Few days on the sports calendar are better than the day when all four Division Series have games scheduled, and today was no exception. We saw a pair of shutouts in both NLDS matchups, as the Brewers took a 2-0 series lead over the Rockies after a 4-0 win, while the Dodgers blanked the Braves on eight innings of two-hit ball from Clayton Kershaw. (Incredibly, the Braves are still looking for their first run in the series as they head back to Atlanta in a 2-0 hole.) The Astros began their World Series title defense in strong fashion with a 7-2 rout of the Indians in Game 1, while the Red Sox jumped out to an early lead and then held on to win a 5-4 nail-biter to win the first game of their showdown with the Yankees.
Here’s more from around the baseball world as we look forward to more ALDS action tomorrow…
- The Mets will interview Nationals special assistant De Jon Watson as part of their GM search on Wednesday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). Still just 52 years old, Watson has a wealth of front office experience dating back to the early 90’s, working as a scout, scouting director, assistant GM (with the Dodgers) and senior VP of baseball operations (with the Diamondbacks) before spending the last two seasons in Washington’s front office.
- Watson joins Gary LaRocque and Doug Melvin as known candidates reportedly set for interviews with the Mets in the coming days, and Mike Puma of the New York Post adds that Kim Ng is also expected to be interviewed this week. Ng, a former assistant GM for the Dodgers and Yankees, was recently mentioned as a potential candidate.
- While the Mets are lining up interviews, Puma notes that some candidates have declined to be involved due to the twin perceptions that the next GM won’t have full autonomy under the Wilpon family, and that the team isn’t open to embracing analytics. For instance, Jeff Wilpon has “indicated” the new GM will have the power to replace returning members of the front office braintrust (i.e. Omar Minaya, John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi), though “there is heavy skepticism throughout the industry” that this would be the case. As past reports have indicated, Fred Wilpon would prefer hiring a GM from a scouting and player development background, with one source telling Puma that “Fred would go out of his mind” dealing with an analytically-inclined GM. Though the elder Wilpon will ultimately make the hire, however, he won’t enter the process until the final list of candidates has been determined, as Jeff Wilpon and Ricco will conduct the first round of interviews.
- The Twins interviewed hitting coach James Rowson for their managerial vacancy today, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The team also has interest in Mark DeRosa and David Ross, a pair of former players-turned-TV analysts who have often been mentioned as potential future managers. DeRosa could be on the Rangers’ radar as well this winter, and he has interviewed with the Mets and Marlins for past managerial openings in recent years. None of the trio has any previous pro experience as a manager, as Rowson has previously only worked as a hitting coach (with the Twins and Cubs) and minor league hitting coordinator (with the Cubs and Yankees).
- The Cubs project to be very deep in starting pitching options in 2019, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes, with the obvious caveat that several of those arms will have to rebound from injury-filled or just ineffective seasons. “We’re not looking to get rid of starting pitchers,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. “We’re looking to have as much depth as possible so we can withstand multiple injuries.” As the team is expected to exercise their club option on Cole Hamels, Chicago will have Hamels, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, swingman Mike Montgomery, Yu Darvish looking to get healthy, Tyler Chatwood looking to improve on his brutal 2018 numbers, and Drew Smyly in his first full season recovered from Tommy John surgery. It makes for quite a surplus if all those arms are healthy and productive, though that would be a problem the Cubs would certainly be happy to face if it occurs.
As a Padre fan I hope DeRosa says no to the Twins job. I thought Andy Green would get fired at the end of this offseason and was looking forward to DeRosa being one of the new hot button guys to get an interview.
His laid back style and bro-ish type approach is what works with players in 2018 and beyond. The way you manage now is totally different than it ever was before.
I like DeRosa and think someone will get a darn good manager if they land him.
I think personality wise he’d make a good manager. Concern i have is for his lack of knowledge in analytics and stats. Most teams want puppets that listen to their advanced stats and idk if he can be that. Oh, and he suggested that Trout takes a year off until Ohtanis arm is healed. That made me concerned on his lack of knowledge as well.
