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Our front-office survey is here to tell us which teams are smarter than others. Also, Ken has a note on Albert Suárez, and I’m looking at two teams dominating one side of the game. OH, and the Giants bullpen catcher is fine. Phew! I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!
Ranking the best front offices in MLB
It’s one thing for fans — or even journalists who cover sports for a living — to talk about the performance of MLB front offices. A good analysis exists (and thanks for reading). But it’s always a little more meaningful to hear the opinions of those who are intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the profession.
That’s what we have today: a survey of 40 front office executives who were asked to rank the five best front offices in sports. Points were awarded for first through fifth place votes, and when everything was tallied, it’s probably no surprise that there was a clear number 1.
Nearly half (19) of the first-place votes went to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who thrived under the supervision of former Rays prodigy Andrew Friedman. As the story points out, there has been a ton of turnover since Friedman took over in the fall of 2014. But the Dodgers have never missed the playoffs under his watch.
It may not be a coincidence that the team Friedman left behind finished in a close second place, just 26 points behind the Dodgers. The contrast is fascinating, with the Dodgers operating as a financial giant and the Rays having to make do in one of the league’s smallest markets. This really shows how the vote had very little to do with available resources, and more to do with how front offices use what they have.
In total, six teams – the Dodgers, Rays, Braves, Guardians, Orioles and Diamondbacks – received at least one first-place vote, and 16 teams received at least one fifth-place vote to make the board. administration. It’s a great read, with some insightful quotes, complemented by analysis from our team of MLB writers. Now here’s Ken with more information on a player whose remarkable run we told you about last week. Ken, it’s yours.
Ken’s Notebook: Inside the Orioles’ pursuit of Albert Suárez
From my story today on the Baltimore Orioles’ latest find, right-hander Albert Suárez, who pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings after signing as a minor league free agent in September last :
Suárez, 34, was often injured during his three seasons in Japan, but pitched well as a starter in his two seasons in Korea. The Orioles continued to monitor him. Mike Snyder, their director of pro scouting, wanted to sign him in the fall of 2022. But Suárez returned to the Samsung Lions with a seven-figure guarantee — a better opportunity than any major league team was willing to give him to offer.
What changed last year?
Suárez injured his left calf in early August. The Lions, facing a cap from the Korea Baseball Organization on the number of foreign players they could carry, released him for replace it with another import, Taylor Widener. Snyder, seeing an opportunity that did not previously exist, contacted Suárez’s agent, Peter Greenberg.
“He had been trying to get Albert for maybe three years. But the Asian market is evolving very quickly,” Greenberg said. “He always came to see me at the start of the offseason here, but Albert would have already signed back in Japan or Korea. (Last year), though, he came to me and said, “I’m not going to be late this time.” I want to try and sign Albert.’
Snyder’s timing was ultimately right. The Lions wanted Suárez back, Greenberg said, but at a reduced salary in the range of $700,000 to $800,000. Suárez was tired of being away. He is married and the father of three children aged 11, 8 and 4. The family lives in Katy, Texas. He had made quite a bit of money in Asia. He was ready to return to the United States full time
The Orioles, led by general manager Mike Elias, are generally selective in signing minor league free agents. They don’t like to release such players in spring training and prefer their rookies to get the majority of playing time in the minors. Elias, however, said he entrusted Snyder and his pro scouting group with handling minor league deals for pitchers. Special scout Will Robertson and professional scouting analyst Ben MacLean, in particular, vouched for Suárez, Snyder said.
“We are always aware of the difficulty of finding starting pitchers. And we’ve seen flashes with him over the years,” Snyder said.
“We sold him an opportunity in spring training to give him some rope. We didn’t promise he would rotate. We made no promises.
D-Backs offensive, Mariners pitchers shine
Two mini-scenarios that have been developing of late continued to play out last night. Namely, the starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks offense.
Let’s start with Arizona, where the Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 14-1. Fifteen hits, three home runs [yawn] you know, as usual. This is the fourth time in just 25 games that the D-Backs have scored 12 or more points. Last year – the year they made the World Series, by the way – they only scored 12 runs or more five out of 162 times.
You don’t lead the league in scoring (148 points; Atlanta is second with 133) without a complete team effort, and the D-Backs have gotten contributions up and down the lineup. But Ketel Marte established himself as the leader; he is hitting .324 (.925 OPS) and his 23 runs rank second in baseball behind Mookie Betts (24).
Meanwhile, the Mariners’ rotation is starting to live up to — and exceed — lofty expectations. Starter Logan Gilbert held the Rangers scoreless for 6 1/3 innings last night. That’s significant because it was the 11th straight game in which a Mariners starter went at least five innings and allowed two or fewer earned runs, a franchise record.
The bullpen also did its job. Over those 11 games, while the starters allowed a total of 13 runs in 69 innings, the relievers followed with just six runs allowed in 31 innings.
The quintet of Gilbert, Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock – replacing Bryan Woo, who is expected to return soon – was supposed to be good. After a rough start, they were better than good – they were great.
In those 11 games, the Mariners are 8-3; With last night’s 4-0 win over Texas, they passed the Rangers for first place in the AL West.
Fun day at work for Giants bullpen catcher
Maybe you saw the clip on social media: The Giants had a new in-stadium presentation for closer Camilo Doval. The new LED lights went off, Doval’s name flashed on the big screen, and with orange lights illuminating the stadium, a giant spotlight followed the 26-year-old Dominican as he trotted out of the bullpen towards the Oracle Park mound.
One problem: at the start of the presentation, Doval was right in the middle of throwing your last warm-up throw. When it left her hand, the lights were still bright. Milliseconds later, as the pitch headed toward bullpen catcher Alex Burg – blackout.
Don’t worry: Burg is fine. He somehow managed to make up ground. Andrew Baggarly met with Burg and discovered this incidental information from the former catcher’s minor league days:
He said his time with the Rangers included occlusion training, which involved turning off the lights at midcourt against the machines in the cage. But nothing prepared him for catching one of those pitches — especially from a right-hander, Doval, who hit 103 mph.
All’s well That ends well. Apologies were offered, as well as assurances that this would not happen again. Burg even received a gift from the Giants’ senior director of live experience and entertainment: a 300-lumen headlamp.
Handshakes and High Fives
Seattle isn’t the only rotation that has been very good lately. Listen to the Phillies’ hot streak thanks to catcher JT Realmuto.
I’ve always been fascinated by Adam Ottavino’s approach, and holy cow, this conversation about pitch selection between Mets reliever and Tim Britton is incredibly cheesy in the best way.
If you’re looking for a new underdog ahead of the upcoming World Baseball Classic, C. Trent Rosecrans has a great introduction to Team Poland.
Eno Sarris’s “Caught Looking” column is back! He tells us some shorter mini-stories drawn from conversations with Lars Nootbaar of the Cardinals, Lane Thomas of the Nats and others.
Gleyber Torres’ year of walking in the Bronx isn’t going great, but he says free agency isn’t on his mind.
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez underwent surgery to repair his injured thumb, and the surgery included an internal splint. He is expected to be out for about eight weeks.
Kyle Hendricks is on the IL. Cubs manager Craig Counsell says it’s not the end between the team and their longest-tenured player.
The Guardians are the best team in baseball right now. Zack Meisel digs into some numbers to try to explain it.
Another week, another Red Sox injury. This time, it’s Triston Casas, who suffers from a broken rib.
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(Top photo by Andrew Friedman and Shohei Ohtani: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)