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Nationals Place Trea Turner On 10-Day DL

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TODAY: As anticipated, the Nats have placed Turner on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. The club selected the  contract of Adrian Sanchez to take his spot on the active roster.

Sanchez, 26, has been playing in the organization for 11 years. He’ll bring plenty of defensive versatility to the table — he has spent significant time at second, third, and short — but not much in the way of hitting ability. Sanchez carries a .259/.312/.384 slash line with 21 steals over 280 plate appearances on the year, mostly of them coming at Triple-A.

To open a 40-man spot, the Nationals moved lefty Sammy Solis to the 60-day DL. That’s just a formality, as he has already been out for that span. It seems reasonably likely that Sanchez will function as a little-used bench piece until there’s a need for his roster spot.

YESTERDAY: Nationals shortstop Trea Turner, who was hit by a pitch in tonight’s game against the Cubs, has been diagnosed with a broken right wrist, reports Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (on Twitter). There’s no timetable for a return to the roster at this point, she adds.

Suffice it to say, the loss of Turner for any stretch of time is a crushing blow to the Nationals, although the Nats have a large enough lead in the NL East (nine games, at present) to weather an absence for the 23-year-old star. That said, Turner has batted .279/.324/.422 with seven homers and an outrageous 35 stolen bases in 315 plate appearances this season, and he’s turned in roughly average defense at shortstop as well. Subtracting that level of output from any roster is a tough pill to swallow.

In the short term, the Nats can turn to veteran Stephen Drew and rookie Wilmer Difo and entrust that pair with the bulk of the playing time at shortstop. The 34-year-old Drew has somewhat quietly been excellent for the Nationals across the past two seasons, hitting at a combined .286/.347/.515 in an admittedly small sample of 225 plate appearances. Just 19 of those plate appearances have come against left-handed pitching, so Drew would ideally benefit from a platoon partner. The switch-hitting Difo can provide that; while he’s struggled against lefties in a tiny sample of 37 plate appearances, Difo hit left-handed pitching considerably better than right-handed pitching in the minors in 2015-16.

There will, of course, be some options available for the Nationals to pursue on the trade market. Zack Cozart stands out as the most logical candidate, as the 32-year-old has taken his offensive game to a new level in 2017 and paired it with his usual brand of defensive wizardry. Cozart is a free agent at season’s end, and the rebuilding Reds will undoubtedly be open to moving him once he returns from a much more minor DL stint of his own (for a strained quadriceps). Other available options for the Nats include Jed Lowrie of the Athletics and Eduardo Nunez of the Giants. Looking across the division, Asdrubal Cabrera recently expressed frustration with the Mets and suggested that he’d prefer a trade, but he’s since walked those comments back a bit (and it’s not clear if the two division rivals would be able to line up on a trade anyhow).

Brewers Outright Tyler Cravy, Select Rob Scahill

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The Brewers have outrighted right-hander Tyler Cravy, per a club announcement. Milwaukee selected the contract of righty Rob Scahill while optioning righty Jorge Lopez — after just one outing — to open an active roster spot.

A need for fresh arms in the pen drove the decision. Obviously, Cravy himself represented an option, but evidently Milwaukee wasn’t swayed by his work this year at Triple-A.

Cravy, who’ll soon turn 28, worked to a 2.86 ERA over 28 1/3 MLB innings last year, with 7.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. He also sported an intriguing 11.3% swinging-strike rate. But he had struggled during his time at Colorado Springs, and that continued in 2017. Over 26 2/3 frames thus far at the highest level of the minors, Cravy owns a 5.06 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.

Instead, the club will go with Scahill, who has himself been removed from the 40-man roster once already this year. The 30-year-old, a six-year MLB veteran, managed only five strikeouts (while issuing nine walks, three of which were intentional) in his 17 2/3 MLB innings prior to that move. Scahill has gone on to post much better numbers at Tripe-A, with a 2.45 ERA and 6.9 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 in his 16 appearances.

Cardinals To Promote John Mozeliak, Mike Girsch

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2:02pm: Both executives are now under contract through 2020, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets.

12:24pm: The Cardinals are set to promote John Mozeliak from general manager to president of baseball operations, while assistant GM Mike Girsch will be promoted to the post of general manager, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals have called a 2:00pm press conference to announce the move.

