The Royals followed up their World Series loss in 2014 with a victory in the Fall Classic in 2015. They’ll be looking to make it three straight trips this season by adding to their current roster with an eclectic class of free agents. The market is already starting to be set with extensions being handed out to San Francisco’s Brandon Crawford (6 years, $75 million) and Toronto’s Marco Estrada (2 years, $26 million) but there are still plenty of teams looking to spend and plenty of free agents looking to score big. Other than teams resigning their own guys, like many expect to happen with Zack Greinke and Los Angeles, Jason Heyward and St. Louis, and Jordan Zimmermann and Washington, here are the top moves that could turn the teams chasing Kansas City into the ones that the Royals themselves are chasing come next October.
NEW YORK METS- Ben Zobrist, 2B
The Mets are going to lose Daniel Murphy to free agency. That may be something that Mets fans are fine with now, but it leaves a gaping hole in both their lineup and their infield. Enter Ben Zobrist. The term utilityman is a harsh one to describe the former Ray, Athletic, and Royal, but Zobrist is as versatile of a player as they come. He can hold his own at every infield position save catcher and is above average in both corner outfield spots. He can hit for average and still has plenty of pop in his bat especially from the left side. His age (he’ll be 35 in 2016) will make him a cheaper option than Murphy and he’d be an upgrade even if the third or fourth year of the contract would be dead money. Zobrist would be the ultimate plug and play guy for Terry Collins who too often had to try to force square pegs into round holes with his lineups. Adding Zobrist to the Mets would make them NL East favorites again and potential World Series repeaters.
NEW YORK YANKEES- David Price, SP
Yes, everybody is aware that these aren’t the free spending Yankees of yesteryear when George Steinbrenner saw a player he wanted and overbid everybody tenfold to go get them. But this is a move that could take the Yankees back to the glory of that yesteryear in adding a top flight starter and taking him from a division rival in the process. Price had an immaculate year in 2015 between both the Tigers and Blue Jays. He sits atop the free agent pyramid from the left side at the moment while Zack Greinke does the same on the right side. Both men are going to command at least $200 million dollar contracts which limits their options substantially. Price to the Yankees would allow the Bronx Bombers to finally put CC Sabathia out to pasture. It will also lessen the burden on Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and Ivan Nova; three men both coming off arm injuries over the past two seasons.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS- Chris Davis, 1B
The 2014 World Series champions don’t lack for much. They have a bonafide ace in Madison Bumgarner, a stellar defense, and a bullpen that may look rough on paper but is plenty capable. The one thing they could really use is a power bat. No bat on the market this winter is more powerful than that of Chris Davis. Now the fact that he is a Scott Boras client is going to scare many teams off, but the Giants dealt with Boras for years in negotiations with their last real slugger, Barry Bonds. Davis, who is also being pitched as a corner outfielder by Boras, led the American League in home runs last year with 47 and has 159 in his four full seasons in Baltimore. Now those numbers may drop a bit at AT&T Park, but Davis’ power isn’t just a product of hitting at hitter-friendly Camden Yards. He’s hit 58 home runs in that span away from his friendly home confines. Just think of what he can do in 19 games at Coors Field a year.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS- Johnny Cueto, SP
The Royals knew when they traded for him that Johnny Cueto was going to be nothing more than a rental. One World Series trophy later and Cueto will be looking to cash in on the open market. His shaky time in Kansas City during the regular season will put him just below the Price and Greinke tier of free agents, but he will still be in line to make plenty of cash this winter. One team that will have the money to spend and the need for a pitcher of Cueto’s caliber is the Angels. Garrett Richards and Hector Santiago are fine pitchers, but aces they are not. Jered Weaver’s injuries may never allow him to return to his very best. To compete in the new AL West with Houston and Texas not looking like they are going away any time soon, the Angels need to get somebody to duel with the likes of Dallas Keuchel and a returning Yu Darvish every fifth day. Cueto will pitch 200 innings a year and never look rattled doing so. That is something the Angels haven’t had since John Lackey left after the 2009 season.
MINNESOTA TWINS- Mike Leake, SP
The Twins joined the Astros this year as teams that had expectations of another year in the cellar only to contend for a playoff spot. While the Astros actually made it to the postseason, the Twins are looking to do so next year in a big way. They’ve won the bidding rights to Korean slugger Byung-ho Park who has hit 105 home runs the past two seasons in the KBO. Alas, scoring runs wasn’t Minnesota’s issue last season. Keeping runs off the board was. Their rotation was an absolute mess and the man signed to be the ace of it, Ricky Nolasco, was one of the reasons why. Now in no way am I making the statement that Mike Leake is an ace. He’s far from it but one thing that can be said with little hesitation is that Mike Leake is much better than Ricky Nolasco. Leake’s signing would make for great competition for the #1 spot in the rotation come spring. His price tag would be right in Minnesota’s wheelhouse and he would upgrade the Twins’ lone deficiency as they try to compete with the champs in 2016.
What free agent do you think your favorite team could sign to put them over the top in the coming season? Let us know in the comments or tweet at me @TREVORutley or the site @sportsftb. We all miss baseball, but with the Hot Stove burning right now we will continue to get our fix through the cold months.