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MLB, MLBPA Still Discussing Vesting Options, Retention Bonuses

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The length of the season, prorated salaries and protocols for health and safety are finally all set in place, but Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are still negotiating the manner in which contractual options, performance incentives/bonuses and escalator clauses will be handled, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required).

Fortunately, an agreement is believed to be “within reach,” per Rosenthal. The league had initially sought to prorate the value of 2021 options using the same formula as 2020 salaries, although the MLBPA obviously pushed back against that notion. There’s still some debate over the handling of vesting options — particularly those that are triggered by reaching a set number of games pitched or plate appearances over the life of multiple seasons. The two sides also must determine how those options would be treated in the event that the season is canceled at any point due to health concerns.

There aren’t too many vesting options in MLB this year, although some of the notable ones include:

  • Jon Lester, LHP, Cubs: Lester’s $25MM mutual option ($10MM buyout) for the 2021 season would become guaranteed with 200 innings pitched in a normal season.
  • J.A. Happ, LHP, Yankees: Happ’s $17MM club option for the 2021 season would’ve become guaranteed upon making 27 starts or totaling 165 innings in 2020.
  • Andrew Miller, LHP, Cardinals: Miller’s $12MM club option for 2021 would have been guaranteed if he totaled 110 games between 2019-20. As Rosenthal explores, there are various ways to interpret how many more games he’d need to pitch to trigger that option — some more beneficial to Miller and others to the Cardinals.
  • Charlie Morton, RHP, Rays: Morton’s option is another that comes with a multi-year criteria. His contract calls for a $15MM club option in 2021 if he spends fewer than 30 days on the injured list between 2019-20. The option value decreases if he spends additional time on the injured list. Morton avoided the IL entirely last year. Unlike Miller, who surely hopes the number of appearances he needs to make in 2020 can be prorated, it’d be beneficial to Morton for that number (30) to remain as is. That seems unlikely, but the disparity between the clauses of Miller and Morton illustrates that this isn’t exactly straightforward for the player side. The value of his option
  • Kelvin Herrera, RHP, White Sox: Herrera, too, needed 110 games between 2019-20 for his $10MM club option to become guaranteed. He pitched in 57 games last year, leaving him 53 shy of his target.
  • Wade Davis, RHP, Rockies: Davis’ $15MM mutual option would’ve converted to a $15MM player option in the event that he finished 30 games. He’d only need to finish out 11-12 games in the shortened 2020 season if the two sides go with a strictly prorated interpretation of the qualifiers.
  • Bryan Shaw, RHP, Rockies: Shaw has the same 110-game target for 2019-20 that Miller and Herrera have. He pitched 70 times in 2019 and needed just 40 appearances in 2020 to lock in a $9MM salary for the 2021 campaign.
  • Jake McGee, LHP, Rockies: With 60 games pitched or 40 games finished in 2020, McGee would’ve locked in a $9MM salary for the 2021 season. His contract also allowed the option to vest with a with 110 games between 2019-20, but he only pitched in 45 contests last year.
  • Stephen Vogt, C, Diamondbacks: Vogt’s contract included a $3MM club option that not only vests but increases to a $3.5MM base upon starting 45 games and appearing n a total of 75 games overall.
  • Dee Gordon, 2B/SS/OF, Mariners: Gordon would’ve been guaranteed a $14MM salary for the 2021 season with 600 plate appearances this year. That, of course, was extremely unlikely in the first place, though.

Beyond those options, there are myriad escalator clauses throughout baseball that could be impacted by the shortened schedule. It’s fairly common for club options and/or future salaries to be boosted by steady performance — particularly among players returning from injury. Take Dellin Betances, for instance. His contract with the Mets calls for the value of next year’s $6MM player option to increase by $800K upon pitching in 40 games. He’d receive additional $1MM boosts to that figure for appearing in 50, 60 and 70 games apiece.

The league and the union are also still discussing potential retention bonuses for six-year veterans on non-guaranteed deals. In a typical year, any player with six-plus years of service who finished the preceding season on a 40-man roster qualifies as an Article XX(B) free agent. Such players must either be added to the 40-man roster, released five days prior to Opening Day or paid a $100K retention bonus to remain with the club in the minor leagues. Many players in that situation are released and quickly re-signed to a new minor league deal, but that won’t be possible in 2020 due to the fact that players who are removed from a team’s 60-man pool become ineligible to return to that team this season.

