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Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

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If you prefer your MLBTR fix limited to only your favorite team, we've got you covered.  Below are links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.

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Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

Baseball’s Longest-Tenured GMs

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It’s been an unusually quiet offseason for general manager turnover — so far. The Rockies re-structured their baseball operations department, the Marlins are mulling changes, and the White Sox are expected to promote two top executives. Otherwise, it’s been relatively slow, with no dismissals midway through a month that’s often filled with GM turnover.

Using Baseball America's executive database I’ve compiled a list of baseball’s longest-tenured general managers. The list shows how long GMs have been with their current teams, not when they got their first gig running a team. That list would look different, with Dave Dombrowski, Sandy Alderson and Dan Duquette at the top (I'm using the term 'GM' loosely; some of the executives below have different titles on their business cards). 

The Bay Area has two of the sport’s three longest-tenured GMs in Brian Sabean and Billy Beane. There's been lots of turnover in the past five years, as nearly half (14) of baseball's GMs were hired in that time. Here's the complete list:

  1. Terry Ryan, Twins, 1994 (stepped aside from 2007-11)
  2. Brian Sabean, Giants, 1996
  3. Billy Beane, Athletics, 1997
  4. Brian Cashman, Yankees, 1998
  5. Dan O'Dowd, Rockies, 1999 (Bill Geivett assumes many GM duties as Sr. VP of Major League operations)
  6. Kenny Williams, White Sox, 2000 (expected to be promoted, replaced by Rick Hahn)
  7. Larry Beinfest, Marlins, 2002
  8. Dave Dombrowski, Tigers, 2002
  9. Doug Melvin, Brewers, 2002
  10. Jon Daniels, Rangers, 2005
  11. Andrew Friedman, Rays, 2005
  12. Ned Colletti, Dodgers, 2005
  13. Dayton Moore, Royals, 2006
  14. Neal Huntington, Pirates, 2007
  15. Frank Wren, Braves, 2007
  16. John Mozeliak, Cardinals, 2007
  17. Walt Jocketty, Reds, 2008
  18. Jack Zduriencik, Mariners, 2008
  19. Ruben Amaro, Jr., Phillies, 2008
  20. Mike Rizzo, Nationals, 2009
  21. Alex Anthopoulos, Blue Jays, 2009
  22. Kevin Towers, Diamondbacks, 2010
  23. Chris Antonetti, Indians, 2010
  24. Sandy Alderson, Mets, 2010
  25. Jed Hoyer, Cubs, 2011
  26. Josh Byrnes, Padres, 2011
  27. Jerry Dipoto, Angels, 2011
  28. Jeff Luhnow, Astros, 2011
  29. Ben Cherington, Red Sox, 2011
  30. Dan Duquette, Orioles, 2011

Check out MLBTR's 2010 series on the reaction each GM generated upon taking his first GM job: AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central, NL West.

How To Use MLBTR

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An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

