In terms of pure statistics, Rodriguez more than qualifies for induction.  And yet beyond the 696 home runs, 14 All-Star appearances, and three MVP awards, one number has defined Rodriguez’s career — $252,000,000.

It was on this day in 2000 that Rodriguez dropped a bombshell on the sports world by signing a ten-year, $252MM free agent contract with the Rangers.  It was far and away the largest contract ever signed in pro sports, let alone in MLB.  (Just a few days before Rodriguez’s deal, Mike Hampton inked an eight-year, $121MM deal with the Rockies that briefly stood as the biggest contract in baseball history.)  Even 21 years later, A-Rod’s Rangers contract is still the twelfth-richest contract ever signed in baseball.

To be clear, there was no doubt that Rodriguez was going to land some sort of record-setting deal that winter.  The first overall pick of the 1993 draft had done nothing but live to that lofty status over his first seven seasons, hitting .309/.374/.561 with 189 home runs over 3515 plate appearances with the Mariners.  Besides being a five-tool player, Rodriguez also had youth on his side, as he hit the open market when he was only 25 years old.  A team could reasonably count on A-Rod to continue posting superstar-level numbers over at least the next decade, which only helped agent Scott Boras’ case that his client deserved a unique type of contract.

But for an eye-popping $252MM number, a unique type of bidder was needed.  Enter the Rangers.  Tom Hicks purchased the team in June 1998, and while Texas won AL West titles in both 1998 and 1999, they were swept out of the ALDS in both years.  After the Rangers stumbled to a 71-91 record in 2000, Hicks felt a major shakeup was required, and that included an unprecedented splurge on the top free agent available.

As you might expect, the reactions to Rodriguez’s signing ranged somewhere between wonder and outrage.  Many felt it was a sign of irresponsible spending, as then-Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker described the contract as “The sooner we run this up the flagpole, the sooner we get to D-Day and a catastrophic event” for competitive balance in baseball.

This viewpoint also extended to the Commissioner’s Office.  MLB’s executive VP of baseball operations Sandy Alderson said he was “sort of stupefied” by Rodriguez’s deal, as “we have effectively doubled the previous most lucrative contract in two days. I don’t like the exponentiality of all of that.  We have a straight-up trend that doesn’t augur well.  To me, it’s incredible.

“For every Texas, there are five teams like Oakland who traded their second baseman, let go of their starting right fielder and saw their No. 2 pitcher sign a $40 million contract as a free agent with another team.  I suggest you ask the players on teams such as that whether this game is as healthy as this signing suggests.”

There is no small amount of irony in these comments some 21 years later, on several levels.  Firstly, Athletics fans are undoubtedly sighing deeply over the fact that both now and then, their team’s “cycle” of roster reloads has continued to spin.  Secondly, competitive balance continues to be a cornerstone issue between players and owners amidst the current lockout, though one of the primary concerns on the MLBPA’s side is that larger-market teams aren’t spending enough, and that the league’s mechanisms to ostensibly protect competitive balance (draft bonus pools, luxury tax penalties, draft pick compensation for free agents, etc.) are driving salaries down.

And, Alderson himself is now president of the Mets, working for an aggressive owner in Steve Cohen who has — like Hicks in 2000 — shown himself to be unfazed by signing precedents.  Since Alderson returned to the Mets in September 2020, New York has already signed Francisco Lindor to a ten-year, $341MM contract extension, and set a new record for average annual value by signing Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130MM pact.  (In another ironic twist, an ownership group led by Rodriguez and ex-fiancee Jennifer Lopez were among the strongest bidders for the Mets last year before Cohen ultimately bought the club.)

In hindsight, the critics were technically right, in that signing Rodriguez didn’t help the Rangers to any success on the field.  Texas didn’t enjoy a single winning record in Rodriguez’s three years with the club, and Hicks came to see A-Rod’s deal as a payroll albatross.  Of course, the issue was more due to the lack of talent Texas built around Rodriguez, rather than what Rodriguez was doing himself.  A-Rod held up his end of the contract with the Rangers, hitting .305/.395/.615 with 156 homers over his three seasons in Arlington and capturing AL MVP honors in 2003.

By February 2004, Rodriguez’s tenure with the Rangers was already over, as he was dealt to the Yankees in a blockbuster swap in exchange for Alfonso Soriano, Joaquin Arias, and (possibly most importantly) $112MM of the $179MM that remained on A-Rod’s deal.  This trade came about only after an earlier proposed trade with the Red Sox was vetoed by the MLBPA since Rodriguez would have been giving up $28MM in salary, and thus A-Rod found himself in the Bronx.

