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Odds To Be The 1st MLB Manager Fired In 2016: Who Is On The Hotseat?
Hunter Stokes (MLB Reports Part Owner – Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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Every year there are certain managers that have a ton of pressure to win. This is always a tough process to think of who will be nixed first.
On one hand, many clubs that should be in contention for the playoffs will see an axe come to their tenure, however sometimes clubs are so bad record wise (even though they were projected to be) that the franchise will just slay the field general in the name of mercy.
As far as under the gun goes. guys like Brad Ausmus, John Farrell and John Gibbons. are tops on the list.
Ausmus doesn’t have a track record of any postseason series wins like the latter two here, so he is going to be the #1 favorite out of this group of skippers that could go fast with playoff aspirations if their team struggles out of the starting block.
Gibbons did a great job with Toronto in 2015, but a slow start would really put his name on the block. Say if they are 6 or 7 games behind the playoff bar near Memorial Day.
Farrell has put up back to back 5th place finishes in the AL East after winning the World Series Title in his 1st year of being the skipper in 2013.
Then there is a perennial bad losing club that have long tenured coaches like Walt Weiss and Robin Ventura. I am not sure they should not have been shown the door following last years campaigns.
Weiss has losing years for every year under his belt, and Ventura rode out 2013 with his late season collapse, but his club has underachieved in every other year.
Still the two most managers on the hot seat are Fredi Gonzalez of the Braves on top of the favorite list at +331, followed by Bryan Price at +441. But I hate putting money on either of these gentlemen with their clubs both being on track to challenge for the worst record in the Majors this year.
Heck, Gonzalez’s predecessor Bobby Cox was the well into his 3rd decade with the “Tomahawk” Choppers when he finally stepped down to a front office job. Gonzalez at least had the Braves in the playoffs in 2012.
Price can’t really be expected to do anything with this anemic Pitching Staff, and all veterans except for Votto may be available for trade at any point.
Atlanta Braves State Of The Union For 2016
Before the recent deal for Shelby Miller the Braves had been questioned on whether the rebuild they are currently going through was going to work. Now all of a sudden, the club going through trading of all veterans – starting with Jason Heyward a year ago, looks so much better. The next year or 2 is still going to be painstakingly to endure, but the organization now has a promising future. Atlanta will enter a new park in Sun Trust Park, located in Cobb County, GA for 2017 after playing one more year at Turner Field in 2016.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
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John Hart knows how to build teams in the Majors. He was at the forefront of the Cleveland Indians in the 1990’s when they signed a bunch of young nucleus players to multi year extensions. It was a trend that worked out for nearly a decade.
A pile of organizations copied this template. I must admit I thought he may have been a bit past his prime when the Braves finally hired him on last year, but he seems to carrying out the mission with Atlanta as well.
Of course taking over for Frank Wren – there was not much to go but up. Dan Uggla, Derek Lowe and B.J. Upton ultimately cost the former GM his job, but it should be noted he did orchestrate 3 decent trades in acquiring Justin Upton, Michael Bourn and Javier Vasquez much earlier.
The Braves did the right thing in dismantling the 2013 to 2014 squad. It would have cost too much money to re-sign Brian McCann and Jason Heyward – and Justin Upton may soon reel in a 9 figure sum.
Atlanta also traded away Craig Kimbrel and Andrelton of late. The haul for Kimbrel was nice, while Simmons was set to make $53 MIL over 5 years. Not huge cash, but for a guy more noted for defense, and with a team rebuilding, losing the dollars owed was a more significant move.
I also can’t emphasize enough how awesome it was to rid themselves of the Melvin Upton JR. contract. Read the rest of this entry
On The Trading Block In The NL East
The Phillies have not had a winning season since 2011 after putting forth a decade straight of them. A promising second half to the season – couple with full seasons by Aaron Nola and Maikel Franco could have them inch closer back to achieving that mark in the next few years.
