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Blue Jays Hire David Bell As VP, Baseball Operations

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The Blue Jays announced the hiring of former Reds manager David Bell as their vice president of baseball operations and an assistant general manager. Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported the news (on X) before the club announcement.

“Bell will oversee the Player Development and Physical & Mental Performance departments, while also contributing to Major League strategic planning decisions and advising on player evaluations and acquisitions,” Toronto announced in a press release. Bell becomes the third assistant GM under Ross Atkins in the baseball operations hierarchy. Michael Murov and Joe Sheehan also hold that title. Former Astros general manager James Click plays a key role as vice president of baseball strategy.

The 52-year-old Bell moves back into player development after six seasons in the dugout. Bell has experience in that capacity, as he worked in the Giants’ player development department in 2018. The Reds hired him to manage going into the ’19 season. The Reds went 409-456 during Bell’s managerial run. Their only postseason appearance came in the expanded field in 2020.

Things looked to be trending up when the Reds surprisingly won 82 games in 2023. They took a step back this year and Cincinnati fired Bell in the final week of a losing season. They coaxed Terry Francona out of retirement at the start of the offseason. Bell’s contract with the Reds ran through the 2026 season.

Marlins Outright Christian Roa

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The Marlins sent right-hander Christian Roa outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That drops the team’s 40-man roster count to 37. Teams need to decide by Tuesday which prospects they want to add to the 40-man to keep out of the Rule 5 draft.

Miami just grabbed Roa off waivers from the Reds two weeks ago. They presumably did so with the hope of getting him through waivers themselves. They succeeded in that bid and can retain him as non-roster depth (assuming he goes unselected in the Rule 5). Roa had never previously been outrighted and does not have the requisite service time to elect free agency.

Roa was Cincinnati’s second-round pick in 2020. The Texas A&M product has yet to make his major league debut. The Reds selected his contract last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They kept him on optional assignment to Triple-A Louisville for most of the season. Roa struggled to a 5.55 earned run average in 48 2/3 innings across 23 appearances. His season ended with a shoulder strain.

That clearly wasn’t a great showing, but Roa ranked among the Reds’ top 30 prospects at Baseball America entering 2024. He’d been a starter for most of his career before moving to the bullpen this year. Prospect evaluators have raised that possibility for a while because of his subpar control. Entering the season, BA credited Roa with a decent four-pitch mix headlined by an above-average slider. He’ll probably get a non-roster invite to big league Spring Training.

Al Ferrara Passes Away

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The Dodgers announced the passing of former big league outfielder Al Ferrara at age 84. Nicknamed “The Bull,” Ferrara played five of his eight MLB seasons in Los Angeles.

“We are saddened to hear the news of Al Ferrara’s passing today,” Dodgers team president/CEO Stan Kasten said in a press release. “Not only was Al a memorable player for the Dodgers in the 1960s, but he tirelessly supported the Dodgers community efforts and was one of our most committed alumni supporters. We extend our sympathies to his family.”

Ferrara grew up in Brooklyn and signed with the Dodgers in 1958. He played five minor league seasons and earned a brief call-up in ’63. He did not appear in that year’s World Series but collected a ring as the Dodgers swept the Yankees. The righty-hitting outfielder spent the next season in Triple-A and logged limited MLB action between 1965-66, winning another championship in ’65. The Dodgers returned to the Fall Classic in ’66. Ferrara came off the bench for one plate appearance and hit a single in his only career playoff at-bat.

The Dodgers gave Ferrara more run in 1967, using him as a starting corner outfielder in just over half their games. He made the most of that opportunity, hitting .277 with 16 homers in 384 trips to the plate. Ferrara missed most of the ’68 season, his last year with the Dodgers. The newfound Padres selected him in the expansion draft. He hit well over two-plus seasons with San Diego, running a .265/.360/.436 slash with 27 homers through 873 plate appearances. He briefly appeared with the Reds before ending his playing career in 1971. Ferrara returned to the Dodger organization as an Alumni ambassador in 2009, a role he held through this year.

MLBTR sends our condolences to Ferrara’s family, friends, loved ones and the Dodger fans with whom he interacted as part of his Alumni work.

Angels, Scott Kingery Avoid Arbitration

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Nov. 15: Kingery will earn $770K this season, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register — just $10K north of the league minimum.

Nov. 14: The Angels reached agreement with Scott Kingery on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network (X link). Salary terms have not been reported. Kingery is under arbitration control through the 2027 season.

