Win or lose, expect Dusty to stay in dugout with Houston
Whether Houston wins or loses the World Series, sources say Dusty Baker wants to return to the Astros. So no riding off into the sunset following a potential first managerial World Series title. The team also wants him back. (Baker himself isn’t talking about his future now.)
A lot of folks in baseball would love to see Dusty win. Then again, baseball lifer Rob Thomson has many fans, too. The pick here: Phillies in 7.
➤ The Rangers are going to “pony up” for Jacob deGrom for sure, a rival predicts.
Star closer Edwin Diaz is beloved throughout the Mets organization, and they believe they have the best chance to keep him among their biggest free agents.
➤ Word is, good chance Fernando Tatis Jr. plays the outfield once allowed back. HaSeong Kim was outstanding defensively and became a fan favorite at shortstop.
➤ As much as they like him, the Red Sox are not planning to extend the qualifying offer ($19.65 million) to J.D. Martinez.
➤ The Diamondbacks seek a right-handed bat, the Padres a corner bat.
➤ Firing Yankees manager Aaron Boone would have been tough, as he’s as popular with his players as he is currently unpopular with fans. The recommendation here: hire an experienced bench coach who can navigate October urgency. Larry Bowa, who played with Boone’s dad on the 1980 champion Phillies (who beat the Astros in the NLCS incidentally) would be a great choice.
➤ Miami resident Raul Ibanez impressed the Marlins before he bowed out of the managerial derby due to family considerations.
Matt Quatraro, Clayton McCullough (dad Howard is a Royals scout), Will Venable, Vance Wilson, Scott Thorman and Pedro Grifol are among candidates for Royals manager. Quatraro has been seen as the favorite.
➤ Aggressive teams exceeded expectations. Padres GM A.J. Preller, a Huntington Station product, gave up five great young talents to land superstar Juan Soto and three more young players for star closer Josh Hader. Kudos to managing partner Peter Seidler who may have outspent his revenues.
And Philly spent $179 million on name outfielders who seemed to replicate each other — sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. Then at the deadline, they got Noah Syndergaard, defensive whizzes Brandon Marsh and Edmundo Sosa and reliever David Robertson. Baseball president Dave Dombrowski isn’t part of the analytics wave, but his go-for-it style has gotten him to the World Series with four different teams now.
Syndergaard told the Angels he’d rather not be in Philadelphia (it was actually anywhere in the same division as the Mets, a source said). Well, as it turns out he loves it in Philly, and has every reason to be extremely happy now.
➤ David Stearns did a terrific job in Milwaukee. He makes sense for either the Mets or Astros, whose baseball ops situation seems oddly uncertain considering how great GM James Click has done.