In his latest notes column for FOX Sports, Ken Rosenthal looks at the failed attempt to acquire Chase Utley made by both the Angels and Cubs. Anaheim “blew it” by not adding Utley, opines Rosenthal, as the Halos had more playing time to offer than the Dodgers but didn’t pull the trigger on a deal despite only having acquired “complementary hitters” in July. (That seems harsh, as there’s no guarantee that the current iteration of Utley is anything more than a complementary piece himself.) As for the Cubs, they initially showed interest while Utley was still hurt, but Utley wasn’t comfortable being traded while on a rehab assignment, says Rosenthal, so the Phils waited to put him through waivers. By the time he returned, Howie Kendrick had been hurt in L.A., creating a match with the Dodgers.
Some more highlights from the column…
- As others have noted, the Angels’ GM opening is a tough sell to prospective candidates because Arte Moreno is more involved than the average owner, and Mike Scioscia has more power than the average manager. One rival general manager described the Angels’ GM role to Rosenthal as such: “You take all of the beatings (from Moreno) and you’ve got no power (due to Scioscia).” Jerry Dipoto resigned from his post this summer due to reported clashes with Scioscia.
- The Blue Jays tried to trade for Ben Zobrist, but the Athletics’ asking price was Matt Boyd plus other pieces, Rosenthal hears, which was too steep for GM Alex Anthopoulos. Boyd was ultimately one of three pieces used to acquire David Price from the Tigers.
- Rosenthal reports that the Giants are likely to pursue right-hander Jordan Zimmermann as they look to bulk up their rotation this offseason. However, he notes that the Wisconsin native may prefer to return to the Midwest. Zimmermann ranked eighth on the most recent edition of MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings, though he’s had a couple of rough starts since then.
- The Giants may also consider attempting to unload the final year of Angel Pagan’s contract this winter. Pagan is slated to earn $10MM next season in the final season of a four-year, $40MM contract after playing in just 167 games from 2013-14 and struggling at the plate in 102 games to this point in 2015. San Francisco could use Gregor Blanco in center field in the event that they’re able to move Pagan.
- The recent trend of teams promoting an assistant GM to GM and a current GM to president (as the White Sox and Giants have done) could continue this offseason as teams try to prevent their top AGMs from departing for GM vacancies elsewhere, Rosenthal writes. The Rangers could promote Thad Levine to GM (and presumably elevate Jon Daniels), for instance, and the Cardinals could promote Mike Girsch (presumably promoting GM John Mozeliak as well). And, should Mark Shapiro end up with the Blue Jays, the Indians could bump Mike Chernoff to GM and make Chris Antonetti president (Cleveland previously did his by moving Shapiro from GM to president and Antonetti from AGM to GM). Levine, Girsch and Chernoff could all attract interest from other teams this winter.
It would be a coup to unload Pagan. A more realistic change that should’ve occurred a long time ago: get him out of CF! The problem is going to be if they can’t unload him and next year comes around with the same expectation that he will be the CFer, anything else will be a blow to his ego that will just about ensure a souring of the relationship as it has with every other team he’s been on.
Angels might just have to promote their new GM from within. Atleast that individual knows what they’ll be dealing with Moreno and Scioscia, but might find it worthwhile to be able to show they have capabilities in the role. So, sure, basically Jerry DiPoto 2.0
I like Bud Black for it.
Leave it to Rosenthal to pretend like Chase Utley is the only thing standing in the way of a World Series victory for the Angels and the Cubs. Why do people pay this man money?
Because he gets hits on social media by posting gossip column type commentary…true story. Paid by page view not quality
Sad but true.
Angel Pagan and 8 million for Joe Maddon’s unwashed socks he wore for the Cubs winning streak. At least the socks are durable.
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So the A’s tried to get Boyd, who wasn’t in the Jays top 15 prospects at the start of the year, and instead got Manea, who was as high as 56 on MLB.com’s overall list and KC’s #1 prospect? Uh, what? The way that reads is that the Jays deemed that too steep, but the reality is either Beane used it for leverage to get a better package from KC, or DET returned their call about about Price, and TOR needed an ace more than Zobrist.
Yeah, it makes no sense at all. Boyd+ for Zonrist would’ve been a great deal for the Jays.
Jerry Dipoto ran himself out of Anaheim by trying to ram his OBP/analytics philosophy down the throats of baseball people who have been in the game for up to 40 years. This high OBP approach doesn’t work when you acquire players who hit for low batting averages. Iannetta, Joyce, and Freese are three examples. That’s 1/3 of the Angels’ lineup, and all three have hit under .250, while Iannetta and Joyce have been under .200. What’s happened to the Angels offense is largely due to those three, and you can’t just obsess over OBP that way without allowing some actual hitting ability in there. It’s always better to have an OBP fueled by a good BA. Does more damage. This approach is also why the A’s collapsed last season. That team couldn’t hit. They just drew walks and hit HR’s. The Astros do the same thing, but they at least steal a ton of bases and don’t wait around. Dipoto should’ve waited until the right time to implement his philosophy. He’s too young and inexperienced. Same problem with Tony Reagins. Bill Stoneman worked just fine with Mike Scioscia. 3 division titles, a wild card, and a championship in the seven years they worked together. Stoneman knows exactly what Scioscia needs to win. That’s how it really works. I think this situation proves how far MLB really is from having this dynamic where GM’s have the power and managers manage according to the GM’s game plan. That’s still a new idea. Managers have always had the power. It’s always been that way. And Arte Moreno is not the only owner in sports who is more involved. All high market owners intervene when it comes to marquee players. You can’t tell me that any high market owner is going to tell his troops, “Go out and try to get LeBron James and tell me how it goes.” Yeah right. Btw, Dipoto put his house up for sale three months before he resigned. I have a gut feeling he had his eye the Boston seat. Or at least a path to another seat like the Brewers. Dipoto tried too hard to Billy Beane too early and it backfired. And he left a big mess on the field that he created in the middle of a pennant race. He did a great job rebuilding the Angels pitching depth and minor league system, but I think he was rash in his approach. All the Angels need to do is hire a GM who can work well with Mike Scioscia. Stoneman did it, he’s there again, so there’s no reason they can’t find another.
Great post, and spot on.
I like Bud Black for the GM job. They have people on staff to help him with the legalities.