Mets Notes: CF, Bench Coach, Bullpen
Here’s the latest on the Mets:
- Although the Mets are in need of a center fielder, Japanese free agent Shogo Akiyama isn’t near the top of their list, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. This year’s free-agent class is limited in center, where Brett Gardner (who’s not even a full-time CFer) looks like the premier player available. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Akiyama is coming off a productive nine-season run in Nippon Professional Baseball, but he’s no sure thing to succeed in the majors. And Akiyama’s a left-handed hitter, which seems to run counter to their ideal acquisition in center. The club wants a player who hits from the right side and is a better defender than Brandon Nimmo, Mike Puma of the Post tweets. Shortstop Amed Rosario‘s a righty batter, and though the team has considered moving him to center in the past, those days are gone. “I don’t see a scenario for him to be in center field,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said (via Sherman).
- While the Mets may not want Akiyama, they are among the teams interested in free-agent center fielder Matt Szczur, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The righty-hitting Szczur, 30, would likely be a minor league pickup, as the former Cub and Padre hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2018. He had a brutal year then in San Diego, which forced him to sign a minors pact with the Diamondbacks last offseason. Szczur batted a solid .322/.390/.577 with eight home runs in 172 plate appearances as a member of the D-backs’ top affiliate.
- Pirates third base coach Joey Cora is the latest possibility to take over as the Mets’ bench coach, per Sherman. Cora, a former major league second baseman and the brother of Red Sox manager Alex Cora, has ties to new Mets manager Carlos Beltran and special assistant Omar Minaya, Sherman notes. He managed in the Mets’ minor league system when Minaya was their GM in the early 2000s. Cora, Fredi Gonzalez and Jerry Narron are the only known candidates to become the Mets’ bench coach. Longtime San Francisco assistant Ron Wotus had been in the running, but he’ll stay with the Giants as their third base coach, Daniel Brown of The Athletic relays.
- The Mets were aggressive in trying to upgrade their bullpen last offseason, when they surrendered significant resources for Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson. The latter was the only somewhat effective member of the trio, while the struggles of Diaz and Familia played a key part in another non-playoff season for the Mets. Considering that their bullpen was a letdown this season, the Mets could again look for help in that area this winter, though Van Wagenen contends that the club’s relief corps must “largely sink or swim based on how Diaz and Familia perform,” Sherman writes. Van Wagenen suggested Diaz, Familia, Wilson, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman are set to reprise their late-game roles, but it’s unclear who will join that quintet.
Latest On Mets’ Coaching Staff
The Mets are making progress in their efforts to put together a staff under new skipper Carlos Beltran. In particular, the club has agreements in place with Chili Davis and Tom Slater to remain with the organization, per Andy Martino of SNY.tv (via Twitter).
Both Davis and Slater receive multi-year deals, per the report. They’ll continue to serve as hitting coach and assistant hitting coach, respectively, giving the New York org some continuity in that arena as Beltran takes over the dugout.
Beltran is still in need of a bench coach and that now seems to be the top priority. Longtime Giants coach Ron Wotus is under consideration for the gig, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (Twitter link). Wotus’s status in San Francisco is in flux now that Gabe Kapler has signed on there.
Jerry Narron and Fredi Gonzalez remain under consideration by the Mets as well, Jon Heyman of MLB Network notes on Twitter. It isn’t known whether that constitutes a final trio of candidates. Terry Collins has been mentioned previously as a speculative possibility, but he’s reportedly out of the mix.
Latest On Hensley Meulens
WEDNESDAY: Heyman offers further clarification on the subject, via Twitter. Meulens had inked a letter of intent but not a full contract with the Marlins. The Miami club has allowed Meulens to pursue bench coach positions elsewhere. Whether or not he remains a candidate to land with the Fish remains to be seen.
TUESDAY: Meulens still hasn’t signed a contract with the Marlins, and while it’s possible he will, he could accept a bench coach job elsewhere instead, Heyman tweets.
