Notebook: Girardi won’t manage Orioles
Joe Girardi turned down an offer to manage the Baltimore Orioles, a decision Thursday that ended the team’s spirited effort to secure its top choice for the job.
The Orioles began negotiating with Girardi soon after firing Sam Perlozzo on Monday. The sides appeared headed toward an agreement on Wednesday, but Girardi ultimately decided against getting back in the dugout.
Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said Girardi withdrew his name because “he wasn’t ready to leave his family.”
“He just didn’t feel like he should go at this particular time,” MacPhail said. “I’m disappointed, but undaunted.”
Dusty Baker and former Orioles Davey Johnson, Rick Dempsey and Don Baylor have been bandied around as possible candidates for an interview.
A’s designate Bradley
The Oakland Athletics designated outfielder Milton Bradley for assignment, cutting ties with a player who was expected to play an important role this season.
Bradley had been on the disabled list three times this year. The A’s have 10 days to trade or release Bradley. Because he has more than three years of major league service time, Bradley can refuse an assignment to the minor leagues.
Clearing the bases
The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners have each signed two Chinese players, and there may be more to come. The Yankees signed two 19-year-old players Monday – left-handed pitcher Kai Liu and catcher Zhenwang Zhang. On Wednesday, the Mariners added catcher Wei Wang and infielder- outfielder Yu Bingjia. All four signed minor league contracts, becoming the first players from China to join major league organizations. … A 43-game hitting streak in the minor leagues doesn’t warrant a place in Cooperstown or a multimillion dollar contract extension. It did, however, help get Brandon Watson another shot at the big leagues. Watson set the International League record on Sunday when he singled off J.D. Durbin in the sixth inning of the Columbus Clippers’ 9-8 loss to the Ottawa Lynx. Four days later, he was starting in center field for the Washington Nationals. … The Associated Press asked a federal judge to make public the names of baseball players a government agent said were implicated in drug use by former major league pitcher Jason Grimsley. In an application filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, the AP said a sworn statement signed in May 2006 to obtain a search warrant for Grimsley’s home in Arizona should be released in its entirety based on legal precedent and public interest. When the affidavit, signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, was made public in June 2006, names of the players Novitzky said Grimsley accused of using performance-enhancing drugs were blacked out.