The Padres very nearly passed on A.J. Preller in the club’s 2014 general manager hiring process, Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. President Mike Dee says he had settled on another candidate — very likely, now-Angels GM Billy Eppler, but took Preller up on his request for a final sit-down “just as a kind of courtesy, because he was so good throughout the process.” Preller obviously made a great final impression, because Dee left the meeting convinced in the young executive and told San Diego chairman Ron Fowler the next morning that he’d “had a change of heart overnight.” The story details how the organization’s current leadership group came together, and is well worth a full read.
Here’s more from out west:
- The Giants plan to meet with representatives of first baseman Brandon Belt this week to discuss a long-term contract, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Baggarly takes a deep and excellent look at the complicated matter of valuing the soon-to-be 28-year-old, talking with Belt and GM Bobby Evans about the upcoming talks. For his part, Belt says he hopes to remain in San Francisco but notes: “It’s all going to come down to what’s fair. And, you know, I hate to say it like that, but that’s the reality.” Evans declined to offer any thoughts on what might be fair from the team’s perspective, but said that the organization “believe[s] in his bat, his defense, his character and the continuity that he, if healthy, can add to our lineup.” He went on to note some of the matters that may hold down the team’s bottom-line on price: “Strikeouts are certainly a challenge for him, but he’s also a guy who gets on base at a pretty fair clip. It’s a fair debate in the sense of the different perspectives. But on some level, injuries have been more of an issue than performance.”
- While Angel Pagan is showing well this spring, the Giants are dealing with concerns at the catching position, Baggarly further reports. In particular, presumed backup Andrew Susac is struggling with soreness in his right wrist, which was operated on last fall. While there are options on hand, including veterans George Kottaras and Miguel Olivo, and the younger Trevor Brown, Susac has long been viewed as a legitimate talent and will be looking to play an increasingly important role in support of the great Buster Posey.
- Trevor Story has made a strong case to take over at shortstop for the Rockies this spring, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. GM Jeff Bridich wouldn’t commit to a decision, but praised Story’s ability and approach in camp and certainly suggested he’d continue to have every opportunity to win the job as camp draws to a closer — regardless of service-time considerations. Meanwhile, promising backstop Tom Murphy has been sent down to minor league camp, with expectations that he’ll get plenty of time at Triple-A, but could well find his way to the majors at some point during the season to come.
- Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs will return to competitive action on Thursday for the first time since his Tommy John procedure, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. The Halos’ rotation hasn’t developed quite as hoped this spring, making Skaggs’ already-important comeback all the more critical. Fletcher suggests he could be ready for regular season action as soon as late April.
- The Astros are getting close to making some decisions in rounding out their bullpen, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart explains. Lefties Wandy Rodriguez and Neal Cotts have opt-out dates of Saturday, per the report, and they are embroiled in competition with a group of other arms — including the out-of-options Dan Straily.
sigurd 2
No service time considerations for Story? It’s not like the Rockies are going to compete this year, so keep him down and bring him up later.
mcdusty31
I think as crazy as it may sound, the Rockies are going to try and compete this year and it would be nice to see them give a guy a shot based on his ability without worrying about the money involved
sdsuphilip
It’s always nice for the player, but if the rockies are seriously thinking they are going to compete this year there management is in for a rude awakening, then again given the Jake McGee trade they look to have already made a pretty big mistake.
Nothing has changed for Story since last offseason (other than Reyes being suspended), he is there best option for SS, if that’s all you care about start him at SS. If you do care about service time (which they probably should, cause realistically they have a miniscule shot of making the playoffs), they shouldn’t start him in the majors.
YourDaddy
Rockies are expected to lose close to 100 games. Not compete.
thecoffinnail
Keeping him in the minors for a couple of weeks to start the season like the Cubs did with Bryant last year shouldn’t hamper the Rockies delusions on contending this year. A couple of weeks for another year of control is a no brainer for a quality prospect at a premium position like Story. That extra year of control is gonna make him even more attractive as a trade chip when Rodgers starts knocking on the door. If they decide to go that route.
plyons
While Kris Bryant was a top 10 prospect going into 2015, Trevor Story has been left off several top 100 lists. I agree the Rox should take advantage of his hot spring, but I don’t think service time is as much of a situation in this case.
theo2016
Hes not nothing though, there is no reason to give up a year of control for 2 weeks. You lose maybe .3 war at most (assuming he is average and the other option is a negative), while potentially gaining a year of control while the team is more competitive.
mbonilla
Who’s Tom Brown?
Keba
Love the stats from Tom Brown from the 80’s…1880’s…Probably supposed to be Tom Murphy I think.
Jeff Todd
Just making sure everyone is paying attention. You passed the test.
Ha, yes, Murphy … fixed.
dwilson10
The Giants should let Belt walk. They already want to give Posey some games at 1st this year to keep him healthy throughout the season. So why not make Posey the everyday 1st baseman and use Susac behind the plate? This would save the Giants money that they don’t really need to spend.
dstuart
Amazing analysis. Tell me more about your general manager position with Giants?
cxcx
What is the point of this comment, that non-GMs shouldn’t be posting in these comments? I have a feeling that it would be kind of dead in here were that the case.