MONDAY: Longtime Giants coach Hensley Meulens has accepted a position on the Marlins’ coaching staff, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported yesterday (Twitter link). He’ll join new bench coach and “offensive coordinator” James Rowson, recently hired away from the Twins, as another fairly high-profile coaching addition to the Miami staff. Exactly what role Meulens will fill in Miami isn’t yet clear, though SiriusXM’s Craig Mish suggested last week that Meulens could become the club’s hitting coach if hired.
Meulens, 52, has spent the past decade on the Giants’ coaching staff under the recently retired Bruce Bochy. He’s been bench coach for the past two year but previously served as the club’s hitting coach and was also responsible for outfield defense and positioning instruction. Meulens was the Giants’ hitting coach for each of their three World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Beyond his experience on the Giants’ MLB staff, Meulens has spent five seasons as a minor league hitting coach and served as the manager for Team Netherlands in both the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classics. Able to speak five languages, the Curacao native has frequently been mentioned as a possible managerial candidate at the MLB level and has interviewed for positions in each of the past few offseasons (including with the Giants last month).
Meulens, nicknamed “Bam Bam,” enjoyed a seven-year Major League career and also played professionally in Korea, Japan and Mexico before retiring in the early 2000s. He spent 1989-93 seasons with the Yankees, meaning he and and recently extended Miami skipper Don Mattingly have a longstanding relationship dating back to their playing days.
The Giants have still yet to name a new manager — they did name a GM over the weekend — but will now be on the lookout for a new bench coach (at the very least) whenever the successor to Bruce Bochy is ultimately appointed.
Latest On Mets’ Bench Coach Position
11:21pm: Giants third base coach Ron Wotus has also interviewed for the Mets’ bench coach position, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweets. Wotus remains in the running for the job, per Baggarly. San Francisco has been the lone stop for the 58-year-old Wotus since his MLB coaching career began in 1998, and the Giants did consider him for their managerial vacancy this fall. However, now that the Giants have hired Gabe Kapler as their manager, it’s unclear if Wotus will remain part of their staff.
7:30pm: The Mets have their new manager in former major league slugger Carlos Beltran, a first-time skipper who brings zero coaching experience to the table. The fact that Beltran’s a neophyte makes it all the more important for the Mets to find an experienced bench coach capable of helping him learn the ropes. They’ve got at least two names on their radar in Fredi Gonzalez and Jerry Narron, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.
The Mets have already spoken with Gonzalez, who’s likely to have a formal interview with the club after the GM meetings, according to Puma. The 55-year-old Gonzalez is a former major league manager who oversaw the Marlins from 2007-10 and the Braves from 2011-16. More recently, Gonzalez was the Marlins’ bench coach over the previous three seasons, but he stepped down from that post a month ago.
Narron, 63, left the Diamondbacks in late October after they chose to replace him as their bench coach. He served in that role for two-plus years before the D-backs decided to give the job to Luis Urueta, though their hope was that Narron would remain a part of their coaching staff. He’s now a free agent, however, and is well-known for managing the Rangers from 2001-02 and the Reds from 2005-07.
Giants Hire Gabe Kapler As Manager
The Giants have hired Gabe Kapler as their new manager, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report. Kapler will take over for longtime Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, who exited after a resoundingly successful 13-year run in which he helped the club to three World Series titles. He’ll receive a three-year contract, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports California.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi issued a glowing assessment of Kapler, saying: “Our top priority in the next manager was to find someone who can build strong relationships with our players, coaches, front office and fans, and someone who has the drive and desire to win.”
Zaidi continued: “After an exhaustive and comprehensive search, we are delighted to welcome Gabe Kapler as the next manager of the San Francisco Giants. In my personal experience in working with Gabe, there is no one who works harder and is more committed to getting the best out of the people around him. This was also echoed in the feedback we received around the baseball community. I look forward to working with Gabe to help return the Giants to its winning tradition.”