Was about to reply with something similar to this
He explained on MLB Network that the Trout thing was clickbait. That show needed ratings so they had to test some intriguing topics. I think fully heartedly if DeRosa really thought like that he’d be banished from baseball lol. He had a silly take on a topic we all know is farfetched to begin with in the first place. Give the guy a break.
I don’t think you need knowledge to be a FO puppet
But I’m guessing he said the thing about Trout on MLB Central, where his job is to start conversation. I don’t think you can take to much away from what they say on those shows.
I didn’t even scroll down to read your comment before posting mine above. Exactly what I meant to say. I’m glad someone else can see that.
Do you really believe that he literally meant to take a year off
You gotta be kidding me that you took that literally and not as the joke or sarcasm that it was
Some people on here did lol. DeRosa was obviously being sarcastic by that stance on Trout. They were desperate for material that day. lol
The fact that you think it’s OK for him to suggest that plan on live TV because he meant it on click bait is sad. What a terrible mentality
This is a relay weird use of “hot button”…Maybe you were just thinking “hot?”
The Braves are just a waste of a playoff spot. Terrible team!
Remember when the braves fans thought they could trade teheran for moncada and benintendi?
Yeah, it’s a shame they earned that playoff spot, isn’t it?
You try and hit against Ryu and Kershaw and see how you go.
How do you come at they are a “terrible team”? Because they didn’t put up a run against two excellent pitchers? Your analysis seems pretty solid.
Hahahahaha
Crazy 20 year olds getting shutout on the road vs. Kershaw.
I wouldn’t go that far, they earner the opportunity albeit in a horrible division, but Ryu and Kershaw? Dude, they were lights out and it showed the inexperience but I am still pleased with where the team is with regards to development.
5 hits to 3, one of those hits is a 2 run home run and the other run is a solo home run and you say the Braves are a “terrible team”. Laughable really.
So are the Rockies terrible too? Are the Cubs terrible too? Teams slump some get hot. Sometimes the worst time possible
And the CHEAPONS are at it again. Trying so hard to ruin a franchise.
I am holding out hope that they finally give George Costanza the job. He is as cheap as they are and has that deep hatred for the Yankees!! Help me spread the word…
Is there something left to ruin in that franchise?
Yes-the Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia
That Cubs rotation would be the best ever in 2014.
Are you kidding? The 2016 Giants had Mad Bum, Cueto, Peavy, Cain, and Shark. That rotation would have OWNED 2014.
And I’m pretty sure they still had The Freak in the pen or the minors or something.
I think you’re missing his joke.
You realize that shark at best is an emergency spot starter at best. Giants have regretted that contract the nanosecond they signed on the dotted line. The Cubs, white sox, and A’s are 100% better without him. The signs have been awful since signing him in 2016. 3 years 1 postseason appearance.
Still one 95 games
Damnit. Won won friggin iPhone
Chatwood will be given Spring Training to prove himself. If not, he’s gone. The Cubs have proved that they’re not afraid to take a multi-year, multi-million dollar bath when they need to wash away a mistake.
Chattwood is junk.
Yet, he’d probably be a #1 or #2 on the south side. Imagine that
I disagree, Chatwood is junk on any side.
He’s pretty much an older Giolito
You’re junk.
LOL. De Jon Watson shouldn’t even be in charge of a concession stand let alone a ball team. He was let go by the Dbacks for good reason. In charge of International scouting he picked up AAA DH player Yasmany Tomas for 68.5 Million dollars. Still loving that decision, highest paid position player not even with the team. Also, he signed Yoan Lopez for $8 Million. That choice made the team blow past the international bonus limits (another $8 million fine) and restricted the team from signing international players for two years. Watson and Dave Stewart wrecked that franchise for years.
Good point! Not all his fault, but still reason for concern!
If he offers Wilpon the inside track to get Tomas for CHEAP, then Mutt & Jeff will fire him. Remember that they love dancing on the edge and could care less about making poor decisions as long as they are frugal.
DeRosa/Ross would be interesting and all for the Twins, but as a fan of the team I really don’t feel comfortable about making either of them our manager.
What this team really needs is a Latin American manager; someone who the players can relate to and thoroughly communicate with.
So when are the Cubs going to do something about their offensive woes?
