The Orioles face a pivotal decision in naming their successor to recently dismissed general manager Dan Duquette in the coming weeks, and Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com run through some speculative candidates for the job. Both mention former Red Sox GM and current Blue Jays VP of baseball ops Ben Cherington as a logical candidate, and it’s worth noting that The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that Cherington “wants to build an organization from the ground up” (which likely played a notable role in his decision to withdraw from consideration for the Mets and Giants vacancies). Kubatko adds that executive vice president John Angelos met with former Dodgers GM Ned Colletti earlier this summer but emphasizes that there’s no clear indication it was in connection to a potential GM role or that any formal interview will take place. Meoli, meanwhile, suggests that the team will pursue younger execs from data-driven organizations.
Over at The Athletic, Dan Connolly campaigns for the Orioles to place Cal Ripken Jr. in a president-type role (subscription link), though Ripken has no baseball operations experience. Rosenthal has previously suggested a role similar to the one Derek Jeter holds in Miami, but Ripken would still presumably need an experience exec to work underneath him, and it’s not clear that the organization is even pursuing that type of reunion with the franchise icon.
More from the game’s Eastern divisions…
- Following yesterday’s report that the Nationals decided not to renew the contract of assistant GM Bob Miller, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that GM Mike Rizzo didn’t want Miller to leave the organization (likely indicating it was an ownership decision). Miller, as Janes explains, was instrumental in helping to orchestrate the trade that netted the Nationals both Trea Turner and Joe Ross, and he was also involved in contract negotiations, among other key front-office responsibilities. The Nats also let go of advance scout Chris Rosenbaum, Janes reports.
- Phillies president Andy MacPhail met with the media earlier this week, discussing a number of topics ranging from potential free-agent acquisitions to the team’s disappointing finish (link via Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer). Phils fans have long been clamoring for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado to head to the city of brotherly love, and while MacPhail said he expects the team’s payroll to trend closer to its pre-rebuild heights, when the Phillies had one of baseball’s five highest payrolls, he also spoke somewhat cautiously about being too aggressive in the market. “I guess if you were to invest all you had on one star-type player, then that would be sort of an acknowledgment that you think you may be one player away,” said MacPhail. “Is that really going to solve the problems that I articulated earlier — the defense, playing within our division better, being more consistent, striking out less?” MacPhail did suggest that the Phils will be “active” in free agency but suggested that the inconsistent performance of the 2018 Phillies also makes it difficult to determine exactly how good the roster is, as currently constructed.
- There are some notable changes taking place in the Mets’ minor league coaching ranks, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links), with pitching coach Frank Viola set to leave the organization after eight years. Double-A hitting coach Val Pascucci, Class-A Advanced pitching coach Marc Valdes and Appy League manager Sean Ratliff all getting cut loose as well. Viola has been mentioned as a potential big league coach in the past, and DiComo notes that the 1988 American League Cy Young winner remains interested in finding his way onto a big league staff.
Orioles: the dumping ground of former Red Sox GMs. Though I wouldn’t mind Ben
I bet he’s already prepping his full-on assessment of the club for his interview.
Here’s an assessment report for the Orioles……They’re awful. You’re welcome, Ben.
I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having Theo
Ben Cherington was in on signing Pablo and Hanley and Crawford
You can have him
How are the Giants not a team that needs building from the ground up? They have been awful for 2 1/2 years. Probably means that Baer won’t give up control and OK an actual rebuild.
The Giants still have all the same only personnel
Harper to Cubs. Manny to Phils.
Harper to Nats manny to Yanks
Harper to Cubs, Manny to Yanks
Harper to Yanks, Manny to Phillies.
Yes
Can Harper pitch?
Harper to Phillies, Manny to Phillies.
Jerruyis familia back to the Mets. Big move
*Jeurys
The optimum outcome would be get Stanton to agree to a trade, sign Harper this winter, and Arenado next offseason.
Why not trade some marginal prospects for Bumgarner, Greinke, and Scherzer while they’re at it? The other 29 teams exist to support and feed talent to the Yankees, don’t they?
Just 26 out of 29, the Cubs, Dodgers, and Red Sox get a pass.
LOL! What about the Astros and Indians?
Well yea, you gotta make sure the championship series are worth watching every year.
I’ve disliked Frank Viola since I saw him chatting with a bunch of pitchers (including the now big names on the staff) after workouts at spring training a few years ago. Many fans were waiting patiently for autographs, but after BS-ing for 10+ minutes, they all walked off the field, totally ignoring the fans. As a veteran, he should have told them to go to the fans, if they didn’t think of doing it themselves.
That’s because Viola is really Mr. Hands. Look out, here comes Sluggo. Ohnooooooo!
So it’s Viola’s fault that players didn’t come over and give you an autograph? Makes sense to me.
