Longtime Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon has exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and will be leaving Tampa, Buster Olney of ESPN.com first reported earlier Friday afternoon. Maddon was given an opportunity to opt-out of his contract when general manager Andrew Friedman left the team to go to the Dodgers, based on a special clause, as Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported. He was allowed a two-week window following Friedman's resignation to make a decision, as he told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Very early speculation was that Maddon could head to the Dodgers, due to his ties with their now-President of Baseball Operations in Friedman. However, Don Mattingly will continue to manage the team in 2015, Friedman said. Joe Maddon's availability will not change that. Other speculations included the New York Mets, but owner Jeff Wilpon told Heyman that they would not be changing managers. The Cubs also seem like they could be a fit for Maddon as well. It's been a rough start to the offseason for the Rays, who have lost both their brains in the front office in Andrew Friedman and their brains on the field in Joe Maddon. It will take a lot to replace those two, as they were vital in the Rays continued success. It will be hard for them to come back into contention in 2015 without both Maddon and Friedman. But the Rays are a forward-thinking team and could be able to pull something off. The only current managerial job that is open is of the Minnesota Twins, however, they appear to be close to finding a replacement as they have narrowed their search to three candidates. Even though the opportunities appear bleak, Maddon would still want to manage in 2015. "I'd love to manage," Maddon told Rosenthal. If the right opportunity does not present itself, I would want to work. But I would hope it would be a managing position. If not, there are other things I can do that would make me an even better manager when I get the opportunity again." Maddon's agent, Alan Nero, told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he believed that Maddon will "manage somewhere" in 2015. Maddon has been managing the Tampa Bay Rays since 2006. In nine years under the leadership of Maddon, the Rays have gone 754-705 (.517) and made the postseason four times, including an American League pennant in 2008. The 60-year-old Maddon is a native of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, and has won two American League Manager of the Year awards in both 2008 and 2011. His experience and leadership make him one of the most respected managers in the game. -Devan F.
0 Comments
Dodgers name former Rays general manager Andrew Friedman as President of Baseball Operations10/14/2014 The Los Angeles Dodgers have named Rays general manager Andrew Friedman their President of Baseball Operations today in a rather surprising announcement. Former general manager Ned Colletti will remain in the organization as a senior advisor to president Stan Kasten. As for the club in Tampa, president Matthew Silverman will now oversee the baseball operations. Former vice president of business operations Brian Auld will now fill Silverman's role as president. Here's the statement from Friedman, who remembers his time with the Rays. “As I embark upon my next journey, I have only thanks and gratitude to the Rays organization and the Tampa Bay region for a wonderful 10 years together. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have been part of something so special and for the passion and support of this exceptional fan base. The Rays organization is loaded with talent from ownership to players and everyone between. We were able to create together an unbelievable culture that no doubt will continue, and I am absolutely confident that the successes we achieved will continue into the future.” The Rays front office will obviously be taking a significant blow with the loss. Friedman was promoted to general manager of Tampa Bay in 2005 at the age of 28. Since then, he has built the team from the ground up, with a minimal payroll. He has led the team to excellence. The Rays have made the playoffs four times since 2008, including winning the American League pennant that season, when Friedman won Sporting News' Executive of the Year. Friedman was not under contract with the Rays, so there will be no compensation heading from Los Angeles to Tampa Bay. Friedman has been able to lead the Rays to success with a very small amount of money to work with. Just two times during his tenure have the Rays payroll exceeded $70 million, which included the Rays' franchise-record $76 million payroll in 2014. Even with the Dodgers expecting to hold back on the payroll, Friedman can expect to have a payroll more than double that amount. You can only imagine all the freedom he will have to bring the Dodgers to postseason success. There is some speculation that the Dodgers may attempt to acquire Rays manager Joe Maddon from the club to replace Don Mattingly, but Maddon "absolutely" wants to continue his tenure with the Rays. "I want to continue to be a Ray, absolutely," Maddon told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. "They have to want me to be a Ray too. I’m really embedded here pretty well. The roots are pretty strong. We have a great infrastructure here. We have a great operation. We have great people. There’s so much to like. There’s only one negative. That’s the ballpark. It’s a big negative. But that’s about it." Dodgers president Stan Kasten offered his praise for Friedman. "Andrew Friedman is one of the youngest and brightest minds in the game today and we are very fortunate to have him join our organization," Kasten said. "The success he has had over the past nine years in molding the Tampa Bay Rays team has been incredible." --Devan F. The Detroit Tigers have acquired left-hander David Price in a three-team deal with the Seattle Mariners and the Tampa Bay Rays, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported just before the trade deadline. Austin Jackson (from Tigers) and minor league shortstop Willy Adames (from Rays) will head to Seattle, while Drew Smyly (from Detroit) and Nick Franklin (from Seattle) will be heading to the Tampa Bay Rays. The 28-year-old Price was the highlight of the trade deadline this season, as many teams were interested in