Unique Matt Gage waiver claim shows off Dana Brown’s creative side as Astros GM

Baseball

Published 19.02.2023

Unique Matt Gage waiver claim shows off Dana Brown’s creative side as Astros GM

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Over almost three a long time of labor in scouting and the draft, Dana Brown developed a eager understanding of the difficulties in buying good gamers. If there’s somebody with major-league worth obtainable, he believes, a workforce can’t permit him to slide by means of its grasp.

When the Toronto Blue Jays designated Matt Gage for project Jan. 31 after the free-agent signing of Chad Green, Brown, simply employed as basic supervisor of the Houston Astros, sensed a chance. His analytics division actually favored the left-hander and supervisor Dusty Baker was pushing for a southpaw reliever, so as soon as Gage ended up on waivers, they put in a declare.

But because the Blue Jays put Gage on launch waivers as an alternative of outright waivers, the 30-year-old had the correct to reject a declare and discover free company as an alternative. He was leaning that approach, too, after the Astros received the declare, having earlier within the winter turned down an opportunity to pitch in Japan to pursue a roster spot in Toronto, with whom he debuted within the majors final yr.

Not excited about taking possibilities, Brown determined to power the problem, providing a signing bonus to stop Gage from testing the open market. The transfer was so unparalleled for a participant on launch waivers, he first checked with Major League Baseball to ensure it was inside the guidelines.

Once the league workplace confirmed it was, the perimeters agreed to a signing bonus of $125,000 in a contract that pays Gage $770,000 if he’s within the majors and $175,000 within the minors, the waiver declare went by means of and Baker ended up along with his lefty in distinctive vogue.

“It was unprecedented. I had to get creative,” Brown stated throughout an interview earlier this week. “I actually had to call the MLB offices and say, can we do this? I’ve just started this job but I need to get this player, so what do I have to do to get him? And I found out once you get him, if he agrees to a bonus, you can put that in the contract once you sign him and we ended up getting him. I’m hoping that could be a big sign.”

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The transaction is probably going an indicator of how aggressive and out-of-the-box Brown, who spent 9 years with the Blue Jays as a particular assistant to the GM earlier than rejoining Alex Anthopoulos in Atlanta as vice-president, scouting in 2019, will probably be as a basic supervisor.

Already he’s prolonged right-hander Christian Javier in a $64-million, five-year deal, a contract reflective of the philosophy employed by Anthopoulos in Toronto and Atlanta of locking up prepared gamers long-term.

The two first met with the Montreal Expos, the place Brown served as scouting director and gave Anthopoulos, an intern on the time, his first job as a co-ordinator, scouting operations, mentoring the younger Canadian. When Anthopoulos took over as Blue Jays GM on the finish of the 2009 season, Brown was amongst his first hires, as was Perry Minasian, who additionally interned with the Expos.

All three are operating their very own groups now – Minasian is GM of the Los Angeles Angels – sharing comparable foundations however leveraged by means of their particular person abilities.

“Some of our evaluations are comparable as a result of we spent a lot time collectively. I like (Anthopoulos’s) philosophy of figuring out gamers that you simply assume you’ll be able to safe and have long run. That’s a giant factor. We’ve discovered the worth of make-up and it makes a distinction once you’re buying gamers,” Brown stated.

“We have our differences because we have our different strengths, where mine may be evaluations, Alex is great ideas and Perry is probably the best at knowing people. We’ve learned from each other and I think that’s showing up.”

Brown is attempting to tread frivolously in his early days with the Astros, discovering himself within the uncommon place of inheriting a defending World Series winner after the membership and James Click parted methods shortly after the championship.

The 56-year-old describes the preliminary entry since his Jan. 26 rent as “definitely jumping in the deep end,” nevertheless it’s a simply reward for a wise and devoted baseball man who beforehand interviewed for GM jobs with the New York Mets in 2010 and Seattle Mariners in 2015.

“I thought maybe Detroit would call and give me an interview (this off-season). It didn’t happen,” stated Brown. “I remember (commissioner) Rob Manfred telling me, hey, stay the course, you’ll probably get an opportunity. And finally, man, Houston called. I was excited about it. I went in, I connected well with Jim Crane, the owner, and about a week-and-a-half later, he called to offer the job. It all happened real fast.”

Anthopoulos was more than pleased to lose the person who oversaw all of Atlanta’s beginner scouting work, saying “I owe him a ton,” as Brown was the primary individual to consider in his means to scout and consider gamers. That he introduced him alongside to his stops in Toronto and Atlanta wasn’t due to a private relationship between them, however “because he was good.”

“I’m just so excited for him, what an awesome opportunity,” stated Anthopoulos. “He never, ever discussed being a GM, that never came out of his mouth. He was just doing the job and happy and working, he would have stayed in Atlanta forever. Perry the same way. And then the opportunities present themselves, you know? He deserves it. He’s done an unbelievable job.”

The Gage transaction might change into one other instance of Brown’s means to search out worth exterior the plain. Last season in 11 big-league appearances he struck out 12 in 13 innings whereas permitting solely two earned runs and was simply as productive in 41 video games at triple-A Buffalo, posting a 2.34 ERA in 42.1 innings with 46 strikeouts.

The Astros consider there’s extra there and plan to present him the possibility.

“When we signed (Tyler) Matzek (with Atlanta in 2019), I remember pounding the table and telling Alex we’ve got to sign this guy. We got him right out of independent league,” stated Brown. “We felt a lot stronger about Gage. We were afraid he was going to become a free agent, so I talked to the agent, said, ‘Hey, maybe if we give you a signing bonus, we can get this done.’ If he gives us a quality 35 innings out of the ‘pen this year, it’ll be worth every dime.”