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Dusty Baker

Astros Owner Jim Crane Discusses Correa, Verlander, Gurriel, Baker

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While Astros owner Jim Crane is focused on his team’s ALDS matchup with the White Sox, Crane talked about several impending offseason topics with FOX 26’s Mark Berman, The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome (all multiple links) and other reporters today.

With several major names scheduled to hit free agency, Crane said his team plans to “definitely be in the mix” to sign Carlos Correa, and “I think we have a chance” to retain the shortstop’s services.  Of course, “it just depends on where we end up on that and what Carlos wants to do.  Certainly dollars are a factor.”

The Astros made attempts to sign Correa to a contract extension last spring, reportedly making offers in the range of five years/$125MM and six years/$120MM.  Those numbers seemed low even before Correa delivered an All-Star performance in 2021, and the 27-year-old now seems likely to land at least twice as much money on the open market.

Re-signing Correa would require the Astros to make the biggest financial commitment in franchise history, which Crane at least sounded open to, if a little guardedly.  “I never count anything out….We have a history of doing something in the neighborhood of five (years) is the most we’ve ever done since I’ve been here,” Crane said.  “Things can change.  We’re not counting it out.”

Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Lance McCullers Jr. have all signed five-year extensions with Houston during Crane’s stewardship, and it isn’t as if Crane has been unwilling to spend.  Altuve’s five additional years gave the second baseman $151MM in new guaranteed money, Bregman’s extension was worth $100MM, and McCullers landed $85.5MM.  That said, Correa said back in April that the Astros “made it clear to me they don’t believe in long contracts, they don’t believe in big contracts,” which could indicate that his contractual expectations go far beyond any commitment the Astros are willing to make.

Crane didn’t bring up the qualifying offer in regards to Correa, in all likelihood because it seems a foregone conclusion that Houston will issue Correa a QO and he’ll reject the one-year offer, leaving the Astros in line to receive draft pick compensation if Correa did sign elsewhere.  Justin Verlander is a bit more complicated qualifying-offer case given that the veteran ace has missed virtually all of the last two seasons with injury, but Crane said “we’ll probably” issue Verlander the QO “and then see where it goes.”

Even after two lost seasons and now on the verge of his age-39 season, Verlander is still “looking for a contract of some length,” according to Crane.  This would imply that Verlander would reject the one-year qualifying offer (though it would pay in the neighborhood of a $20MM salary for 2022) in search of a longer-term deal, and given Verlander’s track record, it certainly seems possible that at least one or even multiple teams would be willing to sign the future Hall-of-Famer to such a multi-year contract.

If Verlander did reject the QO, the Astros would at least benefit via compensatory draft picks.  However, Verlander has 10 days to decide whether or not to accept a qualifying offer, and if he doesn’t get wind of any teams showing interest in a multi-year deal, Verlander might choose to take the QO and remain in a familiar situation in Houston.  The Astros and Verlander’s camp could then negotiate a longer-term extension after the QO had been accepted, similar to what Jose Abreu and the White Sox did in the 2019-20 offseason.

There appears to be much less controversy surrounding Yuli Gurriel’s 2022 status.  The Astros hold an $8MM club option on Gurriel for next season, which looks to Crane like “a pretty easy decision.  I’m sure we’ll execute on that.”  The 37-year-old Gurriel is coming off a strong season that saw him hit 15 homers and win the AL batting title as part of an overall .319/.383/.462 performance in 605 plate appearances.

Beyond the player roster, manager Dusty Baker isn’t under contract beyond this season, as Crane said “we haven’t really talked about it.  We’re going to wait for things to get over with here” in the Astros’ playoff run.  Baker has led the Astros to the postseason in each of his two years in Houston, and the veteran manager has indicated that he would like to continue with the team.

Though Crane noted that GM James Click has authority over the manager’s job, “I’ll certainly weigh in on it and we’ll make a decision probably together on that one because I did hire [Baker] to begin with.”  Crane did give Baker some measure of a vote of confidence in noting that Baker “has done a great job for us.  I like Dusty a lot.”

