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Greg Maddux

NL Notes: Cubs, McGwire, Nationals

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By renovating the historic Fenway Park in 2002, Boston augmented their baseball ops department with the quickening revenue streams from an improved stadium experience – a strategy Theo Epstein brought with him to Chicago, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Additionally, both Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, under Epstein’s leadership, have benefited from in-stadium advertising along the outfield walls – much like your local little league field. In Boston, the seats added above the Green Monster came complete with the ad billboards above. In Chicago, the bleachers were devoid of ad content until 2010 when a 360-foot Toyota sign was installed over the left field bleachers. Baseball purists may balk at these eyesores becoming a focal point of such historic stadiums, but the financial welfare afforded both franchises by these towering facades have produced previously-unmatched eras of on-field success. Lest we forget, Wrigley Field was called Weeghman Park until it was acquired by the chewing gum tycoon, so while it’s not as obvious a money grab as southside rival Guaranteed Rate Field, the Cubs’ northside stadium has long been financially-inspired – Epstein’s major contribution is making these influxes of cash obvious on the field.

Now, some coaching updates around the National League…

  • Mark McGwire won’t be returning as the Padres bench coach for 2019, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. McGwire is reportedly stepping down to spend more time with his family after two seasons as the bench coach in San Diego. Big Mac had previously spent three seasons apiece as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. For the Padres, they will seek to avoid an extended search to fill their three coaching vacancies for 2019 (bench coach, hitting coach, and infield coach).
  • In other coaching news, the Washington Nationals will not be making any changes to their coaching staff prior to 2019, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Manager Dave Martinez returns for the second year of a three-year deal, hoping for a turnaround after a disappointing first year in Washington. Bench coach Chip Hale, hitting coach Kevin Long, and pitching coach Derek Lilliquist will return to buttress Martinez in the Washington dugout. Rounding out the coaching crew: former infielder Tim Bogar returns to the first base coaching box, Greg Maddux’s former personal catcher Henry Blanco returns to coach in the bullpen and longtime third base coach Bob Henley returns in his usual role.

Dodgers Hire Greg Maddux, Raul Ibanez As Special Assistants

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The Dodgers have hired former MLB stars Greg Maddux and Raul Ibanez as special assistants to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and the club’s baseball operations department, per a team announcement.

Maddux and Ibanez are both highly decorated ballplayers, of course, and also have accumulated a fair bit of experience since their playing days ended. They’ll assist in scouting and player development functions, according to the team’s press release.

The 49-year-old Maddux — a recent Hall of Fame inductee — has worked with both the Cubs and Rangers front offices in recent years, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group writes. During the 2013 World Baseball Classic, he was the pitching coach for Team USA.

Ibanez, meanwhile, worked as a television analyst last year after wrapping up his 19-year-career following the 2014 season. The 43-year-old has seen his name come up as a possible field staff candidate, but will instead make his first foray into the front office world with Los Angeles.

Crasnick On Price, Greinke, Heyward, Upton, Murphy, Starlin

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ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick conducted his annual Hot Stove survey, polling a number of front-office executives and scouts about some of the top names available both in free agency and on the trade market. Crasnick asked respondents to weigh in on David Price vs. Zack Greinke; Jason Heyward vs. Justin Upton; Chris Davis vs. Yoenis Cespedes; which of Colby Rasmus or Daniel Murphy would be able to sustain some of his postseason success; which of Jeff Samardzija or Ian Desmond is a better rebound candidate; which of Javier Baez or Starlin Castro is more likely to be traded; and which of Alex Gordon, Ben Zobrist or Johnny Cueto is likeliest to return to the Royals. Crasnick has full voting and plenty of quotes from execs/scouts for those who wish to read the piece in its entirety, but here are some particularly interesting highlights…