As it happens, Rodriguez is actually still receiving money from the Rangers to this day, via deferred payments from his original contract and re-brokered in the wake of the Rangers filing for bankruptcy in 2010.  What was once seen as a transformative signing in the franchise’s history ultimately became something of an expensive footnote, and even a cautionary tale.  It’s one thing to sign a can’t-miss superstar (even at a $252MM price tag), but quite another to keep making canny roster moves to make sure that superstar’s prime years aren’t being wasted.

It is a lesson that the current Rangers front office surely has in the back of their minds as they embark on another spending spree.  In the wake of five consecutive losing seasons and a pared-down payroll, Texas has zoomed back to prominence this winter by landing Jon Gray (four years, $56MM), Marcus Semien (seven years, $175MM) and, biggest of all, Corey Seager for 10 years and $325MM.  That’s another star shortstop on another 10-year deal, except with $73MM more in guaranteed money.  Texas fans can only hope that the “Transaction Retrospection” MLBTR is writing about the Seager contract in 21 years’ time carries many more references to World Series championships, rather than the sour feelings left behind by the A-Rod deal.

The Timberwolves have struggled to build a consistent contender in the NBA since a successful run with fiery big man Kevin Garnett ended. Even then, functional GM Kevin McHale, coach Flip Saunders, and Garnett lost seven consecutive first round series. They finally broke through in 2003-04 for the franchise’s first playoff series win. They’d fall in the Western Conference Finals in what turned out to be the final playoff run of the Garnett era, however. Minnesota has just one playoff appearance in their history outside of that eight-year run, despite a roster currently built around the first overall pick of the 2015 draft Karl-Anthony Towns. You can find out more by heading to Hoops Rumors where Arthur Hill has the latest details. Now, back to baseball…

• Jake Odorizzi is set to make his debut for the Houston Astros on Tuesday versus Detroit, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Cristian Javier will head to the club’s alternate site to make room, tweets McTaggart. Javier should be back with the big league club before too long, but the Astros wanted to give him some extra time between appearances. Javier, 24, figures to be a significant part of the Astros’ rotation this season, but the 24-year-old wasn’t totally healthy at the start of the year. Regardless, he’s been sharp in two starts thus far, including getting a win with five scoreless innings against Oakland on Thursday.
• Zac Gallen could also return as early as Tuesday, per the Athletic’s Zach Buchanan (via Twitter). Manager Torey Lovullo wouldn’t commit, but it certainly sounds like Gallen will be back soon. The Diamondback rotation has struggled without Gallen leading the way. Now that Ketel Marte has landed on the injured list, Gallen’s return could provide a much-needed lift for the Snakes.
• Anibal Sanchez cut his fingers just 13 pitches into a bullpen showcase today, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter). It had seemed like Sanchez would be ready to sign soon, but he’ll now need 10 days for his finger to heal. The Phillies, Nationals, and Marlins have all been tied to Sanchez at one point or another this winter.

Now, after falling short, A-Rod is crying foul on the process, as he believes bidding was rigged in Cohen’s favor, Kosman and McEnery report. Mets banker Steve Greenberg asked Rodriguez what his group was willing to pay before final bids were due, per Kosman and McEnery, who write that the 14-time All-Star “reluctantly” gave Greenberg the information. Cohen then offered $2.35 billion for the franchise, which will apparently end up as the winning bid.

“They took the bids and showed them to Cohen,” a source close to Rodriguez told the New York Post. Another source said the sale “was fixed” because Rodriguez & Co. did not get a chance to match Cohen’s offer. Rodriguez has tried contacting Fred Wilpon since last Friday but to no avail, Kosman and McEnery report.

With Rodriguez out of the picture, it should only be a matter of time before Cohen finalizes a deal, though Major League Baseball will spend three months investigating his background before a sale goes through, Kosman and McEnery relay. If Cohen does get the team for $2.35 billion, though, it would represent a lower amount than the $2.6 billion he was willing to fork over in the winter before negotiations between him and the Wilpons fell apart.

The MLBPA was able to prevent the league from implementing a salary cap during the 1994-95 strike, but Rodriguez believes the players have lost leverage since then because baseball no longer has “a stranglehold on professional sports.” Rodriguez cited the increased popularity of the NFL and NBA and the rise of various digital media platforms as factors that have hurt baseball over the past two-plus decades. As a result, the owners and players must “really work collaborative” in an effort to return the game to the top.

