2021-22 Offseason Thread

[polo007]

Then there was that time Buck Showalter almost became Blue Jays GM - Sportsnet.ca

What would wind you up more? Buck Showalter as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays ... or Buck Showalter as general manager of the Blue Jays?

Showalter, bête noire to a generation of Blue Jays fans, is among a group of candidates given second interviews this week for the New York Mets manager job – and is in fact considered the frontrunner, with a follow-up scheduled for Friday, per Jon Heyman. So I asked Paul Godfrey, former Blue Jays president and chief executive officer, to tell me about the time Showalter interviewed for the Blue Jays general manager's job in 2001.

Then as now, Showalter was a TV analyst in between jobs after being fired by the Arizona Diamondbacks following three years as manager. The Blue Jays had fired Gord Ash, and although the job would eventually go to J.P. Ricciardi, Godfrey and long-time advisor Herb Solway remember fondly the five hours of their time that were taken up by Showalter.

“He was so knowledgeable about every team in baseball, and the interview went on for four, five hours,” Godfrey said this week. “But as the interview went on, I jumped in and said: ‘Buck, wait a minute. Are you interviewing for the general manager's job or the manager's job? Because we’re looking for a G.M. ... and you sure sound like you want to manage. If we offered you the G.M.’s job, would it make you happy?’ He thought about it and said: ‘You’re right. I’d be taking the second-best job.’

“There was no doubt in our mind that his heart was in managing. But it was four or five hours of real entertainment.”

Showalter went on to manage the Texas Rangers from 2003-06, and in 2010 he took over the Baltimore Orioles, where he became one of the faces of a rivalry with the ascendant Blue Jays – picking fights with Blue Jays players while at the same time perfecting an oddly passive-aggressive personae both in word and deed whenever the teams met. Showalter was fired after the 2018 season, and if he gets the Mets job he will hook up with a team that couldn’t get out of its way in 2021, owned by a guy (Steve Cohen) who is a couple of tweets away from going from mercurial to maniacal.

It’s a perfect match. Showalter is no stranger to New York, managing the Yankees from 1992-95. He has newly signed Max Scherzer lobbying for him (make no mistake: Scherzer will run that clubhouse), and he knows about managing upward and communicating. He’ll bring maturity and a steady hand.

What he doesn’t bring is a track record of post-season success. Or a sense of timing. Showalter left the Yankees the year before they won the first of four World Series titles in five years under Joe Torre – he resigned when owner George Steinbrenner demanded he fire hitting coach Rick Down. That Yankees run of success ended in 2001 when Bob Brenly’s Arizona Diamondbacks beat them ... a year after Showalter had been fired as D-backs manager.

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In Buck Showalter, Mets have found a win-now manager for a win-now team - ESPN.com

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is an avid collector of art, his collection of Picasso and Doig and others reportedly worth many hundreds of millions of dollars. But one of his favorite pieces is round: the baseball that rolled between the legs of Bill Buckner to end Game 6 of the 1986 World Series to give the Mets their greatest victory ever.

The ball had been sold repeatedly, and when it became available in 2012, Cohen was told by a business associate that it would probably cost something in the range of $100,000 to $150,000, as he explained last year to SNY. "All right, I'll do it," Cohen recalled saying. "It's a great moment in Met history. 'Buy it.'"

A deal was struck on Cohen's behalf, and it wasn't until afterward that Cohen asked about the final price -- $410,000, as it turned out. He remembered not being happy about it at the time.

But in the end, Steve Cohen got exactly what he wanted, and an episode that mirrors how he'll continue to run his baseball team. There was one managerial candidate available who checked every need for the best possible Mets hire -- an experienced manager who would have instant credibility with players, was considered an excellent tactician and someone who had worked in New York -- and this is how Buck Showalter was hired. A win-now manager for a win-now team operated by a win-now owner.

When Cohen purchased the Mets, he had suggested that he would win a World Series within three to five years. After Year 1 -- the 2021 season -- was a complete disaster, Cohen has doubled down, paying a record amount ($130 million over three years) for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. The Mets' clubhouse culture was perceived to be a problem last year, so Cohen's new general manager paid high prices for Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha, two players known to strongly influence teammates. The Mets needed a center fielder, so Cohen OK'd the signing of the best available center fielder, Starling Marte, to a staggering four-year, $78 million contract.

Rival executives estimate that hiring Showalter will cost the team between $3 million and $5 million annually, or three to five times what the other candidates, Joe Espada and Matt Quatraro, might have earned as first-time big league managers.

