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Two legends of the game, two potential goodbyes, neither of which has been announced (but only one of which I am betting on). We’re talking Terry Francona and … Mike Trout? We also have notes on Tanner Bibee’s rookie campaign and a playoff catch-up. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to the Windup!
Terry Francona, “Baseball Lifer”
“No goodbyes to you; I’m just gonna say good night”
“First, he must officially reveal his intention to retire,” says Zack Meisel of Terry Francona’s Hall of Fame chances, “instead of uttering everything but that one line. He would rather execute an Irish exit than attract one extra iota of attention.”
It’s not a well-kept secret that this will be Francona’s final season as a manager. When asked about it, his answers have skipped the confirmation, jumping straight to the explanations that would follow such an announcement, if one had been given.
Maybe it was growing up in big-league clubhouses — his dad, the original “Tito,” was traded for Larry Doby (twice!) — that allowed Francona to be one of the game’s all-time “players’ managers.” That buy-in helped him get the best out of the 2004 Red Sox when they came back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS, then snapped an 86-year World Series drought in Boston.
He very nearly broke two curses, coming up a little short with Cleveland in 2016.
When he does retire, he’ll have more managerial wins than all but 12 managers: 10 Hall of Famers, plus Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker.
The Guardians’ last homestand starts tonight, a two-gamer against the Reds. If you’re in Cleveland, you should get to one of those two games, just to give him the send-off he’s been trying to duck all season.
More Francona: He was the guest on this week’s Starkville. The stories are so great.
Ken’s Notebook: Being second-best would be big for Bibee
Not that this should influence the voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, but a top-two finish for Rookie of the Year would mean more to Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee than it would to most other leading candidates.
Under the collective bargaining agreement that went into effect last season, an eligible prospect who finishes first or second for his league’s Rookie of the Year award will be credited with a full year of major-league service.
Many of the top contenders for the rookie awards — Gunnar Henderson, Triston Casas and Josh Jung in the AL, Corbin Carroll and Kodai Senga in the NL — need not worry about receiving such credit. They are eligible because they were included on at least two top-100 prospect lists and also entered the season with 60 days or less of major-league service (Orioles reliever Yennier Cano, by contrast, did not meet either criterion). All of those players, however, were with their teams from Opening Day, so they already will receive a full year of service.
Bibee, 24, did not join the Guardians until April 26. He was not even in their major-league camp during spring training. But in 25 starts, he produced a 2.98 ERA that would rank fifth in the AL if he had enough innings to qualify. After going on the injured list Sept. 18 with right hip inflammation, he will fall 20 innings short.
Henderson, 22, is the overwhelming favorite for the AL award. Bibee, though, is a stronger candidate for second place than many might think. Among AL rookies, his fWAR and rWAR are second only to Henderson. His Win Probability Added is second to Rays outfielder Luke Raley.
The players’ union fought for a full year of service for the top two Rookie of the Year finishers as a way to accelerate their eligibility for salary arbitration and free agency. The process, though, is subject to manipulation. A team receives a draft pick after the end of the first round for a Rookie of the Year winner who spends the season on the club’s roster. The second-place finisher, however, does not earn his team a pick.
In theory, then, a team could seek to hold down an eligible rookie who is promoted after Opening Day in some fashion to delay his free agency. The Guardians did not appear to do that with Bibee, merely exercising caution after he left his start on Sept. 16 with right hip tightness.
In the view of the players’ union, the ability of a top two Rookie of the Year finisher to gain a full year of service is worth the risk of manipulation. If the union believes clubs are acting improperly, the CBA gives the players the right to opt out of the system.
More Awards: Our final power rankings of the year assign each team an award — some traditional, and others completely made up.
Trout’s future in Anaheim
“An angel knockin’ on my window, tryin’ to tell me where to go next”
We here at The Windup do not traffic in clickbait and drummed-up controversy, so let’s set some expectations. Do I think that Mike Trout will ask to be traded? I mean … [voice goes up at least one octave with uncertainty] No?? No. … Probably not?
But there’s one section of Sam Blum’s story on Trout’s comments that I had to read a few times:
“Trout declined to say outright that he would not be requesting a trade despite being asked in different ways three separate times.”
For context, here’s the quote: “I go through this every year. These are private conversations I have with Arte (Moreno) and John (Carpino). I’m doing the same thing I’ve done the last 13 years. Going into the offseason, clearing my mind, and going into spring wearing an Angels uniform.”
So that’s it. He’s staying. But: “Trout declined to say outright …”
It’s possible that Trout is just refusing to answer a touchy question with any level of specificity, to avoid, well … what we’re doing right now.
But then why wouldn’t he just say, “No, I’m not going to be requesting a trade”?
One could hardly blame him — the Angels haven’t been to the playoffs since 2014. It wouldn’t be egregious to pull the rip cord and ask to go somewhere he could experience something a bit more like … this amazing moment from the World Baseball Classic:
We’ll keep an eye on it. It’s probably nothing.
Right?
Playoff check-in
“Everything keeps happening at the same time”
Your daily injection of chaos (consult the full standings here):
AL West: The Rangers beat the Angels 5-1, knocking their magic number down to four. They remain 2 1/2 games ahead of the Astros, who beat the Mariners (also 5-1) behind a strong outing from Justin Verlander. With the loss, the Mariners are now four back in the division and 1 1/2 games out in the …
AL Wild Card: Seattle controls its destiny for the next two nights; the Mariners are playing the Astros, who currently occupy that third spot. Toronto is a game and a half up on Houston for the second spot, so that isn’t locked down yet either.
AL East: Baltimore is still 2 1/2 games up on Tampa Bay — whichever team doesn’t win the division will have the first wild-card position. The Orioles are at home for two against the Nats, while the Rays are on the road for two at Boston.
NL Central: One Brewers win or one Cubs loss is all it will take for Milwaukee to clinch, but if the Brewers are swept at home by the Cardinals and the Cubs sweep the Braves in Atlanta (so: good luck, Cubs) it would set up a wild scenario where Chicago could take the division by sweeping the Brewers in Milwaukee to finish the season.
NL Wild Card: Arizona and Chicago are tied for the second and third spots, with Miami a game back and Cincinnati 2 1/2 back. The Reds’ season isn’t over — they could go 5-0 against the Guardians and Cardinals — but it’s perilously close. The D-backs are at the White Sox, while Miami visits the Mets.
Baseball Card of the Week
This is a 1994 Topps card, recognizing the 20th anniversary of Henry Aaron hitting his 715th home run (nice touch making it card No. 715). But I just had a horrifying realization: Next year will be the 50th anniversary of Aaron’s historic home run, and the 30th anniversary of this card.
I don’t know why I do this to myself.
Handshakes and High Fives
Video of Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering’s dad went viral as he (understandably!) cried through his son’s debut. Get to know their story here.
If you want to know how David Stearns will run the Mets, it might be instructive to look at the moves he made while running the Brewers.
Whatever happens with the Cubs, the Dansby Swanson signing has proven to be a good one as they’ve scratched and clawed toward a playoff spot.
Tyler Kepner talked to Mariners pitcher George Kirby’s high school coach (and a lot of others). Kirby’s not soft, despite what those post-game comments may have led you to believe.
Chris Kirschner looks ahead to see if there are any obvious solutions for the Yankees this winter.
Aaron Gleeman puts together the clues and suggests Joe Ryan might be the Twins’ No. 3 starter in the playoffs.
Matt Gelb gets to the bottom of Bryson Stott’s excellent defense for the Phillies this year.
(Top photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
