It seems as though the Rockies are “strong contenders” to re-sign Mark Reynolds, who played first base for the club in the majority of their 2016-2017 games. The insight comes via a tweet from Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish, who also notes that the Royals are looking at Reynolds as a backup plan in case Gold Glove-winner Eric Hosmer signs elsewhere.
The 34-year-old Reynolds has been worth about one win above replacement over the course of 1,034 plate appearances with the Rockies. His .274/.354/.471 batting line with the club has earned him a 103 wRC+ mark during that time, while his defense grades out as slightly below average.
Reynolds has long been known for his all-or-nothing approach at the plate. The right-handed slugger has blasted 281 career home runs, and they go a long way. In fact, his average home run distance was the longest in all of baseball at 419 feet (minimum 15 home runs). However, his whopping 1,806 career strikeouts already rank 18th-most all-time among MLB players. He’s got a 15.6% swinging strike rate for his career; for reference, that’s the number a 2017 league-average hitter would have posted if he faced Cy Young-winner Corey Kluber in every at-bat of the season. Reynolds has toned down the strikeouts a bit in recent years, but he’s still a good bet to whiff around 30% of the time.
Reynolds, then, would be a stark contrast to the type of player the Royals have generally rostered in recent years: high-contact, low-strikeout players with good baserunning ability. Then again, the Royals may enter a rebuilding phase if they can’t re-sign any of their veteran free agents (including Hosmer), and Reynolds would be among the cheaper first base options on the free agent market. You can see where Reynolds’ skills rank among the top eight free agent first basemen here.
As for the Rockies, they’ve been linked to Carlos Santana during the winter meetings, but it’s been said that their top priorities are not at first base. As such, it makes sense that they’re a strong contender for the inexpensive Reynolds.
Just what KC needs, another strikeout machine to combine with Moss and Gordon. C’mon Dayton, just say no.
This guy is a survivor. When he was with the O’s he killed the R Sox. Granted he played in Colorado last year–not that different a launching Pad from Fenway. He had 30 dingers and 97 RBI, BA .265 in 148 games. He got paid $1.5 M–plays 1 B. Has played 3 B early in his career, he’s a born to be DH in the AL.
He’s a Baseball Junky. A FA–Strikes out 1 X every game.
DD he’s worth a 2 to 3 year contract for $5 M per.
He was a major beneficiary of the “coors effect” this year
Mark Reynolds and not Logan Morrison. Totals gonna cut ticket prices if they tank?
The Royals are going to have to get off the fence at some point. If you are going to let Hoz, Moose and Cain go, then let’s just FULLY do this rebuild. Trade Herrera, trade Duffy, trade Soria if you can. Try very hard – though it will be extremely difficult – to trade Gordon, Kennedy, Hammel. There is no point in signing people like Mark Reynolds.
I was all for going for it this summer. You were in the playoffs at the deadline. One last run was worth it even though it didn’t work. But if we are going to rebuild, let’s go all in and do it the right way.
Agreed, but i think you need to let Kennedy rebuild some value in the beginning of the season in order to move his full contract or be able to get something in return for him. He’s a streaky guy that can reach double digit K’s often. If they could package Gordon/Kennedy that would be a real win for them.
Might as well trade Salvy too, while his value is as good as it’s ever going to be. He takes a beating back there, and those knees aren’t getting any younger. If GMDM is going to rebuild, rebuild.
I can’t see them getting rid of Gordo or Salvy. They’d have to eat part of Gordo’s salary and won’t get much in return so it’s better to just let that one play out.
Salvy won’t go anywhere. I wish they’d start giving him some more breaks especially with a rebuild. He’s a great clubhouse guy and can help young pitchers that they’ll more than likely promote next year to fill spots. Granted, dumping Eiland wasn’t what I was expecting. He didn’t have much to work with last year…
I’m surprised LoMo doesn’t get more love. He fell off in the second half but was still solid in my book.
GMDM just say no. Keep Reynolds’ inflated Coors stats away from the K.
Trot out any rookie or prospect over this garbage. If you want a free agent, free up some salary and sign Logan Morrison.