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Details On The Orioles’ Signing Of Cesar Prieto

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While most members of the 2021-22 international signing class are teenagers who are years away from the major leagues, 22-year-old infielder Cesar Prieto could potentially help the Orioles as early as this season.  It makes Prieto a particularly intriguing player to watch from this signing period, as noted in separate pieces by The Baltimore Sun’s Nathan Ruiz and MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko.

Prieto defected to the United States from Cuba last May, and MLB declared him eligible to sign only in November.  This left Prieto in a bit of a tough spot heading into the January 15 signing period, as since most teams had already committed most of the money in their bonus pools, the $650K Prieto received from the Orioles counts as something of a bargain for a player with his experience and track record.

Since the money was relatively tight across the board, however, the O’s tried to stand out from the field in other ways.  Orioles senior director of international scouting Koby Perez told media that he and GM Mike Elias personally visited Prieto to pitch him on joining Baltimore’s organization.

“He decided on us.  There was other suitors, and we’re excited that he wants to take this journey with us,” Perez said.  “Sometimes, you’ve got to wait for the late bloomer, or sometimes these guys from Cuba come out unexpectedly, and you want to be prepared to be able to get them.  It played right into our hands in this situation.”

Given the lack of established infielders on the rebuilding Orioles, it also isn’t surprising that Prieto saw Baltimore as a possible quicker route to the majors.  Perez said Prieto will start next season in the “mid to upper levels” of the farm system, with the O’s eyeing him as mostly as a second baseman but flexible enough to handle third base or shortstop in a pinch.

While the Orioles don’t want to harm Prieto’s development by promoting him too soon, it isn’t out of the question that he could make his MLB debut in 2022, considering his age and past pro experience.  If an early call-up would only come if Prieto adjusts quickly and dominates minor league pitching, his time in the Cuban National Series (Cuba’s top league) is evidence that Prieto can indeed be a big force at the plate.

Over his last two CNS seasons, Prieto has recorded 68 walks against only 34 strikeouts, while batting .379/.452/.533 in 690 plate appearances.  Prieto doesn’t offer much power (11 home runs in those two seasons), yet he makes up for that lack of pop with tons of contact and a keen batting eye.  According to Perez, some O’s scouts used Nick Madrigal as a comp for Prieto’s skillset.

Prieto’s ability to handle multiple positions could make him something of a utilityman in the majors, depending on how the Orioles’ future infield picture eventually shakes out.  On the current MLB roster, Rougned Odor is a veteran stopgap set for regular second base duty, Ramon Urias is already 27 but has looked good in his first two Major League seasons, and Kelvin Gutierrez has yet to show much at the big league level.  Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg are the Orioles’ two top infield prospects, and Prieto being lined up as a second baseman reflects how the O’s seem to be eyeing Henderson and Westburg as the future left side of their infield (with the specific positions yet to be determined).

Travis Snider Announces Retirement

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Former major league outfielder Travis Snider announced his retirement on Instagram this morning. “Thank you baseball. You have given me countless relationships and experiences I will cherish for the rest of my life,” Snider wrote as part of his statement. “I am so thankful that I got to live out my childhood dream and share it with the people I love and care about. I have contemplated this day for a while but the time has finally come for me to hang up the spikes. … To my teammates, coaches, trainers, front office, and clubhouse families, thank you for all the amazing memories.”

A first-round pick of the Blue Jays in the 2006 draft, the left-handed hitting Snider quickly emerged as one of the sport’s more promising prospects. Baseball America ranked him among the league’s Top 100 farmhands over each of his first three full pro seasons. That included a #6 overall ranking heading into the 2009 campaign, not long after Snider had made his big league debut at age 20 late in the prior season.

Snider would go on to spend the next three-plus seasons in Toronto. He never emerged as the middle-of-the-order slugger evaluators and the Jays’ fanbase hoped he’d become, but he hit around a league average level over his first few seasons. Snider struggled in 2011, though, and the Jays traded him to the Pirates for Brad Lincoln at the following deadline. He spent the next couple years as a platoon outfielder in Pittsburgh, posting a career-best .264/.338/.438 showing over 359 plate appearances in 2014.

The following offseason, the Bucs traded Snider to the Orioles for Steven Brault and Stephen Tarpley. He didn’t perform well in Baltimore and wound up released in August. Snider hooked back on with Pittsburgh late in the season but was outrighted off the Bucs’ roster after appearing in 18 games.

That ultimately proved to be the final big league run for the Washington native, as Snider hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2015. He’s hung around the periphery of the majors as a high-priority depth option, logging Triple-A time with the Royals, Mets, Rangers, D-Backs and Braves over the past half-decade.

All told, Snider departs having appeared in eight big league seasons and suiting up in 630 games. Across 1,971 plate appearances, he hit .244/.311/.399 (93 wRC+) with 54 homers, 100 doubles and seven triples. Snider never blossomed into a star or even as a true everyday player, but he played in the bigs every year between 2008-15 and ultimately spent a decade and a half in affiliated ball. MLBTR congratulates Snider on his career and wishes him all the best in his post-playing days.