  • If the main site doesn't load perfectly on your cell phone, try the more mobile-friendly mlbtraderumors.mobi.  It's a simple page that shows you just the headlines and lets you click through to what you want to read.
  • If you're an iPhone user, be sure to pick up our app for the latest news and rumors. MLBTR just introduced an Android app as well.
  • If you want only the hard news in the form of transactions, our transactions page is the ticket.  You can also get only the transactions via Twitter or RSS. 
  • To return to the main page at any time, just click on the title or the Home button on the navigation bar below the title. 
  • The navigation bar will cover many of your needs.  Use the About dropdown to learn about this site or any of its writers. 
  • The Contact button takes you to a page where you can write an email message to the MLBTR writers.  If you have a link to a rumor we've missed, please send it in through the Contact page!  Also use the Contact page to inquire about advertising on MLBTR.
  • The Archives dropdown shows you 15 months worth.  If you need to go back further, click on Site Map at the very bottom of the page.  Site Map also lists out every MLBTR post category, including players, teams, and features.
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  • Also under the tools tab is our Transaction Tracker, which enables you to search about anything and everything to do with baseball trades, signings and extensions. 
  • Under the tools tab, you'll find a link to our Forums, a message board community of MLBTR readers with over 9,100 members.  You can discuss any baseball-related topic on the Forums, and start your own thread too.
  • MLBTR's Agency Database lets you know which agencies represent which players. It's searchable by team, agency or player, so be sure to check it out.
  • Feeds By Team is a very useful dropdown.  Hover over it to see all 30 teams.  Click on the team name to bring up a page of every post containing information about that team, with the latest on top.  These are the same pages you'll find if you go to the Rumors By Team section on the sidebar and select A's Rumors, Angels Rumors, etc.  
  • Also under the Feeds By Team dropdown, you'll find RSS and Twitter buttons.  Those links allow you to follow a single team's rumors via RSS or Twitter.  Did you know we have a separate Twitter account for each of the 30 teams?  For example you can follow @mlbtrtigers, where you would get the latest Tigers updates.
  • You can also follow Tim Dierkes and Ben Nicholson-Smith on Twitter for more MLBTR content.
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  • Be sure to check out your favorite team's MLBTR page on Facebook so you can receive and comment on the latest rumors.
  • On to the sidebar.  It begins with a list of our Top Stories, which our writers update any time major hard news occurs.  Go here for a quick update on the most important stories.  Below that is the site's Search Box, where you can type in any player's name and get the latest on him. 
  • MLBTR Features has all kinds of goodies, including our free agent lists.  Many of the MLBTR Features are constantly updated by our writers, so be assured that our free agent lists are always fresh. 
  • Below Features you've got headlines for all the Recent Posts, in case you'd rather not scroll to see all the headlines.  Then there's a box for our Mailing List, where you can sign up to receive a daily email containing MLBTR's posts.  Use this option if you don't need the news as soon as possible.
  • Next we have Featured Posts, where you'll find original work from MLBTR writers we consider noteworthy.  For example, check out our Offseason Outlook series.
  • There's also a contact form in case you need to reach MLBTR.

Regular MLBTR Features

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If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

  • MLBTR Chats - Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the Major Leagues.
  • Baseball Blogs Weigh In - Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
  • Week In Review - It's remarkable how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, Daniel Seco summarizes the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
  • MLBTR Originals - Edward Creech gathers all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

Colletti Doesn’t Rule Out Bringing Victorino Back

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It appeared as though Shane Victorino's days with the Dodgers were numbered when they acquired Carl Crawford, but today GM Ned Colletti told Steve Dilbeck of The Los Angeles Times that bringing him back for 2013 has not been ruled out.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” quipped Colletti. “Use your imagination.”

Crawford is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery but is expected to be ready early next season. Matt Kemp had shoulder surgery today and is also expected to be ready in time for Opening Day. Either way, the Dodgers are locked into those two as well as Andre Ethier on big money contracts. There doesn't appear to be a spot for Victorino, who reiterated to Dilbeck that he wants to play everyday.

“I’m not taking a back seat to nobody," he said. "Not in a negative way am I saying that. I still feel like I can play every day and that’s my goal. I don’t know who came up with the mindset that all of a sudden that I’m not an everyday player."

Victorino, 31, hit .245/.316/.351 with the Dodgers and .255/.321/.383 overall this season. He is scheduled to become a free agent for the first time in his career this winter, and he is working to hire a new agent after recently dropping ACES. Victorino could be a more affordable alternative to top outfield free agents Michael Bourn and B.J. Upton.

Commenting Policy

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MLBTR is increasing efforts to enforce our commenting policy.  The goal is to raise the level of discourse in the comments, part of which involves eliminating inappropriate language and insults.

Comments of this nature are not allowed:

  • Attacks or insults towards other commenters, the post author, journalists, teams, players, or agents
  • Inappropriate language, including swearing and related censor bypass attempts, lewdness, insults, and crude terms for body parts, bodily functions, and physical acts.  Overall, we don’t want any language that a parent would not want their kid to see.
  • Juvenile comments or extensive use of text message-type spelling
  • Writing comments in all or mostly caps
  • Spam-type links or self-promotion.  Please submit to our weekly Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature if you have a website or blog.  Currently, permissible links in the comments are limited to MLB.com, Cot’s Baseball Contracts, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball-Reference, and (of course) MLB Trade Rumors.  Comments linking to other sites will be deleted.
  • Comments about how you're sick of this topic or it's not newsworthy
  • No inappropriate avatars or images are allowed
  • Anything else we deem bad for business

If you see comments that fit the above criteria, please flag them and/or contact us.  Those who repeatedly violate the policy can be banned at any time.  Bans may be handed out liberally by our moderators, without second chances.  Remaining civil is not that difficult, though, and most commenters have no problems doing so as well as helping rein each other in.  We at MLBTR are grateful for long-time commenters and readers, though this policy applies equally regardless of tenure.  This policy is always available at the bottom of the site, and will be re-posted monthly.