Stephen Vogt Discusses Future Managerial Aspirations

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Two-time All-Star Stephen Vogt signed a one-year deal with a 2021 club/vesting option with the Diamondbacks this winter, so he’s clearly not thinking about retiring in the near future. However, the 35-year-old has given some thought to his next steps when he eventually does walk away from the game. In an interview Brodie Brazil of NBC Sports California, Vogt stated that he has “always wanted to manage,” citing the positive influence of skippers Bob Melvin, Bruce Bochy, Joe Maddon and Craig Counsell as a driving factor in that desire. Vogt believes that the peaks and valleys of his own playing career would allow him to relate to virtually any player he encounters within a dugout.

It was less than two years ago that Vogt found his career in jeopardy following a shoulder injury that required surgical repair. Then with the Brewers, Vogt sustained damage to the rotator cuff, labrum and anterior capsule in the same right shoulder on which he’d already had one major surgery performed. “The biggest emotion is sadness,” Vogt told reporters at the time. “…Obviously, there are big implications here with a second shoulder injury like this that I don’t like to think about but I am thinking about. I felt everything go wrong that could go wrong with a shoulder.”

Thankfully for Vogt, he was able to make a full recovery and return to the Majors a bit less than a year later with the Giants. And not only did Vogt parlay his minor league deal with San Francisco into a big league return — he enjoyed a rather productive year with the rebuilding Giants. In 280 plate appearances over the life of 99 games, Vogt hit .263/.314/.490 with 10 home runs, 24 doubles and a pair of triples while avoiding the injured list. That solid season lends some additional optimism about Vogt’s ability to play a few more years.

Whenever he does retire as a player, Vogt would join a long line of former catchers seeking a managerial career. The list of backstops-turned-managers is too long to run through in its entirety, though some recent examples include Melvin, Maddon, Bochy, Joe Girardi, Mike Matheny, Brad Ausmus, Mike Scioscia, David Ross and Ned Yost.

Diamondbacks Notes: Leake, Vogt, Giants, Bradley

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An MRI revealed a small fracture in Mike Leake’s left wrist, though the veteran right-hander told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that he is still hoping to be part of the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster.  Since his pitching arm wasn’t affected, Leake said he will play catch (without return throws) over the next two weeks to keep his right arm loose while his left wrist heals.  In keeping with the annual Spring Training tradition of players suffering injuries under unusual circumstances, Leake said he injured his wrist while chasing after one of his dogs, as Leake slipped and fell on his basketball court while in pursuit of the disobedient pet.

After being acquired from the Mariners in a trade deadline deal last July, Leake posted a 4.35 ERA and 3.38 K/BB rate over 60 innings (10 starts) for Arizona, though with a 4.1 K/9 and a whopping 2.3 HR/9.  Leake is tentatively penciled into the fifth starter role for the D’Backs this season, as the club hopes that he can provide his usual durability at the back of the rotation — the 32-year-old has averaged 188 innings pitched over the last nine seasons.

Some more from the desert….

  • Stephen Vogt talked to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) about Vogt’s decision to sign with the Diamondbacks, with the catcher citing both logistical and contractual reasons.  Vogt liked being able to spend eight months in Arizona for both Spring Training and the season itself, and the D’Backs separated themselves from the Giants in contract talks by offering Vogt a vesting option for the 2021 season.  The Giants offered Vogt more in guaranteed money than the $3MM Vogt will receive from the D’Backs, though if his option vests and Vogt hits his contract incentives, he can earn up to $7MM over the two-year span.
  • Archie Bradley’s arbitration hearing has been set for February 18, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports.  Bradley is seeking a $4.1MM salary for the 2020 season, while the D’Backs filed for a $3.625MM number.  The 2019 season saw Bradley increasingly deployed as a closer, as he recorded 18 saves after having only four saves on his career ledger heading into the year.  Players haven’t had much luck going to hearings this year, as arbiters have ruled in favor of teams in five of the six arbitration hearings that have already taken place this month; the Dodgers’ Pedro Baez is the only player who has won his arb hearing.  You can follow along with all the results in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

Trade/FA Chatter: Padres, Myers, Angels, Rox, Zobrist, Marlins

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As expected, the Padres are hoping to trade pricey and underperforming outfielder/first baseman Wil Myers, Jayson Stark of The Athletic reports. The Padres appear highly motivated to part with Myers, according to Stark, who adds that there’s even a willingness on the team’s part to attach prospects from its loaded farm system if it would encourage someone to take the veteran off its hands. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported back in September that the Padres would “likely” be willing to eat half of the $60MM left on Myers’ contract to get rid of him. At this point, it’s unknown whether the amount’s still in that ballpark. Myers, who turns 30 on Tuesday, has another three years left on his deal.