AL West Notes: Astros, Bregman, Angels, Trout, A’s, Brown, Piscotty

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The Astros are expected to activate star third baseman Alex Bregman from the injured list on Monday, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter). That should be welcome news for the Houston faithful. The Astros have been without Bregman since June 17th when he suffered a quad strain. He will play what could be a final rehab game for Triple-A Sugar Land tomorrow, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros have held up without Bregman, but with just a 2.5 game lead over the A’s in the West, Dusty Baker’s squad could certainly use another big bat. Speaking of those Athletics…

  • Seth Brown wasn’t gone for long. The A’s outfielder was optioned to Triple-A yesterday, but he’s back on the active roster today, replacing Stephen Piscotty, who heads to the 10-day injured list with a sprained left wrist, the team announced. Brown steps right into the starting lineup today playing right field. Piscotty, meanwhile, is suffering through the worst season of his career, slashing .220/.282/.353 in 173 plate appearances — an output worth -0.6 rWAR.
  • Mike Trout is running about every other day, and though he’s nearing a rehab assignment, a date has not yet been set, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Angels are exactly .500 at 62-62, which puts them 11 games out of first and 8.5 out of a playoff spot. Trout doesn’t exactly have to hustle back for the playoff race, then, though the Halos do have a chance to finish above .500 for the first time since 2015. Trout has been out since May 18th with a calf strain, though the superstar refers to the injury as a tear.

AL West Notes: Baker, Astros, Rangers, A’s

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Dusty Baker is taking a wait-and-see attitude towards continuing to manage into the 2022 season, telling reporters (including The Associated Press) that it “Depends how I feel. Depends on how the team feels about me….You never know what changes are going to come about in life.”  Hired last January in the wake of A.J. Hinch’s sudden firing, Baker guided the Astros to a wild card berth and then an unexpected run to Game Seven of the ALCS, falling just shy of the franchise’s third AL pennant in four seasons.

Baker is the first manager in baseball history to lead five different franchises to the postseason, adding yet another plaudit to a managerial career that has now stretched to 23 seasons.  Last June, Houston exercised its club option on Baker for the 2021 season, though it remains unknown if an extension could be in the offing (Baker made no allusion to any negotiations during his media session).  Baker also turns 72 in June, so he could potentially decide to retire after one more year in the dugout.

More from the AL West…

  • Also from Baker, he told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that the Astros are focusing on adding pitching, with “our bullpen probably first.  That’s a premium area right now, and then maybe you go to position players and you go to a starter, not necessarily in that order.”  Recent reports linked the Astros to the Liam Hendriks market, which would arguably be the biggest possible addition any team could make to their bullpen this winter.
  • The Rangers have been one of the offseason’s busiest teams to date, and GM Chris Young told reporters (including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson) that the club still has more items on its shopping list.  The Rangers are looking to add starting pitching, catching, and third base help, with the latter position perhaps being the most interesting considering Elvis Andrus and Nick Solak are already on hand as internal candidates.  Both are defensively suspect at the hot corner, however — Solak has limited career playing time at third base, and Andrus has never played anywhere other than shortstop over his 12-year career.  Gold Glove winner Isiah Kiner-Falefa will be moving from third base to take over Andrus’ former spot at shortstop.
  • Since the Athletics reportedly don’t have much available to spend this offseason, their chances of making any notable free agent additions or even re-signing some of their own free agents don’t seem great, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser writes as part of a reader mailbag.  Signing a player like Ha-Seong Kim seems very unlikely given Kim’s expected price tag, and while the A’s have had some talks with Tommy La Stella’s camp, Slusser would “be surprised” if a reunion actually takes place since La Stella should have enough suitors to take him out of Oakland’s price range.  In terms of possible returns, Yusmeiro Petit or Joakim Soria might be the likeliest candidates among the Athletics’ free agents, and Mike Fiers could also be re-signed since the A’s might want some rotation depth or perhaps a swingman.
  • In other AL West news from earlier today, the Angels and Mariners each signed new relievers, while the Rangers swung a trade with the Reds.

