When Joe Maddon left the Tampa Bay Rays back in October, it was believed bench coach Dave Martinez would be the favorite to take over as manager, but the team passed him up and he moved on. Free agent third baseman Chase Headley has a fairly large offer on the table from an undisclosed team.
After Rays' president of baseball operations Matt Silverman named Raul Ibanez, Kevin Cash and Don Wakamatsu the finalists for the team's managerial vacancy, it didn't take Dave Martinez too long voice he was not returning to the organization. The 50-year-old Martinez will now reunite with Joe Maddon in Chicago as the Cubs' bench coach.
During Maddon's nine-year stint in Tampa Bay that resulted in six winning seasons, four playoff appearances and one World Series appearance, Martinez spent seven of them as the Rays' bench coach. His good relationship with Maddon and the players made him the de facto front-runner when the team began looking for a new manager, but Silverman will now choose between Cash or Wakamatsu since Ibanez dropped out of consideration.
Once Martinez made it known he would not be returning to Tampa Bay in any capacity, it was speculated he would join Maddon's staff in Chicago. Cubs' general manager Jed Hoyer told the media in November that he would talk to Maddon about adding Martinez, and it finally became official on Thursday.
Speaking of personnel being passed up by their incumbent teams, third baseman Chase Headley has a four-year, $65 million offer on the table, but based on previous reports it doesn't look like it's from the New York Yankees. Headley was traded to the Yanks before this year's deadline and batted .262/.371/.398 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 58 games. However, with the eventual return of Alex Rodriguez and the presence of Martin Prado, it's been said the Yankees "have cooled" on the idea of re-signing Headley.
Other teams that have expressed interest in Headley include the San Francisco Giants, Miami Marlins and Cleveland Indians. The Giants have the most glaring need at third base since they lost Pablo Sandoval to the Boston Red Sox, so there's a possibility Headley returns to the West Coast. Meanwhile, Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York says that the Yankees are exploring the option of moving Martin Prado to third base and having prospect Rob Refsnyder compete for the second base job in spring training, since it's unknown if Alex Rodriguez can serve as an everyday fielder at the hot corner.
Whatever the case, Headley is now expected to get a nice raise this offseason.
