Nov. 10
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The general managers meetings convened Saturday, with little action on the horizon.
"With all the belt-tightening, free agents and possible non-tenders, it may be another month before we get into any serious trade discussions," says one NL GM. "The early deals will be payroll-for-payroll."
Another NL GM says, "Usually you have the Yankees and Braves to turn to with big-money players, but now it's just the Phillies and Cubs out there spending. The Yankees and Braves are trying to move payroll. Brian Cashman now knows how we feel."
Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams were exhorted to be recruiters for Hideki Matsui on their current trip to Japan.
The Rockies hope to eventually convince Matt Williams to waive his no-trade clause and go to Colorado in a deal for Larry Walker. Arizona could then turn around and trade Erubiel Durazo to Boston for Shea Hillenbrand if the Red Sox can wrangle Hank Blalock from Texas.
The Yankees have said no to taking Colorado's long-term problem (Mike Hampton) for New York's three short-term problems (Raul Mondesi, Rondell White, Sterling Hitchcock).
The Astros have their sights set on Woody Williams, then would like to bring back Shane Reynolds on an incentive-laden contract.
One NL GM suggests that if Thome does sign with the Phillies, the Indians will help pay his salary. "The Phillies get $15 million in revenue sharing this season," says the GM, "and the Indians are paying into the fund. Check the metropolitan area sizes recently?"
Expos GM Omar Minaye still has no idea of his 2003 budget. The team's payroll could jump from $40 million to $55 million just to keep its roster from last season intact. And if they play a bunch of games in Puerto Rico, several Expos employees have suggested that they have no chance at being competitive.
Larry Bowa and Joe Kerrigan are already at The Vet three or four times a week preparing for the 2003 season.
Juan Gonzalez is planning to play the last few weeks in the Puerto Rican League, then play in the Caribbean World Series, scheduled to be held in San Juan.
Everyone in the Houston organization believes the Brewers made a great hire in pitching coach Mike Maddux. Oakland has Terry Francona as bench coach, while the Red Sox have hired Jerry Narron for the same position. Red Sox manager Grady Little offered the hitting coach job to Charlie Manuel, but Manuel is waiting.
There is no love lost between the Mariners and Mets ownerships, as Seattle strongly believes that New York tampered in the Lou Piniella case and secretly had a deal in place, only to be thwarted because they couldn't match Randy Winn as compensation.
The Cubs have let managerial candidate Bob Melvin know all along that their first choice was Dusty Baker. "They have been remarkably open and honest with me," says Melvin, who is one of four finalists in Seattle. Pat Gillick is passing up the GM meetings so that he can work on the managerial interviews. The M's don't figure to be particularly busy this winter, anyway.
Cashman insists that neither Mariano Rivera's arm nor Steve Karsay's back are serious problems, as the Yankees GM tries to re-sign Mike Stanton and Ramiro Mendoza. Stanton's value went up as a result of the two-year, $6 million deal given Alan Embree, who was on a $500,000 make-good contract this season coming off his disastrous 2001 performance. Needless to say, there are some in the Boston organization worried about that deal.
Baltimore's GM search has turned away from former players because of the Cal Ripken interruption. Jim Duquette is still being denied permission by the Mets to discuss the job, and Paul DePodesta was waiting to see what happened with A's GM Billy Beane. But the Orioles have interviewed some strong candidates, led by Jim Beattie and Bill Bavasi, the former Angels general manager who is now the Dodgers' player development director.
Oakland owner Steve Schott has built a strong organization that could have sustained the loss of Beane. DePodesta is arguably the most prepared GM-in-waiting in the business, though he may be going home to Baltimore after turning down the Toronto job. Give Schott credit; he allowed Beane the room to bring two prospective star GMs with him in DePodesta and David Forst, then gave them all the room to grow.
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