Giants Decline Option On Fernando Abad; Kyle Barraclough Elects Free Agency
The Giants have declined their 2020 option on reliever Fernando Abad, and reliever Kyle Barraclough has elected free agency after clearing waivers following a DFA this week, according to a tweet from Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com (link).
Abad signed with San Fran on a minors pact in February of 2019, after a 2018 season that saw his career waylaid by a PED suspension. The 33-year-old left-hander, long a reliable bullpen option in the majors, mostly worked with Triple-A Sacramento this season to resounding success. In 44 innings with the River Cats, Abad logged a 3.07 ERA, 10.02 K/9, and a minuscule 0.82 BB/9 rate. He ultimately got some run with the big club, posting a 4.15 ERA (4.52 FIP) in a small sample of 13 innings.
Barraclough was designated this week when the club opted to claim Tyler Anderson from the rival Rockies. Barraclough began the 2019 season with a very rough chapter in Washington D.C., ultimately arriving with the Giants via summer waiver claim. The righty put in time with Sacramento before earning an 8.0-inning trial with San Francisco in September. The now-29-year-old righty logged a 3.21 ERA with an 11.5 K/9 across 218.1 innings out of the Miami pen between 2015 and 2018.
Coaching Notes: Diamondbacks, Astros, Giants
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo set out to hire a pitching coach with four specific qualifications, per The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan. He was looking for someone, obviously, with pitching knowledge, good communication skills, and the ability to work well with the team’s medical personnel, but Lovullo also wanted someone with the creativity and innovative instincts to stay up-to-speed with the changing shape of the game. Matt Herges may not be the picture-perfect candidate, but he’s the guy with the job. And while Arizona reportedly offered the job to Kirk Saarloos and Bryan Price before Herges, they are no doubt content with Herges and value the eagerness with which he has come to the role. Sometimes the right decision is as simple as hiring the person who wants the job most.
- A lot was made of Gerrit Cole beginning to get warm in the bullpen during the 5th inning of the World Series’ clinching game, but apparently that was nothing more than a bit of self-direction of Cole’s part, per A.J. Hinch in an interview with The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan. Hinch did have Cole up and warming in the 7th, as the plan was for Will Harris to escape the inning and Cole to start the 8th with a 2-1 lead. Best-laid plans, in this case, never got Cole into the ballgame. Still, Hinch stands by his decision to go with Harris at that point, as well as Roberto Osuna and Joe Smith following. Frankly, all four were legitimate options in those spots, though the results ultimately make any defense of Hinch’s decisions, like the game itself, a losing battle.
- Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro remains in the running for managerial openings with the Giants and Pirates, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. He was not specifically identified within a group of favorites that included Gabe Kapler, Pedro Grifol, and Joe Espada, but he did interview at least once with San Francisco, and there’s still a chance he becomes the third Rays staffer to land a managing gig in as many years.
Latest On Giants’ Managerial Search
The Giants may be nearing the final stages of their search for Bruce Bochy’s replacement, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that either former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, Astros bench coach Joe Espada, or Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol will be the next Giants manager. Kapler, Espada, and Grifol are the only candidates known to be asked back for a second interview, thus seemingly confirming them as the top choices.
Among other known candidates, it’s worth noting that the Athletics announced their 2020 coaching staff today, with quality control coach Mark Kotsay listed as returning. Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens has been busy managing the Netherlands’ team in the Premier 12 tournament (which doubles as a qualifying tournament for the 2020 Olympics), which perhaps served as an early hint that he wouldn’t be promoted to the top job in San Francisco’s dugout.
“Kapler has at points been the favorite in the process,” a source tells Pavlovic, due to the longstanding relationship between Kapler and Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi due to their time together in the Dodgers’ front office. However, “it’s unclear where the search stands currently,” as both Grifol and Espada have been asked back for secondary interviews. It could be that the Giants are simply doing their due diligence in an important decision, or perhaps one of the other two candidates has started to garner more of the team’s attention.