  • The Angels’ pursuit of Gerrit Cole is garnering most of the Halos-related headlines at the moment, but he’s not the only upgrade they’re targeting. After struggling to find much production behind the plate in 2019, the club’s “heavily involved in the catcher market,” Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times writes. The Angels are focused on six to eight backstop options, per Torres, and general manager Billy Eppler revealed they’ve had “active” discussions with two teams about trading for a catcher.
  • Speaking of catchers, the Rockies had interest in Stephen Vogt before he signed a one-year, $3MM contract with the NL West rival Diamondbacks last month, Nick Groke of The Athletic relays. “It didn’t go our way,” admitted general manager Jeff Bridich, who added the Rockies remain focused on finding aid at the position.
  • Longtime utilityman Ben Zobrist is “50-50” on whether to continue his career in 2020, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The 38-year-old free agent, who sat out a large portion of 2019 as a member of the Cubs while dealing with a divorce, is currently prioritizing his family.
  • The Marlins are looking to upgrade a bullpen that was “not good” in 2019, according to president of baseball operations Michael Hill (via Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel). Veteran right-hander Sergio Romo was one of the Marlins’ most effective options, but they dealt the then-pending free agent to the Twins in advance of the July 31 trade deadline. Hill acknowledged Monday that there’s now interest on the team’s part in reuniting with Romo, 36. “We’re exploring the entire market of eligible guys and I know he’s been connected to us as well he should be,” said Hill. “I think if you asked him — he was very public in saying that [he] enjoyed his time with us so we’ll see where things go, but [he] was a player who did well for us and did a good job in his time with us.”

NL Notes: Diamondbacks, Vogt, Padres, Mets

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The Diamondbacks’ behind-the-plate combination of Carson Kelly and Alex Avila’s was one of the National League’s best in 2019, from an offensive standpoint. The two combined for 27 homers last year, with Kelly’s 108 wRC+ falling fourth among NL backstops. The club doubled down on an offense-first approach at catcher when it signed Stephen Vogt to a one-year, $3MM deal with a 2021 vesting option earlier this week, posits Zach Buchanan of The Athletic.

In acquiring Vogt, Buchanan argues that executive Mike Hazen essentially secured Avila-plus; both players are left-handed, veteran sluggers, but Vogt performed at a higher level in 2019 and swings at a higher launch angle than the 32-year-old Avila (a feature which figures to play well at Arizona’s Chase Field). With catcher defense front-and-center for many front offices, going bat-first at backstop certainly represents an against-the-grain strategy for Arizona’s front office.

More items from around the NL…

  • It’s been an offseason of change in San Diego, with new manager Jayce Tingler taking the reins after a four-year stretch of losing seasons under Andy Green. We’ve also seen former Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild take over for longtime Padres fixture Darren Balsley, and a few of Manny Machado’s old friends from Baltimore have been brought in to provide additional coaching help. Rothschild has now settled on Ben Fritz as the club’s new bullpen coach, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, although a new hitting coach has yet to be identified. Damian Easley, who has already been working with the club’s infielders, remains a possibility for that role. Acee also relays that Rod Barajas, who served as the club’s interim manager after Green’s mid-season exit, will be redirected to another role in the organization after being passed over for the role of skipper.
  • Tim Britton of The Athletic tracks payroll trends surrounding the Mets over the last decade, with his analysis resting largely on info culled from Baseball Prospectus’ Cot’s On Contracts. Though perhaps unsurprising to most faithful followers of the team, Britton notes that New York has enacted the lowest percentage increase in total payroll among all teams in this decade. While total MLB revenue has risen nearly 50 percent in the last ten years, the Mets have not kept pace with other big-market spenders (New York was third in payroll over the course of the aughts, but spent the majority of this decade outside the top ten in payroll spending). Still, it’s important to emphasize that the Mets’ payroll is trending up of late, with GM Brodie Van Wagenen denying to speak unequivocally about a potential approach to the $208MM CBT line.

