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Rays Notes: Payroll, Archer, Bloom

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The Rays have noticed the Royals’ aggressive approach at the plate, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. President of baseball operations Matt Silverman noted the past trend towards plate patience which aimed at knocking out the opposing starter as early as possible. Now teams have taken a more aggressive tack in response to elite bullpens. “Today bullpens are incredibly formidable and a number of teams are adjusting and taking a more aggressive approach throughout and trying to hit the strikes they see.”

Here’s more from the Rays:

  • Topkins expects the Rays payroll to decline in 2016. He views the $72MM spent in 2015 as a ceiling. Since the club has 11 arbitration eligible players, it would seem they may need to cut costs in other areas. Asdrubal Cabrera’s one-year, $7.5MM deal is the only major contract coming off the books.
  • By qualifying for Super Two status, Rays ace Chris Archer has locked in a $25.5MM guarantee. Archer signed a six-year contract extension at the start of the 2014 season. If he had failed to qualify for arbitration this offseason, the guarantee on his deal would have reduced to $20MM.
  • Rays vice president Chaim Bloom is expected to remain with the club after interviewing for a couple open GM positions. However, Bloom has been increasingly linked to GM openings, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the Blue Jays considered him with regard to their newly vacated position. That’s only my speculation. The Rays are also likely to promote internally to fill the position left by former director of pro scouting Matt Arnold.

Klentak, Bloom, Kantrovitz Are Finalists For Phillies GM

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1:21pm: MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets that Kantrovitz is the third finalist for the position. As Zolecki notes, Kantrovitz, Bloom and Klentak are all Ivy League graduates in their 30s with a backgroudn in analytics, which fits the mold of what MacPhail and Phillies ownership were reportedly targeting early on.

1:03pm: Picollo is no longer in the running for the position, reports Crasnick (via Twitter).

10:52am: Bloom is indeed one of the three finalists for the position, Crasnick now reports (via Twitter).

OCT. 23, 9:40am: Klentak is one of the three finalists for the vacancy, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).

Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes that the current postseason schedule gives MacPhail a nice window to make an announcement. While the league frowns on major news announcements on game days, the Phillies could make an announcement Monday morning on a scheduled off-day. That’d allow MacPhail and the new GM to be with the club for the onset of the Phillies’ organizational meetings. Sources tell Salisbury an announcement could very well happen on Monday.

OCT. 22: 10:07pm: Former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry also interviewed for the Phillies’ GM vacancy, Crasnick tweets, and while he could land in Philadelphia, it’d be in an advisory role as opposed to GM. Hendry is currently working in the Yankees’ front office as a special assignment scout.

8:30pm: Crasnick adds (also via Twitter) that Rays VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has also interviewed for the position, though he doesn’t specify whether or not Bloom is among the finalists.

8:25pm: The Phillies are down to three candidates in their hunt for a general manager and could make a decision in the near future, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). The team’s organizational meetings begin on Monday, and while president Andy MacPhail recently said a hiring by that date would be ambitious, Crasnick’s report would seem to indicate that the team could have someone in place by Monday after all.

We’ve been keeping tabs on the list of GM candidates for Philadelphia since the team began its search to replace Ruben Amaro, who was dismissed late in the season. To this point, the known list of candidates to interview includes former Marlins GM Larry Beinfest, MLB’s vice president of baseball ops Kim Ng, Indians VP of player personnel Ross Atkins, Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak, Cardinals director of player personnel Matt Slater, Athletics assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz and Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo. However, Crasnick reported recently that Beinfest has been informed he’s no longer in the running, while Ng reportedly is not among the top candidates.

Earlier this week Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that Kantrovitz had received a pair of interviews. He’s the only known candidate to have interviewed twice, so he seems the likeliest of the listed candidates to be among the final three. Klentak has long been said to be a favorite, having worked underneath MacPhail with the Orioles, and Picollo has been oft-mentioned as well.

Brewers To Interview Rays’ VP Chaim Bloom On Thursday

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With Doug Melvin transitioning from general manager to an advisory role, the Brewers are on the hunt for a new GM. To this point, it’s known that Pirates director of player development Tyrone Brooks was in line for an interview. Additionally, reports have indicated that the Brewers have received permission from the A’s to interview assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz. Scouting director Ray Montgomery stands out as an internal candidate. Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio is said to be eyeing a younger GM with a base in analytics. That brief recap aside, here’s the latest on Milwaukee’s GM search…

  • The Brewers will interview Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom on Thursday, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Rosenthal had reported last week that it was expected that the Brewers would ask permission. Bloom, formerly Tampa Bay’s director of baseball ops, was bumped to VP last offseason after Andrew Friedman made the jump to the Dodgers. The 32-year-old Yale grad would seem to fit the team’s preference for a rising young executive that can bring a familiarity with analytics to their revamped front office.

Front Office Notes: Red Sox, Kantrovitz, Bloom

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The Red Sox on Wednesday announced a trio of front office promotions, beginning with the promotion of former big league right-hander Brian Bannister to a newly created position: director of pitching analysis and development. He had previously been serving as a pro scout for the Sox. Additionally, amateur scout Chris Mears was bumped to pitching cross-checker, and Gus Quattlebaum was moved up from assistant director of professional/international scouting to director of pro scouting. Quattlebaum will replace former pro scouting director Jared Porter, who reportedly took a job with the Cubs late last month in the wake of Ben Cherington’s resignation.

More front office chatter from around the league…

  • D-Backs senior vice president De Jon Watson and Red Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen have surfaced as candidates for the GM vacancy in Boston, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Brewers VP of amateur scouting Ray Montgomery’s name has also come up in connection to the Sox, Heyman adds. As Heyman notes, Watson has previously worked under Dave Dombrowski with the Marlins. Frank Wren’s name is still very much in play as well, Heyman hears, but there’s no clear-cut favorite at this point.
  • The Brewers have received permission from the Athletics to interview assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz, per Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Kantrovitz is in his second stint with the Athletics and served as the Cardinals scouting director in the interim. Those interested in learning more about Kantrovitz will want to check out his interview with Fangraphs’ David Laurila from last October.
  • Rosenthal also reports (Twitter link) that the Brewers are expected to request an interview with Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Tampa Bay promoted Bloom from director of baseball ops to VP of baseball ops last offseason after Andrew Friedman joined the Dodgers organization. A graduate of Yale, Bloom has a background in player development, contract negotiation and international scouting.

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