How can they do that? In Rodriguez’s estimation, “The only way it’s going to happen is if they get to the table and say the No. 1 goal, let’s get from $10 to $15 billion and then we’ll split the economics evenly.”

Union chief Tony Clark fired back, stating: “Alex benefited as much as anybody from the battles this union fought against owners’ repeated attempts to get a salary cap. Now that he is attempting to become an owner himself his perspective appears to be different. And that perspective does not reflect the best interests of the players.”

As the highest-paid player in the history of the game, Rodriguez certainly did benefit from the cap-less setup when he was in the league. The former Mariner, Ranger and Yankee earned over $441MM in salaries according to Baseball Reference, which makes his comments especially surprising and, in some quarters, quite unpopular.

Former major league right-hander and current Rangers special assistant Brandon McCarthy was among those to voice vehement opposition to A-Rod’s observations, tweeting Thursday he hopes Rodriguez – now a television analyst – is “shouted out of every clubhouse he attempts to enter in this and future seasons. Call him a self-serving liar and make him explain himself to a room full of his former peers if he wants broadcast content.”

Rodriguez subsequently took to Twitter in the early hours of the morning Friday to issue a statement.

“Yesterday, when I was asked about the CBA expiring in 2021, I answered honestly, but never mentioned the word salary cap,” Rodriguez wrote. “My goal as a broadcaster and more importantly as a fan of the sport is to grow our game. I suggested on the call that both sides – players and owners – work together to make baseball as big as the NFL and the NBA. I’ve been in contact with Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, to make sure we’re aligned in taking our sport to the next level and showcasing the world’s best athletes.”

Regardless of whether Rodriguez’s star-studded group does land the Mets, the owners and players figure to be in for a contentious showdown when the CBA expires in December 2021. The two sides engaged in an all-too-public, months-long spat over finances during the COVID-19 shutdown, and with no agreement reached on regular-season length, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally imposed a 60-game schedule that will begin July 23. The hope is that the two sides’ bitterness toward one another will subside enough in the next year-plus that they’ll be able to peacefully negotiate a new CBA, but that may be unrealistic in light of how the past several months have gone.

Urlacher, 42, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018 after a brilliant 13-year career as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears. The 2000 Defensive Rookie of the Year is an eight-time Pro-Bowler who earned more than $80MM in career salaries — to say nothing of countless endorsement deals during his time as one of the league’s most marketable players. He’s also dipped into NFL broadcasting and television analysis. Urlacher himself confirmed to McClure that he’s a part of the group, calling it a “pretty cool” opportunity and voicing particular excitement over working with Rodriguez and his other NFL brethren.

The 35-year-old Thomas figures to join Urlacher in the Hall of Fame when he gains eligibility for the honor in 2023. Thomas went to the Pro Bowl in 10 of his 11 seasons in the NFL from 2007-17, during which he earned $110MM, according to Over the Cap.

Like Urlacher, Kelce confirmed that he’s involved and expressed gratitude for being able to take part in such a “crazy opportunity.” He hasn’t had Urlacher’s 13-year career and decade-plus of endorsement deals, but Kelce is entering the final season of a five-year, $46.482MM contract extension. The five-time Pro Bowler ranks among the game’s elite at his position and should be in strong free-agent position upon the completion of his current deal.

Beal, the No. 3 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, signed a two-year extension worth nearly $72MM back in October — a contract that came partway through his preexisting five-year, $127MM contract. Beal only just turned 27, so he has plenty of time to sign another big deal in the future, assuming he holds up. Plumlee scored his own sizable payday in 2017, re-signing with the Nuggets for $41MM over three years.

Murray, 32, hasn’t played in an NFL game since spending the 2017 season with the Tennessee Titans. The former NFL Offensive Player of the Year and three-time Pro Bowler, who made just under $26MM in the league, entered the college coaching ranks in recent seasons and is currently an assistant at his alma mater of Oklahoma.

The extent to which each of these high-profile investors is involved isn’t clear. While they’re all unquestionably wealthy and likely able to commit millions of dollars to the bid, it’s also likely that there are quite a few other investors contributing to the mix.

9:05pm: The initial bid from the Rodriguez/Lopez group is “around” $1.7 billion, Thornton McEnery of the New York Post tweets.

