Top Yankees prospect Luis Severino is elated to be a part of the club’s playoff push, Grace Raynor of MLB.com writes. Â There has been a ton of hype surrounding the pitcher in New York, but skipper Joe Girardi says that Severino is taking it all in stride.
“Going into the game, I thought that he was a young man that really wasn’t fazed by his surroundings in Spring Training, was able to relax and go about his business,” Girardi said. “I think that that’s what I saw last week. It’s kinda what I expected to see. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot more about him as time goes on — and you see him make starts and how he responds to certain situations and adversity. But, for the most part, that was kind of what I expected.”
Here’s more out of the AL East..
- Indications are that former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is more likely to wind up with the Blue Jays or the Mariners than the Red Sox, Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal writes.  Still, MacPherson says that doesn’t mean that the Red Sox can’t learn from Dombrowski by looking at how he built a winner in Detroit.  Dombrowski’s Detroit teams had structural flaws, but he took them from a team void of stars to a powerhouse organization with aggressive trades.  Boston has worked to hang on to its young talent in recent years rather than moving it for established players, but many of those prospects have failed to live up to expectations.
- Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is open to change in the front office if that means improving the team, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes.  “I don’t think it’s threatening at all” to bring in a new voice in baseball operations, Cherington said late last week. “Whatever stake you have in the Red Sox, after what you’ve been through the last two years, you don’t even have a choice but to try to find solutions to this after awhile of doing it our own way. It’s going to mean different things to different people, but that’s what we’re trying to do around here.”  With Larry Lucchino on his way out, Cherington may have to answer to whoever his replacement will be.
- Orioles GM Dan Duquette likes cheap reclamation projects and has caught some lightning in the past, but things just didn’t work out that way with Travis Snider, Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun writes.  Snider, who came over from the Pirates this winter to help replace the departed Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, was designated for assignment on Friday.
Oh PLEASE let the Mariners hire Dombroski and fire those buffoons running the team from the president, GM, Scouting Director on down. It will take years for the Ms to recover from a nothing farm system and build this team back up to where it has to be to contend year in and out. It gets harder and harder with each passing day to remain a fan of the biggest joke in baseball.
Because what Dombroski did with Detroit’s farm is really that much appealing? Honestly, lets look at players that the Tigers produced that actually played for the Tigers over the last 5 years.
A 4th starter in Porcello and a defensive liability in Castellanos? Hes a big market GM, and Seattle isn’t a big market.
You are probably right but the frustration here is Jack Zduriencik arrived here seven years ago with the reputation of being a keen talent evaluator. He may have arrived that way but he sure won’t have that reputation when he leaves.
He got a good return for price. He also used the farm for trades which is fine because you are in it to win at the big league level. They got a good return on avisail garcia. Porcello got them good value in cespedes and now fulmer. They are fine.
When Dombrowski took over the Tigers they had nothing on the roster or in the farm system. They were able to take players in on trades throughout his tenure due to having prospects other teams wanted. Miggy did not sign as a free agent.
As for the large payroll – some of those large contracts were given out by the owner over DD’s objections.
Yup, and he was able to move the worst of them (Fielder), for salary relief and a better fit in Kinsler.
But he has been able to turn those questionable prospects into major league players. including Iglesias, Soria/Jones, Miggy etc
It’s always interesting to see the narratives that the media spins and its effects on people. Dave Dombrowski is an average GM, and is nothing too special. He won the AL Pennant twice, and probably made the playoffs maybe 5 times in 11 seasons. All while having a payroll among the top 5-7 teams in baseball. What did he leave in Detroit? There is hardly anything there. Off the top of my head, here are 10 Executives better than DD:
Epstein, Friedman, Beane, Jon Daniels, Luhnow, John Hart, Mozeliak, Neal Huntington, Sabean and either Dayton Moore or Minnesota’s GM
Jury still out on the Dodgers version of Friedman who is currently fielding MLB’s 31st team, you know the one he’s playing $87.5 million this year to play elsewhere. You, I or anyone else not named Jack Zduriencik could look real smart too if we were giving $300 million to pay MLB salaries this year.
I’ve liked Friedman for years. By he ran the Rays farm system into the ground before he left there. I thought he made some nice off-season moves and was going to bring the Dodger payroll down. But his moves at the deadline were all about spending money. Giving an international free agent $28M as a bonus and then trading him months later without him playing a day in the major leagues is worse then anything George Steinbrenner ever did. Totally irresponsible.
Irresponsible? I’d call it reasonably smart. He’s found a way to use the resource he has at his disposal, to create a better big league team AND a top-tier farm system.
While other teams with significant dollars start to sweat about where their future lies, the Dodgers is looking very bright.
Plenty of teams have money – but not many can turn it into a franchise with talent top to bottom.
The Dodgers resisted the urge to go for short time help and give up the future. I call that very responsible. As for the 31st team…so what? They have the money and they’re not hurting.
You’re looking at the decision in a vacuum, explaining why you don’t think it makes sense. You need to look at the bigger picture, and once you do, you can see that it’s part of a very smart strategy.
You can’t exactly penalize the guy for using available resources.
There is hardly anything left in Detroit? Please.
The issue with DD is how much of that was Avila. We shall find out.
You don’t honestly believe that Detroit is in a good position, do you? Verlander, Sanchez, Cabrera, V Mart and Kinsler are over 30 and owed a
combined 95 million (at least) next year. The farm is awful, one of the worst in baseball. Unless they spend a lot of money, which will cost draft picks and prolong the development of the farm system, they are
done next year and perhaps 2017 as well.
It does appear the Tigers are headed where the Phillies are right now. Would signing Sherzer and Price have changed things? Perhaps—but DET breaking things up now at least is a start towards the future.
Having Miggy on your team is all you need right now, at the end of his contract it might be a different story however. He could have 3 potential building blocks in Iglesias, Norris, McCann which along with Miggy and Kinsler could be a playoff team in a couple of years if their guys they got in the trades work out
Agree with you jtm2889
He’s taken credit for “so many good moves” while gutting the little they had I the farm system and spending the owners money like water while he authorized it “going for it”. See the contracts on VMart, Verlander, etc. They will be hurting for a long time with ballplayers that are well past their prime, and he is vastly overrated.
He did have the top ten payroll for a smaller market team that just hasn’t gotten far enough to justify his moves.