John Mozeliak | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Mozeliak will still, of course, oversee the team’s baseball operations decisions and will remain heavily involved in all facets of the department, Goold notes, though he’ll now have a title that is perhaps more commensurate with his considerable experience. Mozeliak has been the general manager of the Cardinals for nearly a decade, and in making this move, the Cardinals will adopt what has become an increasingly popular front office structure throughout the game. Among the teams that utilize the president of baseball ops/GM hierarchy are the Dodgers (Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi), Cubs (Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer), Athletics (Billy Beane/David Forst), Rays (Matt Silverman/Erik Neander) and Indians (Chris Antonetti/Mike Chernoff).

It’s not immediately clear if Mozeliak will receive an extension with the new title, though Goold notes that chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. has recently suggested that extension negotiations and talk of a new title for Mozeliak have been ongoing. His current deal runs through the 2018 season, though it certainly stands to reason that with the elevation in title will come a lengthier deal.

The 2017 season, of course, hasn’t been a strong one for the Cardinals, although the organization has generally prospered under Mozeliak. Since he took the job following the 2007 season, the Cards have made six postseason appearances, including a World Series victory in 2011 and a second World Series appearance two years later in 2013. Mozeliak, of course, also had a role in the Cardinals’ 2006 World Series championship, as he previously spent five years as an assistant GM to Walt Jocketty and has been involved in the organization’s scouting department dating all the way back to 1995.

Girsch, meanwhile, has held his AGM post since 2011 and has been with the organization since serving as an amateur scouting coordinator back in 2006. He’s spent six years directly assisting Mozeliak in nearly all facets of the game, including: contract negotiation, player evaluation, amateur scouting, player development and international operations.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Central Notes: Jorge, Diaz, Montero, Petricka

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With the Twins set to play 20 games in a 19-day span heading into the All-Star break, including four games against the Royals this weekend, they’ll dip into the minors and call on prospect Felix Jorge to make his MLB debut tomorrow, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 23-year-old Jorge currently sits eighth among Minnesota farmhands, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and also ranked eighth among Twins prospects entering the season, per Baseball America. The right-hander doesn’t overpower opponents but has walked just 1.7 hitters per nine innings dating back to 2015. He currently has a 3.26 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent ground-ball rate through 85 2/3 Double-A frames. Both scouting reports peg Jorge as a fourth or fifth starter, noting that he’s added some bulk to his slender frame and sits in the low 90s with a bit of sink on his heater while also offering an above-average changeup. Jorge is already on the 40-man roster, so there won’t be a DFA or 60-day DL move required to add him.

More on the game’s Central divisions…

  • Aledmys Diaz was caught off-guard by the Cardinals’ decision to option him to Triple-A, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, the 26-year-old offered a professional attitude to the media following the move’s announcement, telling reporters that he’s happy to do whatever is best for the Cardinals in the long run. General manager John Mozeliak also weighed in on what he labeled a difficult decision, telling the media: “What we really want to see is that he’s able to take a deep breath and go down and work on some things offensively, as well as his whole game. … (Diaz) hasn’t been picking the ball up (at the plate) and he’s been chasing a lot of balls outside the zone.” Mozeliak also noted that injured second baseman Kolten Wong won’t be back with the team until after the All-Star break.
  • Cubs manager Joe Maddon spoke candidly about the organization’s decision to designate Miguel Montero for assignment following the catcher’s blasting of Jake Arrieta and the Cubs’ pitching staff, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune writes. “(There are) too many young guys in (the clubhouse) who are impressionable,” said Maddon. “…With this young impressionable group, to me, and a really good group that’s going to be together for a long time, you don’t want to foster, nurture, condone (Montero’s) kind of message.” President of baseball operations Theo Epstein was alerted to Montero’s comments by GM Jed Hoyer on Tuesday night this week, per Gonzales, and the two reached the decision to move on from Montero after speaking with Maddon late that night. Epstein stresses that Montero shouldn’t be viewed as any kind of scapegoat for the team’s overall struggles, though he said they felt Montero was “not being a good teammate” and demonstrated a lack of accountability in such a public manner that they were forced to act.
  • The White Sox announced yesterday that righty Jake Petricka has been placed back on the disabled list due to a right elbow strain. Fellow righty Juan Minaya was summoned back from Triple-A just a day after being sent there. The elbow issue is the latest in a slew of injuries for Petricka, who has missed time due to a forearm strain, hip surgery and a lat strain in recent years. The 29-year-old’s hard sinker has led to a sizable 63 percent ground-ball rate, though Petricka has averaged just 6.5 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 as a big leaguer. Nonetheless, that huge ground-ball rate has helped him post a 3.70 ERA through 163 innings in the Majors. No timetable was given for a return to the mound.