8:40pm: At least five interested groups formally submitted bids to buy the Mets on Thursday, Sportico’s Scott Soshnick reports. Among them are previously reported groups led by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez; New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers owners David Blitzer and Josh Harris; and, perhaps of most intrigue to Mets fans, New York billionaire and current minority stakeholder Steve Cohen. All offers submitted today are preliminary, non-binding offers which can still be altered, Soshnick writes.

Cohen was not only in talks to buy the Mets in late 2019 and early 2020 but actually had an agreement in place to increase his stake in the team from eight percent to 80 percent over a five-year period. However, that deal fell apart in February — reportedly after managing partner Fred Wilpon and son Jeff (the Mets’ COO) sought to alter some terms at the eleventh hour. Neither party would comment directly on why the deal crumbled. Cohen said in a statement at the time:

I’m very disappointed we couldn’t work out a deal, but as an eight percent holder I’m looking forward to a higher bid for the team.  I want to thank the fans for their support and the respect they showed me and I want to thank Commissioner Manfred and MLB for their support through the process.  I gave it my best shot.

Cohen, a New York native with a net worth estimated at one point to be in excess of $13 billion, grew up as a Mets fan. That has given current fans hope that he could substantially up the team’s payroll in the event that he is ultimately victorious in his apparently renewed pursuit of a purchase. Whether that was actually the case earlier this year can’t be known, and it’s particularly up for debate whether it’d play out in such a manner following substantial revenue losses and a stark economic downturn. Cohen’s initial bid on the Mets was reported to be a whopping $2.6 billion. Updated bids are expected to be lower, however, due both to recent economic turmoil and the fact that the current sale is said not to include any stake in the SNY Network.

The other ownership groups, of course, shouldn’t be counted out. While few can match Cohen’s considerable net worth, the A-Rod/J-Lo group recently enlisted Florida Panthers owner Vinnie Viola and VitaminWater and BodyArmor co-founder Mike Repole to bolster its resources. Harris and Blitzer already own a pair of U.S. sports teams, and Harris has a minority stake in an English Premier League club, so this is familiar territory.

There’s also been reported interest in the Mets from U.K. billionaires David and Simon Reuben. The brothers carry a net worth even greater than that of Cohen — a reported $14 billion — and have interest in expanding their broad-reaching real estate and retail enterprise into New York in the near future. Bloomberg reported that they recently purchased retail space in Manhattan, and they’re said to have interest in developing the land around Flushing’s Citi Field. Whether they’re one of the five (or more) groups to have formally submitted a bid isn’t yet clear.

As many as seven groups were pre-approved by Major League Baseball recently. The Wilpons are aiming to complete a sale of the team by end of year.

This is clearly a serious attempt from Rodriguez and Lopez, who McEnery hears are putting in “hundreds of millions” of their own dollars to land the Mets. It’s unclear exactly who else would be part of a Rodriguez-Lopez ownership group – Wayne Rothbaum was said to be in the mix earlier, but it doesn’t seem that’s the case anymore – though they have been talking with New England Patriots owners Bob Kraft and Jonathan Kraft. The Krafts don’t want to buy a baseball team, yet they’re “very intrigued” with the plans Rodriguez and Lopez have to breathe new life into Citi Field and its surrounding areas, McEnery details in his piece.

Regardless of whether the Krafts do accompany Rodriguez and Lopez, a source told McEnery that “the money is there,” that “a bid is coming,” and odds are the Mets will go for less than $2 billion if they do change hands. Furthermore, while the Wilpons have been reluctant to give up any part of the SNY television network in a sale, it seems they’re more open to it now. The Wilpons would still want to keep some portion of SNY in giving up the Mets, however, McEnery reports.

The coronavirus shutdown could continue to lead to major financial losses for the Wilpons, who may reportedly lose up to $150MM even during a half-season. That could increase their urgency to sell the team, and it now looks possible that Rodriguez and Lopez will swoop in if the Wilpons do step away.

It seems that Rodriguez and fiancee Jenifer Lopez simply weren’t able to gain traction with potential co-investors and have decided to call off the effort. They made some headway with Wayne Rothbaum (see here and here) but obviously failed to put together a viable partnership.

The report goes on to dish about the Mets’ financial difficulties, which are a major factor in the ongoing efforts to sell the team. It seems the club could be looking at losses approaching or even reaching nine figures if the gates to Citi Field never open in 2020.

It’s certainly a suboptimal moment to be seeking a buyer for a baseball franchise. While the chance to own a New York team would normally hold great appeal, these aren’t typical times. The Mets’ longstanding financial woes loom larger than ever.