Diamondbacks Sign Stephen Vogt

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Nov. 29: Vogt will be paid $2.5MM in 2020 and has a $500K buyout of a $3MM option for the 2021 campaign, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. That option can trigger automatically depending on playing time, and the contract contains escalators (based on games started) that would boost Vogt’s salary in 2021.

Nov. 26: The Diamondbacks made a low-cost strike on the free-agent market, adding catcher Stephen Vogt on a one-year contract, the team announced Tuesday evening. The deal will reportedly promise Vogt a total of $3MM, and it also contains a vesting option for the 2021 season. Vogt is represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.

Stephen Vogt | Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Vogt, 35, feared his career could be over following a 2018 shoulder surgery with the Brewers, but he landed with the Giants on a minor league pact and proved himself with a quietly strong rebound season. In 280 plate appearances spread over the life of 99 games, the former All-Star hit .263/.314/.490 with 10 home runs.

Arizona’s need for a backstop isn’t necessarily acute, but Vogt’s left-handed bat will pair nicely with the up-and-coming Carson Kelly, who hits from the opposite side of the dish — and does so quite well (.356/.462/.667 versus lefties in 2019). Vogt will also give the 25-year-old Kelly another veteran mentor under whom to study, replacing fellow free agent Alex Avila, who remains unsigned but now appears destined to land elsewhere.

The D-backs also have veteran catcher Caleb Joseph on the 40-man roster as a third option, and given the fact that they’ve previously carried three catchers at a time even with a 25-man roster, it seems plausible that they’ll do so again now that rosters are set to expand to 26 players for the 2020 season. Alternatively, Vogt’s acquisition could also spell the end of Joseph’s time with the Arizona organization. He’s arbitration-eligible this winter and projected to receive a $1.2MM salary, which the club may feel too steep to pay a third catcher who falls behind both Kelly and Vogt on the depth chart.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link) and Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (Twitter links) added details on the financial structure.

Quick Hits: Ellsbury, Orioles, Rockies, Vogt

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Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury plans to continue his career in 2020, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com hears. Ellsbury just went through a pair of seasons wiped out by injuries, which led the Yankees to release him Wednesday and eat the remaining $26MM on his contract. But the 36-year-old’s now “finishing up his rehab [in Arizona] with a focus on Spring Training,” a source told Feinsand. Ellsbury, an MVP candidate with the Red Sox at his peak, remained a respectable major leaguer last time he was healthy enough to play. He posted a .264/.348/.402 line with seven home runs, 22 stolen bases on 25 tries, and 1.6 fWAR over 409 plate appearances in 2017. With that in mind, someone’s likely to take a chance on Ellsbury on a minor league contract before next season.

More from around baseball…

  • The Orioles have hired Eve Rosenbaum to fill a new role with the organization –  director of baseball development – Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports (subscription link). Rosenbaum, a Harvard graduate and Maryland native who spent the past five seasons with the Astros and was at the helm of their international signing period this year, is familiar with Orioles general manager Mike Elias from their time working together in Houston’s front office. Now reunited with Elias, Rosenbaum will largely focus on analytics and scouting in Baltimore, Connolly relays.
  • The Rockies “will look at” free-agent catchers Travis d’Arnaud, Yan Gomes, Martin Maldonado, Robinson Chirinos, Jason Castro and Alex Avila, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. While the Rockies won’t spend much this offseason, nobody in that group of catchers figures to break the bank on the open market, and the club’s need behind the plate is obvious. Colorado’s backstops struggled to the majors’ 28th-ranked fWAR (minus-1.7) in 2019, when Tony Wolters, Chris Iannetta, Dom Nunez and Drew Butera all managed miserable offensive numbers.
  • Vogt may not be on Colorado’s list of catcher targets, but he is among the backstops “generating early interest,” Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. The market for catchers is moving quicker than it is at other positions, per Passan. The Athletics and Giants, two of Vogt’s previous teams, are known to have interest in the 35-year-old former All-Star. The fact that he may be in position to sign early (and land a big league contract) is a significant change from last offseason, when Vogt went without a deal until the Giants handed him a minors pact in February. It proved to be a terrific buy-low move for San Francisco, as Vogt revived his career with a .263/.314/.490 line and 10 homers across 280 trips to the plate.