Jordan Gluck (Part Owner/Featured Writer): Follow @jgluck777
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On the Trading Block NL East
Atlanta Braves: The Braves have quite a few players that they can trade and under John Hart you don’t know what direction they will go in this offseason.
Can they be in a position to compete moving into the new Sun Trust Stadium next year or is it a longer term rebuild
I think this team really isn’t 2 bad and could compete for a wild card this season with the addition of a 3B (Rio Ruiz?) and consistent starting pitching.
However it is clear their sights are not set on this season but on the future as indicated by their trade of Andrelton Simmons. Read the rest of this entry
B.J. Upton And Dan Uggla Were The Biggest Reasons Why Wren Was Shown The Door!
The Brothers Upton both were acquired in the 2012 offseason by the Atlanta Braves. This was a risk for the organization, and while Justin has played extremely well in condensed pockets, B.J.Upton, now 30, is quickly establishing himself as one of the worst Free Agent contracts ever signed in Major League Baseball. with a .197/.276/.310 – Braves 3 Slash Line – with 20 HRs and 60 RBI in 902 AB during his 1st 2 years as a Brave is simply abysmal. The club’s brass should send him to the Winter Leagues this off-year, to correct his problems. Justin Upton, 27, has fared much better in his 2 seasons, with an OPS of .822, 54 HRs and 162 RBI for his 1108 AB. The worst part about this is that the younger brother only has 1 more year left on his deal in 2015, making $14.5 MIL, while B.J. has 3 more years left on his deal, paying him a sum of over $46 MIL for the duration.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21
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I started writing for this website about a year ago. One of my first articles I put forth was one centered around the albatross contracts that were B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla.
True to prior blogs written here at the MLB Reports, the older Upton’s Free Agent contract of 5 YRs/$75 MIL will go down as one of the worst deals ever consummated on the open market.
You add the $15 AAV (Average Annual Value) to Uggla’s $11 MIL, and you are forking out over $26 MIL a year – for what are horrific numbers.
The genesis of my theory was simply the team would not recover financially, or be able to cover up any mistakes/injuries that may come to the club.
Atlanta has been one of the best franchises in the MLB for the last 24 years. Even after the organization claimed 14 straight NL East titles, they only took about 5 years to reload the troops for another wave of success.
Since the end of the 2012 year though, the franchise has seen Chipper Jones retire, longtime Catcher Brian McCann move on to New York, and former Brave great Tim Hudson move out to the San Francisco Giants. Read the rest of this entry
Tampa Bay Rays In Payroll 2014 + Contracts Going Forward: They Should Also Trade David Price To St. Louis For Matt Adams
David Price became a 20 game winner for the first time last season, and it won him the American League Cy Young Award. That is really hard to match, but early struggles and injuries held him back in 2013. He was still 9 – 8, with a 3.39 ERA. Since he is due a payraise – to the $13 – $15 MIL range in Arbitration, it is my feeling the team should trade him for a slugging 1B. How about Matt Adams of the Cardinals anyone? The St. Louis team will need an ace to replace Chris Carpenter – and could bridge the gap for the team before Free Agency eligibility in 2016. It was too bad Hak-Ju Lee was hurt for some of 2013, as that would have been a perfect package to help bringing back another Starter. Perhaps the Rays should use Matt Joyce also as bait? Maybe they could a prospect Starter after all. The team figures to be around $55 – 57 MIL before Price.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024:
I am of the belief that the Andrew Friedman and Stu Sternberg have been the ‘model franchise’ in the AL over the last 6 years.
Not only do they compete in the vaunted AL East versus the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, but they have made the playoffs 4 times in that span, including a World Series Loss to the Philadelphia in the 2008 year.
Had Evan Longoria not been hurt for the majority of the 2012 season, one could argue that the club was poised to make another playoff appearance to make it 6.
So how are they doing this? Their team payroll is roughly one-third of the Yankees and the 40 % of the Red Sox total Payroll.
