There are quite a few moving pieces on the market for corner infielders, so it’s conceivable that things could go in any number of different directions. At this point, it’s not even clear when or where the first dominoes will fall. Here’s the latest:
- Fresh off of a non-tender by the Braves, first baseman Matt Adams has drawn interest from a few organizations, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Specifically, the Indians, Royals, and Nationals have all reached out to Adams’s representatives. While Cleveland and Kansas City could offer fairly significant roles to the left-handed hitter — who really is best utilized in a platoon capacity — the Nats unsurprisingly would consider him as a frequently used bench piece who might take some of the burden from Ryan Zimmerman. Atlanta was not able to find a taker for Adams before the tender deadline; he had projected to earn $4.6MM via arbitration, so it’d be surprising if he ended up receiving more than that on the open market. For the Indians, it seems, adding a player such as Adams would represent something of a “fallback,” as Crasnick terms it, if the team is unable to strike a new deal with Carlos Santana. MLBTR’s Kyle Downing just analyzed Santana’s free agent case and we have also rounded up the latest market chatter on one of the market’s top bats.
- Having missed out on Giancarlo Stanton, the Cardinals are now scanning the rest of the market for offensive upgrades. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag looks at the team’s possible options, including free agents Eric Hosmer and J.D. Martinez. He notes that several upper-echelon third basemen might hold appeal on the trade market — which will come as little surprise to those that have followed the Cards’ trade rumblings for the last several months. Of course, it’s still unclear whether the Blue Jays (Josh Donaldson), Rays (Evan Longoria), or Orioles (Manny Machado) will make their stars available.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post tackles that subject, discussing the relative likelihood that any of those three will be shopped. And Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times addresses things from the Rays’ perspective, reporting that Longoria has not been given any indication from the organization about their plans. While he says he hopes to remain in Tampa Bay, he also acknowledges he could be “somewhere in limbo.” If a trade comes to pass, says Longoria, “I suppose my family and I will adjust.”
- The top free agent third baseman, of course, is Mike Moustakas. His market is still taking shape, but the Angels have (as expected) engaged with his camp to some degree, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter links). That said, there’s no indication of momentum. From an outside perspective, it also seems less likely that the Halos would line up on Moustakas after landing Shohei Ohtani. Even less likely is Logan Morrison, though Fletcher adds that he’s also still on the radar.
- Hosmer and Martinez are conceivably also targets for the Red Sox, as are Santana and others. As Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes, the organization has engaged agent Scott Boras on both players; perhaps unsurprisingly, he also suggests that Boras is pitching Boston on signing the pair in a bold move to revamp its lineup. Interestingly, Cafardo also says that Hosmer’s former club, the Royals, once reached an internal assessment that Hosmer could swat forty long balls annually at Fenway. Of course, the notoriously heavy groundball hitter has never launched more than 25 in a given season (that’s a mark he reached in each of the last two campaigns).
Cards should trade for Ozuna and spend that Stanton money on Todd Frazier, Juan Nicasio and Addison Reed. Or else trade for Ozuna and Colome/Longoria and sign Nicasio.
Unfortunately Mozeliak generally avoids free agents and hordes prospects so that dream will die hard.
I think he’s going to be forced to deal prospects. More likely to sign Frazier than Hosmer or Martinez, and DEFINITELY more likely than ever trading/extending or outright signing Machado.
This.
He knows he should spend. He knows he can spend. But apparently is scared to death of dealing away the next Kershaw (which Reyes is not) or Pujols (which none of those prospects are).
Did you miss the part that the Cardinals had the best offer for Stanton?
Ok but it didn’t involve top prospects, no one really knows how much of Stanton’s contract they were willing to ingest, and, Mozeliak pretty much knew going in Stanton didn’t want to play in St. Louis so none of it really matters. He could have offered the team’s top ten prospects and it wouldn’t have made a difference.
I think they were going to take $250 million, but to your point, he was going to opt out after 3 years even if he did accept the trade.
You are so right about Mozeliak…..I don’t know what it is, but over the past few years he hasn’t ever been able to lure top tiered players to the Cardinals. Ability? personality? Current team roster? What is it with him.
Frazier is not an upgrade
it would suck if Frazier was the only bat they got. But a lineup of
Carpenter
Pham
Ozuna
Fowler
DeJong
Frazier
Yadi
Wong
P
Gyrko – infield utility
Jose Martinez – 4th OFer
I could live with that.
