GUESTS
-MARK MELANCON
TOPICS:
| Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) | |
https://twitter.com/knbr/status/1008955600678445057?s=11
GIANTS / A'S - FRONT OFFICE SWAP?
| Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) | |
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In tomorrow’s @sfchronicle: Could A’s changing times signal end to Billy Beane era? Why next year might be it for some of Oakland’s top leaders: sfchronicle.com/athletics/arti…
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Next season might be the last for all three.
There is increasing speculation in baseball circles and among those who know the A’s higher-ups that — with no long-term contract extensions on the table — team owner John Fisher will decide to head in a different direction, or more likely, Beane, Oakland’s vice president of baseball operations, will take a step back to allow general manager Forst to run the whole show.
And what happens with Melvin is anyone’s guess. A’s ownership denied the Yankees’ request to interview Melvin last winter for their open managerial job, but did not offer him a new contract at the time.
Under terms of their deal, perfectly allowable. As baseball is generally conducted, though, the move was at the very least a faux pas, if not a downright insult.
“It’s crazy to leave someone with Bob Melvin’s credentials hanging like that,” one American League executive said Monday. “You’re taking a chance he might be so pissed that you wind up losing him anyway.”
Beane, Forst and Melvin do not discuss contracts, including their own, as a matter of policy, and A’s team president Dave Kaval also cited that when asked about the status of the team’s most visible leaders.
“We typically don’t address contract matters publicly, but the key things are that all three individuals have done an outstanding job, and we’re really pleased with their performance,” Kaval said. “Billy and David have put together a quality organization, and Bob has done an exemplary job getting a young team to play together — that’s something we feel strongly about.”
The A’s are undergoing a major rebuild, spearheaded by Beane and Forst. Upending the architects of the rebuild during the process would be unusual.
“Absolutely, it’s important,” Kaval said of stability at the top during a period of transition: “They’re doing a very good job, I enjoy working with them, they’ve got great energy to work through this period of time for the team — it’s the dawn of a new era here. They’re all very important stakeholders in that.”
Then again, change is the new normal inside the franchise, which has added more than 50 employees in the past year and a half, including seven new vice presidents. The latest, vice president of finance Adam Buckfelder, was hired Monday. Only Beane and vice president of stadium operations David Rinetti remain in place from the pre-Kaval board room.
The A’s are taking on more of a tech-firm vibe, with sleek new offices in Jack London Square that include a batting cage, gym and cafeteria. A few long-term employees have been let go or encouraged to go elsewhere; a few have jumped to the Giants, and many more have sent their resumes there.
Within both teams, there are whispers: With Giants executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean, general manager Bobby Evans and manager Bruce Bochy’s deals also up in 2019, could one or more of the A’s bigwigs wind up with their cross-bay rivals?
Typically in baseball, a year and a half left on a deal is verging on lame-duck status. Only one year left? Basically out in the cold.
Consider Beane’s deals: In 2005, he signed a contract through 2012. On June 13, 2007, he signed an extension through 2014, and on Feb. 7, 2012, he signed an extension through 2019. On Jan. 14, 2013, Melvin was extended through 2016, and on Sept. 9. 2015, he was extended through 2018. Last year, he received just a one-year extension.
Beane has several professional commitments outside of baseball, serving on numerous corporate boards, serving as an adviser for Dutch soccer club AZ Alkmaar, and owning a share of English soccer club Barnsley. It would surprise no one who knows Beane if he wanted to pursue other opportunities, in baseball or elsewhere.
That could get tricky, however: Beane retains a small ownership stake in the A’s, and any other team he might join would by definition be a competitor.
“That’s a very complicated dynamic that doesn’t exist elsewhere,” one industry insider said. “It’s an issue if he takes a job with another team; the A’s owners would have to buy him out or allow him to sell his shares on the open market, which they’re unlikely to want to do. The commissioner potentially would have to get involved.”
Uncertainty at the highest level is almost unthinkable for the A’s after “Moneyball” anointed Beane as one of the top minds in pro sports, but it’s becoming increasingly possible to imagine a diminished role for Beane — or none at all.
“David Forst has done a very good job, and I could see Billy taking a step back,” one longtime friend of Beane’s said. “They’re both very valuable assets, but I just don’t see things going on as the way they are very much longer.”
-A'S ARE DOING A GOOD JOB WITH LITTLE, WHY WOULD YOU FIRE THOSE GUYS?