Athletics, Astros Name Starters For First Two Games Of ALDS

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The Oakland A’s will switch up their starting rotation heading into their ALDS series with the Houston Astros. Chris Bassitt – who started the 2nd game of the wild card series – will take the hill in the series opener, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (via Twitter).

It would be easy to confuse Bassitt for a fungible back-end rotation type, but he’s been a consistent performer for Oakland over the years. This season represented a breakout of sorts for the 31-year-old, who went 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA/3.59 FIP over 11 starts in the regular season. He went 7 innings, giving up just 1 earned run to keep the A’s season alive in game 2 of the wild card round against the White Sox.

Lefty Sean Manaea will look for postseason redemption when he gets the ball in game 2, per Gallegos. Manaea – Gallegos reminds us – gave up 3 home runs over just two innings last season in a wild card game loss to the Rays. He’ll be familiar with his surroundings at Dodger Stadium, as his last start came in that very park a little under two weeks ago. For the year, Manaea went 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA/3.71 FIP in 11 starts.

Manaea is one of a number of southpaws the A’s could throw at the Astros, who as a team marked a 94 wRC+ against lefties in 2020 versus 102 wRC+ against right-handers. Alex Bregman crushed lefties in 2020 for a 166 wRC+, but each of Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, and Kyle Tucker performed markedly better versus right-handers this season.

After Bassitt and Manaea, the A’s could go in a number of different directions, which will likely depend on the results of the first two games. Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo, Mike Minor, and Mike Fiers could all be possibilities to start games 3 through 5. That group gives the A’s a slight advantage over the Astros when it comes to their rotations, writes MLB.com’s Andrew Simon.

It would be quite the showdown for Fiers to get a start late in this series. Fiers, of course, famously outed the Astros in the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the baseball world last winter. The Astros and A’s already have enough to fight about given the early-season altercation between Ramon Laureano and Astros’ hitting coach Alex Cintron, which led to suspensions for the involved parties.

All that said, Fiers may very well not be the best option for the A’s. Though he started the deciding third game of the wild card series, he lasted just 1 2/3 innings. In prior seasons, he’s been passed over for key postseason starts both with the Astros and the Athletics. Luzardo is certain to land higher on the pecking order than Fiers, though he could be utilized out of the bullpen as he was in 2019. The same can be said for Montas, who came out of the bullpen for a two-inning stint against the White Sox.

On the other side, manager Dusty Baker announced Lance McCullers Jr. and Framber Valdez as the starters for games 1 and 2, respectively, per the Athletic’s Jake Kaplan and others. The only real surprise here is that Zack Greinke would then be held out until game 3. Greinke is less likely than others to show up out of the bullpen the way Valdez did in game 1 of the wild card series. Still, with a 5-game series in 5 days, there figures to be less opportunity for that sort of roster manipulation. There will be a game 3, and no matter how the first two games of the series go, the Astros figure to feel pretty good with a rested Greinke ready to go in game 3. Baker, to be clear, has not named his game 3 starter.

Quick Hits: Verlander, Seager, Soroka

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Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters including the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome that ace Justin Verlander is “not progressing as quickly as he’d like” in his recovery from a forearm strain. Of course, Verlander holds himself to extremely lofty standards, so that could mean any number of things. Verlander went to the injured list on July 27th after just one six-inning start. The Astros are as eager as Verlander to have their ace return – they’re in the middle of the pack, record-wise, and awaiting the return of a number of key players, including Yordan Alvarez and Jose Urquidy. In the meantime, they recently shuffled their rotation in the hopes of providing a spark from a new line of starters.

  • Corey Seager had a back scan last night, but the results showed nothing to be concerned about, per MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. The discomfort Seager has been feeling is not related to the back injury that he suffered during the 2017 playoffs, adds J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. That’s very encouraging news for the Dodgers. Seager has started hot this season (.340/.389/.600) after a so-so season in 2019 dimmed his star (to some) just a bit. He’s day-to-day for now, with Chris Taylor captaining the infield in his stead.
  • Mike Soroka’s surgery to repair his right Achilles tendon yesterday was successful, the team announced. The first step in a long recovery process is now in the books for the Braves’ ace. There’s no sugarcoating the severity of Soroka’s injury, though a number of people have made a point to say that Soroka has the temperament and work ethic to weather this storm and return to acedom. With a bevy of young pitching candidates in a much-hyped system, Soroka has stood out among the field, quickly becoming the ace of this Braves contender. In 29 starts last year, he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA/3.45 FIP, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting and 6th for Cy Young.