The 44-year-old Kapler was among several candidates the Zaidi-led Giants spoke to in regards to their managerial position in recent weeks. Over the past several days, though, the search narrowed to Kapler, Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro. Espada looked like the favorite to assume the role just this past weekend, but he’ll instead lose out to Kapler, who already comes with managerial experience at the major league level.
Kapler’s on the heels of a two-year reign atop Philadelphia’s dugout, though the former outfielder’s initial run as a big league skipper didn’t go all that well. The Phillies finished 80-82 in Kapler’s first year and then went a similar 81-81 this season, despite numerous winter splashes designed to get the club back to the playoffs. In both seasons, the Phillies started well before fizzling over the summer.
While Kapler didn’t succeed in Philly, he’ll now enter into a San Francisco role where he already has a relationship with its chief baseball decision-maker. Kapler went into the interview process knowing Zaidi from the pair’s days with the Dodgers. Kapler was the Dodgers’ director of player development from 2015-17, during which Zaidi was their general manager. Over his time in Los Angeles, Kapler developed a reputation as someone open to analytics, which helped him land the job with the Phillies and likely factored into the Giants’ call to name him as Bochy’s successor.
While Kapler’s coming off a year at the helm of a team that had playoff aspirations, he’s now stepping into a job where patience is likely in order. The Giants are a few weeks removed from wrapping up their third straight sub-.500 season, so their roster is undoubtedly rife with flaws. Aging veterans such as catcher Buster Posey, first baseman Brandon Belt, shortstop Brandon Crawford, third baseman Evan Longoria (Kapler’s teammate in Tampa Bay), and right-handers Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto continue to eat up a significant amount of the Giants’ payroll. Furthermore, the club’s lacking premium young talent at the major league level, and high-end starter Madison Bumgarner and outstanding closer Will Smith could depart in free agency.
Kapler’s now part of a brain trust that includes Zaidi and Scott Harris, whom the Giants just hired as their GM. The group could make announcements in regards to Kapler’s coaching staff as early as Wednesday, according to Zaidi (via Pavlovic). San Francisco has already lost a couple of Bochy’s former assistants, Hensley Meulens and Matt Herges, to other teams.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants’ Mike Gerber Elects Free Agency; Ricardo Pinto To Sign With KBO Club
7:52pm: Pinto’s deal comes with a $550K base salary, a $100K signing bonus and another $250K of incentives, MLBTR has learned.
5:12pm: The Giants announced today that outfielder Mike Gerber rejected an outright assignment and instead elected free agency. Additionally, per the club, right-hander Ricardo Pinto was released to pursue an opportunity with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization. Both players had recently been designated for assignment.
Gerber, 27, went 1-for-24 in his brief time with the Giants at the MLB level, though he did author an impressive .308/.368/.569 batting line with 26 homers in Triple-A. The former Tigers prospect had never hit much in Triple-A before that — he batted .213/.277/.411 in 316 plate appearances with Triple-A Toledo in 2018 — and he’ll turn 28 next summer.
Pinto, meanwhile, was a September waiver claim out of the Rays organization who never pitched in a game for San Francisco. He allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings with Tampa Bay this season in addition to 123 1/3 innings of 4.23 ERA ball at the Triple-A level. The L.A. Sports Management client has appeared in parts of three Triple-A campaigns overall, working more as a reliever than a starter and pitching to a combined 4.47 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 219 2/3 frames.
Draft Compensation For 8 Teams That Could Lose Qualified Free Agents
Eight teams issued qualifying offers this year to ten players, with the Nationals and Giants handing out two apiece. Teams issuing the $17.8MM offer must be comfortable with the receiving player accepting, as it isn’t possible to trade such a player (absent consent) until the middle of the season. But in most cases, the offer is given with the expectation it will be declined, thus allowing the issuing team to receive a compensatory draft selection if the player signs with a new club.
As with draft forfeitures, draft compensation is largely tied to the financial status of the team losing the player. And in 2019, seven of the eight teams that issued qualifying offers fall into the same bucket: teams that neither exceeded the luxury threshold nor received revenue-sharing benefits. This applies to the Astros, Nationals, Giants, Mets, Cardinals, White Sox and Braves. In such cases, the default compensation for losing a qualified free agent is applied.