-GINATS STILL WON 3 IN 5 ---TRYING TO REBUILD ---MIXED RESULTS GOING VET ROUTE----I'D HAVE REBULT ---I STILL WOULD USING BUM AS BAIT.....THEY WANT TO TRY TO WIN....REPECT IT.
-HUNTER STRICKLAND HAS BEEN SOLID, NOT GREAT - FIRST TIOME THEY'VE BLOWN A LATE LEAD ALL YEAR
SAVES BECAUSE IT'S EASY ---HASN'T BEEN THE MAJOR ISSUE THIS YR ---STARTERS AND CLUTCH HITTING ESP ON ROAD HAS BEEN............
-HAVE TO STOP PLAYING HUNTER PRNACE AND SEE WHAT YOU HAVE - SLATER, DUGGAR , IT'S TIME
NBA:
-KAWHI HAS LEVERAGE ---HE'S GETTING TO LA ONE WAY OR ANTOEHR ---IF IM POP I SEND HIM TO CLIPPERS---NOBODY WILL GIVE UP MUCH WITH OUT A GURNATEE HE'LL STAY
TROUT: THE BIGGESN SUPER STAR
It seems like yesterday that Mike Trout was called up to the majors in 2011, still a teenager. It seems like yesterday when he had a rookie season for the ages in 2012 and we had that bare-knuckle MVP debate between Trout and Miguel Cabrera. Trout is having his best season yet, leading the majors in home runs (23), runs (60), walks (60), OBP (.459), OPS (1.147) and WAR (6.3). Somehow, he's also closing in on 1,000 career games. As he reaches this milestone (it will be Thursday if he doesn't miss any games), let's compare some of his numbers to how some other famous ballplayers did through 1,000 games.
NBA:
-WAS LOSING IN '16 WORTH IT NOW?
-NBA DRAFT THURSDAY
-AYTON AND BAGLEY SIGN W PUMA, JAY Z IS PREZ OF BASKETBALL OPERATIONS..........
-KAWHI UPDATE: COULOD CLIPPERS BE PLAYERS WITH PICKS 12-13 ---AND A PLAYER?
NFL:
-WHY IS EVERYONE ACTING LIKE GRUDEN IS SO OLD? --HE'S 54....
-BRADY ACTUALLY UDED THE R WORD:
. I asked Patriots QB Tom Brady last week if retirement was ever a consideration this offseason, and he quickly said, “No.” But he conceded in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday that he’s thought about that time coming—“I think about it more now than I used to. I think I’m seeing that there’s definitely an end coming, sooner rather than later.” To me, the key for Brady has always been how he enjoys the work Monday-Saturday. That part, and not Sunday, is usually what pushes older players away from football. I’ve sensed more through the years that he genuinely the likes the work that goes along with playing at the highest level, and so long as that doesn’t change, he’d have a tough time walking away. But this offseason really has been the first time we’ve heard him openly discuss it—first in the “Tom vs. Time” doc, and now to Oprah.
OTHER:
It seems like yesterday that Mike Trout was called up to the majors in 2011, still a teenager. It seems like yesterday when he had a rookie season for the ages in 2012 and we had that bare-knuckle MVP debate between Trout and Miguel Cabrera. Trout is having his best season yet, leading the majors in home runs (23), runs (60), walks (60), OBP (.459), OPS (1.147) and WAR (6.3). Somehow, he's also closing in on 1,000 career games. As he reaches this milestone (it will be Thursday if he doesn't miss any games), let's compare some of his numbers to how some other famous ballplayers did through 1,000 games.
| ALL-TIME LEADER | MIKE TROUT* | |
|---|---|---|
| Hits | Pete Rose, 1,231 | 1,123 |
| TB | Hank Aaron, 2,221 | 2,097 |
| HR | Barry Bonds, 172 | 224 |
| Runs | Rickey Henderson, 795 | 752 |
| BB | Barry Bonds, 603 | 631 |
| WAR | Barry Bonds, 50 |
CATCHER
1. Buster Posey, Giants: 686,253
2. Willson Contreras, Cubs: 596,111
3. Kurt Suzuki, Braves: 557,692
4. Yadier Molina, Cardinals: 366,271
5. Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers: 333,549
1. Buster Posey, Giants: 686,253
2. Willson Contreras, Cubs: 596,111
3. Kurt Suzuki, Braves: 557,692
4. Yadier Molina, Cardinals: 366,271
5. Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers: 333,549
Posey's still on pace to make his fourth straight start behind the dish for the NL. But Contreras, who entered the week with a higher OPS (.803 to .773), is within about 90,000 votes, with Suzuki fewer than 40,000 votes behind Contreras. Grandal is a new addition to the top five, bumping the Pirates' Francisco Cervelli from the leaders.