 

MLB Suspends Joe Kelly, Dave Roberts

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Major League Baseball has issued suspensions in the wake of last night’s bench-clearing action between the Dodgers and Astros. Los Angeles righty Joe Kelly was suspended for eight games and manager Dave Roberts received a single-game ban.

Kelly will appeal his suspension, so it’s not going into effect right away. Roberts will go ahead and sit out this evening’s game. His counterpart, Astros skipper Dusty Baker, will be fined for what went down between the two clubs.

In Kelly’s case, the league made several factual determinations that drove the decision. Kelly was deemed to have thrown “in the area of the head” and also to have “taunted” in a manner that spurred the clearing of the benches. The statement also noted that he had previously been suspended for such an incident.

Astros Exercise Club Option On Dusty Baker

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The Astros announced that they’ve exercised their 2021 club option on manager Dusty Baker. Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston first reported that Houston was set to pick up the option. The Houston organization also picked up 2021 options on pitching coach Brent Strom and third base coach Gary Pettis.

Baker, 71, was hired back in January after the Astros fired both president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch in the wake of the team’s sign-stealing scandal. The move to hire Baker, one of the game’s most widely respected figures in any role, gave the club an experienced voice of leadership following a chaotic winter and distanced the organization from the previous regime. Some wondered whether Baker might be a one-year stopgap, given the short nature of his initial contract, but it seems he’ll stick around into next season.

“Dusty has been a perfect fit for our ballclub,” GM James Click said in announcing the move. “His knowledge of the game and experience have been invaluable to us in his first few months with the club. We’re excited to see him in an Astros uniform again next year.”

Camp Battles: Astros’ 26th Man

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The Astros final roster spot will be a two-man showdown between Myles Straw and Garrett Stubbs, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Of course, this particular “camp battle” has as much to do with the pieces around the players as the players themselves. For that matter, it may come down to a conversation between Dusty Baker and new GM James Click. The two are likely still developing a cohesive philosophy when it comes to roster construction. That they have an extra roster spot in the 26th man this season ought to help smooth the waters. Still, there’s a decision to be made here, and as with many clubs, the decision may come down to just how many catchers they want to have on the roster. Let’s take a deeper dive into the candidates. 

  • One would think that Myles Straw is the frontrunner to make the opening day roster. Without him, the Astros don’t have a natural backup for George Springer in center. With Jake Marisnick now on the Mets, Straw is the likeliest candidate to fill that void as a pinch-runner and late-game defensive replacement. Josh Reddick would probably fill that role as a backup were Straw not to make the team, though it would be surprising if that were the case for the entire season. Even if Straw doesn’t make the cut, expect him to occupy a roster spot at times throughout the season.
  • Stubbs, 26, has spent the last two seasons in Triple-A, and he’s certainly ready enough to get some time as a backup in 2020. He has a good approach at the plate, will take his walks and doesn’t strike out (16.2% K-rate last season). He’s reliable enough defensively, but it’s hard to see where the Astros would benefit from rostering a third catcher. Martin Maldonado will be the primary starter, and he could be used as a defense replacement in games he doesn’t start. On the other hand, they may risk burning their bench by pinch-hitting for Maldonado in spots. Still, Dustin Garneau is on hand for those occasions. Garneau has some power potential, but Kyle Tucker or Josh Reddick will be the first lefty bat off the bench, while Aledmys Diaz will be the guy from the right side. One backup catcher ought to suffice.
  • The sleeper candidate here is Abraham Toro. He debuted last season with a .218/.303/.385 line over a mere 85 plate appearances. Toro offers a quality combination of speed/power and the ability to play either corner in the infield as well as second base in a pinch. He’s a switch-hitter, which provides some utility beyond the overlapping skillset he shares with Diaz or Yuli Gurriel, but he also has options available. The Astros, therefore, will feel no pressure to keep him on the major league roster. That said, Toro gained some popularity last season, a quality the Astros are short on these days. Having a young player that fans can root for unequivocally may get Toro an extra look.

