Liriano, Martin receive offers from Pirates
Associated Press
San Francisco Giants World Series star Pablo Sandoval was among 12 free agents given $15.3 million qualifying offers Monday by their former teams.
Detroit made the offers to pitcher Max Scherzer and first baseman-designated hitter Victor Martinez, and Pittsburgh to left-hander Francisco Liriano and catcher Russell Martin.
Also receiving offers were shortstop Hanley Ramirez (Los Angeles Dodgers), outfielder Nelson Cruz (Baltimore), right-hander James Shields (Kansas City), closer David Robertson (New York Yankees), outfielder Melky Cabrera (Toronto), pitcher Ervin Santana (Atlanta) and outfielder Michael Cuddyer (Colorado).
An offer could be made only to a free agent who was with the team for the entire season, and players have until Nov. 10 to accept. The price was determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year by average annual value.
If a player rejects a qualifying offer and signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former team would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.
The club signing that player loses its first-round pick in the amateur draft, unless that pick is among the top 10, in which case the club signing that player loses its next-highest pick.
None of the 22 qualifying offers made after the past two seasons was accepted.
The approximately 135 free agents can start negotiating money with all teams starting today.
Three players who potentially could have become free agents stayed with their teams. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez exercised his half of a $14 million mutual option with Milwaukee; left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs; and Tampa Bay exercised a $2.5 million option on right-hander Joel Peralta.
Kansas City exercised a $7 million option on reliever Wade Davis, who would have been eligible for salary arbitration.
Maddon ready to win with Cubs: Joe Maddon’s unusual road to the manager’s office at Wrigley Field included a job interview at an RV park in Pensacola, Florida. The first public stop was a bar across the street from the iconic ballpark, where Maddon offered to buy a beer and a shot for everyone in the room.
“The Hazleton way,” he said in tribute to his Pennsylvania hometown.
If the beginning of Maddon’s partnership with the Cubs is any indication, this is going to be one interesting ride.
Maddon brought his unconventional style to Chicago Monday when he was introduced as the Cubs’ fifth manager since the start of the 2010 season, replacing Rick Renteria after just one year on the job. Flanked by smiling executives Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein, he slipped on a pinstriped No. 70 jersey and repeatedly said how he excited he was about his new job.
Perhaps more importantly, at least for a century’s worth of frustrated Cubs fans, he talked about winning – right now.
“Listen, for me, I’m going to be talking playoffs next year. OK, I’m going to tell you that right now,” said Maddon, who got a $25 million, five-year contract – making him one of the highest paid managers in the game, “because I can’t go to spring training and say another thing. I’m just incapable of doing that. Why would you even report?”
Molitor to manage Twins: The last time the Minnesota Twins searched for a manager, Paul Molitor was in the mix. He withdrew from consideration, with the franchise’s future uncertain during Major League Baseball’s failed attempt to eliminate two clubs.
The job didn’t open for another 13 years, but this time Molitor was ready.
The challenge he accepted is to help turn around a team that lost 92 or more games in each of the last four seasons.
The Twins announced Monday they had agreed to a three-year contract for the Hall of Fame infielder and native of Minnesota, who will be introduced today as Ron Gardenhire’s replacement during a news conference at Target Field.
“It’s pretty exciting. I’m a huge Molitor fan,” second baseman Brian Dozier said. “He’s a bright individual, with a better IQ in the game of baseball than anyone I’ve ever been around. He’s just an exceptional man.”
This is the first managing job at any level for Molitor, who has the 10th-most hits in major league history. He spent 2014 as a coach on Gardenhire’s staff. Prior to that, he served for 10 seasons as a minor league instructor in the organization, a noted influence on many young players.
Three finalists who had multiple interviews with general manager Terry Ryan were Molitor, Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Luvollo and Twins minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz, according to reports. Matching the organization’s patient, deliberate style, Ryan took his time with the search before settling on the candidate widely believed to be the favorite all along, particularly given the franchise’s penchant for promoting from within.
“I know he hasn’t managed, but I don’t think that should be a problem at all, just because his knowledge of the game. He’s been around the game for so long now,” Dozier said. “It’s just taking all he’s learned over his career and just going on the other side of it now.”