MANY QUESTIONS, FEW ANSWERS
GM meetings promise plenty of buzz, but real moves still far off
CARLSBAD, Ca. – Monday, Major League Baseball’s 30 general managers converged on this oceanfront resort for their annual exercise in camaraderie, collaboration and a little bit of espionage as they began to feel one another out at the start of baseball’s hot stove season.
The GMs will discuss state of the game issues, possible strategies for the next CBA negotiation, still a couple of years off, and potential rules changes. They will also poke around to see which players might be available from other teams, who of their colleagues they might be able to con and who is likely to try to con them.
And of course, there will be agents not only floating around, but floating rumors about their players and others, creating an air of intrigue for the next couple of days at least.
But as always at the GM meetings, it’s foolish to expect very much to happen in the way of player movement. Most years, this is just a preliminary to next month’s winter meetings in Las Vegas, and if recent history holds true, nothing of consequence may happen until early 2019.
Last season, an unusually slow one for the free-agent market, the first major signing didn’t take place until Dec. 9, when the Los Angeles Angels signed Shohei Ohtani, and aside from the Yankees’ mega trade for Giancarlo Stanton two days later, the blockbuster deal of the 2018 offseason didn’t occur until Feb. 26, when the Red Sox signed J.D. Martinez to a five-year, $110 million contract, the deal that arguably put them over the top to become 2018 World Champions.
This year, there are two big-ticket items on every team’s wish list — Bryce Harper and Manny Machado — and while their looming free agencies are likely to dominate the discussion here, don’t expect to see either of them in a new uniform by the time everyone goes home on Thursday.
However, there are several other storylines to keep your eye on over the next three days: THE NEW KID IN TOWN
That would be new Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who is hardly new to the GM meetings as a seller but is a first-timer as a buyer. It will be interesting to see how Van Wagenen, who has never worked for a majorleague baseball team in any capacity, will fit in with the men who are now his peers after years of battling with them from the other side of the table. It will be just as interesting to see how Van Wagenen will be treated by his former peers, the other agents. Already there have been grumblings about sketchy ethics since, until about a week ago, Van Wagenen represented Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, the two most important free-agent signings the Mets will face over the next couple of years, but that could just be agent envy. And then, there is Van Wagenen’s relationship with the New York media, which he handled pretty well at last week’s introductory news conference, although under mostly friendly questioning. That could be put on trial this week as well.
In his first meeting with media Monday in California, Van Wagenen said first-base prospect Peter Alonso would get “every opportunity” to compete for the starting job and that he would be attending big-league camp. The GM called Alonso a hard worker and an impact player offensively. WILL HAL STEINBRENNER GO ON A SPENDING SPREE?
Now that the luxury tax counter has reset for the Yankees and the threshold has gone up to $206 million for 2019, is the Yankee owner ready to break out his checkbook and add Machado and/or Harper to his roster? Last week, a team source told me the Yankees “love’’ Patrick Corbin, the Diamondbacks’ 29year-old left-handed starter who went 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA and 246 strikeouts in 200 innings. Hal is virtually certain to take the rubber band off his wad of bills to add Corbin to his suspect rotation. But what about the other two? The injury to Didi Gregorius, requiring Tommy John surgery that is expected to cost him at least half of 2019, seems to move Machado up in the pecking order. And between the nine years remaining on Stanton’s deal and the signing last week of Brett Gardner to a one-year deal, Harper would seem to be an extraneous part. A team source last week told me the Yankees consider Harper “not a fit for us,’’ but that could be posturing to cool the jets of Scott Boras, Harper’s agent. And there could be a path for Harper to the Bronx no one has thought of yet. (See below). GIANCARLO FOR SALE?
No, not for Chris Sale, but at least one baseball insider I spoke with last week believes the Yankees might try to move Stanton to make room on both their roster and payroll for Harper. Although Stanton has a full no-trade clause, the source tells me Stanton, who grew up in Sherman Oaks, Calif. might be amenable to a trade to the Dodgers or Angels (with some salary relief ). And it is possible that the Yankees fans’ impatience with his relatively subpar 2018 – relative to his NL MVP 2017 season, that is – as well as his poor performance in the postseason might have both sides thinking that a change of scenery is in order. FOR THE METS, IS IT CHARACTER? MAKEUP? OR MANNY?
Several times in his introductory presser, Van Wagenen said he considered “character and makeup’’ critical keys to the Mets’ success in 2019 and beyond. He also said he would make those attributes “the backdrop of this organization.’’ But boy, the Mets could use a bat like Machado’s in their lineup, as well as a draw for potential season-ticket buyers who right now have no legitimate incentive to renew for 2019. Will Van Wagenen be true to his word? Will he twist himself into a pretzel to justify pursuing a player who admits he thinks hustling is for the other guy and is apparently widely disliked throughout the league? And if so, does he have the salesmanship to sell it to Jeff Wilpon? DID MACHADO HUSTLE HIMSELF OUT OF THE BIG MONEY?
Certainly not. But an agent I spoke to last week contends Machado’s postseason fadeaway ‘’murdered’’ him. “It might have cost him $100 million,’’ the guy said. That remains to be seen. But certainly, Machado did himself no favors with his World Series no-show, and for many the enduring image of the Red Sox victory over the Dodgers will be Machado corkscrewing himself into the ground flailing at the final pitch of Game 5. To be sure, no one will be throwing any benefits for Manny Machado. He’s going to get plenty of dough on the open market. But he may not wind up with quite as much as he or anyone else in baseball expected when the regular season ended a month ago. CASHMAN, COREY AND CARLOS In the wake of reports that the Cleveland Indians are looking to dump salary despite running away with the AL Central last season, any conversations between Brian Cashman and Indians GM Mike Chernoff will be heavily scrutinized. The Yankees would love to land Corey Kluber in a trade, or failing that, Carlos Carrasco, to shore up their shaky starting rotation. Monday, Cashman expressed interest in bringing back both CC Sabathia and J.A. Happ, two veteran left-handed pitchers. Cashman said he expects there will be other suitors for Happ, who is a free agent.