Offseason sure to require patience
ORLANDO, Fla. — Newspaper writers and television cameramen scrambled through a large, covered patio outside the Waldorf Astoria yesterday, bumping into one another and jockeying for position as if trying to catch a glimpse of Beyoncé or Justin Bieber.
Major League Baseball’s genertal managers’ meetings were just getting started, and the biggest celebrity of the bunch, a firsttime owner with a minority share of a smaller-market team, was making his way through the scrum to speak.
“We’re here like every other team trying to figure out how we can make this organization better,” Derek Jeter said of his Miami Marlins team. “No one has come out and specifically said that we’re trading Giancarlo Stanton. . . . It’s not like we sat down and said we have to trade him. We’re exploring options.”
During these four days of meetings, there was perhaps no more telling moment than Jeter’s first press availability as the partial owner of the Marlins.
It was frantic. It was high-profile. And it was all about patience.
Six teams fired their managers this offseason. The Braves just hired a new general manager, the Yankees are still interviewing managerial candidates, and Jeter is less than two months into his tenure with the Marlins, a team expected to dump salary and dangle the market’s best trade chip.
The league also is still waiting for Japanese phenom Shohei Otani to become available, meaning one of the premier free agents likely won’t enter the fray until a new posting system is settled in early December.
And many of the high-end free agents already on the market — J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer, Jake Arrieta — are represented by Scott Boras, an agent notorious for taking his time in pursuit of the largest contracts possible.
In other words: This is going to take a while.
“I’ve been able to gather the information like normal,” Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “But I think there’s a sense that moving forward things aren’t quite as rapid during these meetings as I’ve seen in the past. . . . Most everything has a multiplier effect. People are waiting to see what happens here. That affects this; this affects that. Sometimes you need all of the information before you move forward.”
He said it’s particularly unpredictable this year because with so many new managers scattered throughout the game, he expects the offseason will take shape a little slower than usual.
He has a reputation for preferring to move quickly — with the Red Sox, he traded for Craig Kimbrel in November and signed David Price before the Winter Meetings — but in Detroit he once signed Prince Fielder in late January, showing a willingness to wait for the type of big bat he’s after this winter.
“I know that’s (my) reputation,” Dombrowski said. “I’ve also moved slowly in winters, too. I think you really have to have a pulse of every year, what takes place. No, I’ve never been frustrated. I’ve gone to January at times. I think you have to be in a spot where you really are aware of what’s taking place in every market and every club.”
For any team looking to add a big bat, the Marlins have to be a part of that discussion because of Stanton’s outrageous power and the Marlins’ obvious desire to cut salary. Stanton’s massive contract and a full notrade clause are obvious obstacles, but he’s too tempting and talented to dismiss. And as long as Jeter’s new ownership group is still finding its way, interested suitors will have to either give them time or jump into the Boras-led waters to find that level of offensive impact.
“There are some financial things we have to get in order,” Jeter said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s an organization that’s been losing money for quite some time, so we have to turn that around. How we do that, it’s not clear. I think it’s easy to point the finger at (Stanton) because he makes the most money, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the move that’s going to be made.”
In his own high-profile press gathering, Boras repeatedly referred to teams trying to enter “Playoffville” and he labeled Hosmer as “federal express” to get there. He referred to Martinez as a baseball version of King Kong.
If the Red Sox want either of them, they’ll have to negotiate through that version of reality.
Or they could play the Stanton waiting game with Jeter. Or they could move on to Carlos Santana or smaller names with power readily available on the free agent market.
The Red Sox have options, which should give them time. This offseason, it’s important to have both.