Phillies To Place Howie Kendrick On DL, Promote Nick Williams

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The Phillies are set to promote outfield prospect Nick Williams to the Majors, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter). The move means that left fielder Howie Kendrick will land on the 10-day disabled list due to an injured left hamstring, tweets MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.

Williams, 23, rated as a consensus top 100 prospect headed into the 2016 season but saw his stock dip following an awful year with Philadelphia’s Triple-A affiliate last year (.258/.287/.427, 26% strikeout rate). Those struggles dipped him off most prospect lists this season, though Baseball Prospectus still ranked him 51st headed into the year, and MLB.com currently rates him fourth among Phillies prospects.

Thus far in 2017, Williams has demonstrated a large number of the skills that made him such a touted prospect and a key piece to the 2015 Cole Hamels blockbuster, though there’s still some work to be done. Through 302 plate appearances, he’s hitting a much-improved .277/.326/.511 with 15 homers, 16 doubles and two triples. He’s upped his walk rate a bit, but the boost from 3.6 percent to a still-modest 5.3 percent and Williams’ actually elevated 29.8 percent strikeout rate still indicate room for improvement.

That said, Williams has the potential to provide power and speed with solid defense in an outfield corner for years to come if he can manage to refine his approach at the plate. Whether he remains on the roster to stay or is only up in the big leagues for a brief period is unclear, though certainly one would imagine that a strong first showing could force Williams into the mix with Kendrick on the shelf and veteran Michael Saunders now back with the Blue Jays organization following his release.

As for Kendrick, his second trip to the disabled list saps some of the trade value he’d built up over the past month. Kendrick missed roughly six weeks of the season with an abdominal injury, but he returned swinging a blazing bat. In 96 plate appearances following his most recent activation from the DL, Kendrick slashed a ridiculous .356/.406/.471 with a pair of homers, four doubles and seven stolen bases.

It remains to be seen how long he’ll miss, but the injury seems minor enough that he’ll be back with time to spare before the July 31 non-waiver deadline. However, with a pair of DL stints under his belt, roughly $4-5MM remaining on his contract and his status as a rental player, Kendrick doesn’t figure to fetch a premium return, even though a number of teams will be intrigued by the thought of adding a well-respected veteran with some defensive versatility.

NL East Notes: Bartolo, Kendrick, Nationals

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The Mets will at least consider a reunion with 44-year-old righty Bartolo Colon following yesterday’s DFA by the Braves, reports MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). They are, however, understandably wary of his poor performance in Atlanta. Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News spoke to one Mets person who expressed some intrigue regarding the possibility of once again pairing Colon with pitching coach Dan Warthen to see if Colon could succeed in a bullpen role in New York. And, as Ackert points out, the additional depth would hardly be a bad thing for a Mets pitching staff that has been decimated by injury.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

  • The Phillies could be facing a trip to the disabled list for Howie Kendrick, writes CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. Kendrick has been bothered lately by a sore hamstring, and while he was in the lineup as a DH on Tuesday this week, he told manager Pete Mackanin that he didn’t feel good enough to go on Wednesday. Mackanin acknowledged that the Phils have to consider a DL stint for Kendrick, which would be a disappointing development for the organization, as Kendrick’s hot bat has elevated his trade candidacy since returning from a lengthy six-week stint on the DL earlier this year. Salisbury wonders whether the Phils would bring up a prospect such as Nick Williams or Dylan Cozens and give him regular playing time in lieu of Kendrick, though that suggestion appears to be made somewhat speculatively.
  • Although the Nationals have a well-documented need for bullpen upgrades, sorting out the roster in the wake of a move won’t be as easy as one would imagine, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Ownership typically doesn’t love the notion of adding significant contracts midseason in the first place, she writes, and the concept of adding a reliever and then cutting a player already on a relatively significant deal (e.g. Joe Blanton) may not be appealing to the Lerner family — especially if it meant acquiring another significant contract. Janes runs down a list of virtually every relief option on the roster, noting that the team’s best-performing relievers (Matt Albers, Enny Romero) are among the most affordable options. Despite Shawn Kelley’s struggles, Janes writes, he’s a well-liked clubhouse presence that is under contract through 2018, and it’s unlikely that the Nats would simply eat the rest of his contract to free up a roster spot.

Yankees’ Dustin Fowler Injures Knee In MLB Debut, Requires Surgery

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JUNE 30: Manager Joe Girardi told reporters after the game that Fowler’s injury comes with a recovery time of at least six months (via Hoch).