Watch on MLB.com
FIRST BASE
1. Freddie Freeman, Braves: 1,433,140 votes
2. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs: 566,382
3. Brandon Belt, Giants: 363,361
4. Cody Bellinger, Dodgers: 294,418
5. Joey Votto, Reds: 189,364
1. Freddie Freeman, Braves: 1,433,140 votes
2. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs: 566,382
3. Brandon Belt, Giants: 363,361
4. Cody Bellinger, Dodgers: 294,418
5. Joey Votto, Reds: 189,364
Freeman is well out in front here, and more than a quarter of a million votes ahead of the next-highest vote-getter in the NL. It's a well-deserved standing for one of the game's most consistent hitters. Freeman hasn't been an All-Star since 2014, and he's never started the game. But he entered the week leading the league with a .427 on-base percentage and .585 slugging percentage and ranked second with a .337 batting average to put himself in the early MVP conversation. The rest of the top five here is unchanged from last week.
Watch on MLB.com
SECOND BASE
1. Ozzie Albies, Braves: 915,736
2. Javier Baez, Cubs: 767,417
3. Scooter Gennett, Reds: 743,979
4. Joe Panik, Giants: 194,634
5. Asdrubal Cabrera, Mets: 173,567
1. Ozzie Albies, Braves: 915,736
2. Javier Baez, Cubs: 767,417
3. Scooter Gennett, Reds: 743,979
4. Joe Panik, Giants: 194,634
5. Asdrubal Cabrera, Mets: 173,567
Panik pushed past Cabrera, but that's the only change here. It remains a three-way race between three fascinating players. Albies has taken the league by storm in his sophomore year, entering the week with the league's highest extra-base-hit total (39). Baez has come into his own as a more consistent power producer (.514 SLG) to go with his dynamic defensive presence. But neither guy has outpaced Gennett's .909 OPS.
Watch on MLB.com
SHORTSTOP
1. Brandon Crawford, Giants: 1,120,031
2. Dansby Swanson, Braves: 568,400
3. Addison Russell, Cubs: 475,091
4. Trevor Story, Rockies: 315,532
5. Trea Turner, Nationals: 279,071
1. Brandon Crawford, Giants: 1,120,031
2. Dansby Swanson, Braves: 568,400
3. Addison Russell, Cubs: 475,091
4. Trevor Story, Rockies: 315,532
5. Trea Turner, Nationals: 279,071
No changes here. Story has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball in June (.365 average, 1.071 OPS) but remains a distant fourth. The only thing stopping Crawford in the midst of his best offensive season (.315/.370/.492 slash line) was a brief paternity-leave break.
Watch on MLB.com
THIRD BASE
1. Nolan Arenado, Rockies: 1,124,563
2. Kris Bryant, Cubs: 677,185
3. Johan Camargo, Braves: 395,389
4. Eugenio Suarez, Reds: 228,806
5. Evan Longoria, Giants; 221,100
1. Nolan Arenado, Rockies: 1,124,563
2. Kris Bryant, Cubs: 677,185
3. Johan Camargo, Braves: 395,389
4. Eugenio Suarez, Reds: 228,806
5. Evan Longoria, Giants; 221,100
Longoria bumped Justin Turner from the No. 5 spot this week, though his broken hand and subsequent surgery that will cost him up to two months is bound to impact his vote total moving forward. Anyway, the story here remains Arenado's march toward his second straight start. He's having a typically outstanding season, with a .310/.401/.551 slash line.