acquiring him from the Rays. The St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates were all mentioned as suitors for Price during his time on the market. The favorite fluctuated between many different teams, but the Tigers came out of nowhere to get him today. All the buzz for Price was for good reason. The Tennessee native is 11-8 with a 3.11 ERA, a 2.93 FIP, and a 189 to 23 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 170 2/3 innings pitched thus far for the Rays. Over his seven year career, the 2012 American League Cy Young award winner is 82-47 with a 3.18 ERA, 3.33 FIP, and a 1,065 to 309 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 1,143 2/3 innings pitched in seven seasons, all with Tampa Bay. Here is what Price tweeted after finding out that he was dealt to Detroit: "wow...what a day!! Rays fans THANK YOU!! Great Chapter of my life just ended...ready to start a new one with the Tigers!! Thanks again" Another reason as to why Price was so valuable is because unlike Jon Lester, another top pitching target on the trade market, Price is under contract for more than just the 2014 season. Price still has an entire year left on his contract, of which he is arbitration-eligible for his fourth season. He was a Super Two player, so his arbitration-eligibility kicked in a year early in 2012. While Price is the main piece in this deal, there are a lot of moving parts. One of the more interesting moving pieces is Drew Smyly, a 25-year-old lefty that is 6-9 with a 3.77 ERA, 4.17 FIP, and a 87 to 31 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 100 1/3 innings pitched for Detroit on the year. He heads to Tampa Bay. Also heading to Tampa Bay is Seattle Mariners' 2009 first round pick is Nick Franklin, who, in 464 career major league plate appearances, is hitting a .214/.291/.358 triple-slash line with 12 home runs and 45 runs batted in. The 23-year-old is loaded with potential, but has yet to turn it into results in limited major league action. He may be provided with a better opportunity with the Rays. Austin Jackson, the outfielder that the Mariners have coveted this trade deadline, will be headed out to Seattle. Jackson, who is not that old himself at age 27, is hitting .270/.330/.397 with four home runs and 32 runs batted in in 416 plate appearances. He was removed from the Tigers' afternoon game against the White Sox today, and gave hugs to his team as he left the field. He is now a member of the Mariners. Everyone got what they wanted in this deal: the Tigers got the starter they coveted, the Rays got some intriguing prospects from both teams, and the Mariners get the outfielder they have wanted this deadline season. It is good for everyone in this major blockbuster. Welcome to the international signing day tracker. If you would like more information on the signing day, please read check out my article explaining how it all works. If you have any questions, please be sure to tweet me @CoverThoseBases or post a comment below. All signings on this tracker will be on MLB.com's top-30 list. Be sure to check out Jesse Sanchez's rankings. Without further ado, here is the international prospect signing tracker! Newest updates at the top:
Welcome to international signing day. Today is the day when 16 year olds from the countries of the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Korea, and many more countries around the world sign their first major league contract. Although this seems irrelevant to a team's success, many of these players could turn into the next major league superstar. Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox was signed as an international free agent in 2009. Abraham Almonte of the New York Yankees was signed as an international free agent in 2005. Melky Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2001. There are major league players that have come from this background, starting off in professional baseball as a baby-faced 16-year-old, and turning into a good major league player. The international signing day has its top prospects too, just like the MLB Draft and the minor leagues. Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com posted his top-30 international signing prospects, all of which are expected to sign and begin their professional baseball career today. I will be running a tracker posting all of the top-30 signings throughout the day today. International signing day is really crucial to a major league team's future success. There are some rules to the day, however. Steve Adams of MLBTradeRumors.com wrote a nice piece on all of the rules. Here a few to take note of; a player must be 17-years-old by September 1, 2015 (the completion of their first full minor league season); players who are 23-years-old or older and have been playing professional baseball for three years are exempt from international signing pools (e.g. Yasiel Puig); every team must remain in its individual signing pool amount (consequences occur if not done so). Teams are able to trade for extra pool money. Adams shared a good example of teams trading for extra pool money. The White Sox have a $4.273 million total pool and are allowed to acquire 50% of it, which evens out to about $2.1 million. The Cubs cannot trade the White Sox $2.1 million, they have to trade them one of their slot values, which are $2.288 million, $458,000, $309,000 and $207,000. The first slot value would be too expensive for the White Sox to acquire, so they would have to trade a slot of theirs that is of small value to even it out. Ben Badler of Baseball America reported the international signing pools for every team back in April. The Houston Astros, being the worst team in 2013, get the largest total pool value, as they can spend up to $5,015,400 in international free agents. The pool amount for every team following the Astros is a little bit smaller. The pool values follow the 2013 records (just like the MLB Draft), so the St. Louis Cardinals round out the pack, with only $1,866,300 to spend. Every other team's pool value is somewhere in between. Be sure to follow along with the international signing day using my international signing day tracker, which I will update throughout the day. Expect a fun day of projections of players' future performances, money offered to unknowns, and just watching your team build for the future. |
Categories
All
Archives
February 2017
|