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Twins Hire Garvin Alston As Pitching Coach

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The Twins announced on Thursday that they’ve selected Athletics bullpen coach Garvin Alston as their new pitching coach, replacing the previously dismissed Neil Allen.

Alston, 45, was the Diamondbacks’ bullpen coach in 2016 and opened the 2017 season as the Padres’ coordinator of pitching rehab before joining the Athletics as their bullpen coach for the bulk of the 2017 season. He’s served as a minor league pitching coach and minor league pitching rehab coordinator with the A’s for parts of 10 years as well. Alston made a handful of appearances with the 1996 Rockies during his playing days and spent parts of nine seasons playing professionally after being taken in the 10th round of the 1992 draft.

With the Twins, he’ll be tasked with molding a young staff that is fronted by veteran Ervin Santana but otherwise figures to consist largely of still-developing arms. Young Jose Berrios is among the Twins’ most important core pieces, and top prospects Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero could both figure to factor into the Twins’ 2018 plans (though both will almost certainly open the year in Triple-A). Alston’s background in pitching rehab is also of note for a club with Phil Hughes (thoracic outlet surgery), Trevor May (Tommy John surgery) and touted minor league relievers Nick Burdi (Tommy John surgery) and J.T. Chargois (stress reaction in right elbow) all missing the majority of the season due to injury.

Yankees Will Not Retain Manager Joe Girardi

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The Yankees announced on Thursday that after a decade as the team’s manager, Joe Girardi will not return for an 11th season in 2018. Girardi’s four-year contract (worth a reported total of $16MM) expired at the end of the 2017 season.

Joe Girardi | Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Girardi himself tells WFAN’s Sweeny Murti that he did not decide to step down, but that the Yankees made the decision not to retain him (Twitter link): “With a heavy heart, I come to you because the Yankees have decided not to bring me back.”

There have been rumblings for the past couple of weeks that Girardi’s future with the Yankees was uncertain. Ken Rosenthal wrote for The Athletic yesterday (subscription required) that some Yankees officials had gotten the sense that Girardi was “spent” and “ready to move on.” Rosenthal also noted, though, that there was some degree of tension between the Yankees and Girardi. ESPN’s Buster Olney, in fact, tweets that general manager Brian Cashman’s recommendation to owner Hal Steinbrenner was that the Yankees make a change at the manager position.

Cashman offered the following comment in a press release announcing the decision not to retain Girardi:

“I want to thank Joe for his 10 years of hard work and service to this organization. Everything this organization does is done with careful and thorough consideration, and we’ve decided to pursue alternatives for the managerial position. As Hal Steinbrenner and I mentioned to Joe directly this week, he has been a tremendous Yankee on the field and away from it, as a player, coach and manager. He has a tireless work ethic, and put his heart into every game he managed over the last decade. He should take great pride in our accomplishments during his tenure, and I wish Joe and his family nothing but success and happiness in the future.”

Girardi, 53, will walk away from the Yankees with an outstanding 910-710 regular-season record as well as a 28-24 record with the Yankees in the postseason. That playoff record includes a 2009 World Series Championship and this past season’s deep run into Game 7 of the ALCS in what many expected to be a transitional year for the Yanks.

Girardi came under fire following a misstep in Game 2 of the ALCS when he neglected to challenge a hit-by-pitch call on a pitch that, in replay, looked to have struck Indians outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall’s bat rather than his hand, as had been ruled. Chisenhall went to first base, setting the stage for a dramatic Francisco Lindor grand slam.

In the coming days, Girardi owned the mistake, telling the media that he “messed up.” If his accountability wasn’t enough to atone for the decision, however, the Yankees’ play certainly was in the eyes of most fans. Girardi’s Yankees stormed back to win three straight against the Indians, marching to the ALCS and taking the Astros to the brink of elimination in a seven-game series.

Yankees higher-ups, however, seemingly weren’t swayed by the team’s resiliency. Whether the decision ultimately came from the front office or from ownership, Girardi somewhat remarkably becomes the third playoff manager and the sixth overall to be removed from his post in since late September. Two division champion managers, John Farrell (Red Sox) and Dusty Baker (Nationals) have been shown the door by their respective organizations. Additionally, the Phillies (Pete Mackanin) and Mets (Terry Collins) moved their skippers into advisor roles within the front office, while the rebuilding Tigers parted ways with Brad Ausmus.

The managerial seats of both the Nationals and the Phillies remain vacant, creating the possibility that Girardi could enter the mix for either position. Given Girardi’s track record and the level of respect that he has earned throughout the industry, it’d be something of a surprise if either club didn’t reach out to him. As for the Yankees, they’ll embark on their own search for a new skipper in the weeks to come.