How about a deal involving Carpenter and several others for Abreau. Oh…… that’s right!….. Mozeliak can’t reel in a Star player to St. Louis. Why??? And…..If it is him, why have the Cardinal owners stuck with him???
Abreu is about a 3 WAR player when factoring in bad defense and baserunning. Carp was a 3 WAR player last year when he had by far his worst offensive season due to a season long shoulder injury and is cost controlled for several years at below market value.
They aren’t giving up Perez for one year of Donaldson either.
Hosmer to the Cardinals makes sense. Doesn’t mind the midwest and would fill a huge need for an impact bat for the Cards. Plus, they wouldn’t need to give up prospects.
Hosmer is not an upgrade
Thank you. I have no idea why people think Hosmer is some great player. Matt Carpenter has been far better in they careers.
Hosmer is going to end up signed to a terrible contract. I really hope it’s not in St. Louis.
This.
Lol exactly. Hosmer is like a 0 WAR player every other year. It’s honestly an amazing phenomenon, but that means he’s not worth any long term commitment. Abreu isn’t an upgrade over Carp when healthy and is a downgrade defensively. He’s going to cost a crap load in prospects too.
If jays where smart they would move josh Donaldson in a package for Alex Reyes, Harrison Bader and delvin Perez
I don’t think STL would move Reyes for Donaldson.
Not unless they could get a negotiating window with him and he agrees to extension with Cards. Not giving Reyes up for a rental
Cardinals would never do that
That’s too much for one year of Donaldson.
If the Cards were smart, they’d trade Grichuk straight up for Donaldson.
The Cardinals would be smart to do that. The Blue Jays would be stupid to do it on the other hand.
And if the Blue Jays were dumb, they’d trade Donaldson straight up for Grichuk.
Any chance you have an inflated view of Grichuk? He your cousin or something?
Not a chance the Cardinals would do that for one year of Donaldson.
Its a pretty big stretch to call Longoria a star at this point
He is a star. He just doesn’t produce to the level of most stars in the game anymore. He isn’t really an upgrade for St. Louis and should only be considered if the Rays insist on throwing him in to a larger package for salary relief.
I don’t get the Longoria love. He’s a fine player that is obviously declining. He’s not a big enough upgrade over Gyorko to warrant the cost. If they’re moving major pieces out of the farm, hopefully it’s at least for someone that moves the needle.
He’s a piece, not a game-changer. I like the idea of Gyrko getting near-everyday ABs around the infield.
What needs to happen is for the Cards to overwhelm either Atlanta for Freeman or Arizona for Goldschmidt. Goldie has a year left plus an option so his value isn’t going to be higher. Atlanta needs all the pitching they can get.
Yes unload the farm for either. Not at all likely either is available though
Why would Arizona trade Goldschmidt? That’s just not realistic
Agreed
Trading for Freeman is certainly not going to happen. Plus, Atlanta doesn’t exactly need “all the pitching they can get”, especially because there’s going to be a number of battles for the rotation anyway. Newcomb, Sims, Gohara, and Fried are already going to be battling for some of next year’s spots, Folty and Teheran are essentially guaranteed spots, and soon enough they’ll have Allard, Soroka, and Weigel also pushing for spots.
No way is Az trading Goldie.
Those would be serious upgrades. Cards have depth with no “holes”. Need a true upgrade not fillers such as hosmer, Frazier, or sone of others. Yelich, ozuna, Donaldson, machado, freeman, Goldie, those types are upgrades.
Freeman, Machado and Goldie ain’t happening. I doubt Donaldson will either.
Heard the Angels might be interested in Josh Harrison, which would make sense since he can play 2B or 3B (or OF, but they seem OK there) and can hit lead off.
What would they have to offer in trade?
I see the Angels quietly making a push for Kipnis. It wouldn’t take much as his time in CLE has pretty much passed.
I’d think a low level lottery P would get the discussion going.
Cards are going nowhere, Mozeliak is too timid. He’s more of a hoarder than a trader and can’t really go all in
I agree
they’ll never get anywhere as long as they think matt carpenter is a star.
What an appropriate name, troll. He’s basically averaged 4.7 WAR per season since he became a full time starter, so what the hell do you consider star? Was 6.9 WAR good enough? 3.9? 5.2? He’s gotten older as players do but he was still a very good hitter in an injury plagued year. Keep on spouting meaningless garbage as fact though, by all means.