Orioles Changing Left-Field Dimensions At Camden Yards

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Construction has begun on the left field area at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports, as the Orioles are looking to make their ballpark’s dimensions slightly more favorable towards pitchers.  The stretch of the left field wall from the foul pole to the bullpen area in left-center field will be moved back roughly 30 feet, and also elevated to around 12 feet high from its current height of seven feet.

The renovations are expected to be completed by Opening Day.  This is the first notable change to OPACY’s dimensions in 20 seasons, though even those changes (increasing the distance between home plate and the outfield wall) were rolled back a year later.

As Ruiz notes, Camden Yards has allowed the most home runs (5911) of any ballpark in the majors since OPACY first opened in 1992.  While obviously many new stadiums have since opened and don’t have the 30 years of compiled history, any number of metrics or just plain naked-eye measurements leave no doubt that Camden Yards is one of baseball’s more hitter-friendly venues.

The oft-struggling state of the Orioles’ pitching staff has naturally played a role in those numbers, though it can certainly be argued that Baltimore pitchers might have had better numbers if right-handed batters had more of a challenge in reaching the seats on fly balls to left field.  “While Camden Yards will remain a hitters’ park, the hope is for the changes to prevent it from being an outlier in terms of home runs,” Ruiz writes.

Orioles pitchers have allowed the most homers in baseball in each of the last three 162-game seasons.  That includes a 2019 campaign that saw Baltimore pitchers set a new MLB record with 305 home runs allowed in a single season.  The use of the livelier ball led to a huge surge in home runs league-wide in 2019, yet while the five highest single-season homers-allowed totals in history occurred during that season, the Orioles’ 305 total still comfortably led the pack (the Rockies were second, surrendering 270 home runs).

Orioles In Talks About Camden Yards' Lease

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The Orioles have called Oriole Park at Camden Yards home for the last 30 seasons, and the team continues to negotiate with the Maryland Stadium Authority about the ballpark’s future and a lease extension.  “The good news is both the Orioles and the stadium authority feel very strongly that we want to renew this partnership and that it’s been beneficial for all parties — the state, the city, the team,” Orioles senior VP of administration and experience Greg Bader told The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Barker.  The Orioles’ lease at Camden Yards is up in December 2023, though the club can decide by February 1, 2023 whether or not it wants to exercise a one-time, five-year extension that would run through 2028.

Orioles “Favorites” To Sign Cuban INF Cesar Prieto

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The Orioles are the “favorites” to sign infielder Cesar Prieto when the international signing period opens on January 15th, per MLB.com’s Francys Romero (via Twitter). Romero reports the signing amount to be somewhere between $650K and $750K.

Baltimore has been aggressive under GM Mike Elias in pursuing international free agents. It’s one of the few avenues available to teams to add talent without giving up talent in return. Prieto raked as a 21-year-old in the Cuban National Series, slashing .403/.463/.579 over 360 plate appearances, showing off an intriguing combination of bat-to-ball skills, speed, and gap power.

Fangraphs lists Prieto as a second baseman with a 40+ future value ranking. They write, “Prieto is the best pure hitter in Cuba. He broke Kendrys Morales’ rookie hits record then broke the Serie Nacional’s hit streak record (40 games) in 2020 while striking out just six times in 250 plate appearances. His swing and game resemble Eric Sogard’s.”

At 22-years-old, Prieto is older than many international prospects, which could just make him a fast riser in Baltimore’s system. The Orioles need as much talent in their system as they can muster. Prieto represents a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to add a hitter with a proven track record of success in Cuba.

Seven Years And Counting For The Orioles Rotation

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Though the Giants have made putting together a starting rotation look easy, most teams struggling to contend know how complex a process building a competent pitching staff can be. Bullpens are fickle, so consistency in run prevention is best guaranteed with a reliable rotation.

The Baltimore Orioles know the challenge better than most. The rotation at Camden Yards finished 26th in 2021 by measure of fWAR, but last with a 5.99 ERA and 5.41 FIP. In fact, their rotation has finished in the bottom-10 by ERA AND FIP in every season since 2014. That’s a pretty remarkable run of incompetence. It’s almost impressive, especially considering they were able to overcome those subpar rotations to make the playoffs in 2016 and finish .500 in 2015.

The Orioles invested in their rotation this offseason for the first time in GM Mike Elias’ tenure. Small as that investment was (they signed Jordan Lyles to a one-year, $7MM guarantee with a team option for a second season), it’s a step in the right direction. Lyles alone isn’t going to keep the Orioles from an 8th consecutive season with a bottom-10 rotation. He made 30 starts in 2021 and finished with exactly 0.0 fWAR, after all. But he also tossed 180 innings, which makes a difference in saving a bullpen and providing enough breathing room for young rotation arms to thrive.