David Kaplan of ESPN 1000 first broke the news (on Twitter). FanRag’s Jon Heyman first tweeted that the decision came from the Yankees, not Girardi.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Indians Name Carl Willis Pitching Coach

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The Indians announced on Thursday that they’ve hired Carl Willis as the team’s new pitching coach. Willis will replace the highly regarded Mickey Callaway, who left the Indians organization this week to become the new manager of the Mets. Willis, of course, is a familiar name to Indians fans, having served as the pitching coach in Cleveland from 2003-09.

Following his initial run in Cleveland, Willis became a minor league pitching coordinator with the Mariners and, eventually, the pitching coach in Seattle. He’s spent the majority of the past three seasons as John Farrell’s pitching coach with the Red Sox, but Boston gave its coaching staff freedom to explore other opportunities when Farrell was dismissed from his post. Willis had also reportedly interviewed with for the Twins’ pitching coach vacancy before accepting the job with the Indians. As Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel points out (on Twitter), Willis has coached four pitchers during Cy Young seasons: CC Sabathia (2007), Cliff Lee (2008), Felix Hernandez (2010) and Rick Porcello (2016).

As a player, the 56-year-old Willis spent parts of nine seasons in the Majors, mostly with the Twins, from 1984-95. He made a pair of starts as a rookie for the Tigers in ’84 but worked exclusively as a reliever for the remainder of his career, ultimately tallying a 4.25 ERA in 390 innings at the big league level. Willis, nicknamed “The Big Train,” was one of Minnesota’s top relievers in their ’91 World Series Championship season, tossing 89 innings of 2.63 ERA ball.

Brewers Extend Chase Anderson

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8:40am: McCalvy provides additional financial details (Twitter link): Anderson will receive a $1MM signing bonus and is guaranteed salaries of $4.25MM in 2018 and $6MM in 2019. The contract also has $400K worth of incentives available each year.

8:34am: The two options are valued at $8.5MM and $9.5MM, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). Both contain $500K buyouts.

8:26am: Anderson will be guaranteed $11.75MM over the two guaranteed years of the deal, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (on Twitter). MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, meanwhile, tweets that Anderson can earn up to $31.35MM over the four years if both options are exercised and if Anderson meets all of the incentives that are baked into the deal.

8:05am: The Brewers announced this morning that they’ve signed right-hander Chase Anderson to a two-year contract that runs through the 2019 season and contains club options for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Anderson, a client of Hub Sports Management, was arbitration-eligible for the second time as a Super Two player this winter. The new contract gives Milwaukee cost certainty over his final three arbitration years and as well as control over one would-be free-agent season.

Chase Anderson | Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

“Signing Chase to a multi-year contract furthers our strategy to acquire, develop and retain talent throughout our organization,” said Brewers GM David Stearns in a press release announcing the new contract. “Chase’s 2017 performance elevated his stature in the game and demonstrated that he has the capability to lead a rotation. Since he arrived in Milwaukee, Chase has been a model contributor to our community both on and off the field. We are happy for him and his family and look forward to Chase’s contributions for years to come.”

Anderson, 30 next month, was originally acquired alongside prospect Isan Diaz in the trade that sent Jean Segura from Milwaukee to Arizona. The righty has been a stable source of useful innings since debuting with the D-backs in 2014 but elevated his game to a new level in his second season with Milwaukee. This past season, Anderson broke out with a 2.74 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 39.2 percent ground-ball rate in 141 1/3 innings.

Anderson’s velocity jumped a bit in 2017, and in addition to his career-high K/9 rate, he also posted career-best marks in swinging-strike rate and opponents’ contact rate. Beyond his velocity increase, Anderson also began throwing more cutters and curveballs at the expense of his changeup and four-seam fastball — and the results were clearly favorable. An oblique injury cost him nearly two months of his season this summer, but outside of a minor triceps issue in 2015, Anderson has never been on the MLB disabled list with an arm injury.

Moving forward, Anderson figures to play an even larger part in the Milwaukee rotation, as the Brewers are not yet certain what to expect out of emergent ace Jimmy Nelson in 2018. Nelson underwent shoulder surgery last month, and it’s known that he’ll miss a notable portion of the upcoming regular season, though the team has yet to put a specific timeline on his recovery or project a return date. Anderson will be joined in the rotation by young righty Zach Davies, though as noted in MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook on the Brewers, the Brewers possess several options but few locks beyond those two spots. In all likelihood, that pair will be joined by at least one starting pitcher that isn’t currently in the organization.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Rays’ Pursuit Of New Stadium

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The Rays’ quest for a new stadium has been an ongoing saga for years, but things took a small step forward yesterday, as Jeff Patterson of WFLA Channel 8 in Tampa reported that Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan announced a proposed site for a new stadium. The new Ybor City site would move the Rays from St. Petersburg to Tampa, hopefully leading to an increase in attendance thanks to a more desirable location and a newer facility.