Farhan Zaidi On Giants’ Offseason Needs

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“We’re going to be open to anything and see what the market yields,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle about the team’s offseason plans.  It isn’t markedly different from the strategy Zaidi employed during his first year in charge of the Giants’ front office, as Zaidi didn’t fully commit to either contending or rebuilding while adding some unheralded players (i.e. Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano) who ended up being solid contributors to the roster.

“We’re still in a mode where we want to compete next year.  We want to play meaningful baseball as deep into the season as we can, which was our stated goal in 2019,” Zaidi said.  “But we want to do it in a way that creates flexibility for us and keeps us an organization moving in a positive, healthy direction. We’re going to be balancing those things as we go through the offseason.”

Looking ahead to 2020, Zaidi was a bit more firm about some specific items on the Giants’ winter shopping list.  Zaidi plans to see a left-handed hitting infielder with multi-position capability, backup catching, and extra pitching, though he again stressed that “flexibility” will factor into the team’s decisions.

For instance, both Buster Posey and the Giants consider the longtime face of the franchise still capable of being an everyday catcher, despite Posey’s down year in 2019 that was perhaps influenced by lingering after-effects from his 2018 hip surgery.  As such, Zaidi has options for what the team expects or needs from its secondary catcher role.  “Is it maybe a 60-game guy who plays other positions or is it more of a true backup? I think there’s different ways we could attack it because we expect Buster to be even healthier and better a year further from the surgery,” Zaidi said.  A reunion with Stephen Vogt isn’t out of the question, as Zaidi described the free agent backstop as “a great fit for our roster,” and expected to be in contact with Vogt and his representatives in due course.

The Giants have already made one pitching addition, claiming Tyler Anderson off waivers from the Rockies to add the southpaw to a rotation mix that includes two proven veterans (Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija) and a lot of unproven younger arms.  To that end, “we’d certainly be open to adding more veterans and more innings,” Zaidi said.

A veteran left-handed hitting infielder would provide balance for both third baseman Evan Longoria and second baseman Mauricio Dubon, who both hit from the right side.  Though Dubon made a solid accounting of himself in his rookie season, adding a veteran complement to second base could also be helpful if Dubon runs into a sophomore slump.  Brock Holt, Eric Sogard, Brad Miller, and switch-hitting Asdrubal Cabrera could all be fits in free agency, and San Francisco will surely be on the lookout for any lefty-swinging utility bats on the trade front.

Athletics Eyeing Left-Handed Bats, Additional Bullpen Arms

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Were they not in the AL West, the Athletics might have a division title under their belt in the past couple of seasons. Unfortunately for Oakland, they’ve played second fiddle to a powerhouse Astros club despite a pair of 97-win seasons and now must look for an avenue to either topple the ’Stros or finally punch through the Wild Card barrier.

That’s easier said than done, of course, and general manager David Forst chatted with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle about this week’s GM Meetings and the work his club has to do to improve. Specifically, the Athletics would like to balance out their lineup a bit this winter. “It’s something we’ve discussed a lot internally, looking for opportunities to add left-handed bats to the lineup,” said Forst, who also listed the bullpen as a potential area for supplementation.

A certain old friend could even be a potential target, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The A’s have reached out to the representatives for free agent catcher Stephen Vogt, creating an opening for an intriguing potential reunion that didn’t seem terribly likely when the sides parted ways. The left-handed-hitting backstop could help with the aforementioned desire for lineup balance while also serving as a reserve behind the dish.

At present, the Athletics are heavily reliant on right-handed bats. Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Khris Davis, Ramon Laureano, Stephen Piscotty, Mark Canha and on-the-rise catcher Sean Murphy all hit from the right side of the dish. Oakland does have one potent lefty bat in first baseman Matt Olson, while switch-hitters Robbie Grossman and Jurickson Profar at least offered manager Bob Melvin some options from the left side of the plate. But the 2019 A’s were a powerhouse against left-handed pitching, ranking fourth in the Majors with a 115 wRC+ in that regard, while they posted a more measured (but still above-average) 104 wRC+ against right-handed opposition.

Both marks are reflective of a quality offensive unit, but there is indeed an opportunity to add some more balance — particularly with MLB rosters set to expand from 25 players to 26 players in 2020. The presence of that robust core — Olson, Chapman, Semien, Davis, Murphy, Laureano — doesn’t leave the A’s with too many clear spots for upgrade, but further comments from Forst lend some insight. The GM suggested that left field, where Grossman and Chad Pinder formed a capable platoon, isn’t “at the top of the priority list” at the moment.

