Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu is no longer in the running for the Rockies’ managerial job, reports Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Both the Rockies and Diamondbacks interviewed Wakamatsu, whose previous experience as a manager came with Seattle from 2009-10. Arizona ended up hiring Torey Lovullo, leaving Colorado as the majors’ only skipper-less team.
Here’s more from around baseball:
- Tampa Bay police arrested Brewers center fielder Keon Broxton on a misdemeanor trespass charge Friday morning, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Broxton’s arrest came after the 26-year-old refused to leave the area of a fight. According to the police report, Broxton was “extremely intoxicated,” “hostile” and had “visible injuries to his face but declined medical attention.” Broxton got out of jail on $500 bond a few hours after his arrest and later issued a statement apologizing to the Brewers, their fans and law enforcement officials. “I will learn from this incident and I will certainly make better decisions moving forward,” he said (Twitter link via Haudricourt).
- Yankees catcher Brian McCann could end up on the move via trade this offseason, but general manager Brian Cashman is bullish about keeping him as the team’s main insurance behind young star Gary Sanchez. “Based on his success the past season, Sanchez is the everyday catcher,’’ Cashman told George A. King III of the New York Post. “[McCann] can DH and catch a minimum of two games a week. We have two power-hitting catchers, one right and one left who hit 20 homers.’’ The Yankees highly value McCann, having reportedly asked the Braves for underrated center fielder Ender Inciarte or promising right-hander Mike Foltynewicz in return. Even if the Braves were amenable to giving up one of those players, McCann – who’s owed $34MM through 2018 – has a full no-trade clause and would have been able to veto the deal. “If we need to address something from the Yankees, they will let us know,’’ McCann’s agent, BB Abbott, told King via email. “Until then, we are allowing the club the space to run and build their club.’’
- The Mariners concluded the 2016 season with a payroll near $150MM, a franchise record, and owner John Stanton told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times he’s unsure if the club will spend more than that next year. However, Stanton would be open to a payroll increase if general manager Jerry Dipoto were to insist on one. “If Jerry came to us and said there was the one piece that I think we needed to be successful, I think we’d go out and get it,” said Stanton, who took over the Mariners in August. “I just hate to lose,” he added. The Mariners have now gone a league-worst 15 straight years without a playoff berth, though they did finish with a respectable 86-76 record this past season. Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource estimates that the M’s have roughly $129MM committed toward next year’s team.
If the Yankees want to trade McCann, they need to lower their asking price.
They don’t WANT to trade him though. If they were actively wanting to trade him then Cashman wouldn’t be talking about what he can do next season. They WILL trade him if the return is right, hence why they’re asking for Inciarte or Folty
They should want to. Sanchez is looking like the answer at catcher for the Yankees and is now out of options.
Point is McCann can still help the team in a meaningful way so he’s not going to be shopped around as if he has to go. He is available but only at the right price if it’s not paid he will stay on the team and help, doesn’t make sense to trade him for something less valuable then what he offers the team. Which is a player who would play 6 days a week 4 at DH and 2 Catching. Give us basically always a strong bat from the Catching position ie best backup catcher in the majors. All while still mentoring Sanchez and helping him improve his game to the next level. And is insurance in case of that small chance Gary isn’t as good as he seemed. That’s extremely unlikely yet still possible. So he is very valuable to the Yankees but he is expendable for the right price. They have the leverage.
Cashman knows right now what he can get for both McCann and Gardner, he had feelers out there at the deadline. If he gets what he wants which young pitching then they are both gone. If not, they stay Yankees. McCann has a say in this also, and they may have to pay down his contract or throw in a player like Mateo to get who he wants.
Top prospects like Mateo and Moncada aren’t throw-ins in deals.
They might be if your moving a big contract and want a top prospect pitcher
The point is that Cashman doesn’t have to trade McCann. He can ask for whatever he wants. If a team is willing to make him a really good offer then he may make the trade, if not then he can hold onto him. It never hurts to have insurance against injuries. Especially at a tough position like catcher.
Then the Yankees can keep him. He only has that value to them, we don’t need declining production at that price tag. Keep up your posturing Cashman maybe somebody will bite, but I seriously think the Braves will and should pass.
Braves were one of the worst teams in baseball last year and are rebuilding, but they are moving into a new stadium. They have a lot of pitching prospects who are not ready yet and the Yanks are looking for pitching. That is a match, McCann can help their young pitching and catching is a weakness on the team according to Fangraphs.
Yes they are rebuilding, however the second half Braves were far better than the first half. Yes we have a lot of prospects, Folty is not a prospect though and Ender after an injury to start the year tore up the second half. Why would a rebuilding team trade away that kind of production and team control for an aging catcher? One I might add who averages 15 of his HR a year at Yankee stadium, which as everybody knows if Lefty batter friendly. To top it off why should the Braves trade top prospects and pay 17mil yr for a catcher heading into his decline phase?
Now if they Yankees are willing to trade Mac for Markakis and Whalen or Gant then fine, at least the money wold be more even.
It is sort of a conundrum, they “don’t want to trade him” but “they’re asking for this much”. No doubt the Yankees are testing the market on McCann, as they should. None the less, for not wanting to trade him there’s a ton of news coverage about them trading him.
At this point in time, it seems more akin to putting your best players on the waiver wire and seeing what happens. Nothing wrong with seeing what the return would be. I can’t see the Yankees trading him for less than they’re asking at this point in time at least, nor can I see any other team trading for him for what they’re asking at this point in time.
Seems like some market probing that’s getting too much hype because it makes a good story. That could change with time, but I don’t see it as much more than that right now.
They have until July 31 to trade him. He doesn’t have to go now.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again unless Cashman gets something close to what he’s looking for in a trade McCann is worth more to the Yankees on their roster than being traded.
McCann is a valuable player at a difficult position. Players like that don’t grow on trees–and Sanchez is still barely out of prospect stage (if that). There’s every reason to hold on to McCann–which makes his value to the Yankees probably greater than his value to other teams. That doesn’t mean that either the Yankees, or a potential suitor, are being unrealistic in the offers/asks, just that there isn’t a logical match of imperatives. I think he stays.
Gardner and McCann can still play and Cashman shouldn’t be in a rush to trade them. If he gets a good offer he should entertain it If he can move Headley too that’s ok, but not critical. The problem they have is Ellsbury clogging up the Outfield for the next four years. They should exhaust all efforts to get rid of him and his contract.
what would it take for the angels to get gardner or mccann
A lot of nothing.
Maybe one of the young catchers the angels have in their system, a pitching prospect?
They probably would not even make the Yankees Top 20
Idk why there’s alot of hate for the Yankees not trading McCann I’d keep him if I didn’t get significant value for him either. It’s nice insurance for Sanchez (he’s only played in how many games?)and even as a dh half the time he walks enough to be worth it with decent pop. If you don’t like the Yankees asking price move on and find a better option like dealing with the Ramos situation or Castro if you find it to be a better option.
McCann and Gardner are a win-win for Cashman, they are good veteran players who can help the team win, or help the Yanks rebuild depending on the situation.
Sanchez catching. Bird, McCann, and Austin rotating 1B/DH. Not sure why they wouldn’t like that option with of course McCann catching 30-50 games too. Unless McCann wants out, seems like a no brainer to me.
McCann to the Mets ???