The Rays are smart enough to let their higher priced Free Agents walk, or even trading them before they are due significant pay raises.
They are also using the philosophy of the ‘John Hart‘ Indians of the Pre-Milennium Cleveland Indians. Once it was established that Evan Longoria could play at the MLB Level, they signed him to an 8 year contract.
They did the same thing with Starting Pitching Matt Moore last year with a 5 year deal for the rookie based on one playoffs of decent pitching.
It is a risk sometimes to do this, yet the rewards can save you Millions in future payroll if the new player (s) outperforms his/their contract (s).
Rays Highlights 2013:
Tampa Bay Rays Player Roster In 2013 Part 1 – The Hitters: State Of The Union
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Ben Zobrist has quietly turned into one of the best all around players in the game. He has finished in the top 10 for WAR in 3 of the last 4 years – including 1st in 2011 and 2nd in 2009. At Age 31, Zobrist goes into a contract year in 2013. It may be his last season with TB.
By Jake Bullington (Rays Correspondent) Follow @JakeyJake01
Part 1: The hitters:
2012 saw the Tampa Bay Rays miss the playoffs for the first time since 2009. They would finish a very respectable 90-win season and finish third in the AL Wild card. The offseason saw much of what Rays fans are used to from this small market club. Impact players such as B.J. Upton (ATL), Jeff Keppinger (CHW), and Carlos Pena (HOU), would move on to greener pastures and sign elsewhere. That meant GM Andrew Friedman and his team would get to work. They would pick up options on SP James Shields, CL Fernando Rodney, and C Jose Molina. They would decline the option on DH Luke Scott and later sign him back.
The offseason would also see the reworking of a long-term deal to keep the Rays 3B Evan Longoria in a Rays uniform at least through the 2022 season. But with Free Agency looming for “Big Game” James the Rays would do what they do best and send Shields, Wade Davis, and a PTBNL (Elliot Johnson) to the Royals for a prospect package that included future rotation regulars Mike Montgomery and Jake Odorizzi and MLB.com 2nd best prospect OF Wil Myers. The Rays would shore up the middle of the infield by Signing and trading for the Blue Jays previous middle infield of Yunel Escobar (MIA) and Kelly Johnson (FA). To replace Carlos Pena, the Rays would sign Free Agent James Loney. The organization also brought back Joel Peralta on a deal that included a record three Club Options.
Desmond Jennings Highlights:
Tampa Bay Rays Payroll 2013 And Contracts Going Forward: Part 4 Of A 5 Part Rays Series
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Will Myers ascended onto the PCL scene last year and ripped out 24 HRs in just 99 Games at Omaha. The Rays will be counting on him for their offensive future. As a Controllable Player for years, he changes the Salary structure of the Team to Lower the committed dollars from what Shields and Davis would have made.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
New Changes to the old article in Purple:
I am of the belief that the Andrew Friedman and Stu Sternberg have been the ‘model franchise’ in the MLB over the last 5 years. Not only do they compete in the vaunted AL East versus the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, but they have made the playoffs 3 times in that span, including a World Series Loss to the Philadelphia in the 2008 year. Had Evan Longoria not been hurt for the majority of the season, one could argue that the club was poised to make another playoff appearance. So how are they doing this? Their team payroll is roughly one-third of the Yankees and the 40 % of the Red Sox total Payroll. The Rays are smart enough to let their higher priced Free Agents walk, or even trading them before they are due significant pay raises.
They are also using the philosophy of the ‘John Hart‘ Indians of the Pre-Milennium Cleveland Indians. Once it was established that Evan Longoria could play at the MLB Level, they signed him to an 8 year contract. They did the same thing with Starting Pitching Matt Moore last year with a 5 year deal for the rookie based on one playoffs of decent pitching. It is a risk sometimes to do this, yet the rewards can save you Millions in future payroll if they player outperforms his contract.
Rays Highlights 2012 Mature Lyrics so Parental Guidance Is advised:
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