well as the success experienced by young managers like Alex Cora and AJ Hinch — demonstrates that a grey beard is hardly a job requirement when it comes to major league managing, but that certainly doesn’t mean Tingler is a conventional candidate. Tingler is neither a garlanded former big leaguer nor an up-the-ranks minor league manager, but a little-known former minor leaguer with a wide range of on-field and front office experience.

Tingler spent time as a skipper at the Rookie and Dominican Summer League levels before being named as Texas’ minor league field coordinator from 2012-14. He served as a coach on the staff of Jeff Banister in 2015 and 2016 before entering the front office as an assistant GM in 2017. Tingler served as bench coach for interim manager Don Wakamatsu at the end of 2018 and interviewed to be Rangers manager that offseason (he was ultimately passed over in favor of the aforementioned Woodward). More recently, Tingler has been serving as manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League.

The Padres went 70-92 in their final season under Green’s command in 2019, following an offseason that saw them add third baseman Manny Machado on a club-record 10-year, $300MM deal. As Passan notes in a follow-up tweet, Tingler’s bilingual skills likely were an asset for him throughout the hiring process, as the club has several near- and long-term players for whom Spanish is a first language (link). Adrian Morejon, Michel Baez, Luis Urias, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manuel Margot, Dinelson Lamet, Francisco Mejia, and Luis Patino represent just a small sampling of the numerous young players in the Padres organization hailing from the Carribean, South America or Mexico, as Preller’s Latin American scouting emphasis continues to have a surface-level impact on the San Diego pipeline.

Organizational Notes: Falvey, Red Sox, Washington, Padres, Royals

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Some front office and dugout items from around the game…

  • Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey turned down a request to interview for the top baseball operations job with the Red Sox, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  There wasn’t much public news about Boston’s search prior to the hiring of Chaim Bloom as the new CBO earlier this week, though there had been rumors that the Sox might have interest in Massachusetts native Falvey, and Neal indeed writes that Falvey was “high on their list of candidates.”  Reports from earlier this month suggested that Falvey and the Twins could be close to a contract extension, in the wake of Minnesota’s 101-win season.
  • Braves third base coach Ron Washington was the runner-up in the Padres’ managerial search and also won’t be taking on a bench coach job with San Diego, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports (subscription required).  There had been speculation that Washington could provide a veteran counsel to first-time manager Jayce Tingler, though it appears that Washington will remain in his current job in Atlanta.
  • Lin’s piece also details the risk GM A.J. Preller is taking in hiring another first-time skipper in what seems like a must-win year for the Padres.  Going into such a pivotal season, however, Preller “preferred to take his chances with a candidate he clearly knows and has long held in high regard.”  Lin also notes that Preller originally tried to hire Tingler away from the Rangers when Preller first became San Diego’s general manager back in 2014.
  • The general consensus has been that the Royals would wait to hire their new manager until John Sherman officially took ownership of the franchise, though GM Dayton Moore tells Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that this isn’t the case.  “We have been given full autonomy to hire the next manager of the Kansas City Royals when we feel that we are ready and the process is complete.  That could be today, tomorrow or sometime prior to the winter meetings,” Moore said, noting that Sherman has already been involved in the search process.”  Since Moore described the front office as still being “in the middle of a very thorough process,” however, a new managerial hire doesn’t yet seem near.  Royals special advisor and former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has been widely seen as the favorite for the job, and to date, the only other publicly known candidates are also internal names, though the club has spoken to some external candidates.

2020 Managerial Search Tracker

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Eight teams were looking for new skippers in October, and loads of potential candidates have been either rumored or directly connected to these job openings. We’ll do our best to keep things straight in this post….

Angels

Hired

  • Joe Maddon: former Cubs/Rays manager, former Angels bench coach/interim manager

Also Interviewed

  • John Farrell: former Red Sox/Blue Jays manager
  • Buck Showalter: former Orioles, Yankees, Rangers and Diamondbacks manager
  • Johnny Washington: Padres hitting coach

Reportedly Received Consideration

  • Joe Espada: Astros bench coach
  • Joe Girardi: Hired by Phillies
  • Eric Chavez: Angels special assistant

Cubs

       Hired

  • David Ross: former Cubs/Red Sox catcher, current ESPN analyst

Also Interviewed

  • Joe Espada: Astros bench coach
  • Joe Girardi: Hired by Phillies
  • Gabe Kapler: former Phillies manager, former Dodgers director of player development
  • Mark Loretta: Cubs bench coach
  • Will Venable: Cubs first base coach

Giants

       Hired

  • Gabe Kapler: former Phillies manager, former Dodgers director of player development

Also Interviewed

  • Joe Espada: Astros bench coach
  • Gabe Kapler: former Phillies manager, former Dodgers director of player development
  • Pedro Grifol: Royals quality control and catching coach
  • Mark Kotsay: Athletics quality control coach, former Padres hitting coach & baseball operations special assistant
  • Hensley Meulens: Giants bench coach
  • Matt Quatraro: Rays bench coach, former minor-league manager
  • Will Venable: Cubs first base coach
  • Ron Wotus: Giants third base coach

Reportedly Received Consideration

  • Raul Ibanez: Dodgers special assistant
  • Mike Matheny: former Cardinals manager

Mets

Interviewing Twice

  • Carlos Beltran: Special assistant to Yankees GM, former MLB outfielder
  • Tim Bogar: Nationals first base coach
  • Eduardo Perez: ESPN analyst, former Astros bench coach, former Puerto Rican Winter League Manager of the Year
  • Derek Shelton: Twins bench coach, former Rays hitting coach
  • Luis Rojas: Mets quality control coach
  • Pat Murphy: Brewers bench coach

Interviewed Once

  • Joe Girardi: Hired by Phillies
  • Skip Schumaker: Padres first base coach, former Padres baseball ops/player development assistant, former MLB utilityman
  • Mike Bell: Diamondbacks director of player development

Reportedly Under Consideration

  • Buck Showalter: former Orioles/Yankees manager
  • Mike Matheny: former Cardinals manager

Padres

Hired

Also Interviewed

  • Ron Washington: Braves third base coach, former Rangers manager
  • Brad Ausmus: former Angels/Tigers manager
  • Rod Barajas: Padres interim manager, former bench coach
  • Bob Henley: Nationals third base coach
  • Mark Loretta: Cubs bench coach

Reportedly Received Consideration

  • Joe Maddon: Hired by Angels
  • Mike Matheny: Former Cardinals manager

Pirates — Search “paused” while team searches for new GM

Interviewing

  • Ryan Christenson: Athletics bench coach, former minor-league manager
  • Derek Shelton: Twins bench coach, former minor-league manager
  • Stubby Clapp: Cardinals first base coach, former minor-league manager
  • Matt Quatraro: Rays bench coach, former minor-league manager
  • George Lombard: Dodgers first base coach, former minor-league manager

Reportedly Under Consideration

  • Jeff Banister: Pirates special assistant; former Rangers manager, Pirates bench coach
  • Mike Bell: Diamondbacks director of player development
  • Mark Kotsay: Athletics quality control coach, former Padres hitting coach & baseball operations special assistant
  • Joe Espada: Astros bench coach

Phillies

Hired

Also Interviewed

  • Buck Showalter: former Orioles, Yankees, Rangers and Diamondbacks manager
  • Dusty Baker: Special advisor to Giants; former Nationals/Reds/Cubs manager

Royals

Interviewing

  • Vance Wilson: Royals bullpen coach

Reportedly Under Consideration

  • Pedro Grifol: Royals quality control and catching coach
  • Mike Matheny: Royals special advisor
  • Dale Sveum: Royals bench coach
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