The Rays first looked into acquiring Drew Rasmussen from the Brewers last offseason, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes, well before Tampa finally landed the right-hander as part of the Willy Adames trade in May. However, Tampa Bay’s interest in Rasmussen really dates back to when the Rays selected him with the 31st pick of the 2017 draft, though a signing never took place because a post-draft physical revealed elbow damage, and led to the second Tommy John surgery of Rasmussen’s young career.
The lack of a deal was a disappointment for both Rasmussen and for veteran Rays scout Paul Kirsch, who brought Rasmussen to the team’s attention after evaluating his high school outings. Kirsch did finally get to see Rasmussen pitch for the Rays in Seattle this past summer, which by that point counted as a rare trip to the ballpark for Kirsch after a three-year battle with ALS. Kirsch passed away in September, and Rosenthal’s piece serves as a moving tribute to Kirsch, a beloved figure in the Rays organization and around the scouting community.
More from around both the AL and NL East…
- The Phillies haven’t yet had any talks with manager Joe Girardi about his contract, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski admitted to media (including The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber) earlier this week that he “didn’t even know” about the Phillies’ club option on Girardi for 2023 until asked by a reporter. 2022 is the last guaranteed season of Girardi’s original three-year contract with the club, and Dombrowski didn’t believe the manager would be bothered by the lack of longer-term security, and added that “I think Joe did a good job for us.” Girardi is 110-112 in his first two seasons in Philadelphia, a lack of success that has largely been attributed to the Phillies’ leaky bullpen and flawed roster construction moreso than any specific failings on the manager’s part. Former Phils GM Matt Klentak hired Girardi after the 2019 season, before Dombrowski replaced Klentak last winter.
- Cedric Mullins’ tremendous season cemented him as a building block for the Orioles, and Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun figures Mullins, Austin Hays, and Anthony Santander have become the team’s top outfield combination heading into 2022, with Ryan McKenna likely the top bench option. The O’s have enough young outfield depth, however, that the position could be an area of surplus for the offseason. If the Orioles look to trade from this surplus, Santander’s name has surfaced in trade rumors in the past, but his stock has likely fallen after an injury-shortened season.
- Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo has already prioritized some offseason changes in how the Nats scout and develop their players, due to a lack of recent help in the minor league pipeline. The draft is the most glaring example of this issue, as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman notes that Anthony Rendon (picked sixth overall in 2011) is the last Washington draft pick taken in any round to generate more than 1.0 WAR for the team. Of course, the Nationals have lost their share of picks for compensation purposes, and they’ve also traded some prospects (Lucas Giolito, first and foremost) who went on to become established big leaguers for other teams. While these moves culminated in Washington’s 2019 World Series title, the thinned-out farm system has become more glaring in the wake of the Nationals’ 91-131 record since winning that championship.
How does Dombrowski not know about options on his manager’s contracts??
Given the way he trades prospects: he doesn’t care about the future?
He’s being Dave Dombrowski…. He’s actually a very clever fellow and the right guy to be in charge in Philly over MacPhail and klentak. Trust me.
Anyone with the name McPhail you just can’t take seriously.
He figures that knowledge is optional.
Dombrowski figures that knowledge is cancer.
I’m ok with him not knowing about the option because he didn’t negotiate the contract and he isn’t the GM. He is the President of baseball operations. I’m glad he is here. He will rebuild a broken farm system that has been littered with back scratchers that haven’t developed players
I can see DD holding onto Joe G.; they’re cut from the same cloth, paying attention to the analytical approach, but seeing its shortfalls (I wonder why nobody ever mentions the analytically-oriented organizations that fail every year?). It’s all about blending the analytics with the eyeballs, as Mike Lowell might say (actually, he did say it; smart guy, Mike). ). Joe’s a pretty good manager; I doubt he’s the problem. It’s a team where some of the players are very very good, and then the talent level falls off the cliff. That’s DD’s job, not Joe’s.
Under that scenario for the Orioles if Mullins/Hays/Santander lineup in the OF than i guess Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle alternate between 1B/DH. Theoretically the teams will be back to using 13 position players and 13 pitchers on their rosters next season which means a four man bench sovi guess it would be possible for the Orioles to carry both McKenna and D.J. Stewart on the roster next season (though i have to imagine Stewart could be a non-tender candidate this winter)
Santander literally isn’t good.
I think Santander is a bounce back candidate with another team. With the right influences, I think he could be a very productive hitter.
As for the O’s, you can’t rebuild by constantly trading away young, controllable players…you have to add, not subtract. Mullins can be very very good, but he’ll need to come close to repeating 2021 in order to convince. Hayes is fun, defense is under-appreciated, and he’s young enough to get better. Santander is a mystery; who is he when healthy? Don’t know yet, and you don’t want some other team to potentially profit from a healthy Santander, when his trading-value is hindered by his injuries. McKenna’s a non-entity; lots of McKenna’s in AAA, all inter-changeable.