Forget productivity for a moment. The Orioles rotation will have a watchable rotation if and when D.L. Hall and Grayson Rodriguez establish themselves in the Majors. That duo is likely to start next season in Triple-A, but they’re close. When they arrive, there’s going to be some honest-to-god excitement around Baltimore’s rotation. That duo probably won’t have a full season in the bigs until 2023, however.

There’s at least one more season of fungible, fill-in-the-blanks taking the bump in Baltimore. Just because the big-name prospects aren’t set to arrive doesn’t mean there’s no progress to be made this season. After all, with Lyles and presumptive ace John Means, they’re in a better place than usual.

Rich Dubroff of Baltimorebaseball.com went through each of their internal candidates to fill out the rotation behind Means and Lyles. Dubroff lists Keegan Akin, Mike Baumann, Dean Kremer, Zac Lowther, Alexander Wells, and Bruce Zimmermann as the incumbent candidates, with Zimmermann as the most accomplished of the group, even if he was most successful as a long man out of the pen.

The other way to build out the rotation, of course, is through free agency. The Orioles aren’t probably going to spend any more than they already have in terms of a one-year salary, but for free agents at the bottom of the hierarchy, Baltimore offers more opportunity than most other rotations around the game. Matt Harvey is the mold, a former star looking to rehabilitate his image.

Harvey posted 1.9 fWAR but only a 6.27 ERA, but he did make 28 starts and toss 127 2/3 innings in 2021. A 4.60 FIP suggests Harvey might have something left in the tank. Besides, amazing though this is, Harvey’s 2021 ranks as the 13th-best output by fWAR during this seven-year run of Orioles’ bottom-feeding. There simply hasn’t been much success of any kind, even the tempered brand of success offered by Harvey in 2021.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, most teams looking for mid-season upgrades have higher standards than the Orioles. Their goal for 2022 should be to add arms that might actually be flippable at the deadline. Lyles qualifies, even if his numbers from last season aren’t all that inspiring.

Other names that might be available to Baltimore are Jose Urena, Mike Fiers, Aaron Sanchez, and/or Mike Foltynewicz. Guys with slightly more upside, say, Chris Archer, Drew Smyly, Chad Kuhl, or Steven Brault might cost a little more than Baltimore wants to spend. Carlos Martinez or Matthew Boyd might present the highest upside, either in terms of their current ability or their eventual trade value, but even those arms are higher up the totem pole than Baltimore has ventured in years past.

What could change that calculus is a trade of Means. There’s not a real high likelihood that Baltimore wants to move Means at this juncture, but if it means selling high on the southpaw, they might consider it. There are enough teams in need of pitching to make Baltimore listen to pitches. If they do move the 28-year-old, they’d probably be better off in the long run, but it all but guarantees another disastrous finish for their starting staff in 2022.

Frankly, Means isn’t unique enough of a talent to hold onto, should the prospect return be right. But teams also haven’t been eager to move prospects of value recently. The longer they hold onto Means, the more his salary will rise, and the lesser of a trade piece he becomes.

Then again, teams generally aren’t as desperate in the offseason because there are more options available and more margin for error with a full season ahead. If they hold onto Means to start the year, he will still have a year plus of team control at the deadline, and that might be just the right calculus to make a deal happen.

It’s not hard to blame the Orioles for holding onto Means. Prospects aren’t a sure thing. Kevin Gausman had the best season by fWAR (2016) of any Baltimore starter in this current era, and when they traded him, Zimmermann was a big part of the return. So it’s not as if trading off their starters has yielded the path to a turnaround.

The rub here is that GM Mike Elias has yet to actually try to build a winning rotation. His goal since his arrival has been to build a long-term competitive engine, a process that’s still very much in the works. So they can sign more free agents, and they can trade Means or hold onto him, but until Elias is willing to really give it a go, expect Baltimore’s rotation to stay in the bottom 10.

Extension Candidate: Adley Rutschman

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Within the last four years, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Evan White, and Scott Kingery all signed their first multi-year Major League contracts before even debuting in the Show, as clubs began to increasingly explore the idea of the “pre-career” extension.  The logic is simple — if a team thinks it has a can’t-miss prospect, signing that prospect to an extension before his service clock begins can give the team both cost-certainty over the player’s arbitration years, as well as control over at least a few free agent years via club options.

Robert’s six-year, $50MM pact with the White Sox (that could be an eight-year, $88MM deal if Chicago exercises a pair of club options) in January 2020 represents the high-water mark for pre-career deals, yet it is worth noting that the Astros were something of a pioneer with this tactic.  Jon Singleton signed a five-year, $10MM contract in June 2014 before playing his first MLB game, and Houston also notably explored such a contract with George Springer prior to the future All-Star’s big league debut.  This period overlaps with Mike Elias’ time (2012-18) in the Astros’ front office, and now that Elias has since moved on to run his own team as the Orioles’ executive VP and general manager, it is worth wondering if Elias might attempt locking up his own blue-chip prospect.