If Josh Donaldson is a 1 year rental they could try to get. As long as they don’t give up to much. Martinez/Gryko can play 1st. Ship Carp to an AL team for the best you can get. The put a package together for Colome. And a package for Ozuna.
I am really interested why landing a Japanese starting pitcher (and occasional DH) for basically free would impact the team’s interest in signing Moose. Not that the Angels SHOULD go after him, just curious behind the rational as to how this signing changed the dynamic.
because Pujols playing 1B for 50 games changes things! Now they can play Valbuena or Cron there. Not that I want Moustakas, I prefer Valbuena over there, but with the moves Billy makes I’m gonna be behind him 100%!
Adding someone like Moose is a major organizational investment. Valbuena will play a utility role in a situation like that. Cron can barely handle 1st base so there is no home for him at 3rd.
The Angels need another infielder. Whether that is a 2nd or 3rd baseman is debatable. I’m also not sold that the team wants to put all their trust in Valbuena regardless of position. He’s injury prone and coming off a year in which he hit under 200 and was on base in less than 30% of his AB’s. I’d feel better if they brought in a real 2B AND 3B and let Valbuena split time around the infield depending on match ups and splits. He should still get 300-400 AB’s and add critical depth.
Well put guess … it seems every time he came to bat against us he would light us up .. plus local Orange County boy ..
Sign em up !
Don’t know why it posted twice …
Let’s go halos !
I sure hope the Angels don’t to give up a draft pick and pay big money for a guy who can’t get on base, can’t play defense and has only had two seasons with a WAR above 2.
I really hope the Angels are smarter than that.
I would pick up Hosmer (1st Choice for 1B).
If I got Hosmer I would trade Hanley Ramirez or let Hanley go after 2018.
I would DH Pedroia.
I would resign Eduardo Nunez and use him at 2B.
I would pick up Jake McGee. (RP)
I would pick up Lance Lynn (SP).
I would keep JBJ. Great CF. Saves you many runs with his fielding and is a reasonably good hitter with potential and you have him at a low cost until 2021.
.
DH Pedrioa? Nunez is a utility FA that is not near the 2B that Pedroia is. This lineup heads help.
If the Angels will take all of Kipnis’s salary I think a deal can easily be reached. Cleveland has too many infielders and not enough outfielders.
If I were Hosmer and Martinez, I might be a little concerned about my agent trying to make a package deal for me. Does he have my best interests in mind?
Of course he does, it’s his money on the line too. He’s simply saying the Sox should dig deep and get both.
As a Sox fan I sadly and regretfully believe they will sign both to big money. They wouldn’t go after Stanton but they will take o two players at a similar cost.what will the back end of the JDM contract look like? Much rather would have had Stanton.
Agreed. The Angels have a couple outfield prospects which could peak Cleveland’s interest.
Such as????
Considering who the agent is, I wouldn’t worry to much about that. The reference was to the Red Sox who are a wealthy team that can afford both players at market value. Boras doesn’t typically leave $ on the table.
Not sure why it “seems less likely that the Halos would line up on Moustakas after landing Shohei Ohtani.” Moustakas addresses their 3B problem as well as their need for a left handed power bat, and Ohtani didn’t impact their free agent budget at all. I hope they don’t think they’re done….
Bingo …!
Moustakas
Is
Not
That
Good
If JD comes to Boston then that frees up JBJ.
Arizona will need an outfielder if JD goes.
We need a 1B.
Paul Goldschmidt is a free agent after 2019.
It’s a question mark if AZ can afford him.
AZ’s payroll is 1/2 Boston’s.
AZ may deal Greinke and Goldschmidt to cut payroll like Jeter did?
Hazen (the AZ GM) and Lovullo (AZ Manager) are from Boston.
Why would it be unrealistic to assume AZ may dump big salaries as Jeter did?
Jays are going nowhere in 2018. They’ll end up 4 or 5 in the division when it is all over. Trade Donaldson now for the best available. Shapiro needs to stop pandering to the box office. Just delaying the evitable.
Joey Votto may be a candidate for a trade to the Red Sox.
Ohtani an unreal pickup for sure … halos need another starter to solidify our battery… my two cents .. which ain’t worth much .
Longo and Archer to Braves for Kemp plus 3 prospects between 10 and 25 range plus $6 mil
trade for freddy freeman…….please…….