  • More respondents felt comfortable giving a nine-figure deal to Greinke than to Price, though the expectation is still that Price’s deal will top Greinke’s due to age. Crasnick quotes a pair of scouts that rave about Greinke’s delivery and how he can age well due to his intelligence and lack of reliance on pure velocity. One NL scout likened Greinke to Greg Maddux.
  • Heyward won the voting over Upton when asked which would perform better over the life of his next contract, though there was a reasonably even split, and many scouts quoted by Crasnick are concerned with Heyward’s reliance on defensive value and what one described to be a high-maintenance swing.
  • Murphy won the voting over Rasmus in their question, and one American League special assistant offered an interesting take to Crasnick: “If I was a team and I had a market for Murphy, I’d want him playing third base. I don’t like him at second. The ball finds him, like it did in the World Series. He got exposed there.” Murphy does have experience at third base, and we’ve mentioned him as a possible option for teams in need of help at the hot corner here at MLBTR, as the free-agent market presents little beyond Murphy and David Freese.
  • More respondents felt that Castro is likelier to be traded than Baez, even though as one scout put it, Baez would “fetch more of a haul.” An AL GM offered an interesting take on Castro’s contract, however, telling Crasnick: “Castro showed enough at two positions this year that his contract will seem like a fair deal once the free-agent class this year gets paid.” Castro, who is owed about $38MM over the next four seasons, certainly isn’t cheap and isn’t without his risks. He was a replacement-level player in 2013 and played that way for much of the 2015 season before his bat came to life late in the season following a switch to second base. Of course, Castro also sported an unsustainable .388 BABIP in September and October, which somewhat inflated his production.
  • Cespedes and Samardzija narrowly won the voting on their respective question, while Gordon was far and away the most popular answer in the Royals realm.

Boras Blast From The Past: Maddux Accepts Arbitration

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Nearly three years have passed since I did an entry in the Boras Blast From The Past series, but Ryan Madson's surprising one-year, $8.5MM contract yesterday with the Reds got me thinking about whether agent Scott Boras had previously settled for a one-year contract for a top client in his prime coming off a strong season.  Madson is clearly at the top of his game, as a durable 31-year-old reliever who posted a 2.37 ERA, 32 save season.  So far I haven't found a similar situation with Boras, although the story of Greg Maddux accepting arbitration as a free agent in 2002 is an interesting one.

At age 36, Maddux hadn't won a Cy Young award in a while, but he was still very good.  In 2002 the Professor posted a 2.62 ERA, second in the National League behind Randy Johnson.  Teammate Tom Glavine, who is a few weeks older than Maddux, finished third in NL ERA and signed a three-year, $35MM deal with the Mets in early December 2002.  Later that month, Maddux made the surprising decision to accept arbitration, the equivalent of a one-year deal for 2003.

According to Murray Chass of the New York Times, Boras explained the decision by saying, "At this point in time it was a choice of venue for him.  He had multiple offers, but he really wanted to have another crack at it in Atlanta. He's confident he's going to be pitching for a long, long time and he's very durable, so working on a one-year contract won't bother him. He has some goals that he has not yet achieved in Atlanta that he wants to resolve."  According to the AP, Boras said "many clubs at the ownership level were interested" in Maddux, adding, "At this point in time, at least for this year, they wanted to return to Atlanta and give it one more shot of winning there."  Boras' choice of "they" rather than "we" leads me to believe the decision came more from the client than the agent.  After all, Boras is known for pulling rabbits out of his hat in January (Madson notwithstanding).

Despite Boras' claims, it seems possible that Maddux's market was limited.  The AP article said no other teams publicly talked about pursuing him.  Part of the problem was the recent collective bargaining agreement, which added a 175% luxury tax on the portion of teams' payrolls over $117MM in 2003.  According to SI's Tom Verducci in November of 2002, "Most teams are expected to treat the luxury-tax threshold as a de facto salary cap," and teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Rangers, and Red Sox were anxious to avoid it.  It also appears Boras came out of the gate aggressively for Maddux, seeking a five-year deal according to Verducci.

The Braves had already planned for life without Maddux and Glavine, having acquired Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton and signed Paul Byrd.  Maddux's decision to accept arbitration busted the Braves' budget, so the team immediately traded Kevin Millwood to the rival Phillies for Johnny Estrada.  GM John Schuerholz said, "We had no choice but to move payroll."  Seven years later, a similar situation occurred with the Braves when reliever Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration and had to be traded due to payroll constraints.  Soriano did not become a Boras client until several months later. 

Maddux seemed headed for a hearing to determine his 2003 salary, but a few days prior he split the difference between his and the team's arbitration submissions, agreeing to a $14.75MM salary.  It was the largest one-year contract in baseball history.  Though Maddux led the NL in walk rate in '03, he posted his highest ERA since 1987 in his final and most expensive season with the Braves.