Adley Rutschman is widely expected to not only make his MLB debut in 2022, but also get the bulk of playing time as Baltimore’s starting catcher.  Jacob Nottingham and Anthony Bemboom were recently signed to minors deals to provide at least some Major League experience in the team’s catching ranks, but either will just be a placeholder until Rutschman gets the call to the big leagues.  Whether this debut happens on Opening Day or a few weeks into April may hinge on whether or not the service-time manipulation issue is addressed in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, but an extension for Rutschman would make that question moot, and guarantee that Baltimore fans will get to see Rutschman as soon as possible.

The first overall pick of the 2019 draft, Rutschman has done nothing but reinforce that pedigree during his brief pro career.  Rutschman already received two promotions up the ladder (to A-ball) in his first season in 2019, and after working out at the Orioles’ alternate training site in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season, he tore up the farm system in 2021.  The catcher hit .285/.397/.502 with 23 home runs over 543 combined plate appearances with Double-A Bowie (358 PA) and Triple-A Norfolk (185 PA).

An argument can be made that Rutschman could use a bit more seasoning at the Triple-A level, particularly since he’ll be taking over a position that requires so much extra work in terms of pregame preparation and working with pitchers.  However, as noted in Baseball America’s scouting report, Rutschman may be a bit ahead of the curve in this respect, due to his time spent with veteran pitchers, catchers, and Major League coaches at the 2020 alternate training site.  Plus, Rutschman was already seen as a strong defender even in his college days at Oregon State, and BA now gives him a strong 60 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale (to go along with an eye-popping three 70 grades in hitting, power, and throwing arm.)  Both BA and MLB Pipeline rate Rutschman as the best prospect in all of baseball.

In short, Rutschman seems like the kind of cornerstone prospect that any team would covet, especially an Orioles club that has been grinding through a top-to-bottom rebuild during Elias’ entire tenure.  The O’s already see Rutschman as the next face of the franchise, and an extension would only cement that status.  Given that the Orioles have almost literally no money on the books beyond the 2022 season, there’s plenty of payroll space to commit to a hefty contract for the burgeoning star.

For Rutschman and other star prospects presented with pre-career extensions, the question is simple.  Does the player feel comfortable in taking a big payday now and locking in at least one eight-figure fortune from his baseball career, or does the player feel like betting on himself to perform as expected in the majors?  The latter route carries more risk, but potentially sets the player up for even more money down the road, either through rising arbitration salaries, bigger free agent money once he hits the open market, or even a later extension with his current team.

From a pure dollars perspective, Rutschman has already achieved some solid financial security, via his $8.1MM signing bonus from the draft.  This isn’t necessarily an indicator that he would be less open to an extension — Robert, for instance, already had a $26MM international signing bonus in the bank prior to his extension with the White Sox.

The added wrinkle in this case is Rutschman’s position.  No catcher has ever signed a pre-career extension — expanding the list to players with less than a year of service time, the Royals’ February 2012 deal with Salvador Perez represents the earliest pact ever given to a backstop.  Needless to say, Rutschman won’t be signing for a contract similar to Perez’s five years and $7MM in guaranteed money, though Perez did end up doing much better in two subsequent extensions with Kansas City.

Rutschman is enough of a top-tier prospect that the Orioles probably won’t have much concern over guaranteeing a big long-term deal to a catcher.  From Rutschman’s perspective, taking a big contract now might have some appeal as a hedge against potential injury, simply because catchers inevitably receive so much wear and tear (even if the DH or a potential move to first base down the road can help).  Plus, unless the next CBA adjusts when players are eligible to reach free agency, it will be quite some time before Rutschman can hit the open market.  He turns 24 in February, so if his debut is indeed pushed off to mid-April for service-time reasons, Rutschman won’t be scheduled for free agency until he is entering his age-31 season.

So while there are some valid reasons why Rutschman might be open to an extension early in his career, that doesn’t necessarily mean he would take a deal before his career gets underway.  It can be assumed that a Rutschman extension would top Robert’s record, and yet Rutschman might have eyes on a bigger target — such as the 11-year, $182MM deal Wander Franco just signed with the Rays in November.

Since Joe Mauer is the only catcher to sign a deal worth more than $182MM, Rutschman won’t top Franco’s number.  Plus, Franco is both younger (turning 21 in March) and plays shortstop, so he is more of a safer long-term play for an extension, even for a lower-payroll club like the Rays.  However, while Rutschman and his representatives likely wouldn’t be aiming to top Franco’s contract, the deal does serve as a reminder of the greater riches that can await a star prospect if he exhibits even some of that early promise at the MLB level.  While no reports surfaced whether or not Tampa explored a pre-career extension with Franco, had he inked such a contract, it would have been worth much less than his eventual $182MM guarantee.

