The free agent market this offseason has been almost painfully slow for the second consecutive year. Allow an illustration of this observation here with a team of remaining free agents. I'm going to put together a 25-man roster of free agents and we're less than a week away from February. This wouldn't be a playoff team, but it's far better than it should be at this point.
Catcher
Wieters isn't near the player he once was, but he's still has the potential to be a helpful major-leaguer. We haven't, however, heard anything at all about Wieters in rumors this offseason, so he might end up having to take a minor-league deal next month. You know who I like here? The Reds. A Tucker Barnhart/Wieters tandem for a team hoping to be an upstart contender has decent upside.
First base
Like Wieters, we haven't heard much at all about Reynolds and he didn't even sign with the Nats until April 12 last season, so I guess we can expect to see him hit the spring unemployed again. He's one-dimensional, sure, but he still has great power. He hit 13 homers in 206 at-bats last season with a .476 slugging percentage.
Second base
Harrison is coming off a bad season in which he dealt with injury, but he hit .272/.339/.432 with 16 homers, 12 steals and 3.3 WAR in 128 games in 2017. I like him as a buy-cheap bounce-back in 2019 and he's been connected to the Dodgers, Giants, Angels, Phillies and Rays in rumors. Go get him, Angels. He'd be a fine fit.
Shortstop
And here we go: One of the two main prizes. Machado is 26 years old and one of the best players in baseball. The market seems to be mostly the White Sox and Phillies, though I'm leaning toward the Padres as the perfect destination.
Third base
Moustakas went through this crap last offseason and ended up with just a one-year deal. Some of Moose's market seems to depend on where Machado signs. as teams might look at Moustakas as a fallback -- way back, mind you -- option. Keep an eye on the White Sox here.
Left field
Gonzalez should be an attractive option for many teams, given how versatile he's shown himself, even if his 2017 season -- .303/.377/.530, 34 doubles, 23 homers, 90 RBI -- was an outlier. The Indians make a lot of sense here, but they seem to be content to cry poor this offseason. The Dodgers seem like a team that would greatly value someone like Gonzalez and if the Padres don't grab Machado or Moustakas, they make sense, too.
Center field
Span was a worthy starter last season after a terrible 2017 campaign. He hasn't been popping up in rumors at all this offseason, likely due at least partially to him being 35 years old. I'll throw out the Rockies as a team where he could help with outfield depth while taking advantage of the spacious dimensions of Coors to post a good batting average.
Right field
Here we go, part II. The market isn't near what many of us anticipated for Harper. The feeling is he's either going to the Phillies or returning to the Nationals. I'll guess Phillies here, a move that won't sit too well with the DC fan base.
Designated hitter
He needs to DH and had a terrible on-base percentage last season, but Gattis can still mash for power. I wonder about the Rays giving him a shot to be better than Avisail Garcia.
Ace
Free agency comes a bit late for Keuchel, the 2015 Cy Young winner who was great in 2017, too. Last season, he worked 204 2/3 innings, but added nearly a run to his ERA to raise it to 3.74. He led the majors in hits allowed, too. Still, he heads to his age-31 season likely able to put up another few productive seasons. Even in the down 2018, he posted 2.6 WAR. If they can afford him, I love the Reds here.
Closer
It doesn't sound like the Braves or Red Sox are willing to meet Kimbrel's asking price, so who knows what kind of market is out there. Watch the Phillies. They have money to spend and it couldn't hurt to add Kimbrel to the back-end of the bullpen, which just knocks everyone back a peg and makes the bullpen as a whole better.
Rotation
Bullpen
Closer: Kimbrel
Setup: Greg Holland, Shawn Kelley
Middle: Sergio Romo, Ryan Madson, Brad Boxberger, Bud Norris
Lefty: Xavier Cedeno
Bench
Martin Maldanado is our backup/part-time catcher. We'll go with Adam Jones and Jose Iglesias with our final two bench spots.
Names that are also available: Logan Forsythe, Neil Walker, Austin Jackson, Curtis Granderson and Yangervis Solarte.
Lineup
- Denard Span, CF
- Manny Machado, SS
- Bryce Harper, RF
- Mike Moustakas, 3B
- Marwin Gonzalez, LF
- Evan Gattis, DH
- Mark Reynolds, 1B
- Matt Wieters, C
- Josh Harrison, 2B
Not bad, huh? I don't think we could call this a good team, but it's definitely far better than it should be. We've got two superstars, some other good position players, a passable rotation and a bullpen with good potential -- and also potential to melt down, yes.
Also, this wouldn't be close to the worst team in the league. It's better than the Orioles, Marlins and Tigers at a bare minimum.
In related news, pitchers and catchers report in 15 days.