The difficult operational challenges facing a potential new owner are compounded by the fact that the current Wilpon ownership group is evidently committed to holding onto its ownership of the SNY regional sports network. Whether or not the Wilpons can keep their revenue-producing TV business while still moving the organization for a big price remains to be seen, but the marketplace seems rather skeptical.

April 20: When the concept was first mentioned, it wasn’t clear whether Alex Rodriguez was seriously interested in headlining a bidding group for the Mets. But he and pop singer/fiancee Jenifer Lopez have recently taken at least one notable step towards a potential play for the franchise, Scott Soshnick of Variety reports.

Rodriguez, much like predecessor Barry Bonds, finished his playing days with one of the most impressive but deeply stained resumes in baseball history. Performance-enhancing drugs tarnished both players, though A-Rod has taken quite a different path since hanging up his spikes. With a series of major media roles, he has crafted a familiar post-PED profile.

Precisely what sort of bidding group might be compiled isn’t clear, but A-Rod and J.Lo have retained JPMorgan Chase to see about putting one together. There was never any doubt that the celebrity couple would need to participate with other, yet wealthier investors to take over the Mets. At last look, the current Wilpon family ownership group had yet to mark down its $2.6B sticker price for the organization.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether this story has legs — not just because of the obvious potential for gossip-rag fireworks. The Mets have had their issues over the years, but it’s awfully rare to see big-city teams hit the market. It seems all but inconceivable that the franchise value won’t take a hit in light of the coronavirus pandemic — whatever the long-term outlook, there’ll obviously be a major near-term operational shortfall — but whether and to what extent remains for the market to decide.

We’re still a long way from that … let’s call it fascinating … possibility. But we’ve now seen the first indication that A-Rod has designs on the game’s most interesting opportunity — the availability of one of the game’s two New York-based teams. Putting the offbeat all-time great in a prominent position with the Mets is all but guaranteed to produce heretofore unseen reams of backpage headline material.

According to Thornton McEnery of the New York Post, Rodriguez is “kicking the tires” on trying to spearhead a Mets bid. While he and spouse-to-be Jennifer Lopez are quite wealthy, even they wouldn’t have pockets deep enough to pull this off alone.

As one A-Rod-linked source puts it: “[Rodriguez] genuinely loves the Mets. He and J-Lo have talked about him buying a team ever since Jeter got the Marlins.” It’s certainly hard to imagine a better opening coming together; owning a MLB organization isn’t the sort of opportunity that’s available on demand.

Needless to say, there are quite a few potential obstacles to be cleared before we’ll be treated to a Wilpon-A-Rod transition. The rare shot to land a NYC-based pro sports franchise is naturally going to attract wide interest. And it won’t come cheap. Per the report, the existing ownership group is eyeing a deal in the realm of $3B — not including its ownership interest in SNY but also not coming with the hangover team control situation that seems to have scuttled the recently nixed talks with minority Mets owner Steve Cohen.

ESPN is currently considering changes to its Sunday night booth, per Marchand. Though Alex Rodriguez is expected back, Mendoza and play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian are projected to have around a “70%” of returning to the weekly national broadcast for 2020. Whether or not Mendoza’s ties to the Mets are the cause of her current up-in-the-air status with the network is not clear, but it will be worth monitoring if she and Ross will be able to return to the program in a similar toe-the-line situation next year–or if the two will be forced to choose between their on-air or front office gigs.

More items of note from around baseball…

• Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun took a statistically inclined look at the 2019 season of Orioles Rule V pick Richie Martin (link). As you might expect for a Rule V pick, Martin’s full-season slash line was pretty unsightly at .208/.260/.322, but Meoli points to a few positives in his month-over-month progress. In particular, Martin cut his strikeout rate by nearly 14% from the first to the second half; the infielder also showed less of a reliance on pulling the ball following the All-Star break. Hitting coach Don Long and assistant hitting coach Howie Clark took pains to simplify Martin’s swing over the course of the year, which will, hopefully, lead to Martin finally capturing the potential that Oakland saw in him when it selected him 20th overall in the 2015 amateur draft.
• Bradley Zimmer of the Indians was politely asked by management to pursue at-bats in winter ball this offseason, but, after grinding through a five-and-a-half month rehab process tied to shoulder surgery, the outfielder wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea. While the club was concerned that Zimmer, 26, had missed about a season-and-a-half due to various injuries, Zimmer felt an offseason spent at home would serve him better in preparation for 2020. This organization-player dialectic is profiled in a piece from Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, who concludes that Zimmer will open next season in the minors in search of those lost at-bats (link). It’s an interesting look at the ways in which clubs and players often have to work together to manage and alter expectations due to injury, with the management of mental health and personal/family considerations also playing a factor. Then again, is it possible Zimmer is simply banking on forcing his way into the Cleveland lineup with a hot spring? Though it seems a lifetime ago that Zimmer burst onto the scene with a 1.6 fWAR output in just 332 plate appearances back in 2017, it stands to reason that a strong showing in March might spur the club to shuffle him into the deck above in-house options like Greg Allen or Jake Bauers.