Kingery just landed with the Halos a few weeks ago. Los Angeles acquired the infielder from the Phillies in a small trade. They added him to their 40-man roster to keep him from hitting minor league free agency. Kingery has more than three years of service time from his stint with the Phils, so he immediately became eligible for arbitration when the Angels put him on the roster. MLBTR did not project a salary for Kingery because he was not on a 40-man at the time of our arbitration projections (courtesy of Matt Swartz). It’d be a surprise if he’s in for a salary much above the league minimum.

In any case, the Arizona product has a clear path back to the majors. Kingery, who signed a $24MM extension before making his debut in 2018, has played in all of one big league game in the last three years. That came as a defensive substitute in 2022. He hasn’t reached 40 games in an MLB season since 2019. Kingery didn’t make much of an impact in Philadelphia, running a .229/.280/.387 line in more than 1100 plate appearances.

The Phillies kept him in Triple-A after outrighting him off the roster. Kingery didn’t have the ability to test minor league free agency without forfeiting the remainder of his extension, which expired last winter. He has essentially spent the last three seasons in the upper minors, turning in roughly league average results. The former second-rounder hit .268/.316/.488 with 25 homers and stolen bases apiece in a hitter-friendly setting this year.

While he came up as a second base prospect, Kingery spent most of this past season at shortstop. He can cover both middle infield spots and move around the outfield. The Angels could be without Zach Neto to begin the season after his recent shoulder procedure. The Halos just signed Kevin Newman as their expected fill-in at shortstop. Kingery can bounce around the diamond in a bench role.

Giants Hire Randy Winn As VP Of Player Development

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The Giants announced on Thursday that they’ve hired Randy Winn as their vice president of player development. The longtime outfielder played for the Giants between 2005-09 and has been involved with the organization in a few different roles since retiring. Farm director Kyle Haines will remain in his current position, according to Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic.

Winn had a lengthy and successful run as a player. He appeared in 13 seasons between 1998-2010 and suited up for five teams. He made an All-Star team as a member of the Devil Rays in 2002 and spent a few years with the Mariners before landing in San Francisco. A switch-hitting outfielder, he finished his playing days with a .284 average and 110 home runs.

Since retiring, Winn has worked as an analyst with NBC Sports Bay Area. He spent a few seasons coaching outfielders throughout the Giants organization and spent a year in the pro scouting department. He was briefly teammates with president of baseball operations Buster Posey in ’09 and has surely maintained a relationship with the franchise icon over the past decade.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that Posey initially suggested that Winn interview for the general manager position that represented the #2 role in the front office. It’s unclear if that wound up happening before the Giants tabbed Zack Minasian, himself a mainstay in San Francisco’s scouting ranks. Conversations were productive enough that Winn comes on board in a fairly significant role. Giants fans will want to check out Pavlovic’s piece, as he speaks with Winn about the job and his vision for player development more broadly.

Orioles To Add Sherman Johnson To MLB Coaching Staff

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The Orioles are promoting Sherman Johnson to the major league coaching staff, writes Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner. The 34-year-old will work alongside hitting coach Cody Asche and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph on the offensive side. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggested this morning that a promotion for Johnson could be in the cards.

It’ll be Johnson’s first work on an MLB staff. He has moved very quickly up the coaching ranks. He was playing professionally in the independent American Association as recently as 2022. A Florida State product, he had a nine-year minor league career. Johnson briefly reached the big leagues as a member of the Angels in 2018. He went hitless in 10 at-bats. A lefty batter, he showed good plate discipline with minimal power in the minors.

Johnson didn’t move into coaching until 2023. Baltimore hired him as a hitting instructor with their Double-A team in Bowie. He spent this past season as a minor league hitting coordinator. It seems he built a quick rapport with a number of the O’s prospects. Johnson coached Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo with Bowie and should get to work with them again at Camden Yards.

Baltimore has opted for a fairly inexperienced group of hitting instructors. Asche, also 34, is a lead hitting coach for the first time after two years as an assistant on Brandon Hyde’s staff. Joseph, 33, is going into his second season as an MLB coach. He spent this year with the Mariners in an assistant role.

Chris Sale, Garrett Crochet Named Comeback Players Of The Year

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Major League Baseball conducted its 2024 awards show on Thursday evening. MLB revealed a host of honors, most notably Comeback Player of the Year and the Hank Aaron Award winners. The top honors from the Baseball Writers Association of America — the MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year awards — will wait until next week.