Diamondbacks To Hire Matt Herges As Pitching Coach
After running into some roadblocks with other candidates, the Diamondbacks have settled upon Matt Herges as their next pitching coach, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
Herges will join the staff of skipper Torey Lovullo after a pair of seasons as the Giants’ bullpen coach. The former MLB hurler replaces Mike Butcher in guiding the Arizona pitching staff.
Pedro Grifol To Receive Second Interview With Giants
The Giants will provide a second interview to Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol in their hiring search for a new manager, according to a tweet from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (link).
The 49-year-old Grifol played nine minor league seasons before garnering professional managerial experience with the Seattle organization from 2003-05 and in ’12. He has worked in the Kansas City organization in a variety of roles dating back to 2013. Grifol has also interviewed for the Royals’ managerial seat this offseason, although Mike Matheny has long been viewed as the likely successor to Ned Yost.
Grifol will join former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler and Astros bench coach Joe Espada as the only reported candidates in San Francisco’s process to receive a second interview. With the recent revelation that Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren received an interview for the Giants’ position, the club’s reported pool of initial interviewees stretched to nine candidates. Franchise icon Bruce Bochy bowed out this winter after 13 seasons, 1052 wins and three World Series titles in his time as the manager of the Giants.
Updates on the Giants’ search and the other ongoing (and recently completed) managerial searches throughout MLB can be followed here.
Giants Designate Kyle Barraclough
The Giants have designated righty reliever Kyle Barraclough for assignment, according to Kerry Crowley of Bay Area News Group (link). Barraclough’s DFA comes as the corresponding move to the club’s Wednesday waiver claim of pitcher Tyler Anderson from the Rockies.
This likely represented a tough decision for the San Francisco front office, as Barraclough is only a few seasons removed from seeming like a potential bullpen stalwart. Between 2015 and 2018, the now-29-year-old righty logged a 3.21 ERA with an 11.5 K/9 across 218.1 innings out of the Miami pen. The Nationals acquired Barraclough from the Marlins in exchange for $1MM of international bonus availability in October of ’18, but, like most Washington relievers in the first few months of the 2019 season, Barraclough struggled mightily in late-game situations. Barraclough pitched to a 6.66 ERA (6.57 FIP) in 25.2 D.C. innings before the Nationals exposed him to waivers in August.
Following a claim by San Francisco, Barraclough looked to get back into something approaching vintage form in a small performance sample with the Giants. Though he began his time in the organization with Triple-A Sacramento, Barraclough came up to the big club in September to log a 2.25 ERA in 8.0 IP–although it’s worth noting that his historical troubles with control continued to undermine his bottom-line results (10/9 K/BB ratio).
Giants Claim Tyler Anderson
The Giants have claimed left-hander Tyler Anderson off waivers from the Rockies, per an announcement from the Colorado organization. It’s a disappointing end to the tenure of the former first-round draft pick.
Anderson landed with the Rox in 2011 as the 20th overall pick. He debuted in strong fashion in 2016, working to a 3.54 ERA over 19 starts. While Anderson’s earned run results stepped back in the ensuing two campaigns, he turned in 262 reasonably productive innings. Anderson carried 8.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 from 2017 through 2018, with xFIP (3.95, 4.21) and SIERA (4.14, 4.22) grading him as a strong back-of-the-rotation arm.
As with large swaths of the rest of the Rockies roster, Anderson seemed to hit a wall in 2019. He was tagged for eight home runs and 27 earned runs in just 20 2/3 innings over five outings to open the year. Anderson ended up requiring knee surgery in May and did not return to action thereafter.
The NL West-rival Giants are plenty familiar with Anderson; president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi saw him up close both with San Francisco and previously with the Dodgers. No doubt he’s intrigued by the lefty’s decent swing-and-miss ability (he managed about a 12% swinging-strike rate at his best).
The Giants have had success at tweaking the offerings and approaches of other hurlers; perhaps they have ideas in mind for Anderson to try out. First, he’ll need to show he’s at full health, but it’s not hard to imagine Anderson competing in camp for a bullpen or even rotation job with the Giants.