“This is another important step in the site selection process, and we are grateful for the time and attention that went into making it a possibility,” said Rays president Brian Auld in an official statement on the proposal. “We look forward to getting to work evaluating this option, along with those in Pinellas County, including the Tropicana Field site, as a potential future home for Rays baseball in Tampa Bay for years to come.”

Certainly, the proposed site doesn’t guarantee that the Rays will break ground on a new Ybor City facility just yet. To the contrary, as Auld indicated in his comment, the Rays are only just scratching the surface of evaluating the newly proposed construction site, and they’ll likely do the same with other potential locations before ultimately determining a course of action. There’s also the matter of the Rays’ current lease at Tropicana Field, which reportedly runs through the 2027 season. Terminating that lease early will come with its own set of financial repercussions, including millions of dollars that’ll need to be paid out to the city of St. Petersburg as well as the forfeiture of a 50 percent share of development rights at the Tropicana Field site, as WFLA’s Mark Douglas writes.

The level of effort required to navigate such a large business endeavor, of course, is enormous, and with that in mind the Rays are set to shuffle their front office mix, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. President of baseball operations Matt Silverman is set to take on a broader role and serve as a co-president with Auld, per Topkin’s report, moving further away from the baseball operations mix and into a more overarching role with the front office. Silverman’s roots with the Rays are on the business side of the operation, and he’d previously been an integral part of the stadium talks before shifting to president of baseball operations in the wake of Andrew Friedman’s departure.

Silverman’s new title isn’t yet clear (nor are any other new titles that may emerge), but the change may not be as drastic as one would expect upon first glance. Despite keeping the “president of baseball ops” title, Silverman effectively handed day-to-day oversight of baseball operations over to Erik Neander and Chaim Bloom a year ago. Both vice presidents at the time, Neander was named the team’s new general manager, while Bloom was bumped to senior vice president of baseball operations.

As such, a shift of Silverman’s focus more to the business side of the equation doesn’t necessarily reflect a seismic shift in the team’s operational hierarchy, though it’s possible that he’ll have less overall say in baseball decision-making, with Neander and Bloom factoring even more heavily into those processes.

Mets Outright Five Players

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The Mets began their offseason roster maintenance on Wednesday, outrighting five players off their 40-man roster, per a club announcement. Among the cuts were right-handers Tyler Pill and Erik Goeddel, outfielders Travis Taijeron and Wuilmer Becerra, and infielder Phillip Evans.

The 27-year-old Pill came up from Triple-A Las Vegas to support an injury-ravaged pitching staff. In 22 innings (four relief appearances and three starts), Pill logged a 5.32 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 49.3 percent ground-ball rate. Pill, the younger brother of former Giants first baseman Brett Pill, posted a solid 3.47 ERA in 80 1/3 innings in Las Vegas’ extremely hitter-friendly environment, though his 5.6 K/9 mark and 2.5 BB/9 mark there suggest that he benefited from some degree of good fortune.

Goeddel, 28, has spent parts of four seasons with the Mets but has not replicated the promise he showed from 2014-15, when he posted a 2.48 ERA with a 40-to-13 K/BB ratio in 40 innings out of former manager Terry Collins’ bullpen. Over the past two seasons, Goeddel has seen his control and velocity worsen, with the ultimate results being a 4.87 ERA in 64 2/3 innings of work. He still averaged 9.6 K/9 in those 2016-17 seasons, but Goeddel also served up 13 homers in that time — an unacceptable average of 1.8 homers per nine innings pitched.

Taijeron and Evans, meanwhile, both received September cameos that marked their respective MLB debuts. The 28-year-old Taijeron mashed in the aforementioned hitters’ haven of Las Veags (.272/.383/.525, 25 homers, 32 doubles) but hit just .173/.271/.269 in 59 big league plate appearances. Evans, 25, batted .279/.341/.418 in Vegas and spent at least 140 innings at each of left field, second base, shortstop and third base. He hit .303/.395/.364 in a tiny sample of 38 MLB PAs.

The 23-year-old Becerra went from the Blue Jays to the Mets alongside Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud in the widely panned R.A. Dickey swap and for a couple of years rated as one of the Mets’ more promising farmhands. However, Becerra batted just .267/.332/.335 this past season as a 22-year-old in his second trip through the Class-A Advanced Florida State League.