Obviously, matching Franco’s excellent 2021 performance is no small feat for any player, especially a rookie like Rutschman.  But, just staying on the field and performing pretty well in 2022 would represent a nice showcase for Rutschman, and give the Orioles even more confidence in committing a major sum closer to the $100MM mark than simply a bump over Robert’s $50MM pact with the White Sox.

Given Rutschman’s status as an elite prospect, it is quite possible an extension akin to Robert’s deal could be on the table next winter anyway even if he doesn’t quite hit the “performing pretty well” threshold.  Barring a major injury or an unusual amount of struggles at the MLB level, the Orioles would likely still have interest in extending Rutschman prior to his sophomore year, considering all of his widely-touted potential.

A Rutschman extension would also have no small amount of symbolic value for the franchise.  Simply promoting Rutschman might have that same galvanizing effect on the long-suffering Baltimore fans, so Elias and the front office don’t necessarily need to rush into things just yet.  However, officially planting the financial flag on a new era of Orioles baseball would set a clear direction that the rebuild is almost over, and the organization will again start spending and looking to play some competitive baseball.

Coaching/Organizational Notes: Mets, Pirates, Carroll, Orioles

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The Mets are nearing a deal to add Joey Cora to Buck Showalter’s staff as third base coach, and it seems the rest of the coaches will be in place soon. Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports that the Mets are likely to finalize their entire staff by this weekend. Only pitching coach Jeremy Hefner remains from last year’s group, leaving first base coach, hitting coach, bullpen coach, bench coach and assistant hitting/pitching coaches to be determined.

Interestingly, Thosar hears that the mystery bench coach is likely to be a “headline-grabbing hire.” While that person’s identity remains unclear, Thosar writes that nine-time All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltrán is not under consideration. Beltrán served as Mets manager for around two months over the 2019-20 offseason, but he and the club mutually parted ways before he ever coached a game after his role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal was made public. He hasn’t landed a position with an MLB team since then, and he apparently won’t be Showalter’s right-hand man in Queens. Yesterday, Mike Puma of The New York Post suggested former Orioles bench coach John Russell and Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough could be possibilities for the role.

The latest on some other coaching/front office situations around the league:

  • Jamey Carroll is departing the Pirates organization, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). He’d spent the past seven seasons in Pittsburgh, originally joining the Bucs’ front office in January 2015. Most recently, the 47-year-old was serving as a special assistant in baseball operations and as the club’s defensive coordinator, per Mackey. Carroll is best known for his twelve-year big league playing career. Between 2002-13, the Indiana native suited up with the Expos/Nationals, Rockies, Indians, Dodgers, Twins and Royals.
  • The Orioles became the latest in a handful of teams around the league to hire co-hitting coaches in November. Baltimore added Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller to the big league staff, the first MLB opportunity for both. It’s an odd time for incoming coaches to get acclimated to a new club, as staff members are prohibited from interacting with players on the 40-man roster during the ongoing lockout. Jon Meoli catches up with Fuller and Borgschulte to discuss their new positions, with the staff members telling Meoli they talk with one another daily to build out individualized plans to implement with each hitter once the work stoppage ends. Fuller, who was promoted from within the O’s farm system, is familiar with some of the players on the big league roster. Borgschulte was brought over from the Twins organization and doesn’t have the same kind of personal connection to much of the roster, but Fuller speaks with Meoli about how his colleague’s background in pitch recognition training adds a relatively new element to the team’s development processes.

Managers & Top Front Office Executives On Expiring Contracts

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Now that the new year is upon us, it could also conceivably be the last year for several managers or lead front office executives (i.e. president of baseball operations, general manager, chief baseball officer, or whatever title a club bestows upon its top baseball decision-maker) in their current jobs if their teams don’t enjoy some success in 2022.  With this in mind, here is the list of team personnel facing particular pressure — the managers and top execs who are entering the last guaranteed year of their contracts.

This list is by no means exhaustive.  Firstly, some clubs don’t publicly disclose specifics of management contracts, or even whether or not an employee has signed an extension until weeks or months after the fact.  It could be that some of the names mentioned are already locked up beyond 2022, or perhaps have already signed extensions in the last few weeks that won’t be made official until after the lockout.  While transactions involving Major League players are prohibited during the lockout, teams are free to proceed with normal business involving team personnel, so some club might look to handle other internal matters in advance of the transactional avalanche that will come when the lockout finally ends.

Second of all, any number of factors beyond just contract status can influence an employee’s job status, and sometimes on-field success isn’t enough (just ask former Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt).  However, extra years on a contract is usually the simplest way to gauge just how much leeway a manager or front office boss has, barring something unforeseen.  It’s probably safe to assume that most or all of the names listed wouldn’t mind a little extra job security, if for no other reason than to avoid a season of media questions about their future, or the perception of any “lame duck” status from their own players or staff.