We’re assuming here, of course, that the Astros will go with an eight-man bullpen. That’s hardly a foregone conclusion, though it’s the likeliest result in the case of most teams, and given that the Astros have some uncertainty at the back end of their rotation, they may enjoy having an extra arm to leverage until the number four and five starters establish some consistency.

Astros Hire Dusty Baker

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5:34pm: The Astros formally announced that they’ve hired Baker as their new skipper.

4:08pm: Baker’s contract is actually a one-year deal with a club option for the 2021 season, per Nightengale and Rosenthal (Twitter links).

3:15pm: The Astros have found their replacement for recently fired manager A.J. Hinch, having reached an agreement on a “short-term” deal with veteran skipper Dusty Baker, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). It’s a two-year pact, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Nightengale reported yesterday that Baker was the team’s choice, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added that a deal would be finalized today.

Dusty Baker | Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

When Baker formally puts his signature on a contract, it’ll set the stage for a fascinating season in Houston. The Astros are loaded with talent but face no shortage of organizational adversity in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal that resulted in the firing of prior manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow. The club has yet to hire a new baseball operations leader.

Baker, who commands a presence as large as anyone else in the game, certainly comes with an old-school vibe that runs counter to the analytically driven organizational culture that had predominated in Houston. But the job of this skipper will be to help guide the team through a difficult stretch; Baker is generally beloved in clubhouses and charming with the press. And his different cultural mooring may well be an asset in this case.

It’s also rather unfair to dismiss Baker as a present-day manager. True, he has not yet taken a team to the promised land in his 22 seasons as a manager. He ultimately became a bit of a symbol for certain outdated thinking about the game, particularly regarding the management of pitchers. But Baker has expressed an openness to evolving and certainly didn’t stop his most recent team from posting a whole lot of wins.

Baker’s 2016-17 stint with the Nationals provides quite the secondary dramatic undergirding for the coming season. His D.C. charges posted 95 and 97 win seasons, claiming consecutive NL East titles. But the team lost a pair of heartbreaking postseason series and Baker was somewhat surprisingly not offered a new contract after the end of the year.

It seemed Baker, now 70 years of age, had missed out on his final shot at a World Series. Now, he’ll have another. And he’ll do so with the team that just lost a barn-burning Game 7 to those very same Nats, who finally donned an elusive crown. Those two teams share a Spring Training facility that’s sure to draw flocks of press (and provide quite the boon to the West Palm Beach Marriott). And they’re also slated to square off in a series in D.C. over July 4th weekend.

Latest On Mets’ Managerial Search

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Longtime major league managers Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker and John Gibbons have been mentioned as speculative fits for the Mets since Carlos Beltran stepped down last week. However, as of now, none of them are candidates to take over in New York, Jon Heyman of MLB Network suggests. Something would have to “drastically” change for any of the three to emerge as a possibility for the Mets’ job, according to Heyman.

To this point, almost no known Beltran successors have come to the fore since he left the organization Thursday as a result of the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing fiasco. The lone reported name is Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas, whom they almost hired before making the ill-fated decision to tab Beltran back in the fall.

Now, it seems Mets bigwigs aren’t fully sure how to proceed in the wake of Beltran’s sudden exit. There’s “some level of paralysis” from their front office on where to turn, according to the New York Post’s Mike Puma, who notes an eventual ownership change is part of the issue.

While minority owner Steve Cohen won’t grab the reins from Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon as the Mets’ control person until 2025, his eventual takeover has slowed down the club as it seeks its next skipper. GM Brodie Van Wagenen & Co. fear they’ll “look bad to Cohen” if they hire a manager whom they didn’t consider in their previous search, Puma writes. So, with that in mind, it appears Rojas is the front-runner to land the position after coming up short in his bid for it just a couple months ago.

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