Braves lefty Chris Sale and White Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet were named Comeback Players of the Year. Sale rebounded from a middling final season in Boston in which he was limited to a 4.30 ERA in 20 starts. He starred for Atlanta, turning in an MLB-best 2.38 ERA across 177 2/3 innings. He’s favored to win his first Cy Young next week.

Crochet, who was limited to 12 2/3 innings of relief by elbow and shoulder problems in 2023, was one of the game’s biggest breakout performers. The former first-rounder moved into Chicago’s rotation and turned in a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts. While the Sox eased his workload late in the season, he managed 209 strikeouts across 146 innings. Crochet is the top pitcher known to be available on the offseason trade market.

Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were named the respective winners of the AL and NL Hank Aaron award, given to each league’s best offensive player. Ohtani also picked up the Edgar Martinez award as MLB’s best designated hitter. Guardians star Emmanuel Clase and Cardinals fireballer Ryan Helsley won the respective Reliever of the Year honors in each league. Much like Crochet, Helsley is one of the winter’s top trade candidates.

MLB also announced its 1st and 2nd teams. Those are not league specific and are designed to honor the best player at each position. Those are as follows:

1st Team

2nd Team

Rays, Tigers Reach Deals With Diamond Sports Group

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Diamond Sports Group revealed in court filings on Wednesday that it has reached new broadcasting deals with the Rays and Tigers, as first observed by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (X link). The Rays released a statement confirming their agreement. The Tigers have not commented.

Both teams presumably took reduced rates from their prior contracts with Diamond, which had operated under the Bally Sports name until a recent rebrand. Terms of both agreements remains unreported. Diamond had abandoned its contracts with 11 of its 12 partners, only abiding by the original terms of its agreement with the Braves. Court filings today revealed that some portion of the Braves’ deal was amended, though it’s not clear what changes were made.

Diamond has since hammered out new deals with the Marlins, Cardinals, Angels, Rays and Tigers. The Rangers and Reds are looking elsewhere, while the Twins, Brewers and Guardians agreed to allow Major League Baseball to handle in-market distribution. The Royals are the only team that remains in limbo. Evan Drellich of the Athletic reports that Diamond remains in talks with the Kansas City franchise.

There should be resolution by the end of the week. Diamond is set for a confirmation hearing tomorrow on its reorganization plan. The company needs approval from the bankruptcy court to avoid liquidation. The Braves and MLB had filed an objection last week, expressing their belief that Diamond was in danger of quickly falling back into insolvency. Drellich writes that MLB and the Braves have withdrawn their objection. The Department of Justice is the only party still objecting to Diamond’s plan, as they’ve taken issue with some of the legal releases. That seems to be a minor hurdle, so Diamond appears well positioned to continue operations at least into 2025.

Phillies Hire Mark Lowy As Assistant Pitching Coach

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The Phillies announced the hiring of Mark Lowy as assistant pitching coach. He assumes the position vacated when Brian Kaplan was tabbed as Diamondbacks pitching coach yesterday.

Lowy moves onto an MLB staff for the first time. The 32-year-old had spent the ’24 season as Philadelphia’s lead pitching development analyst. Lowy has worked in the Phils’ player development department since 2021. After pitching at Gettysburg College, he worked at the independent training facility Cressey Sports Performance before joining the Phils.

Caleb Cotham is entering his fifth season as Philadelphia’s pitching coach. Lowy joins Cotham and bullpen coach Cesár Ramos on the pitching side of Rob Thomson’s staff.

Ha-Seong Kim’s Challenging Free Agent Case

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Ha-Seong Kim represents one of the biggest risk-reward plays of this year's free agent class. That didn't seem like it'd be the case in August. For most of the season, Kim's profile was built around stability. He wasn't a huge offensive threat, but his plus defense at shortstop and league average bat gave him a strong floor. Kim hadn't had a single injured list stint since making the move from Korea, so durability was going to be one of his biggest selling points.

That changed on August 18. Kim dove back into first base awkwardly on a pickoff attempt. He jammed his right shoulder and went on the IL. The Padres initially announced the injury as inflammation and expressed hope he'd be back within a couple weeks. Kim didn't return and eventually underwent a season-ending labrum repair.

Kim's return timeline is up in the air, as is his free agent value. It seems clear he won't be ready for Opening Day. There's not much known beyond that. Agent Scott Boras has said the 29-year-old will be ready early in the '25 campaign. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was more vague, saying last month that it could be anytime around "May, June, July." Forecasting Kim's market when there's such a wide variance on his return timeline is tricky. That's borne out in the extreme range of pre-offseason contract predictions.

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