After Dayton Moore was fired earlier this week, Royals GM J.J. Picollo was promoted to lead the Royals’ baseball operations department, and he met today with the media (including The Kansas City Star’s Lynn Worthy and 610 Sports Radio’s Josh Vernier). Much has yet to be determined heading into what could be a busy offseason for the club, and Picollo said he has yet to make a decision on manager Mike Matheny or any members of the coaching staff.
In terms of players, Picollo said that the front office is “in the very infantile stages” of considering an extension for Bobby Witt Jr., though the team is indeed interested in such a deal. The 22-year-old is completing a strong rookie season, and an extension would both solidify Witt as a cornerstone piece of the Royals’ future, and also give K.C. some cost certainty going forward. Witt is already controlled through the 2027 season, however, so there isn’t necessarily any rush for Picollo and company to immediately work out an extension.
More from around the American League…
- The AL Central’s other new front office boss also met with reporters earlier this week, with new Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris telling The Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other media members that the club simply plans to improve, without a specific timeline or any indication as to whether the Tigers will take a step back to reload, or try to build and contend in 2023. “I am treating this as an opportunity for us to get better this winter….And we’re going to look up at the end of the winter and we’re going to have a much better feel for when the most competitive Tigers team is going to come out,” Harris said. “That’s how I believe every baseball team should be built. I don’t believe in strict five-year plans with specific benchmarks that you have to reach year over year. There’s too much variability in the sport to define a plan as concretely as that.”
- Impending free agent Martin Perez and the Rangers will wait until after the season to discuss an extension, according to The Athletic’s Levi Weaver (Twitter link). There has been speculation for months that both and Perez and the team were interested in reaching a new deal to keep the left-hander in Arlington, and while a deal hasn’t yet been reached, there is still plenty of time for the two sides to talk before Perez is scheduled to hit the open market. Perez is enjoying a career year, with a 2.90 ERA over 183 1/3 innings and his first All-Star selection.
- Yandy Diaz has missed the Rays’ last five games due to a sore shoulder, but the infielder told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that he is doing “a lot better” after getting a cortisone shot earlier this week. It doesn’t appear as though Diaz will require a trip to the injured list, but it also isn’t yet known when he might be back on the field. Diaz has been a big part of Tampa’s offense, hitting .292/.399/.419 over 549 plate appearances this year, resulting in an excellent 145 wRC+.
The Royals hope that Picollo will be instrumental in their success.
Ba doom tsk
Stop it ! 🙂
Stars and Stripes Forever!
I’ve been playing that every July 4th concert for twenty years in the Summer Orchestra I play in.
Gets me every time.
Rangers are going to overpay on Perez based on one good season. They never learn. He’ll probably get 3/45 or better. Stupid organization.
I hope they won’t. With JD no longer the president of baseball, I hope they can start getting smarter at contracts.
What else does your crystal ball say? Last time I checked, this is a new rangers front office. New ownership. Mlb has no salary cap so your money is quite safe while the Rangers pockets are just as deep as LA dodgers. Rangers have MULTIPLE billionaires, not one.
LOL. The Rangers’ highest payroll in history was like $160m. They’ve never spent with the big boys and they never will.
That would be fine with me. He’s probably a 2 win pitcher. That’s what they cost. And what do you mean never learn? Perez, huge success. Gray, exactly what you paid for. Lynn, minor, Gibson, huge wins.
That’s not how you rebuild, unless you flip those guys for young players with better upside than Dane Dunning. You build contenders through drafting, international players and player development, which they’re also terrible at. Look at the Astros and Braves as examples. This way you have a foundation that builds together toward their peaks rather than a few guys at their peaks and a bunch of non-contributors. They’ve adopted the Jerry Jones strategy.
Those are pieces you can up the farm with, though I’ve never seen the farm in better shape. Getting a piece or 2 and 7 win seasons at a 2 win price isn’t a bad deal even if it doesn’t turn your franchise around
Yes the astros having 4 internationals that are basically 2 starters pitching for nothing is envious. It’s not realistic to expect every department to do that
Leiter and Winn are in great shape.
All those huge wins have led to like 11 years without a playoff series win and two seasons averaging 100 losses. Also, for $17m,for Gray – his season was a dud. He won’t crack 130 IP.
What changes did Martin Perez make from last year to this year to improve so much?
“in the very infantile stages”
Infantile?? That is priceless.
It’s too early to ask Scott Harris what his plans are with the Tigers yet. He’s still rebuilding the front office. He’s hiring a GM to deal with baseball. He’s shopping for carpet, desks, curtains, and repainting his parking space. Then there’s shoes, suites and ties to deal with. This is all we can expect.
Where’s he taking his fiancé to live? Bloomfield Hills, Plymouth, Grosse Pointe. Somewhere in Oakland County?
Buddy’s or White Castle? Upon which will he base as his primary lunch?
He also must decide this: buy a generic American SUV, or get his Lexus keyed at the cider mill parking lot?
Pretty much, a native San Franciscan moving to Detroit is like going to sleep as a Sony OLED and waking up an 8-track player. But an old 8-track that is getting a bit better here and there.
Tigers = another 7yr rebuild (yawn)
At least Al Avila said he was creating a pitching first organization. This guy doesn’t even have a philosophy only canned sound bites.
Yeah, why doesn’t he have things totally worked out for the next several years after just a few days on the job? /s
Did I say “totally worked out…”?
I did add /s…
I learned something. /s indicates sarcasm. Thanks.
Mr Harris has some tough decisions to make this off-season.- looming arbitration for Castro-s and Reyes, Barnhardt’s contract is up, Candelario, and plenty of rule v players- he has never seen or met.
Besides arbitration, not much money is off the books.
Why spend money on BWJ when you do t need to for another 4 years or so. And Singer? Let the kid earn it for doing well over 2-3 years. Why pay him and buy out his fA years ? Just to spend?
I agree, these contracts are absolutely absurd anymore. Makes no sense to me whatsoever.
And, I love it when players stay with their team throughout their entire playing career. But, why you would risk the entire organizational outlook, for one or two players in a team sport is wild.
Of the 2 hires, I like the Tigers approach. Hire someone from outside to oversee a revamp/rebuild. O’s fan here. Grateful that Orioles owner John Angelos did just this. Late 2018 he hired PoBO Elias and turned over the “keys to the shop” to him. Then, John got the hell out of the way. Bravo!
Interesting Diaz sore shoulder popped up ( no pun intended) right after the “incident “ with Randy Rozy?
Tigers have plenty of pitching. They could use an experienced closer. They could use a RH OF power bat. 1B is a question mark. Gotta hope on Meadows, as he is not tradeable in his current state.
I wish they would’ve extended Cron, way back when
“Buddy, if you’re gonna pounce, you’ve got to have some bounce
Haha