As MLBTR’s Connor Byrne explored late last month in the Athletics’ Offseason Outlook, adding a left-handed bat at second base and/or in the outfield could be in the cards. Incumbent options include the aforementioned Pinder (who can play both positions), Profar (second base) and Piscotty (right field). Younger players like Franklin Barreto and Jorge Mateo have also yet to get a real look at second base and, as Shea observes, will both be out of minor league options in 2020.

Pinder is best suited for a bench role and saw even his numbers against lefties back up in 2019. Defensive questions swirled around Profar, who had a poor year at the plate outside of a blistering month of August. Piscotty is still owed $22.5MM over the next three seasons combined, which the A’s may deem too steep after his bat took a couple steps back in 2019 (.249/.309/.412).

The free-agent market offers some intriguing alternatives — Kole Calhoun or old friends Ben Zobrist and Eric Sogard could all conceivably fit the mold of what the organization is seeking. The relief market features numerous affordable arms — Sergio Romo, Pedro Strop, Craig Stammen and David Phelps among them. And the A’s, of course, are ever-active on the trade market and figure to lay the foundation for such negotiations at this week’s GM Meetings.

Still, it’s not an easy puzzle to solve. Their current 2020 payroll commitments stand at $45.5MM between Davis, Piscotty, Mike Fiers, Joakim Soria and Yusmeiro Petit. The A’s have another $53.7MM worth of projected arbitration salaries (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), which are headlined by a $13.5MM projection for Semien. Among the notable non-tender/trade candidates in that bunch are Blake Treinen ($7.8MM projection), Profar ($5.8MM) and catcher Josh Phegley ($2.2MM).

As ever, cost will be a paramount consideration. Oakland opened the 2019 season with a $92MM payroll — low for most clubs but a franchise record for the A’s — and their current guarantees and arb projections alone will push them to $99MM (before even factoring in pre-arbitration players to round out the roster). If the hope is to add at least one new lefty bat (if not two) and some additional ’pen help, they’ll need to be aggressive in non-tendering/trading from that arbitration class and perhaps explore the market for Piscotty (depending on other moves). It’ll make for quite a few moving parts and possibly some unexpected trade scenarios, but that’s become the norm for Beane, Forst and the rest of an always-creative Oakland front office.

Looking more closely at the catching situation, Phegley’s situation is particularly relevant as concerns Vogt, since the former is presently in line to fill an important role behind the plate. It’s possible that both could share time on the roster, though that doesn’t seem terribly likely given the costs involved and the ongoing presence of Davis in the DH slot. The fact that there’s interest in Vogt seems a clear indication that the club is at least considering a different direction. As Slusser notes, Phegley’s offense tailed off in the second half and he lost playing time to Murphy down the stretch.

Vogt, of course, logged four-plus seasons with the A’s and was the club’s top catcher from 2015-2016. He emerged as something of a fan favorite thanks to his solid offensive contributions. In his time in Oakland, Vogt slashed .256/.317/.416 (101 wRC+) over 1641 plate appearances. He tailed off at the plate in 2017, leading the A’s to designate him for assignment, before a career-threatening shoulder injury wiped out his 2018 season.

Fortunately, Vogt posted a suprising bounceback effort last season with the Giants. In 280 plate appearances, Vogt slashed .263/.314/.490 (107 wRC+) with 10 home runs. Entering his age-35 season, Vogt surely won’t be expected to carry a huge load at catcher, but he’s still capable of getting behind the dish and offers some left-handed power, in addition to a well-respected veteran presence. As Slusser notes, that could make Vogt an ideal fit as the A’s break in the aforementioned Murphy. Already one of the game’s top prospects, Murphy impressed in a brief showing as a September call-up but will be in need of some supplementation and mentoring.

Zaidi On Manager Search, Free Agency, Park Dimensions

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Farhan Zaidi’s first season as Giants president of baseball operations is in the books, and he’ll now embark on what could very well be a busier offseason than the one he navigated last year. The Giants will need to hire a replacement for longtime manager Bruce Bochy, conduct a search to add a general manager to work under Zaidi and, of course, address a roster that could lose Madison Bumgarner, Will Smith and several other free agents.