Really, any choice other than Showalter would've been fraught with risk, because of the enormous risk that the 2022 Mets will bear. The best chance for Cohen and Eppler to win now was to spend big this winter, but it could all go sideways. Ace Jacob deGrom hasn't pitched since the middle of last season, and according to team president Sandy Alderson, he suffered a UCL sprain last summer -- something that deGrom subsequently denied. Scherzer turns 38 in July, and his chance for injury increases from year to year. Robinson Cano is 39 years old and missed all of last season because of a PED suspension. Marte, Canha and Escobar are all closer to the ends of their respective careers than the beginning.

[Schad]

Showalter is a win-now manager with a barely .500 career record, and one ALCS appearance to his name in 20 years. His most notable recent accomplishment was leaving Britton in the bullpen as the last half-decent Orioles team was dispatched from the playoffs. The word you're looking for isn't 'win-now', it's 'old'.

But hey, Mets are going to Mets.

[bluerap23]

Showalter is a win-now manager with a barely .500 career record, and one ALCS appearance to his name in 20 years. His most notable recent accomplishment was leaving Britton in the bullpen as the last half-decent Orioles team was dispatched from the playoffs. The word you're looking for isn't 'win-now', it's 'old'.

But hey, Mets are going to Mets.

And I thanked him kindly for it. One of the best games I was able to attend.

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[vaff87]

Showalter is a win-now manager with a barely .500 career record, and one ALCS appearance to his name in 20 years. His most notable recent accomplishment was leaving Britton in the bullpen as the last half-decent Orioles team was dispatched from the playoffs. The word you're looking for isn't 'win-now', it's 'old'.

But hey, Mets are going to Mets.

I saw a quote from Mark Teixeira calling Showalter the “smartest man in baseball”. I got a good laugh out of that one, after what happened in the 2016 Wild Card Game.

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Central Notes: Ross, Cubs, Twins, Martin - MLB Trade Rumors

Hopping to the AL Central, where the Twins are dealing with a rare prospect surplus on the heels of their Byron Buxton extension. Writing for The Athletic, Dan Hayes and Aaron Gleeman discuss whether top shortstop/center field prospect Austin Martin can be flipped to acquire a pitcher that will help a Twins rotation short on experience. It would be a short stay in the Minnesota system for Martin, a top-30 prospect who was just acquired in July’s Jose Berrios deal, if he’s dealt. Hayes reasons that the Twins have a dire need for pitching, and speculates that acquiring Luis Castillo or Tyler Mahle of the Reds, or Frankie Montas of the A’s would provide a more immediate benefit to a team looking to contend. Neither writer is convinced Martin should be traded, considering the two players ahead of him on the depth chart (Buxton in center field and top-30 prospect Royce Lewis at shortstop) are hardly locks to stay healthy or productive. Still, with the Twins surprising inactivity in the free agent pitching market, both writers agree a lot of work needs to be done to have the pitching staff match a strong position player group.

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[JTT]

Well, there goes my pick for our new third baseman

[Schad]

Kinda wish we'd gone for Eduardo Escobar now. That 2 years, $20m looks pretty good.

I'll throw an unconventional name into the pile: Matt Duffy. High OBP player who can serve as a 3B-primary utility guy. Very little power, but grades out as a league-average hitter overall. Right-handed, but has reverse platoon splits career.

Not a sexy option, but with the top of our order, having a guy hitting low in the order that gets on base at a good rate certainly wouldn't hurt.

[rarefind]

Moreno being a shot to be third baseman likely trending in our FO.

I don't love it.

[JTT]

Kinda wish we'd gone for Eduardo Escobar now. That 2 years, $20m looks pretty good.

I'll throw an unconventional name into the pile: Matt Duffy. High OBP player who can serve as a 3B-primary utility guy. Very little power, but grades out as a league-average hitter overall. Right-handed, but has reverse platoon splits career.

Not a sexy option, but with the top of our order, having a guy hitting low in the order that gets on base at a good rate certainly wouldn't hurt.

Evan Longoria is the name that runs around the back of my head. Another righty, but only one year left at 14.5 with a $5 million buyout in 2023. Might he be available if the Giants go after Storey or Correa? They certainly have the salary room to do so.

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[I_Like_Dirt]

Moreno being a shot to be third baseman likely trending in our FO.

I don't love it.

Nah. The Jays are loaded with SS/3B types. Martinez and/or Groshans need to play somewhere and will be up sooner or later. And there are a bunch of other guys who could get shots. If the team is really desperate they'd just punt Vlad back to 3B temporarily. Unless there's legit smoke to the thought, I don't see Moreno changing positions as likely at all.

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