JUNE 29: In terrible news for the Yankees and one of their most promising young talents, the team announced that outfielder Dustin Fowler suffered an open rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee and will undergo surgery tonight in Chicago (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).

Fowler, 22, sustained the injury when running full-speed into the right-field retaining wall in an effort to catch a foul ball off the bat of Jose Abreu in the bottom of the first inning (video available at MLB.com). He was carted off the field shortly thereafter.

Yankees fans have been waiting for months to get a look at Fowler following a terrific start to his season in Triple-A. Through 313 Triple-A plate appearances, Fowler hit .293/.329/.542 with 13 homers and 13 stolen bases. Unfortunately, tonight’s injury occurred before Fowler was even able to take his first big league plate appearance.

Eschewing the baseball perspective and viewing the injury through a human element lens, the injury is a terribly saddening occurrence for a 22-year-old that was merely minutes into realizing a lifelong dream. Hopefully, Fowler proves able to make a full recovery and rejoins the Yankees as a part of their future down the road.

From a strictly on-field perspective, New York has the outfield depth to weather the injury, though they’ll be short-handed for awhile with Aaron Hicks on the shelf for upwards of four weeks and Fowler down for the remainder of the season. The Yankees do have another of baseball’s top outfield prospects, Clint Frazier, not far off from Major League readiness in Triple-A, though it’s not clear when he’ll emerge as a candidate for a promotion of his own.

Marlins Reportedly Nearing Decision On Sale Of Team

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Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is nearing a decision on the sale of the team and is prepared to sell the club for less than the originally reported $1.3 billion price tag, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Earlier tonight, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Marlins had made “significant progress” on the sale and were expected to receive $1.1-$1.3 billion dollars from the group that is being led by Tagg Romney, Tom Glavine and Wayne Rothbaum or the group that is led by Derek Jeter.

FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that the likely sale price would fall somewhere in the range of $1.1-$1.25 billion, and he also noted that Jeter has made progress on raising the requisite funds for his bid’s approval. Jackson offers a similar sentiment, reporting that the Jeter group has bid more than $1.1 billion. Jackson adds that the league has been led to believe in recent days that Jeter has solidified his investment group to some extent. Rothbaum/Romney/Glavine, meanwhile, have the funds to bid upwards of $1.3 billion but have not been willing to go that high in talks, Jackson reports.

Jackson cites a “New York-based Major League Baseball source” in reporting that Loria hopes to make a decision before the end of July, but adds that there’s no front-runner at this time. Rothbaum would technically be the control person of their group, though he’s work closely with Romney, while Glavine would have some type of role in the baseball ops department. Jeter, meanwhile, would want to be heavily involved in baseball operations as well, according to Jackson.

Trade Chatter: A’s, Giants, Yankees, McCutchen, Avila, Dodgers

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Though Sonny Gray has garnered most of the headlines in Athletics trade rumors, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Jed Lowrie, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson are all drawing interest as well. The A’s are hoping to move Lowrie to clear a spot for prospect Franklin Barreto to play in the Majors on a full-time basis, she notes. Barreto is currently getting at-bats, but Oakland also has Marcus Semien on the mend and returning perhaps in a week or more. Doolittle and Madson are both in the midst of strong seasons, although the injury-prone Doolittle has been limited to 14 2/3 innings. Madson, meanwhile, looks even better than he did in his 2015 comeback; he’s averaging 9.8 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 with a 54.4 percent ground-ball rate, leading to a 2.35 ERA. Of course, he’s also earning $7.5MM this year and next, and his contract calls for incentives for finishing games, which could make the price even more steep. The Rangers, Cubs, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Braves and Astros have all been scouting Oakland recently, according to Slusser.