Viola was taking to them the whole time and they walked off together. If the young players didn’t know that coming over was the right thing to do, the veteran should have told them. He also didn’t need to be standing there with all of them ignoring the fans, they could have gone in when practice ended and the rest of the players left (and did sign autographs).
Hey Mister Bill-you missed the whole point. The Mets minor league problems are because Mutt and Jeff are gutting the system to save $&. They are blaming these guys for the underperforming minors when they should be addressing the cause by bolstering the scouting department.
While agree with McPhail that the Phillies aren’t a player away, that’s a terrible reason not to invest in a big-time player or 2 that would certainly make them a better team offensively and defensively.. The Phillies can easily afford both Harper and Machado and maintain flexibility going forward. They’ve got less than $70M committed to their 2019 payroll and the Luxury Tax is over $200M next season. Aaron Nola is just entering his arbitration years in 2019 and Rhys Hoskins still has 2 more seasons before arbitration. By the time Hoskins reaches his arbitration years Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta will no longer be on the payroll, freeing up $45M after the 2020 season.
Owner John Middleton should tell McPhail and Klentak to do everything necessary to sign Harper and Machado. Not only will it increase their chances of winning games, it’ll put more people in the seats on a nightly basis with 2 marquee everyday players instead of just Nola every 5 days. The Phillies are missing that dynamic player that people will pay money to see and they could potentially add 2 in the same off-season.
Machado works at 3B as a boost for both offense and defense. They will need to trade Santana though because the writing is on the wall for Rhys to move back to 1B and Santana to 3B. Rhys back to LF is the only way Santana has a position with Machado in the house. Klentak would make a baby with Santana’s stats if he could so I am skeptical that Carlos is going anywhere..
For Harper to work they would need to move on from Nick Williams. I’m OK with that but Harper would only boost offense and be a dip defensively. Maybe this fits Klentak’s team building model but I’m not sure MacPhail would squee over it.
Jeff, no, the Phillies cannot “easily afford both Harper and Machado and maintain flexibility moving forward.” It would double their payroll and push them closer to the Luxury Tax threshold. I appreciate that you point out the people coming off the books, but to build a club you’ll need the ability to put new people (some of her free agents, some of them established arb-eligible players) back on the books. None of this takes into the additional reality that these players will both be injured and underperform at various points as well. So, I think AM is being smart here.
Jeff Miller…….There is one problem with using the $70M figure. That is just 5 players. The Phillies have 12 arb eligible players that are estimated to cost about $54M. Also when it come to the CBT you have to include the $13M+ that each team pays for benefits. BB Ref estimates payroll for 2019 to be $128.1M.
That said, signing 1 of the 2 (Machado hopefully) is reasonable but both could lead to long term disasters.
Nobody is coming to the Phillies. The front office is in too much disarray
Could it be that the bloom is coming off the
Rose from Andy MacPhail in Philadelphia?
Always laugh when Orioles fans give him so much credit it building that team….
How do you spell overrated????
Well both he and DD helped build a winner in Baltimore. The Bedard trade, for instance, was a significant move toward their success. Yet his reputation then that drove O’s fans nuts was his methodical nature, which had been his previous reputation. Also, as I don’t know the Phils’ FO that well, where does Klentak fit into all this?
Oh cool, the Lerner’s made Rizzo fire Dusty Baker (even though he didn’t want it), and now fire Miller. Awesome.
so much dysfunction with ownership. Our fans are generally dumb enough to buy into the Rizzo hate, too.
If McPhail doesn’t land one of Harper or Machado I anticipate that Phillies fans will literally hand him his own ass on a platter. And no I am not kidding. Too much talk for waaaay to long to start singing a different tune now,
Frank Viola should be the Mets pitching coach.
I can’t see Cherington leaving Toronto for Baltimore. He’s going to want a position with full control and that just doesn’t happen in Baltimore.
New power structure there with Peter’s ailing health—his sons now run the club from the top.
“Is that really going to solve the problems that I articulated earlier — the defense, playing within our division better, being more consistent, striking out less?”
Yet another executive of an analytic-driven baseball organization bemoaning poor defense and their batters K’ing. McPhail should read the writers here – especially their chats. K’ing runs up the opposing teams pitch count. The job of a batter is to take pitches, then swing away. Stats matter. The game situation doesn’t. Besides, who authorized giving $20mm per to Carlos Santana? And the guys here have “metrics” showing that Carlos is a fine defender.
The trouble with McPhail is not just that he’s a dinosaur, but he comes from a family of dinosaurs. This out of touch MLB executive actually thinks the game is about team wins as opposed to individual player statistics. This guy needs to be sent out to pasture.
The problem with guys like McPhail is that they understand the sport and watch the games as opposed to looking at running stats on their electronic devices.. How gauche.
Remember what Groucho Marx said – “Are you going to believe me or your own 2 eyes?!?!?”.
Can’t tell if you’re being serious or ironic. Andy’s comments seem to make sense to me.
Harper to Cubs. Machado stays in LA.