Minor MLB Transactions: 10/25/17

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Here are the latest minor moves from around the game, all via Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted:

  • Likewise, the Red Sox will bring back outfielder Aneury Tavarez on a minors pact. The 25-year-old qualified for minor-league free agency after a 2017 season in which he missed significant time due to injury. Tavarez had been taken in the Rule 5 draft by the Orioles, but was returned to Boston before playing in the Baltimore organization. He ended up slashing .244/.292/.400 in 145 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • Braves lefty Ian Krol has elected free agency following his outright, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick first tweeted. The 26-year-old reliever worked to a 5.33 ERA over 49 frames in 2017, with 8.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. The results weren’t exciting, obviously, but Krol did still average a healthy 93.7 mph with his fastball and recorded a career-best 11.4% swinging-strike rate, so he’s likely to draw plenty of interest from organizations looking for bullpen competition and depth in camp.
  • Similarly, Athletics righty Chris Smith took free agency after being outrighted off of the 40-man roster. The 36-year-old handled 55 2/3 MLB innings in Oakland over nine starts and five relief appearances, but surrendered 2.6 homers and 6.79 earned runs per nine innings. Smith had never before topped 46 innings in a single season over his unusual career.
  • Other right-handed pitchers taking free agency include Jacob Turner of the Nationals and Jose Valdez of the Padres. The 26-year-old Turner made it back to the majors with the Nats, but managed only a 5.08 ERA in his 39 frames of action. A former top prospect, Turner averaged better than 95 mph on his fastball for the first time in his career, but carried a marginal 6.0% swinging-strike rate. Valdez, 27, was knocked around for 15 earned runs on seven home runs in 17 MLB frames last year, though he did record 16 strikeouts against just four walks. He has spent time in the bigs with three organizations in the past three campaigns.

Matt Bush Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

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Rangers righty Matt Bush has undergone a procedure to his right shoulder, as MLB.com’s TR Sullivan was among those to report (Twitter links). Specifically, Dr. James Andrews performed an arthroscopic acromioclavicular (AC) join resection.

That’s not the best news, clearly, but the hope seems to be that it’ll put to rest a problem that had hobbled Bush in a somewhat disappointing 2017 season. The expectation is that he’ll be ready to participate fully in Spring Training, which is certainly fairly promising.

Bush, 31, had returned from a lengthy absence from professional baseball to debut with aplomb in 2016. But he couldn’t quite hold the same edge over a full season in 2017, when he worked to a 3.78 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 52 1/3 frames.

While Bush carried much the same blistering velocity (around 98 mph) and swinging-strike rate (12-13%) that he did last year, he wasn’t as successful at managing contact. Opposing hitters boasted a much stronger collective batting average on balls in play (.329 vs. .245) and home run rate (1.20 per nine vs. 0.58).

Still, there’s plenty of reason to think that Bush can keep providing value if he’s able to get back to full health. Given that he played in the field early on and went through an extended mid-career layoff, Bush has little in the way of mileage on his arm.

Dustin Pedroia Undergoes Knee Surgery

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Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia underwent surgery on his left knee today, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Glove (via Twitter). The team has announced that the “cartilage restoration procedure” will keep Pedroia from game action for approximately seven months.

If he stays on schedule, then, it seems the best case is that the 34-year-old Pedroia will miss approximately the first two months of the 2018 season. He also required a procedure on the same joint last October. He was able to work back to health over the offseason, but suffered further injury after taking a hard slide and ended up dealing with inflammation over the course of the 2017 campaign.

 

Pedroia remains a key part of the Boston plans, of course. He’s slated to earn $56MM through the 2021 season under the extension he signed in the summer of 2013. It’s fair to wonder, though, whether the Sox would be best-served buttressing their infield depth for the coming season.

That being said, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski suggests to Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston that a significant move won’t be needed to account for the surgery. Given the timing and existing depth options, Dombrowski says this procedure and that of lefty Eduardo Rodriguez “do not really affect [the Red Sox’] offseason plans.” Indeed, the team does have some infielders with MLB experience — Brock Holt, Deven Marrero, Tzu-Wei Lin, Josh Rutledge, and Marco Hernandez — that could conceivably fill in, though all come with questions.

Notably, too, Dombrowski says that the team is optimistic about Pedroia’s ability to return to effectiveness. And it would surely be premature to doubt a player of Pedroia’s stature and long-lauded toughness. Indeed, there’s plenty of reason to believe he can still play at a fairly high level as he reaches his mid-thirties. Even when battling through injury in 2017, Pedroia turned in a .293/.369/.392 batting line. While that’s shy of his typical output, including his work in the prior two seasons, it still represents league-average productivity with the bat. Perhaps some of the power will return with better health.

At the same time, Pedroia’s defensive and baserunning metrics have declined quite a bit of late. Though he’s still generally valued as a positive in the field, Fangraphs’ BsR measure paints him as a significantly below-average runner. In the aggregate, given his age and injury history, there’s also cause quite some uncertainty as to Pedroia’s future outlook.

Some may wonder why it took this long for the move. Dombrowski explained, though, that the surgery was accomplished as soon as possible once it was decided upon. Understandably, Pedroia first spent some time assessing his options with doctors, as it’s not a minor procedure. Sox righty Steven Wright, who’s still working back from the same thing, detailed an “excruciating” and ultimately lengthy recover in a recent conversation with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford.

 

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