New assistant GM Baird believes Mets are ready to win now
NEW YORK >> Allard Baird believes the New York Mets are ready to win now.
“You need impact starting pitching and they have it here. That was one of the attractive things,” he said Thursday, a day after leaving the World Series champion Red Sox to become an assistant general manager under new Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen.
New York’s rotation is headed by NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, and it also includes Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and Jason Vargas,
But the Mets were next to last in the major leagues with a .234 batting average, just ahead of the Phillies, and 21st with 170 home runs. Three years after winning the NL pennant, New York finished fourth in the NL East at 77-85.
“There are areas that we need to improve, and I know Brody is working extremely hard, as well as everybody else in the organization, to get there as quick as possible,” Baird said. “I think it goes well beyond the major league club. It’s the things that do not make the headlines that we’re attacking.”
Baird was the Royals’ GM from June 2000 to May 2006 and spent the last 12 years with Boston, including the last three as senior vice president of player personnel. His title with the Mets is vice president and assistant general manager of scouting and player development.
New York also hired Adam Guttridge as an assistant GM — he had been an analytics consultant to teams after spending five years working for the Brewers, the last year as manager of baseball research and development.
“The leadership and the vision that Brody has for this organization as a whole really played into this,” Baird said.
Baird said he was convinced to take the job during a conversation on Thanksgiving, concluding “we had a chance to do something special here.”
Angels acquire La Stella from Cubs
ANAHEIM >> The Los Angeles Angels acquired infielder Tommy La Stella from the Chicago Cubs for $100,000 or a player to be named.
La Stella has spent the past four seasons with the Cubs. He batted .266 in 2018 while appearing in a career-high 123 games this year. He led the major leagues in pinch hits (24) and batting average (.312) while his 11 RBIs tied for the big league high. He has .264 average in five seasons.
Rusin re-ups with Rockies
DENVER >> Left-handed reliever Chris Rusin and the Colorado Rockies have agreed to one-year contract worth $1,687,500, a deal with a $400,000 raise that avoided salary arbitration.
Under the terms of the deal announced Thursday, Rusin would earn an additional
$25,000 each for 40 and 50 games pitched and
$50,000 should he make the All-Star Game.
The 32-year-old was 2-3 with a 6.09 ERA in 49 appearances last season. In the postseason, Rusin threw four scoreless innings.
Rusin had a phenomenal 2017 season when he went 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA.
Portland group proposes park site
PORTLAND, ORE. >> A group seeking to lure a Major League Baseball team to Portland announced that it has signed an agreement in principle to develop a 45-acre waterfront site.
The agreement with the Port of Portland was announced Thursday by the Portland Diamond Project. The group also released artist renderings of a new ballpark at the port’s Terminal 2.
“Building an iconic, state-of-the-art ballpark along the Willamette River will catalyze economic development and capture great views of both the urban scale of the city and regional character of the Pacific Northwest,” the group’s founder and president, Craig Cheek, said in a statement.