As with previous managerial searches, we’ll keep a running post on any news and rumors connected to possible candidates for the Yankees’ job.

Latest Updates

• The Yankees are not limiting themselves to the five candidates that are known to have interviewed, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden reports (Twitter links). That seems to introduce a bit of a wild card to the search at this stage. How many additional candidates might get interviews isn’t known, but there seems to be at least one name already on the list for a sit-down. Beltran, who is discussed further below, will be brought in for a closer look, according to Steve Phillips of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (via Twitter).

Interviewing Candidates

• Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward is slated to interview, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. The former big league infielder has been a base coach and an infield instructor with the Dodgers and Mariners for the past four seasons. It is not known at present whether others will also get a shot at an interview, but owner Hal Steinbrenner did make clear the club will meet with “less than ten” candidates, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch recently tweeted. (The team’s plans for additional interview rounds are also not apparent.)
• Broadcaster Aaron Boone and Giants coach Hensley Meulens have each had their interviews, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported would take place. Boone’s candidacy was first reported by ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). The long-time big leaguer, who spent a small but memorable portion of his career with the Yankees, does not have any big league coaching experience. Meulens is also a former Yankee player; Sherman first called him someone “who could come into play” for the job.
• The Yankees have interviewed former Mariners and Indians skipper Eric Wedge for the post, tweets ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand. The 2007 American League Manager of the Year, Wedge hasn’t been in a big league dugout since the 2013 season — his final in Seattle. Since that time, he’s spent two seasons as an analyst with ESPN and another two working with the Blue Jays’ player development department. He’s currently a field coordinator in the Toronto organization.
• Bench coach Rob Thomson sat down with the organization about the managerial opening on November 8th, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter), though it doesn’t seem as if he faced the press afterward. Thomson has been on Girardi’s staff since 2008 and previously worked in the Yankees’ player development department.

Preliminary Candidates (Interview Status Unknown)

• If Boone was an unexpected candidate, then the most recent possibility to be floated comes straight from left field — almost literally. Even as he announced the end of his playing career today, Carlos Beltran was generating buzz in relation to the Yankees managerial opening. In interviews with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera, Beltran said he wants to manage (at least eventually) and suggested he’d have interest in the gig. Cashman did not commit to anything when asked to comment, saying that he’s “aware of [Beltran’s] interest in managing in the future” but declining to elaborate otherwise on the matter. Carlos Beltran tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post that he had a “brief conversation” with GM Brian Cashman and that he has a desire to apply his knowledge and passion for the game to a managerial role in the Majors. Beltran also indicated that he hasn’t been asked to come in for an interview, though, and Sherman suggests that the Yankees may only interview one or two additional candidates for the position, casting some doubt as to whether Beltran is truly a possibility.
• Former major league infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston Jr. is a potential candidate, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears (Twitter link). Hairston was a member of the Yankees’ most recent World Series-winning team in 2009, but he doesn’t bring any coaching experience to the table. Interestingly, though, former ESPN.com writer Mark Saxon noted back in 2013 that managing could be in Hairston’s future. As Saxon detailed, Hairston is fluent in Spanish – a valuable asset for a manager – and, at the time, was a mentor to some of his younger teammates on the Dodgers. That season went down as the last of Hairston’s playing career. The 41-year-old has been working as a Dodgers broadcaster since retiring in December 2013.
• Per Sherman and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, some of the internal candidates likely to receive consideration include bench coach Rob Thomson, first base coach Tony Pena, minor league hitting and baserunning coach Reggie Willits, and minor league managers Al Pedrique (Triple-A), Jay Bell (advanced A-ball) and Josh Paul (short season A-ball).