Some more trade chatter from around the game…

  • The Giants aren’t looking to rebuild so much as they’re looking to reload, president Larry Baer tells Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. Baer acknowledged that the 2017 campaign hasn’t been anything close to what the organization had hoped, but he also indicated that even if the front office moves some veterans this summer, the ultimate goal will be to return to contention in 2018. “Directionally it’s, ‘How can we get right back there in 2018,” said Baer. “It’s not how can we get right back there in 2022 or 2021.” Pavlovic notes that it’s possible the Giants could try to trade Johnny Cueto and still re-sign him this winter if he exercises his opt-out clause with a new team, and Baer wouldn’t rule out that possibility, simply stating that it was “possible” but declining to speculate too heavily.
  • The Yankees are looking for bullpen help “right now,” writes FanRag’s Jon Heyman as part of his weekly American League Notes column. The duo of Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances is formidable in the late innings, but the recent struggles of Tyler Clippard and others have GM Brian Cashman on the lookout. Cashman told Heyman that the Yankees aren’t looking for a first baseman at the moment, though recent injury news regarding Tyler Austin and Greg Bird, of course, could change that line of thinking in a hurry.
  • There’s been no serious talk between the Pirates and other clubs regarding Andrew McCutchen just yet, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Part of the reason for that is the parity that exists in Wild Card races, as many teams that could eventually add some veteran pieces remain uncertain that they’ll be in the hunt a month from now.
  • Also via Morosi, Tigers catcher Alex Avila is “on the radar” of the Cubs and the Blue Jays. Avila has had a staggering turnaround in his return to Detroit, hitting a ridiculous .315/.431/.586 with 11 homers while earning just a $2MM salary on a one-year deal. While many fans are understandably skeptical of Avila’s turnaround, I’ll point out that Avila’s 57 percent hard-hit rate leads all players with at least 190 plate appearances, and he entered play Thursday tied with teammate J.D. Martinez for the third-highest average exit velocity in baseball (93.7 mph), trailing only Aaron Judge and Miguel Sano. Avila has always had a massive walk rate, as well, and that’s been the case once again in 2017 (16.4 percent). There’s some regression coming, of course, as even with his batted-ball profile he’s probably not going to sustain a .426 BABIP.
  • One more from Morosi, who notes that the Dodgers’ primary focus remains on starting pitching at this time. They’re considering controllable options rather than rental pieces, with Morosi linking Los Angeles to the the Tigers’ Justin Verlander, the Athletics’ Sonny Gray, the White Sox’ Jose Quintana and the Pirates’ Gerrit Cole.
  • For those still looking for more trade-related content to peruse, Heyman penned a column highlighting nearly 100 possible trade candidates, ranging from valuable-but-unlikely-to-move names (e.g. Josh Donaldson, Gerrit Cole) to bad contracts that current teams would like to escape in a potential salary dump (e.g. Junichi Tazawa, Matt Cain). There are some quotes from scouts, general managers and other league execs mixed in throughout.

2017-18 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

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Most MLB teams are a few games shy of the halfway point in the regular season.  We last checked in on the projected 2017-18 free agent class on May 18th, and since then plenty has changed.  Below, the projected free agents are ranked based on their current earning power.  To view the full list of players eligible for free agency after the season, click here.

1.  Yu Darvish.  Darvish is in the midst of a fine, healthy season.  Post-Tommy John surgery, he’s logged 34 starts with a 3.26 ERA and 10.7 K/9 in 207 1/3 innings.  While the 30-year-old righty may not be one of the ten best starters in MLB right now, he’ll likely be paid like it this winter.  He has a shot at topping the six-year, $155MM contract Jon Lester signed with the Cubs in December 2014.  According to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan on June 19th, Darvish is “very likely to end the season in a Rangers uniform.”  While Texas is firmly in the AL Wild Card mix at present, Passan suggested that the Rangers would keep Darvish even if they fall out of contention by the trade deadline, to maximize their chances of re-signing their ace.

2.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez, 30 in August, has established himself as the best hitter in this free agent class.  Despite missing the first month and a half of the season, Martinez has a good shot at finishing with 30+ home runs for the second time in his career.  For a team looking to add a right-handed middle of the order masher this winter, a six-year offer is possible.  Consider Chris Davis and Shin-Soo Choo, who managed to land seven-year contracts in free agency.  Martinez’s Tigers are currently long shots for the playoffs this year, and the club stands to net only a fourth-round pick if he rejects a qualifying offer and signs elsewhere this winter.  So Martinez is a strong candidate to be traded a month from now, unless the Tigers surge.

3.  Johnny Cueto.  Cueto vs. Arrieta is an interesting argument.  Born 20 days apart in 1986, both righties are having disappointing, home run-prone seasons.  As MLBTR’s Steve Adams suggests, Cueto has the edge given his excellence in 2016 and an ability to go deeper into games this season.  With the Giants completely out of contention, Cueto could be one of the best available starting pitchers on the trade market this summer.  However, the pitcher’s opt-out clause adds downside risk for an acquiring team.  Cueto is simply a rental if he opts out, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports says he’s “planning” to do, but the pitcher would still reserve the right to stick with his remaining four years and $84MM in the event of an injury or further downturn in performance.  The Giants could reduce their asking price on Cueto to accommodate this risk, or better yet, allow a negotiating window to see if the pitcher would provide his potential new team more certainty about his future.