Rangers Notes: Greg Maddux, Thad Levine

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The latest on the defending American League Champions…

  • The Maddux move is official, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. His title will be special assistant to the GM. 
  • The Astros obtained permission to speak with Levine, according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
  • Greg Maddux is leaving the Cubs and may soon accept a position with the Rangers, according to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune. Maddux, who worked as a special assistant to Cubs GM Jim Hendry last season, would join his brother in Texas. Mike Maddux, the Rangers' pitching coach, interviewed for the Cubs' managerial opening before deciding to remain in Texas. 
  • Maddux will join the Rangers, according to Grant. He's expected to evaluate and help develop pitchers during the season.
  • The Astros contacted the Rangers to obtain permission to interview assistant GM Thad Levine, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Astros have already obtained permission to speak with Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, but it seems unlikely that Friedman will leave Tampa Bay.

Odds & Ends: Maddux, Valverde, Davis, Felix

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Links for Monday…

  • Press release: Greg Maddux has joined the Cubs as an assistant to GM Jim Hendry.  He'll work with the coaching staffs as well as baseball operations.  Click here for the official story. 
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Diamondbacks' interest in Jose Valverde has cooled.  The Tigers made an offer, the magnitude of which is unknown. 
  • Morosi says the Indians are not engaged in trade talks for Jhonny Peralta.
  • ESPN's Keith Law praises the Reds for adding a pitcher with huge upside in Aroldis Chapman.  He also points out that MLB's current draft setup "screws American-born players."
  • David Coleman of The Crawfish Boxes says the Astros drew a line when they designated Julio Lugo for assignment in '03 following domestic violence charges, making their Brett Myers signing seem hypocritical.
  • Free agent lefty Doug Davis is interested in joining the Nationals, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson, but Davis was told the Nats are more focused on adding a second baseman.  Davis acknowledged, "Things are kind of going slow for me because I'm fifth or sixth down the line [when it comes to] starting pitching."
  • Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times talks about the Mariners' need to sign Felix Hernandez long-term before the season begins.
  • Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles evaluates the Giants' Aubrey Huff signing.
  • MLB.com's Doug Miller discusses new defensive stats with experts and team officials.

Odds & Ends: Trade Deadline, Reds, Maddux

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Some more links on a busy Saturday evening…

  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman believes the trade deadline is "no longer even in existence" because teams can always use waivers to swap players in August:  "Guys are going to get through because people are going to be afraid to claim and get stuck with money that they can’t afford," said the GM. "And so the July 31 trade deadline is more of a fictitious one now, anyway."
  • According to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, Reds manager Dusty Baker had a meeting with his players this week to discuss the looming trade deadline.  "Dusty said… that if you continue to win, they can't remove pieces," noted trade candidate Bronson Arroyo.
  • As Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune points out, using Rich Harden and Jason Marquis as prime examples, midseason trades don't always look as sweet a year later.
  • According to the Associated Press, via ESPN.com, the Braves are interested in adding Greg Maddux as a spring training pitching instructor.  Maddux worked in a similar capacity for the Padres last spring.
  • For quick updates and a bit more discussion, follow MLBTR on Twitter.  Hey, and while you're at it, go ahead and add your good buddy Drew Silva.  I'll try not to let you down.

Odds & Ends: Bergmann, Maddux, Red Sox

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Some Odds & Ends to round out this Sunday morning's news:

  • Right-hander Jason Bergmann, who has an option left, is not happy that the Nationals have sent him to Triple-A, says Pete McElroy of masnsports.com. In nine games, Bergmann didn't give up a run. He had 6 K and 2 BB in 11 1/3 innings.
  • Not a rumor, but a headline of importance: Unsurprisingly, the Braves are going to retire Greg Maddux's number in July.
  • Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal praises the Red Sox shrewdness by improving their ballclub while reducing their payroll by $13MM, from fourth highest to sixth. Back-loaded extensions to key players could mean the Sox could add payroll if a marquee player becomes available this summer.
  • Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star has a short but interesting article up noting that paying for a free agent pitcher does not usually work out. It would be interesting to actually see the numbers on this. Mellinger writes,
"We looked at the 47 contracts worth $5 million or more per year signed by active players, and analyzed their innings pitched, ERA and adjusted ERA for up to three years before and after the contract. Our executive said this would be a crude but effective way to make a judgment.

"The results are brutal: Thirty pitchers regressed after signing, and only 13 improved. Four contracts were close enough to be judged either way. That’s a fail ratio of 2:1."

Odds and Ends: Maddux, Beltre, Cordero

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Links for Monday…

Odds and Ends: Laird, Mitsui, Snyder

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Links for Tuesday…

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