Players Who Chose Extensions Over Free Agency

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This year’s free agent class is strong in the outfield and unremarkable in most other areas. It didn’t have to be that way though. Until quite recently it appeared that the free agent class would include many more star players. Instead, some of those players signed extensions that will keep them in place for 2013 and beyond. 

MLBTR's Extension Tracker offers a look at some players who came close to hitting free agency before deciding to re-sign with their current teams. These players would have joined Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke in free agency this coming offseason if they hadn’t signed long-term deals earlier in 2012 (minimum $20MM): 

  • Cole Hamels, Phillies – The Phillies signed Hamels to a $144MM extension in July instead of letting him reach free agency. The left-hander would have been the top pitcher available following another tremendous season: a 3.05 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 203 1/3 innings.
  • Matt Cain, Giants – Cain signed for $112.5MM before the season began. It represented a record contract for right-handed pitchers, but Cain would have obtained more on the open market following yet another season with an ERA under 3.00 and 200-plus innings.
  • Andre Ethier, Dodgers – Ethier signed a five-year, $85MM contract in June, before it became fully apparent that the Dodgers are willing to spend aggressively under their new ownership group. Ethier has turned in a characteristically strong season: 19 homers and a .285/.350/.459 batting line.
  • Yadier Molina, Cardinals – Molina, who signed a five-year, $75MM contract in February, is an MVP candidate this year. He's hitting .319/.376/.503 with 20 homers and elite defense behind the plate. The Cardinals have reason to be thrilled with the early results of this contract.
  • Brandon Phillips, Reds – Phillips remains one of the game's top second basemen. If the 31-year-old hadn't signed a six-year, $72.5MM contract in April, he would've been a welcome addition to a free agent market that lacks star-caliber infielders.
  • Erick Aybar, Angels – This four-year, $35MM contract keeps the 28-year-old in Anaheim following a very good season (3.7 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference and 3.1 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs).
  • Howie Kendrick, Angels – Kendrick signed a four-year, $33.5MM contract in January and has gone on to put together a respectable season. He has a .279/.317/.388 batting line in 563 plate appearances and would likely have drawn lots of interest as a free agent.
  • Carlos Quentin, Padres – Quentin's three-year, $30MM contract keeps him off of the open market, where he would have generated interest after hitting .263/.373/.509 while playing half of his games at Petco Park.
  • Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays – Encarnacion obtained a three-year, $29MM contract from the Blue Jays midway through his breakout season. In the two-plus months since signing the deal, Encarnacion has added 17 home runs with more walks than strikeouts.

Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

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If you prefer your MLBTR fix limited to only your favorite team, we've got you covered.  Below are links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

Free Agents Who Cost Teams Draft Picks

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In some instances the decision to make a player a qualifying offer is not so much a choice as a formality. Is there any doubt that Josh Hamilton will get a qualifying offer from the Rangers after the season? Not really, and it’s just as certain he’ll turn Texas’ offer down.

Most cases aren’t so predictable. Qualifying offers link players to draft pick compensation and affect their free agent value. So as teams contemplate whether to extend qualifying offers to their free agents, let’s look back at the players for whom teams were willing to surrender draft picks in recent years. Here’s the year-by-year breakdown:

2011-12 Offseason (under modified rules)

2010-11 Offseason

2009-10 Offseason

Recent history suggests teams are willing to surrender draft picks for impact bats, starting pitchers who appear to belong at the top of a rotation and select relievers, especially closers. This trend suggests teams will be willing to surrender draft picks for players such as Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn and Soriano this winter. Executives deciding whether those players warrant qualifying offers should take note.

Quick Hits: Hamilton, Red Sox, Hanley, Managers

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Current big leaguers Mike Olt, Jurickson Profar, Adam Eaton, Tony Cingrani, Dan Straily, and Carter Capps were all named to Baseball America's Minor League All-Star Team today. Here's the latest from around the league on Friday night…

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