4.  Jake Arrieta.  Arrieta’s supporting stats suggest he’s better than his current 4.67 ERA, but his days as one of baseball’s best starters may be behind him.  In five of his 16 starts, Arrieta has failed to make it out of the fifth inning.  I’m currently projecting a five-year deal, though we haven’t seen that happen recently with a free agent pitcher entering his age-32 season, outside of Zack Greinke’s outrageous six-year pact.  Agent Scott Boras put out his Arrieta talking points to reporters about a month ago, but if they aren’t convincing to you and I, they probably won’t work on MLB GMs either.

5.  Eric Hosmer.  How low was Hoz on April 24th?  An 0-for-4 against Miguel Gonzalez and the White Sox had dropped his season line to .192/.253/.247 through 79 plate appearances.  This was following a very bleak second half in 2016.  But since April 24th, Hosmer has been on fire, hitting .344/.402/.540 in 234 PAs.  For the season as a whole, he’s back at “Good Hosmer” levels – a high-average hitter with some pop.  At the moment, I’m projecting a solid five-year deal for Hosmer.  He doesn’t turn 28 until October, broadening his appeal.  However, there are two other first basemen who could threaten Hosmer’s market: Yonder Alonso and Logan Morrison.   Both have come from out of nowhere to post monster first halves and could offer the allure of better production than Hosmer at a lower price in free agency.  Interest in Hosmer could be further crowded out by Lucas Duda, Mark Reynolds, and Mitch Moreland.

6.  Justin Upton.  Though they go about it in different ways, Upton has been a similar value hitter to Hosmer over the last several years.  While neither player is regarded as a great fielder, it’s a little harder to find a left fielder than a first baseman.  Upton, however, is two years older than Hosmer and faces a decision on his opt-out clause.  If Upton can top four years and $88MM in free agency, it might not be by a ton.  Upton may make the safer choice to stick with his Tigers deal.  On May 25th, Jon Heyman wrote that the possibility of Upton opting out seems “beyond remote,” with a rival GM in agreement.  If the Tigers are to consider trading Upton, they’ll be faced with the same issue the Giants have with Cueto.

7.  Mike Moustakas.  With 20 home runs this season, Moustakas is already threatening his career high of 22.  A 40-homer season isn’t entirely out of the question, given his production to date, and Moose can hold down the hot corner acceptably.  He doesn’t turn 29 until September, and with a strong second half, a five-year deal could be in play.  Older players such as Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler, Russell Martin, and Brian McCann were all able to land five years in free agency.

8.  Lorenzo Cain.  Cain’s bat has bounced back so far this year, and the Royals’ speedy center fielder makes his first appearance in our top ten.  Cain turns 32 next April, which may put a five-year deal out of reach.  Still, he looks like the best available center fielder this winter.  Like all of the Royals on this list, Cain could be traded in late July if the team falls out of contention.

9.  Masahiro Tanaka.  While Tanaka once seemed a lock to opt out of the remaining three years and $67MM on his Yankees contract, his rough start to the season has brought that into question.  Tanaka, who turns 29 in November, sports a 5.56 ERA and has allowed a whopping 21 home runs in 90 2/3 innings.  That’s good for the fourth-worst home run rate among all qualified starters. Tanaka’s performance has been extremely erratic this year.  He doesn’t look like a $22MM pitcher in free agency, but with a strong second half, a four or five-year deal could be back on the table.

10.  Michael Pineda.  Prior to this year, Pineda’s home run problems could be mostly chalked up to Yankee Stadium.  But this year, in his six road starts, Pineda has somehow seen 30% of fly-balls allowed leave the yard.  The 28-year-old remains as maddening as ever, as three clunkers in June have pushed his ERA up to 4.12.  Pineda is still young and talented enough to score a four-year deal in free agency, as he’s the type of pitcher teams can dream on.

A pair of dominant relievers just missed the top ten.  Wade Davis and Greg Holland have been excellent and will likely be vying for four-year deals in excess of $60MM this winter.  The aforementioned Alonso and Morrison have reinvented themselves and could threaten the top ten before the season is out.  And despite a DL stint for a strained quad, Reds shortstop Zack Cozart still leads all projected free agents with 2.8 wins above replacement this year.

Jonathan Lucroy was arguably the best-hitting catcher in baseball last year, but his bat has gone ice cold in 2017.  Lucroy turned 31 this month, and his performance has put a four-year deal in jeopardy.

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