Giants Have Interviewed Bob Geren
The Giants have interviewed Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren in their search for a new manager, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). At present, the only candidates reported to have received a second interview are Astros bench coach Joe Espada and recently dismissed Phillies manager Gabe Kapler.
Like Kapler, the 58-year-old Geren is plenty familiar with Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi from the pair’s days with the Dodgers. However, Geren’s connection with Zaidi predates their Dodgers tenure, as Geren also managed the Athletics from 2007-11. At the time Geren was hired in Oakland, Zaidi was a burgeoning baseball operations analyst with the Athletics, and he was the club’s director of baseball operations by the time Geren was dismissed in June 2011.
Geren, who played in parts of five Major League seasons as a catcher (mostly with the Yankees), has managed at coached extensively both in the at the Major League and Minor League level. He managed two different Athletics affiliates from 1999-2002 before being added to the Major League staff as a bullpen coach and eventually a bench coach. Since that five-year run as Oakland’s skipper, he’s spent four seasons apiece as the bench coach with the Mets and the Dodgers, working alongside managers Terry Collins and Dave Roberts.
Gabe Kapler Receives Second Interview With Giants
Former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler will receive a second interview with the Giants, per SiriusXM’s Craig Mish (Twitter link). He’s one of two candidates now reported to have received a second-round interview in San Francisco’s managerial search, joining Houston bench coach Joe Espada in that regard. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that the second round of interviews will likely be narrowed to a total of three or four candidates, thus putting Kapler and Espada on a short list.
Kapler, 44, was let go by the Phillies two-thirds of the way through his three-year contract. He’s surely quite familiar with Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, given that Zaidi’s time as general manager of the Dodgers overlapped with Kapler’s time as the director of player development with the Dodgers. Kapler has also managed in the Red Sox’ minor league ranks and spent parts of a dozen seasons as an outfielder in the Major Leagues.
The Giants have reportedly interviewed a pair of internal candidates — bench coach Hensley Meulens and third base coach Ron Wotus — in addition to Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol, Athletics quality control coach Mark Kotsay, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro and Cubs first base coach Will Venable. Whether the ultimate choice is Kapler, Espada or one of the other known candidates, the 2020 Giants skipper will have some enormous shoes to fill. Franchise icon Bruce Bochy walked away this winter after 13 seasons, 1052 wins and three World Series titles as the manager of the Giants, though Bochy recently suggested that he could be amenable to one more run as a manager after taking a year off next season.
Updates on the Giants’ search and the other ongoing (and recently completed) managerial searches throughout the league can be followed here.
Joe Espada To Take Second Interview With Giants
Astros bench coach Joe Espada is set for a second interview for the Giants’ managerial vacancy, as first reported by Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (via Twitter). He’ll meet with San Francisco brass after the conclusion of the World Series. Espada’s first interview with the organization came on Thursday’s travel day between Games 2 and 3 and lasted a little more than four hours, as Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic details (subscription required).
Espada expressed optimism to Rome about his chances of securing the Giants’ position. After meeting with GM Farhan Zaidi, CEO Larry Baer and members of the organziation’s analytics department Thursday, Espada anticipates his second interview will include more involvement with ownership. The 44-year-old has been a popular candidate for interviews the past two seasons, and he was reportedly on the radar for the Cubs’ and Pirates’ jobs this month. It appears, though, that San Francisco offers Espada’s best hope of landing a head position this offseason, as he tells Rome he has no other interviews on tap. The Cubs have since tabbed David Ross, but Pittsburgh’s position remains unresolved.
Espada succeeded Alex Cora as A.J. Hinch’s bench coach after the 2017 season. Prior to that, he’d worked with the Marlins and Yankees in various coaching and front office roles. His only prior managerial experience came in 2012 in Puerto Rican winter ball, although teams certainly value his recent coaching experience with successful teams in New York and Houston.
The Giants have cast a wide net in their search for Bruce Bochy’s replacement. Royals quality control coach Pedro Grifol, former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, A’s quality control coach Mark Kotsay, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Cubs first base coach Will Venable, and internal candidates Hensley Meulens and Ron Wotus have all joined Espada in interviewing.
You can track all of the league’s managerial news and rumors here.