Unlikely Candidates/Not In The Mix/No Longer Under Consideration

• The Yankees asked the Athletics for permission to speak with manager Bob Melvin, but were not given authorization, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).
• Former Yankee outfielder and current Dodgers special adviser Raul Ibanez was mentioned by both Sherman and Hoch. But he decided not to pursue the position after being contacted, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post tweets.
• Recently fired Tigers manager Brad Ausmus also declined a chance to interview, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
• Josh Paul isn’t considered a candidate, according to George A. King III of the New York Post.
• Kevin Long was initially cited by Sherman as “a long shot,” but has since signed on to become the Nationals’ hitting coach.
• Yankees VP of baseball operations Tim Naehring tells ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand that he isn’t interested in being considered for the job.  Naehring has worked almost entirely in front office capacities for the Reds and Yankees since he retired from playing, and Marchand suggests that Naehring is a future GM candidate for other teams.
• The Yankees have not contacted the Marlins about manager Don Mattingly, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported.  Miami has announced more recently that Mattingly will remain with the organization as manager.
• The idea of Alex Rodriguez becoming the Yankees’ manager is “the longest of long shots,” according to Hoch.  Given the controversy and hard feelings that seemed to accompany A-Rod’s final years in New York, Rodriguez would indeed seem like a very unlikely fit, especially given how he has seemingly moved onto a new career in broadcasting.

Team Approach

• Yankees GM Brian Cashman discussed the search with reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Cashman said that the organization prefers a “fresh voice” to connect with its young players, indicating that Girardi wasn’t the man to improve “the connectivity and the communication level of the players in that clubhouse.” The veteran executive says he did not enter the search process with a list of candidates already prepared, suggesting it’s a wide-open search.
• Interestingly, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter links), the plan is for candidates to meet with the media — in part, perhaps, as part of the evaluation process. And though Cashman says he may in the past have sought out employees with whom he had previously worked, he notes that won’t be a “driving force” in this case. Sherman previously discussed that potential factor.

Now the latest from Heyman’s American League and National League notes columns:

• Prior to the season, Royals impending free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer shot down a report that he was seeking a 10-year deal. But there’s still a belief within the organization that he will request something close to a decadelong pact in the coming months, per Heyman, who adds that Hosmer is the soon-to-be free agent the Royals most want to keep. However, Kansas City hasn’t made a serious offer to Hosmer on account of what could be a lofty asking price, and the team expects the 27-year-old to reach free agency. Fellow longtime Royals Mike Moustakas (third base), Lorenzo Cain (center field) and Alcides Escobar (shortstop) are also likely to hit the market in the offseason. Moustakas is the Royals’ biggest priority after Hosmer, suggests Heyman, while they seem resigned to the idea that Cain will find a larger payday elsewhere. Escobar, the weakest player of the four, could re-sign if the price is right. At one point, he was seeking $10MM per year, but his cost has come down thanks to his dreadful offensive start (.174/.203/.228 in 196 plate appearances). Meanwhile, right-hander Ian Kennedy probably won’t opt out of the remaining three years and $49MM left on his contract, Heyman writes.
• Alex Rodriguez could still factor into the Marlins’ next ownership group if the faction including Tagg Romney, Tom Glavine and Dave Stewart lands the franchise. Given A-Rod’s controversial past, the Romney team is keeping him “at arm’s length” for now; even if they weren’t, Rodriguez isn’t allowed to be part of an ownership group as long as he’s still collecting a salary from the Yankees. The 41-year-old’s contract with the Bombers expires at season’s end. His former teammate Derek Jeter, who’s vying with Jeb Bush and against Romney & Co. to purchase the Marlins, isn’t planning to invest much money, says Heyman. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported Saturday that Bush and Jeter are leading the race to acquire the franchise.
• Heyman reported in April that the Indians would look to extend first baseman/designated hitter Carlos Santana, but discussions between the two sides still haven’t taken place. They might not occur, either, as Heyman relays that Santana is likely to hit free agency at season’s end. At .219/.321/.390 in 215 PAs, the 31-year-old hasn’t carried his typically above-average production into this season so far, but he continues to exhibit quality plate discipline with 27 walks against 31 strikeouts. Santana’s walk rate has dropped in each season since 2014, however, and is now at a career-low 12.6 percent.
• When the offseason rolls around, odds are that Tigers left fielder Justin Upton will not opt out of the remaining four years and $88MM left on his deal, reports Heyman. “Not happening,” one rival general manager said of a potential opt-out. Upton hasn’t lived up to his lucrative contract in his year-plus in Detroit, putting him on track to take the bird-in-the-hand approach.
• It appears first baseman Lucas Duda is in his final season with the Mets, as Heyman implies that he’s primed to sign elsewhere over the winter. The 31-year-old power hitter has been among the Mets’ top players this season, having slashed .267/.406/.570 with six home runs in 106 PAs, but they do have a well-regarded youngster behind him in Dominic Smith. Baseball America sees Smith, 21, as the game’s 65th-best prospect.
• Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is making $557,900 this year, according to Heyman, who reported in March that the backstop had agreed to a salary worth more than the minimum of $535K.
• Add the Astros to the list of teams interested in Cuban shortstop prospect Jose Israel Garcia, who recently became a free agent. The Astros have already exceeded their pool allotment for the 2016-17 international free agent class, which could indicate that they’re looking to sign the 19-year-old Garcia before the period ends June 15.