Thanks to Cot’s Baseball Contracts for reference information on some of these contracts.  Onto the list…

Angels: Owner Arte Moreno is a huge Joe Maddon fan, but since bringing Maddon back to the organization on a three-year, $12MM contract, the Halos have recorded two losing seasons.  In fairness to Maddon, he has rarely gotten to deploy an Angels roster at the peak of its potential, as Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Shohei Ohtani (who barely pitched in 2020) have been injured or limited for large chunks of Maddon’s tenure.  Since the veteran skipper turns 68 in February, there might also be some question about just how much longer Maddon himself wants to keep up with the grind of a regular-season schedule, especially after the challenges of managing a team through the pandemic.  With the clock ticking on Ohtani’s team control and Trout’s prime, another losing season might inspire some changes in Anaheim.

Astros: Back in November, Dusty Baker received a one-year contract extension that takes the veteran skipper through the 2022 campaign.  It isn’t the type of job security you’d expect for a manager who just took his team to a World Series appearance, but Houston appears content to go year-to-year with Baker, perhaps owing to his age (Baker turns 73 in June).

Athletics: Billy Beane has been running Oakland’s front office since 1997, and while the exact length of his current contract isn’t known, it is probably safe to assume Beane will have his job as long as he wishes.  Beane withdrew his name from consideration from the Mets’ search when New York showed interest in Beane’s services this past fall, and for now, it seems as though he and GM David Forst are preparing to lead the A’s through yet another spin of the payroll-cutting “cycle” so familiar to Oakland fans.  Since Beane also owns a minority share of the team, there would be an added layer of complication for the A’s in removing Beane if they did decide to make a change.

Blue Jays: Manager Charlie Montoyo was initially signed to a three-year deal with a club option for 2022, and the Jays exercised that option last March.  The club might have been taking a bit of a wait-and-see approach by not negotiating any more additional years with Montoyo, but since Toronto won 91 games last season, Montoyo would now seem like a prime candidate for a longer-term deal.  Montoyo has won praise both for the Blue Jays’ success over the last two seasons, and his steady leadership over a difficult period, with the pandemic forcing the Jays to play “home” games in Buffalo and Dunedin before finally returning to Toronto last July.

Brewers: David Stearns’ contract has been the subject of great speculation in recent months, as the Mets were focused on poaching the president of baseball operations away from Milwaukee.  With Billy Eppler now inked to a four-year contract as the Mets’ new GM, it could be that Amazins could be moving away from Stearns, but several other teams might have interest if Stearns is indeed available anytime soon.  The exact length or nature of Stearns’ contract isn’t known, as 2022 might be his last guaranteed year, but there may be a vesting option of some type in place that would keep Stearns with the Brew Crew through the 2023 season.  For his own part, Stearns has said that he is happy with the Brewers, and owner Mark Attanasio obviously covets his PBO, as Attanasio has rejected all overtures from the Mets and other teams to interview Stearns.  There seems to be plenty of leverage on Stearns’ part to either work out another extension with the Brewers, or perhaps wait out the remainder of his deal in Milwaukee and then test the market for a new challenge.

Cubs: 2022 is the last guaranteed year of David Ross’ contract, though the Cubs have a club option for 2023.  It has been a tumultuous two years to begin Ross’ managerial career, between the pandemic, a first-place NL Central finish in 2020, and then a 91-loss season in 2021 after the Cubs went all-in on a rebuild.  However, the acquisitions of Marcus Stroman and Wade Miley are signs that Chicago is looking to compete next season, leaving Ross with the twin challenges of mentoring young talent and also winning some ballgames.  Given the long relationship between Ross and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, it doesn’t seem like Ross’ job is in much jeopardy, and an extension (even if just an early call on that 2023 option) wouldn’t be a shock.

Diamondbacks: Manager Torey Lovullo spent much of the 2021 season as a lame duck before signing an extension in September that covers 2022 and also provides the D’Backs with a club option for 2023.  Given how poorly the Diamondbacks have played over the last two seasons, this new deal gives the Snakes some flexibility to move on from Lovullo next fall, but obviously Lovullo wasn’t considered the reason for the team’s struggles.  There is also some uncertainty about Mike Hazen’s contract status, as the GM signed new multi-year contract of undisclosed length back in 2019, extending Hazen beyond 2020 (the endpoint of his original deal).  If Hazen’s contract is only guaranteed through 2022 and Arizona has another rough season next year, ownership might opt to replace both Hazen and Lovullo and start fresh.

Dodgers: 2022 is Dave Roberts’ last year under contract, as his current deal doesn’t contain any team options.  While Roberts’ postseason decision-making has sometimes been called into question by Los Angeles fans, he hardly bears sole responsibility, and it is also hard to argue with Roberts’ track record — a 542-329 record and a World Series title since taking the managerial job in November 2015.  There hasn’t been any indication that the Dodgers are dissatisfied with Roberts’ work, so another extension could be in the pipeline.