Zaidi met with the media today in a postmortem press conference, divulging that he intends to interview roughly six to eight external candidates as part of the club’s managerial search (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Maria Guardado of MLB.com). He also confirmed that both bench coach Hensley Meulens and third base coach Ron Wotus will be interviewed as potential successors to Bochy. Prior managerial experience won’t be a necessity, though Zaidi also implied that it’d be important.

As for the rest of the coaching staff, no determinations will be made until a new skipper is in place. As such, the Giants’ coaches are free to interview elsewhere should other teams come calling. As is the case with during any managerial search, it seems safe to bet that there’ll be a fair bit of turnover in the Giants’ dugout. The search for a GM to work alongside Zaidi in heading up the baseball ops department will be conducted “concurrently” with the search for a new manager, Schulman tweets.

With regard to the on-field product, the Giants stand to lose not only Bumgarner and Smith, but also left-hander Tony Watson, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, catcher Stephen Vogt and lefty Fernando Abad. The organization has interest (presumably to varying extents) in retaining each of its free agents, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, though Zaidi also anticipates that those players will want to explore the open market. There was no mention of qualifying offers, but Bumgarner stands out as a clear and obvious recipient (and rejector) of an eventual QO. Smith, too, could potentially merit consideration in that regard, given the dominant season he had as the team’s closer. Vogt has previously expressed interest in returning to the Giants, although he and the other impending free agents will surely want to see who is eventually tabbed as Bochy’s successor before making a commitment.

How aggressively Zaidi and his staff will pursue reunions with that group and potential matches with other free agents can’t be known at this point. Zaidi, Schulman tweets, voiced a willingness to deal from the farm system and to look at top-end starters, but he also stressed the importance of developing arms internally.

That’s an understandable point of emphasis not only because it’s a mantra for most clubs in the league but also because the Giants’ young arms didn’t perform well in 2019; each of Tyler Beede, Dereck Rodriguez, Shaun Anderson, Logan Webb, Conner Menez and Andrew Suarez struggled in auditions in the MLB rotation this year. Rodriguez and Suarez looked like potential long-term fits when they had unexpectedly strong seasons in 2018, making this year’s steps backward all the more discouraging.

That group, presumably, will have a chance at factoring into next year’s pitching staff, though it seems clear that some winter additions are in the offing. Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto are the only returning veterans, which should leave the Giants with ample room to supplement the rotation either via trade or free agency.

Augmenting the lineup will also be a point of focus, per Zaidi, who unsurprisingly indicated that adding power to the lineup will be a priority (Twitter link via Schulman). The Giants’ 167 home runs ranked 26th among 30 MLB clubs in 2019, and their .153 isolated power (slugging percentage minus batting average) was tied with the White Sox for third-worst in all of baseball. Alex Dickerson, acquired in a minor trade with the Padres in June, and Mike Yastrzemski, acquired from the Orioles in a minor Spring Training swap, were the team’s most productive hitters in 2019. Both are already 29 years old without any sort of sustained big league track record.

San Francisco carried a payroll north of $186MM in 2019 but only has $109MM in guaranteed money on the books for next season, which should further allow Zaidi to be creative to the extent he deems appropriate. The Giants’ only arbitration-eligible players are Kevin Pillar, Donovan Solano, Kyle Barraclough and Dickerson, so the payroll shouldn’t rise too much even when factoring in arbitration raises (particularly since that group contains some potential non-tender candidates).

While it seems like there’ll be money to play with, it’s also worth recalling that last week’s comments from Giants CEO Larry Baer didn’t exactly sound like a portent for aggressive offseason spending. In discussing the Giants’ 2010-14 run of dominance, Baer spoke of how the club relied on free agency as a complementary means of bolstering a roster that had largely consisted of homegrown pieces; the same, he noted, was true of Zaidi’s teams in Oakland and in Los Angeles. There’s little reason for the organization to tip its hand right now even if a strong run at Bumgarner or other free agents is on the docket, but there’s been no emphatic declaration to this point, either.

Beyond the innumerable personnel decisions the Giants will consider in the coming months, there’s been plenty of talk about changes to the dimensions of Oracle Park. While no final outcome was announced, Zaidi confirmed today that the organization has “made a lot of progress on designs that would have [the bullpens] move out to the outfield,” tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. Exact alterations aren’t yet determined, but Baer indicated last week that the club isn’t looking to turn Oracle Park into a hitter-friendly setting.

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