Well—-the free agency period doesn’t start until after the World Series and if there are viable options available on October 6th, I would guess they are being discussed. I’m all for grabbing someone and asking the Braves, Rockies, Indians if the Cubs can replace them starting today or tomorrow since their offenses seem to have issues, as well. Let’s just let time heal the immediate wounds and see what happens between now and March. Nothing needs to or can be solved this weekend.
There’s this free agent guy from the Nationals- I think his name is Bruce something or other who’s supposed to be pretty good and has expressed his desire to play for the Cubs.
The problem I see with the Cubs is that they don’t have dominant starters, they have above-average or good starters, and if all things go well in their bullpen, they have a mediocre-above average bullpen. I think they are built well to win over 162 games, but not short series like they deal with in the playoffs. The reason they won in 2016 was because Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks both had arguably the best years of their careers, and while they didn’t have a dominant bullpen, they had a dominant pitcher down there that they rode all through the playoffs, almost to the point of blowing the World Series because of how much they used him. You look at the teams most dangerous in the playoffs right now for example, and it’s the team’s who have big bats and big bullpens. The Yankees and Brewers are teams I would not want to face right now – starters go 4-6 innings typically, from there it’s about the dominant guys in the late innings. The Cubs don’t have those shutdown guys in the pen, and if there’s a way to shore that up this offseason, I’d be all over it. My proposal for the Cubs this offseason:
– Don’t bring back Hamels, invest that $ in the bullpen.
– Sign Manny Machado (8 years $32mil/yr) for 3B, move Bryant to RF.
– Have a strict Heyward/Almora platoon in CF.
– Sign bullpen help:
Craig Kimbrel(5yrs $90mil)
David Robertson (2 yrs $22mil)
Trade Ian Happ to Texas for Alex Claudio
Sounds great, but a couple of problems with that. Machado is a much better 3rd baseman than SS, but he already said he is a SS and wants to play SS from now on. He will go where a team will play him at short. Also, that is a boatload of money being tossed around. Ricketts is not cheap, but he is not an open checkbook, either. I am sure there is a threshold for Theo and this would certainly be above it. Too many questions in the rotation to pass on Hamels, too.
New TV Deal = lots of $$. Similar to how the Dodgers took on a ton of $ a couple years ago. Machado also recently said he’d be willing to 3B for the right situation.
Their rotation is plenty fine. Between Lester, Hendricks, Quintana, Montgomery, Chatwood, Smyly and Darvish.. if they can’t be equal to or better than what Milwaukee’s rotation was this year, they are in deep trouble. Milwaukee won 96 games with nobody anything far above average on paper to start the season. They won with second half quality hitting and a dominant pen. One of Chatwood or Darvish SHOULD be better or at the very least serviceable after an offseason.
The other problem with that is that the bullpen is already pretty darn good AND most of them are already signed through next year—Morrow, Cishek, Strop, Duensing, Edwards, Kintzler, Montgomery, etc…….they have already proven they aren’t going to go real long or real high on a closer…nix the Kimbrel idea. Obviously, things may have played out differently if only one of Strop or Morrow was healthy let alone both of them.
Also in downrs scenario you are making Bryant an everyday RF—short term, probably all good—long term, you just don’t know.
The fact remains that if they won just one more game out of 164, they’d still be playing today. No reason to panic or do anything crazy stupid.
Here’s the problem people have when they assess the bullpen: there’s far too much focus on numbers that don’t matter. Over the last two months of the season, who did you trust coming out of that bullpen? Which pitcher in that Cubs pen are you going to trust to be not only good, but dominant.
Cishek is fine, but he can’t be your go to guy to get out of jams every time, not to mentioned, he can’t be used as heavily as he was.
Edwards can’t throw strikes. Has potential to be dominant and has been at times, but his recent forearm strain makes me wonder if TJ surgery is in his future.
Kintzler proved to be nothing close to the pitcher he was in Minnesota in 2017.
Duensing is garbage, and was more lucky than good in 2017.
Montgomery is a fine long man, but hardly a guy useful in late innings on a regular basis.
Strop and Morrow are your best bets. Strop is good, I’ll take him. Morrow is good when healthy, and as we saw, he is not durable enough to be used, and the Cubs have already said they are going to use him on a regulated schedule next year to attempt to keep him healthy.