That said, I agree that it doesn’t make much sense to extend Belt so as to let Posey transition there if need be. What the guy didn’t point out was that Belt is under control through the end of next year so it’s not like they’d be cutting Belt now or even losing him in the offseason.
thecoffinnail
Rude comments like this are not necessary. Seriously, the guy offers a simple opinion, that I am sure is shared by others and you hit him with a comment like that and don’t even offer any analysis of your own? I am really starting to miss the days when this site had mods patrolling the comment boards.
sdsuphilip
Don’t agree that they should let Belt “walk”, but do think they should explore trading him next offseason, Belt is good but Susac is cheap, good, and under control for a while, it makes sense to transition Posey to a more safe position as he gets older, and you can get some value for Belt.
sfgiants49ers
Id like for Belt to stay and for belt not to go to steep with money. Remember the giants took there time with this guy. Took some time for him to be a regular and fix hes swing. i dont think the giants want to let go after he had one of hes best seasons yet.
Rickey O'Sunnyvale
As a catcher, Posey is the premiere player at his position in the majors. As a first baseman, not so much. I could name a half dozen players I’d rather have at first than Posey. Seems the Jints should be maximizing the number of years he’s at catcher. That said, I still wouldn’t jump at extending Belt when you don’t have to.
JoeyPankake
Over the course of his career, Posey has played 154 games at first base, pretty much a full season worth of games. In that time he has hit .346/.400/.540 with 21 homers and 91 RBI’s. Not massive power numbers but still pretty elite overall.
@kylerobizzle
I think the promising backstop you mean is Tom Murphy.
YourDaddy
Most Padres fans already don’t like Dee and this gives them a reason to dislike him even more.
sdsuphilip
Not really surprising, given the rumors that they were close on selecting Eppler before they choose Preller. Dee talks way too much and most of it is nonsense and trying to make himself look good but actually makes himself look silly.
YourDaddy
I really wish I could like your post or give it a gold star or whatever because you hit the nail on the head.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
I’ve never cared for Dee either. He’s the kind of guy who thinks he’s smarter than he actually is, and likes hearing himself talk.
I wonder what Preller told him that made him have a change of heart?
thecoffinnail
Agreed. I highly doubt Eppler would have had the same off season as Preller last year. I could be wrong though seeing as how he traded the only two good to great prospects the Angels had this year. The difference though is that the Angels are not too far off from contending. Preller made a huge mistake trading Turner last year. SS was a big glaring hole throughout the entire organization before he got there and Turner was the lone bright spot. Trading him for an often injured OF when he already had 3 under contract made no sense. Even though none had the upside of Myers.
theo2016
Angels have mike trout, it really doesnt take much else going right to be competitive.
JoeyPankake
Belt is a curious case. He is super streaky at the plate but always seems to end up putting up similar numbers when healthy. His injuries seem to be more of the fluky type, like getting a concussion from one of his own teammates during practice, but they keep happening. While I have no doubt that Belt and Posey is a more productive combo than Posey and Susac,I wouldn’t really want the Giants to buy up more than 3 of Belt’s free agent years. Posey is going to have to move positions eventually, and I think they would be better off doing it too soon rather than too late, even though he is currently the best catcher in baseball and by all accounts loves playing the position. Gotta protect that investment.
pustule bosey
well to add to that you have susac and trevor brown working out at 1st and arroyo knocking on the door with nowhere to play in the infield – I like belt and his 1b def is ++ but sadly it may be better for them to let him walk
Ace of Spades
Man Preller really screwed up your organization padres fans. I bet ownership regrets not snagging Eppler instead
thecoffinnail
I think its a bit early to say that. Last year they were saying Preller’s strongest asset is his talent evaluation ability. He has 3 top 25 picks this year. This time next year we can probably say for certain whether he has completely screwed the team up, or not. Going simply by his trades last year (especially Myers) and his refusal to deal at the deadline you can say that. But with the Kimbrel trade this year (he took Bigpapi4ever’s Sox to the cleaners) and giving Kennedy a QO (how many other GMs would have taken that risk) he has shown that he is starting to grow into the position. I am leaning your direction with him but I think he does deserve another year before being condemned.
southpaw2153
There is no way you can say the Padres took the Red Sox to the cleaners in regards to the Kimbrel trade. Just because players are young doesn’t mean they’ll be good. All minor league players are suspects, not prospects, until they perform in the big leagues. It’s going to be 3-5 years before you can make your claim.
bbatardo
Yeah I think it will be another year or 2 before the verdict is out on Preller. If you notice, his main goal has been transforming what he was given into his own players. This year they are in a good draft position (I think that was intentional), and they plan on blowing past their international signing limit after July 2nd.
The one trade I didn’t like was the Trae Turner/Joe Ross one, but he made up for it slightly in flipping Kimbrel for the package he got including their new potential SS of the future.
Bobby Sweet
Happy birthday Andrew Susac!