In other words, if any of Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Madison Bumgarner, Will Smith, Zack Wheeler, Marcell Ozuna, Jose Abreu or Josh Donaldson signs with a new club, their former team will receive a compensatory pick between Competitive Balance Round B and Round 3 of the 2020 draft. Those selections would likely fall in the upper 70s and low 80s. Slot values in that range of the 2019 draft checked in between $730K and $700K. The Nationals and Giants, then, could add a pair of Top 100 picks and roughly $1.5MM worth of additional pool money each if they lose both of their qualified free agents.
The lone team that stands to gain a potential pick at the end of the first round would be the Twins, who issued a qualifying offer to Jake Odorizzi. Minnesota is a revenue-sharing recipient that did not exceed the luxury threshold, thus entitling the Twins to the highest level of free-agent compensation possible … if Odorizzi signs for a guaranteed $50MM or more. If Odorizzi’s total guarantees are $49.9MM or lower, the Twins would receive the same level of pick as the other seven teams who issued qualifying offers: between Competitive Balance Round B and Round 3.
Of course, if any of the players who received qualifying offers either accept the offer or re-sign with their 2019 clubs on a new multi-year deal, no draft compensation will be awarded to that team at all.
Joe Espada Reported As ‘Frontrunner’ In Giants’ Managerial Search
With new GM Scott Harris officially brought into the fold, the Giants may also be close to naming a successor to Bruce Bochy as manager. Though the wide-ranging hiring search has seen the club consider as many as ten candidates, “people familiar” with the process indicate that Astros bench coach Joe Espada is the current “frontrunner”, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (link). Pavlovic adds that Espada was at Oracle Park a few days ago meeting with Giants’ officials.
We have noted a few times on Sunday alone that San Francisco’s pool was believed to be down to Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, and former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler. Most intriguing, perhaps, is the revelation that Espada was just recently meeting with club officials, as his second interview was reported as far back as Oct 27–it’s possible that this latest meeting was a third, and perhaps final, interview.
For those who have been keeping tabs on this offseason’s managerial hiring free-for-all, Espada has been a name to watch this winter. The 44-year-old was reportedly considered for the Angels post that went to Joe Maddon, in addition to the still-vacant Pirates seat. But the Astros coach, whose only managerial experience came in Puerto Rican winter ball in 2012, will be best remembered for his eleventh-hour surge in the Cubs’ interview process. Though that job ultimately went to David Ross, Espada may finally find a home with a Giants franchise that currently sits in the midst of a pivotal offseason.
Giants Hire Scott Harris As GM
The San Francisco Giants have hired Scott Harris to serve as the team’s general manager, according to a report from Jeff Passan of ESPN. Harris had previously worked as the Cubs’ assistant GM since 2018 after five years as Chicago’s director of baseball operations.
Harris, 32, will join the Giants as Farhan Zaidi’s second-in-command after the team went more than a year without a general manager. A bay area native, Harris graduated from UCLA and earned his MBA from Northwestern, breaking into the baseball industry as an intern with the Nationals and Reds, positions that he turned into a full-time gig in the MLB commissioner’s office. In his time with the Cubs, he had a hand in the club’s ascension to World Series champions in 2015, emerging as the right-hand man for top baseball ops officers Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.
Even with a general manager in place, the Giants’ baseball decisions will still run through Zaidi, who with a year under his belt now has the opportunity to populate the Giants’ leadership ranks with his own hires. Zaidi was brought aboard to be the top dog and foremost decision-maker, and that won’t change. However, that’s not to downplay the importance of Harris’s addition; the general manager, in Zaidi’s own words, will “share the load in managing the overall operation,” an endeavor in which Harris should be of considerable utility: in a statement from the Giants, Harris is credited with overseeing the Cubs’ research and development department, the arbitration process, and the baseball ops department’s financial strategy and planning.