The bullpen needs a shakeup, and as of now, I see the pen’s guaranteed spots going to Strop, Morrow(could be on DL), Cishek. Montgomery could very well be in the rotation, Edwards could be injured/demoted(not sure if he still can be without permission), Duensing and Kintzler should be designated for assignment.
That leaves 3-4 spots available to be filled from the outside.
I agree with almost all—but if you have Strop and Morrow that obviously made everyone else better (other than Duensing–I’m sure they will eat the rest of that contract). Kintzler has a player option for $5M so that is on the books, regardless. With Strop and Morrow you we able to trust Edwards, Cishek, Rosario, etc, etc, etc in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings not the 8th and 9th like it ended up being. I’ve left Wilson out of this because he is a free agent and will sign elsewhere. I really don’t know but I would bet that Edwards/Cishek/Rosario/etc all had better number when Strop was at the end of the pen and even better before the break when both Strop and Morrow were there. Certainly would love to have Kimbrel and Robertson but most of the pen has contracts through next season. And to fill guys from the outside you have to take guys off the 40 man and that throws guys like Maples and Norwood into that mix. It’s truly amazing what health may do….
I’m going to be the devil on Brandon Kintzler’s shoulder and whisper in his ear, “Yes, you can make more money in free agency.”
The Cubs need to get rid of brandon Kinzler he was awful his entire month and a half with the Cubs. Trade him for a ball boy for all in care. He wont be on the Cubs this year.
I think chili Davis will be let go too.
They need their old hitting coach from 2016. I think it was brandon hyde.
It uh… wasn’t… it was John Mallee.
Man, are you one of these guys that wants to DFA everyone? New Cubs fan?
as good as the Cubs have been, I think Theo should take a radical new approach this offseason. Instead of signing guys based on talent and projections, he should just sign best friends of current players, to make them feel more comfortable. Maybe Bryant would be happy if they brought in his best friend, who ever that may be and, while he is at it, sign Almora’s buddy, too.
I sure hope you’re kidding on your reasoning.
I think he is implying Harper and Machado. He y maybe they can sign Kershaw and Kimbrel and any other free agent. Cubs only need a few things, the problem is they need to hit when they need to hit and not go cold at the wrong time. And I don’t want to hear that they were tired.
Great idea!
Can’t give Braves crap. They made it to division series. Only 8 teams do. Cubs and athletics would love to be in playoffs still albeit down 0-2
Chatwood plus cash Happ, Schwarber and Russell for Jacob deGrom. Do the Mets say no? They get 3 controllable players all under 25. They move Baez to SS. Re-sign Murphy to 2 years/30mil. Or keep Baez at 2nd sign Machado for SS. Who can also play 3RD As Bryant can play left, right and 1st. Or they sign Harper but only if Heyward opts out. I’d rather take Machado over Harper. The main issue is they dont need infielders.
Schwarber is a great all around player. That has 50 home runs in him with 130rbi.
Happ has 30+ homers in him as well. Russell is a future mvp. And a top 5 ss in the nl top 10 in all of baseball.
They need to DFA chatwood or trade him. He should have been sent to triple A when his issues started in early May.
They need to keep Hamels
Jon Lester is a cy young Candidate this year. He deserves it at much as max Scherzer.
First I need to rant, not fan of Maddon. We won the world series inspite of him.. Next have lost faith in Epstein. Signing Darvish and letting Arrieta walk was a mistake. And why could’t pitching coach straighten out Chatwood..Almora is an allstar centerfielder Heyward is not opting out. So I’m for keeping outfield as it is and signing Machado and Murphy. A few years we were talking dynasty. Have you heard that word lately? I could’t wait to see Jimenez at Wrigley.
The Mets say no. Then they hang up the phone. Then they call back a few hours later to say no again. Then they laugh. And laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh.
You’re an idiot and make all cubs fans look bad..Russell is an mvp candidate.. just shut up lol
Yeah but with the bs allegations he’s gonna he a distraction. So now they cant flip him for great pitching. I know he’s a future MVP. And if he didnt miss so much time with injury. It would he Baez and Russell completing for mvp this year.