 |
| Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports |
Third Base is already set on the following teams:
 |
| Photo: WEEI.com |
--Cleveland Indians: Jose Ramirez. The DH is also locked up with Encarnacion.
--Detroit Tigers: Jeimer Candelario, a top prospect they got from Cubs for Justin Wilson. The DH is Victor Martinez.
 |
| Photo: AP |
--Los Angeles Angels: Just signed Zack Cozart to play 3B.
 |
| Photo: USA Today |
 |
| Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images |
--Seattle Mariners: Kyle Seager. The DH is Nelson Cruz
--Tampa Bay Rays: Christian Arroyo, a top prospect they just got from the Giants for Longoria.
 |
| Photo: Dallas Morning News |
--Toronto Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson. The DH is Kendrys Morales.
--Arizona Diamondbacks: Jake Lamb. He had 30 HR, 105 RBIs last year.
--Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant. Need I say more?
--Cincinnati Reds: Eugenio Suarez. 26 homers, 82 RBIs last year.
--Colorado Rockies: Nolan Arenado
--LA Dodgers: Justin Turner
 |
| Photo: Getty Images |
--Philadelphia Phillies: Maikel Franco. He had 24 homers and 76 RBIs last year
--San Diego Padres: Chase Headley
--San Francisco Giants: Evan Longoria
--Washington Nationals: Anthony Rendon
This leaves only 9 teams that are potentially in the market for a third baseman. Of those 9 teams however, there are 4 that are clearly not going to spend money on a big free agent. Those are...
--Chicago White Sox: The youth movement is happening. They are unlikely to make a big money signing while they are rebuilding.
--Atlanta Braves: Youth movement – not spending money on big free agents
--Miami Marlins: Um. No.
 |
| Photo: Getty Images |
So what does this all mean? It means the only teams that are legitimate options for Moustakas are the following, listed in order of likelihood in my opinion:
--New York Mets: This is the best fit out of all the teams. They have nobody at third. But this team is simply too cheap to give Moustakas a big long-term contract for $15M+ per year.
--Baltimore Orioles: Yes, they have Machado, but I suppose if he plays short, the Orioles can sign a third baseman. But look, I think it's unlikely though, as this would preclude them from keeping Machado at 3rd long-term if they re-sign him. Look, Baltimore is already burned by the bad, long-term contracts that they just signed with Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. So I find it unlikely that they would sign Moustakas long-term. But hey, anything is possible.
--New York Yankees: They won’t sign Mike Moustakas long-term due to the salary cap and their desire to go for Machado next off season. But look, if he takes a lower priced 1 or 2 year deal, this is possible. Something to think about.
--Kansas City Royals: If the Royals lose out on Hosmer which is definitely possibly, they could turn to Moustakas. I just don’t think they want to spend right now when they know they are far from contending.
--St. Louis Cardinals: The Cards have Jedd Gyorko at 3rd and he's signed for 4 more years, $37M. But he could also play 2B if they acquired a 3rd baseman. They also have Kolten Wong at second who hit .285 last year. And so, signing Moustakas for third is probably unlikely, but not impossible to see, so I included them here.
Out of the 9 teams that don’t already have clearly established 3rd baseman, only 5 can be considered a real possibility to sign Moustakas. And there are real issues with feeling confident that any of these teams would be willing to do so, especially on a long-term big-money deal.
And so, like I opened with, I think Moustakas is in trouble and will ultimately have to settle for a 1 or 2-year deal somewhere. If he becomes willing to sign a 1-year deal, then the Yanks would clearly be interested. They have $20 million under the cap, but would want to leave some space for a deadline acquisition. I'm going with a 1 year, $14 million deal. What do you think?
 |
| Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports |
A lot to digest... but there's way to much garbage out on Moustakas right now. I had to put things in better sense for you all. No better place than on BYB.
--Douglas Solomon
BYB Writer