And Harris will have to get started right away. With the GM meetings underway this week, Harris will enter his new post during one of the busiest and most critical times of the year for baseball executives. With the Giants still searching for their next manager, it’s not clear how much sway Harris will have in the final hire, though it’s no doubt a priority that Harris, Zaidi, and the new skipper are all on the same page. Still, Harris could still provide some valuable input: Joe Espada, one of the finalists for the Giants’ job, also interviewed for the Cubs position, a process in which Harris almost certainly would have participated.
The addition of Harris represents the continuation of the Giants’ organizational overhaul of the baseball operations department, which began last year with the ouster of GM Bobby Evans. The organization sought a more modern front office, with a president of baseball operations working in concert with a general manager. In Zaidi, the club found their president last year. And now, the GM is in place. After Bruce Bochy’s retirement, there’s of course another important hire that must be made, and it seems that a decision could be coming soon: the Giants have reportedly narrowed the field down to three finalists: Joe Espada, Gabe Kapler, and Matt Quatraro.
On the field, Zaidi has already begun his transformation of the team, showing an aptitude for acquiring marginal talent improvements in low-risk moves. The acquisitions of players like Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson, Kevin Pillar, and Donovan Solano—all of which came at a minimal cost to the Giants—played a part in the Giants’ surprising midseason run that kept them on the brink of playoff position despite low expectations.
This, along with a burgeoning farm system and the undeniable purchasing power of the Giants, makes the Giants an attractive rebuilding project for an executive like Harris—more so, at least, than when Zaidi took over after 2018, inheriting a group consisting largely of dynastic leftovers and pricey, past-their-prime mercenaries. The outlook for 2021 and beyond, though, is a promising one. With prospects like Joey Bart, Heliot Ramos, Marco Luciano, and Hunter Bishop anchoring the farm system, there’s some foundation to work with. And when hefty contracts start to come off the books, the Giants can expect to flex their financial muscles and become a real player in negotiations with top free agents.
For Giants fans hoping to learn more about the newest addition to the San Francisco front office, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma profiled Harris in March of 2018, painting him as a hard-working rising star in baseball’s front office landscape. Harris drew rave reviews from superstar execs Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, under whom he worked in Chicago.
NL West Notes: Friedman, Giants, Oracle Park, Padres
As the Padres unveil some sharp new uniforms, let’s look at some news from around the NL West…
- It has been close to a month since Andrew Friedman said he was close to finalizing a contract extension to remain as the Dodgers‘ president of baseball operations, though there hasn’t since been any word about a deal. There doesn’t appear to be any real reason for concern, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets, as the two sides are “still dotting I’s and crossing T’s” on the new contract. Friedman has also been battling the flu for the past week.
- Construction has begun on Oracle Park’s new bullpens, which will result in a slightly moved-in portion of the outfield fence, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Relievers for both the Giants and visiting clubs will no longer have to warm up in foul territory, as the new bullpens will be located behind the center field and right-center field fences. As a result, the area of fence that runs across center field into the “Triples Alley” triangle will be lowered by about a foot and moved four-to-six feet closer to home plate. The apex of the triangle will also be a bit shorter to home plate than its current 421-foot distance.
- Also from Schulman (Twitter links), he reports that as of Friday night, the Giants still hadn’t made a decision in their managerial search, though one should be coming relatively soon. Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro and former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler are reportedly the final three candidates in the running.
- The Padres had some interest in Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara last summer, so Dennis Lin and Jamey Newberg of the Athletic (subscription required) tried to figure out a Mazara trade package that could help both clubs, in a lengthy exploration of how San Diego and Texas match up as trade partners. Some obvious links exist between the two franchises — Padres GM A.J. Preller and new manager Jayce Tingler both came to San Diego from the Texas organization, giving the Friars a lot of familiarity with Rangers players on both the MLB and minor league rosters. Lin and Newberg settle on a scenario that would see Mazara and right-hander Jonathan Hernandez go to the Rangers for Joey Lucchesi and catching prospect Blake Hunt.