Guardians: While Terry Francona isn’t under contract beyond 2022, but team owner Paul Dolan has said that “I feel like we’re now in a situation where he’s going to be here until he decides not to manage.”  This puts the ball squarely in Francona’s court, as the veteran manager plans to return at least through next season after health problems limited his participation in both 2020 and 2021.  Also, the contract details of president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti aren’t publicly known, but there hasn’t been any indication that Dolan is looking move on from the longtime executive.

Marlins: Don Mattingly’s 2022 club option was picked up over the summer, putting “Donnie Baseball” in line for what will be his seventh season managing the Fish.  Much of that time has been spent overseeing a rebuilding team, but with Miami reaching the postseason in 2020 and now making some aggressive offseason moves, Mattingly and his staff will be facing some higher expectations.  The Marlins could opt to let at least some of the season play out before deciding on Mattingly’s future, or if they’re confident that Mattingly is the one to lead the Fish into an era of winning baseball, they could have some talks about a longer-term deal this spring.

Orioles: Executive VP/general manager Mike Elias and manager Brandon Hyde are each entering their fourth season with the team.  Hyde signed an extension last year that covers at least the 2022 season, while the initial length of Elias’ contract wasn’t known.  Even if 2022 is the last season of Elias’ deal, it doesn’t seem like Orioles ownership would cut him loose before the results of the club’s extensive rebuild have been at all realized.  The same could be said for Hyde, though it wouldn’t be the first time a rebuilding team has employed one manager to shepherd it through the tough years, and then hired another skipper when the club began to turn the corner towards contention.

Phillies: Joe Girardi is now entering the last guaranteed season of his initial three-year contract, and the Phillies hold a club option on the former World Series-winning manager for 2023.  An 82-80 record represented Philadelphia’s first winning season since 2011, though it was still an underwhelming result for a team heavy in high-priced stars.  Girardi himself hasn’t received much too much blame (at least by Philadelphia standards) for the Phils’ lack of success, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is on record as saying that Girardi “did a good job for us” last year.  There are some parallels to Maddon’s situation, as both he and Girardi are veteran skippers under win-now pressure for big-market teams, except Girardi doesn’t have the longstanding ties to Phillies ownership as Maddon does in Anaheim.  With the club option in mind, the Phils might see what 2022 entails before deciding on an extension for Girardi.

Pirates: This is a speculative entry, since the terms of Derek Shelton’s deal weren’t released when he was hired as Pittsburgh’s manager in November 2019.  If Shelton was given a three-year contract (a pretty standard pact for a first-time manager), he’d now be entering his last guaranteed year.  Since the Pirates are still rebuilding, Shelton isn’t under much pressure to start winning games immediately, so it doesn’t seem at this point like his job is in any danger.

Rangers: Another speculative case, as president of baseball operations Jon Daniels signed a contract extension back in June 2018, lengthening a deal that was set to expire at the end of the 2018 campaign.  If that extension happened to be a four-year pact, then, Daniels has only one year remaining.  While Daniels has spent much of his most recent contract rebuilding the roster, this winter’s massive spending splurge is a clear sign that Texas is ready to start winning.  One would guess that ownership wouldn’t sign off on hundreds of millions in player contracts if they had any misgivings about keeping Daniels around, so another extension wouldn’t be a surprise.  Daniels is quietly one of baseball’s longest-tenured front office bosses, as he has been running the Rangers’ baseball ops department since October 2005, when he was only 28 years old.

Rockies: Bud Black is entering his sixth and what might be his final year as Rockies manager, as his three-year contract expires at season’s end.  New GM Bill Schmidt has indicated that the team might explore a new deal with Black, and since Schmidt is a longtime member of Colorado’s front office, the Rockies might not have the disconnect that sometimes exists between an incumbent skipper and a new front office boss who wants their own hire running the dugout.  Even though owner Dick Monfort is known for his loyalty to familiar employees, managers don’t have quite as much slack — both Walt Weiss and Jim Tracy (Black’s predecessors) resigned from the Rockies’ managerial post after four seasons apiece.

Royals: Like Shelton, Mike Matheny was also hired following the 2019 season, so this would be the final guaranteed year of Matheny’s deal if he signed a three-year term.  That said, Matheny might have gotten a longer deal, owing to his past experience as manager of the Cardinals, and due to his standing as something of a manager-in-waiting in Kansas City with Ned Yost on the verge of retirement.  The Royals were aggressive last winter but managed only a 74-88 record in 2021, and if the team again doesn’t take a step forward, there could be some whispers about whether or not Matheny is the right choice for the manager’s job.  Then again, president of baseball operations Dayton Moore has traditionally been big on institutional loyalty, so Matheny’s job isn’t necessarily on the line if the Royals don’t at least crack the .500 mark.

