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November 19, 2012

Rumor Roundup

Monday, November 19

by Daniel Rathman

Early last week, the Marlins gutted their roster and shipped roughly $160 million in salaries to the Blue Jays. Over the weekend, they redistributed one percent of those savings to Juan Pierre, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.6 million, and is expected to roam left field next season after playing center field in Miami from 2003-2005. Here’s a look at the other stories that surfaced during a quiet weekend on the hot stove: 

Manny Acta on Blue Jays’ shortlist with manager choice looming
Terry Francona decided to return to the dugout with the Indians. Mike Redmond agreed to tackle a rebuilding project with the Marlins. Walt Weiss inked a one-year deal with the Rockies. John Farrell came back to the Red Sox. And now, the Jays are the only major-league team still without a manager.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos likely chose to delay his skipper search when the aforementioned blockbuster with the Marlins came together, knowing that a roster featuring the likes of Jose Reyes and Josh Johnson would be more tempting to prospective candidates. Anthopoulos was previously reported to be seeking someone with a major-league track record, bucking the recent trend of novice hirings, which began with Robin Ventura and Mike Matheny last winter and continued with Redmond and Weiss during the past few weeks.

Former Cleveland manager Manny Acta, who got the axe with six games remaining in the regular season, is among the candidates who have survived a thorough screening process, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. The 43-year-old Acta spent three seasons with the Tribe, after a three-year stint in Washington, and interestingly, his successor with the Nationals, Jim Riggleman, is also said to be in the running. Well, at least Olney hears that Riggleman is in the running; Jon Heyman of CBS Sports isn’t so sure.

Along with Riggleman, Olney also mentioned that former Rockies manager Jim Tracy is on Anthopoulos’ shortlist. Cynical tweeters nationwide are pulling for the 56-year-old Tracy, who has significantly more experience than his known competitors, and was named National League Manager of the Year in 2009. If Olney’s sources are correct, a final decision should come early this week.

Nagging back injury worries Dan Haren’s suitors
For the first seven seasons of his career, Haren was one of the league’s most durable starters: he made at least 33 starts annually from 2005-2011, did not land on the disabled list at any point during that span, and even survived two bruising comebackers—one off of his right forearm in 2010, another off of his left wrist in 2011—to avoid missing a single scheduled assignment. But a recent history of lower-back stiffness, which initially surfaced in May, recurred and forced Haren to the disabled list in July, and persisted throughout the second half of the season, is causing interested teams to proceed with caution in their negotiations with the former Angel’s agent, Greg Landry.