Heyman’s weekly American League and National League Notes columns reveal a few more interesting hot stove items…

• Despite the fact that multiple reports suggest the bidding price for the Marlins is around $1.3 billion, some have suggested to Heyman that the team’s lack of revenue and significant financial commitments to Giancarlo Stanton, Wei-Yin Chen, Martin Prado and others will ultimately lower the sale price after a full financial examination. Heyman adds that despite prior reports, he’s been told that Alex Rodriguez was never actually offered a spot in the Tagg Romney/Tom Glavine group that is vying to purchase the Marlins. Whether A-Rod was made an offer or not, the key takeaway is that it appears he won’t be involved in the sale.
• Rival executives believe that Pirates ace Gerrit Cole could land on the trade market this summer, per Heyman. The former No. 1 overall pick would make for an extremely interesting addition to the summer trade market, though Bucs certainly needn’t feel compelled to trade him. Cole is controlled through the 2019 season and is earning a perfectly reasonable $3.8MM this season (though that number will spike in his second trip through arbitration this winter). Nonetheless, with two and a half years of club control left, Cole would fetch a significant haul of young talent if he were actually made available. It seems quite likely that the Bucs will listen on Andrew McCutchen and Tony Watson this summer (Watson, like Mark Melancon last year, is a pending free agent), but Cole would have the most significant value of the bunch.
• Even if a closer upgrade were available to the Tigers at the moment, they don’t have the money to make an addition (or at least wouldn’t be willing to spend it). Detroit recently demoted Francisco Rodriguez from the ninth inning in favor of Justin Wilson following a brutal start to the season for K-Rod, and their bullpen has once again been a weak spot. Heyman notes that GM Al Avila at one point made a trip to Triple-A Toledo and “read the riot act” to right-hander Bruce Rondon, who has responded by dropping 15 pounds. Rondon was once viewed as a potential closer of the future, but he’s yet to establish himself and has had issues with his conditioning and effort level.
• Heyman also reports a pair of agency changes, noting that Red Sox top prospect Rafael Devers is now a client of Rep 1 Baseball, while Dodgers top prospect Yadier Alvarez is now repped by Wasserman. Neither has made his MLB debut yet, though both are considered among the game’s top 25 to 50 prospects and could theoretically surface in the Majors within the next calendar year or so (Devers, who is already in Double-A, appears closer than Alvarez, who has just 18 innings in High-A). Both changes are now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation info on roughly more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any inaccuracies or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

More rumblings from Rosenthal (video link):

• Rival executives expect Rangers general manager Jon Daniels to act aggressively if the club isn’t contending as the trade deadline approaches, says Rosenthal. That could mean moving ace Yu Darvish, a free agent-to-be, but doing so might not be as easy as it seems, Rosenthal contends. Darvish has a limited no-trade clause that could include 10 teams, for one, and Texas has “a unique relationship” with the 30-year-old, according to Rosenthal. As such, the team could try to extend Darvish in lieu of dealing him. However, thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, there’s less incentive to retain an impending free agent than there was under the previous system. Last offseason, for instance, the Rangers could have extended Darvish a qualifying offer and gotten back a first-round pick had he rejected it and signed elsewhere. In the same scenario next winter, though, the Rangers would only net a pick after the second round as compensation for Darvish’s exit in free agency.
• The Giants, off to a miserable start, look like sellers in the making. That’s even more true when considering the luxury tax, Rosenthal points out. The Giants exceeded the threshold in the each of the previous two years, and doing so for a third straight season would force them to pay a 50 percent tax (up from their current 30 percent). But if San Francisco rids itself of enough money to get under the limit, it would reset the tax to 20 percent. Trading right-hander Johnny Cueto would help the Giants’ cause from a financial standpoint, though his looming opt-out clause could complicate his market, observes Rosenthal.