Twins: Manager Rocco Baldelli received a four-year contract with multiple club options when he was hired following the 2018 season, so Baldelli is now entering his final guaranteed year.  The existence of those club options puts Baldelli under team control through at least 2024, yet while Baldelli isn’t a true lame duck, he does face some pressure in getting the Twins on track following a very disappointing season.  If the Twins underachieve again, Baldelli might be on the hot seat, though he did lead Minnesota to the postseason in his first two years as skipper.

White Sox: Another team that doesn’t publicize management contracts, both executive VP Kenny Williams and GM Rick Hahn signed extensions in 2017 of unspecified length.  Since that time, the duo has overseen a rebuild and a payroll increase that has thus far resulted in playoff appearances in both 2020 and 2021, though the White Sox have yet to win a series.  Though owner Jerry Reinsdorf is definitely aiming to capture another championship, it seems like it would take a major collapse for him to think about replacing Williams or Hahn, who have each been with the franchise for decades.  Depending on their contractual status, Williams and Hahn could even be in line for extensions, if such deals haven’t already quieted been inked.

Yankees: As any Bronx fan can tell you, the Yankees have gone 12 seasons without as much as an AL pennant, though the club has reached the playoffs nine times in that span and always posted winning records.  Despite this relative title drought by Yankees standards, owner Hal Steinbrenner appears satisfied with the work done by longtime GM Brian Cashman, and there doesn’t appear to be much chance of a front office change.  It may be quite a while before we hear whether or not Cashman is officially staying, as several of his contracts have been settled either around the end of the season, or sometimes well into the offseason.  Cashman’s last deal (a five-year, $25MM contract covering the 2018-22 campaigns) wasn’t fully put into place until December 2017.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Breslow, Orioles, Hitting Coaches, Guardians, Tito

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In an article at The Athletic, Sahadev Sharma makes five predictions for the 2022 Cubs, including one that Craig Breslow will emerge as a candidate for a future team president role. Breslow retired from pitching and joined the Cubs’ front office prior to the 2019 season as director of strategic initiatives and was promoted to assistant general manager after the 2020 campaign. Sharma points out that Breslow is from the same area of Connecticut as Mets’ owner Steve Cohen, which could have made him a nice fit for the lengthy front office search the Mets’ underwent in recent months, which concluded with the hiring of Billy Eppler as general manager. However, the Mets never actually reached out to Breslow, according to Sharma.

Some other notes from around the league…

  • The Orioles announced in November that they would be hiring two co-hitting coaches, Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller. Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun profiled both of them this week to discuss their respective journeys. Borgschulte spent some time at Southeast Missouri State, where he worked with Dillon Lawson. The two will now be division rivals in the MLB, as Lawson recently became the Yankees hitting coach. During their time there, the school’s program developed a reputation as being at the forefront of using technology to improve pitch recognition using occlusion training, “where video of a pitch is cut off after around 20 feet, forcing a hitter to use that early portion of the ball flight to decide what type of pitch it is and whether to swing,” as Meoli describes it. Fuller, meanwhile, has been largely focused on biomechanics and swing planes. He was hired by the Orioles prior to the 2020 season with the aim of being the hitting coach in Low-A. However, after the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues that year, he ended up at the Orioles’ alternate site, working with players who were on the cusp of the majors. Successful showings from players like Cedric Mullins, DJ Stewart, Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays helped Fuller’s approach take hold in the organization, leading to his new position working with the big league club. The ability to maximize the potential of their young hitters figures to be an important detail for the Orioles in the coming years. The club has had five straight losing seasons and is firmly in the basement of the AL East, with their four division mates having each won at least 91 games in 2021. However, their rebuilding process has led to stockpiling young talent, with Baseball America placing them second only to the Mariners in their most recent Organization Talent Rankings. Turning those prospects into productive major leaguers will be key to helping the club climb out of the AL East basement.
  •  Terry Francona stepped away from his managing duties for health reasons in July but seems to be on the path to return to the dugout to helm the Guardians in 2022. He recently spoke with Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe and provided some more details about his situation. “I had my hip replaced in August. That was a piece of cake. Four weeks later, they went in and redid my toe,” Francona said. “They put a rod in, two pieces of bone and eight screws. Technically, I’m still on crutches, but I haven’t been using my crutches for a while. I’m in a boot.” Tito then goes on to detail how he’s been managing this multitude of injuries since chasing down a fly ball as a 22-year-old and has since had over 40 surgeries in the subsequent 40 years.  “Twelve on each knee. That’s the majority,” he said. “I’ve had my toe done twice. Both hips. Both shoulders twice. Left elbow. Hernia. Neck. Back. Disk surgery. I’ve had four or five surgeries on my wrist and fingers, but they are just little ones. I don’t count those. Then I had the blood clot procedures. The last surgery, they put two stents in my legs and one in my stomach and I have better circulation now than I have in a long time.” Despite all of that, Tito played parts of 10 seasons as a player and has now managed parts of 21 seasons. And if all continues according to plan, he should be back for a 22nd.
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