Mark Reynolds can hit the ball out of the park, but he's a leading reason why the D'Backs are striking out so much. No MLB team has ever whiffed more times than the 2010 D'Backs and Reynolds, who leads the National League in Ks for the third consecutive season, is the main culprit. He's tied for fifth in the league with 32 homers, but that .198/.321/.434 line looks thin.
The simplest way for GM Kevin Towers to reduce Arizona's 2011 strikeout total would be to trade Reynolds. The third baseman is under contract for two more years and will earn $13MM or more before his deal expires. Reynolds has been a below average defender for the past four seasons (according to UZR) and he doesn't have much experience at any position but third base.
It would have been considerably easier to trade Reynolds a year ago, when he was coming off a 44 homer season and a more respectable batting average. If the D'Backs shop him this winter, they may have to wait for some of the teams in search of a third baseman to determine where they fit in the Adrian Beltre sweepstakes.
For example, it's hard to imagine the Red Sox and Angels trading for Reynolds before Beltre signs. The White Sox could also have interest, but Chicago has Dayan Viciedo and Mark Teahen, so a Reynolds acquisition seems unlikely. Toronto may non-tender Edwin Encarnacion, but the Blue Jays already have their share of all-or-nothing hitters, so Reynolds doesn't seem like a fit.
The Tigers (16th in MLB in homers) and Padres (22nd) could use power and could create room at third for Reynolds. The A's rank 29th in baseball in homers, will be looking for power this offseason and may non-tender Kevin Kouzmanoff, so they may be the best fit of all. Arizona thought about offering Reynolds to Oakland before Towers took over, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see the sides spark up talks.