So there really isn’t a surplus in the OF. And they have a LOT of money, even with their MASN problems (and paying off silly deferrals.) . They’re better off than the Guardians, the Royals, the Brewers, and oh ya, those folks in Tampa. They should attempt at getting any and all young pitching they can, even at the cost of eating a bad contract or two, The OF should be regarded as set; obviously 1B/DH is, and Adley will be fine behind the plate, even if he’s only Matt Weiters (and please, Matt Weiters was a VERY good player). Adley can be better (I think he will be), and his “floor” (Weiters) is a high one; and his ceiling can be very high.
Watch out for Kyle Stowers
Mullins might turn into (or stay) a great player. He went to highschool right by my house. He was good and people thought he would contribute in the majors but no one considered him a future superstar. This season of his shocked everyone. Maybe he keeps it up and is one of those sneaky great talents. There is also something to be said about trading a guy for a blow away offer when you think his stock might never be higher. The worst team in baseball usually has to make those moves to as an attempt to fill out all of the other massive holes on their team. If Mullins continues to outperform expectations then keeping him could be a good idea. If he turns out to be the player everyone expected and this season was a peak… That ends up being a huge missed opportunity the worst team in baseball usually can’t afford to pass on. The Orioles are far more than a good Cedric Mullins away from contending but right now they could get a ton in return for him. Baltimore at least has to consider the possibility (or even likelihood) that Mullins stock will never again be as high as it is right now. They would have served their franchise a lot better if they had traded guys like Mancini and Mountcastle for an absolute ransom before now. Who knows if Mullins will end up being the same?
The problem is, teams no longer give up a king’s ransom in blue-chip prospects to acquire established players. Those days are gone.
@Windowpane: You are actually correct. That’s one of the reasons the Braves rebuild worked so quickly. They were the last team to rebuild when people thought, “Ehhh. Most prospects never make it anyway.” Then the Braves acquired Max Fried and a draft pick to select Austin Riley. Draft picks aren’t all guaranteed but that’s not a reason to get rid of them. It’s a reason to acquire as many as possible so you have the best chance of getting great young players. This whole concept of trading multiple potential superstars in exchange for a year or two of a solid proven player because “most prospects don’t work out” is dead. Those trades can really haunt you for a long time. Teams stopped doing that because GM’s wised up to what the Braves and Rays were doing. Then the Blue Jays traded 2 of their best prospects for a little over a year of a good pitcher. They also did it when they were a 4th place team. The Blue Jays are living in the stone age and every other team in baseball knows it but them. I get it if the path to a World Series Championship was already cut out for them. They were in 4th place. A path to the playoffs was unlikely and even a Division Championship could never exist. The Blue Jays had no chance and they acted like they thought they were the ’27 Yankees at the trade deadline.
I agree that there isn’t a “surplus” in the outfield. There are many bodies. There are really only two players that would play elsewhere in MLB: Mullins and Hays. Santander? If someone wanted him and was dangling a younger starter for sure, or even a good 2B, SS, 3B, then he can go. Stewart and McKenna are 4th outfielders, a.k.a. bodies when they get more than spot playing time/backup.
Until the Orioles start using players instead of bodies, they’re good for 100+ losses, and stop crying poverty: there are players out there that can ably fill rotation holes and the 3 holes in the IF.
Weiters was a very good player for a bit, the problem was, he was being marketed as the next Johnny Bench by Orioles’ brass. We’ll find out about Adley around May 2022 once the service time manipulation is complete.
Girardi needs to move on… for philies fans sake.. his time has past as a viable mlb Mgr
Tough to get a read on Joe. This roster is a mess with gaping holes. The team finished with a winning record being 1 single game over .500. I can’t say that Joe really contributed much there, but at the same time what can you really squeeze out of this roster? Turning Ranger Suarez into a starter was a bit of brilliance. I’m not sure if that was solely Girardi’s call, but if so, that alone deserves a callout. Joe did nothing to deserve being fired. So let’s see what next year brings. It doesn’t matter who the manager is, this team needs better role players.
Dave Dombrowski does not know what bullpens are for. The Phillies bullpen cost them their season all by itself. You can set your watch by it.
Unless they actually sign multiple relievers who are legitimate, good pitchers, you will watch Dombrowski pick off the non-roster invitees or waiver claims and load up on mediocre to bad.
I think the Phillies bullpen is horrible, but I also think people overestimate how much it cost them. Do you know out of the 30+ blown saves, the Phillies only lost 13 or so of those games? When you think about it like that, the Braves bullpen actually cost them more, and they won the division.
There’s no denying the Phillies bullpen isn’t great, but the team played bad defense all year and their offense was horrendous once Hoskins went down. They didn’t have starting pitching depth and were forced to go to a bullpen game every 5th start. The bullpen was overworked and not at all helped by the defense.
So I honestly think the bullpen is better than it seems. If they get a true two-way SS and/or CF, they’ll improve significantly. Their rotation is solid with Eflin coming back (Wheeler, Nola, Suarez, Gibson, Eflin). They can use another backend depth piece. But I really think fixing SS, CF and 3B is significantly more important than fixing the bullpen. That will happen naturally.
As a Royals fan I was lobbying for a Mullins trade for this off-season before MAT signed his extension. He was just the player the Royals needed in CF and the Royals have the pitching depth to get a deal done but sadly this will not be happening