Watch on MLB.com
OUTFIELD
1. Nick Markakis, Braves: 1,173,653
2. Bryce Harper, Nationals: 1,002,696
3. Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 925,697
4. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies: 678,831
5. Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves: 617,151
6. Ender Inciarte, Braves: 528,943
7. Jason Heyward, Cubs: 447,359
8. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs: 442,471
9. Ben Zobrist, Cubs: 434,943
10. Christian Yelich, Brewers: 364,286
11. Corey Dickerson, Pirates: 313,558
12. Odubel Herrera, Phillies: 263,903
13. Lorenzo Cain, Brewers: 242,827
14. Andrew McCutchen, Giants: 241,652
15. Matt Adams, Nationals: 237,165
1. Nick Markakis, Braves: 1,173,653
2. Bryce Harper, Nationals: 1,002,696
3. Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 925,697
4. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies: 678,831
5. Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves: 617,151
6. Ender Inciarte, Braves: 528,943
7. Jason Heyward, Cubs: 447,359
8. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs: 442,471
9. Ben Zobrist, Cubs: 434,943
10. Christian Yelich, Brewers: 364,286
11. Corey Dickerson, Pirates: 313,558
12. Odubel Herrera, Phillies: 263,903
13. Lorenzo Cain, Brewers: 242,827
14. Andrew McCutchen, Giants: 241,652
15. Matt Adams, Nationals: 237,165
Markakis is one of the best stories on this ballot. In 13 seasons, he's played north of 1,900 games, logged more than 2,100 hits, driven in more than 900 runs, scored more than 1,000 runs and drawn nearly 800 walks, but he's never been an All-Star. Not only is he on track to change that with a power resurgence in his age-34 season, but he's now overtaken Harper as the leading outfield vote-getter. But Harper is still on track to start in his Washington "hometown," and Kemp's comeback season continues to garner love at the online ballot box. The only other change of note here is McCutchen joining the top 15, bumping the injured A.J. Pollock, but it's going to be hard to catch Markakis, Harper and Kemp.
NBA:
-WAS LOSING IN '16 WORTH IT NOW?
| Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) | |
|
According to Joe Lacob, if the Warriors won the 2016 title, Kevin Durant would not have signed with Golden State: "I do not think he would be on the Warriors."
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-NBA DRAFT THURSDAY
| Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) | |
|
My guess for the Warriors at #28, if he's there: Keita Bates-Diop, an Ohio State wing theathletic.com/397778/2018/06…
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-KAWHI UPDATE: COULOD CLIPPERS BE PLAYERS WITH PICKS 12-13 ---AND A PLAYER?
| statcenter (@statcenter) | |
|
Everything the Clips have done for the past 9 months indicates a desire to dream really big. Doubt they're throwing that away for DeRozan. twitter.com/JoshEberley/st…
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NFL:
-WHY IS EVERYONE ACTING LIKE GRUDEN IS SO OLD? --HE'S 54....
-BRADY ACTUALLY UDED THE R WORD:
. I asked Patriots QB Tom Brady last week if retirement was ever a consideration this offseason, and he quickly said, “No.” But he conceded in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday that he’s thought about that time coming—“I think about it more now than I used to. I think I’m seeing that there’s definitely an end coming, sooner rather than later.” To me, the key for Brady has always been how he enjoys the work Monday-Saturday. That part, and not Sunday, is usually what pushes older players away from football. I’ve sensed more through the years that he genuinely the likes the work that goes along with playing at the highest level, and so long as that doesn’t change, he’d have a tough time walking away. But this offseason really has been the first time we’ve heard him openly discuss it—first in the “Tom vs. Time” doc, and now to Oprah.
OTHER:
| Sporting News (@sportingnews) | |
|
We ranked all 32 NFL head coaches: bit.ly/2JVHAw6 pic.twitter.com/9KnPGeHeQV
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| New York Post (@nypost) | |
|
“My mom and dad were just trying to have a peaceful trip to Mexico and then they sent me this” nyp.st/2t8ara3
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| The Athletic (@TheAthleticSF) | |
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Cap space and assets: Here’s why the Sharks acquired Mike Hoffman then quickly flipped him to Florida: @KKurzNHLtheathletic.com/399127/2018/06…
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| The MMQB (@theMMQB) | |
|
When @Andy_Benoit asked NFL coaches and coordinators which offenses they’re studying this offseason, two—and only two—teams came up: the Rams and 49ers. Why Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay are the league's trend-setters and the NFL’s best budding rivalry
trib.al/bDwQLzm pic.twitter.com/f7FkKMAQ2D | |
| MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) | |
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Angels, Dodgers Pursued Kelvin Herrera Before Trade To Nationals mlbtraderumors.com/2018/06/angels…pic.twitter.com/oyKtrgXzpU
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| Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) | |
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The old “run on the field while no one’s looking and immediately score a goal” play. Poland never saw it coming pic.twitter.com/kb2ZHlcYkg
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| WESH 2 News (@WESH) | |
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Police: Florida man chugged can of beer during DUI stop bit.ly/2JTMSbB pic.twitter.com/eCBM3F16pa
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