Third baseman Mike Moustakas ranks among most prominent victims of this year’s abnormal offseason, having not landed a contract three months after hitting free agency as one of the top players available. It’s unlikely Moustakas’ next deal will come courtesy of the Cardinals, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, even though they’ve been in on third basemen this offseason (trade targets Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson in specific). It appears the Cards will use Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter at third, per Ortiz, who adds that the team has informed Carpenter he’ll fill a super-utility role. The Cards are the second potential landing spot for Moustakas that has been downplayed in the past few days; Mets GM Sandy Alderson suggested on Thursday that a match with Moustakas didn’t seem likely for a variety of reasons.
Some more notes from around the Senior Circuit…
- With the Rockies’ control over third baseman Nolan Arenado, center fielder Charlie Blackmon and second baseman DJ LeMahieu dwindling, it’s imperative infield prospects Ryan McMahon and Brendan Rodgers and young outfielder Raimel Tapia pan out, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post observes. The Rockies have turned away trade interest in McMahon and Rodgers, Saunders reports, indicating they’re highly confident in the pair. McMahon is seemingly the more likely of the two to make an impact in 2018, as he could emerge as the Rockies’ starting first baseman. He’s also capable of playing third and second, both of which will open up soon if Arenado and LeMahieu depart within the next couple years. Rodgers is a shortstop, but with Trevor Story there, he might also be an option at the keystone. Regardless, the Rockies believe their young talent will help them withstand any potential losses in free agency. “Our job is to not worry about Charlie, Nolan or DJ. Our goal is churning out impactful, major-league players from year to year,” director of player development Zach Wilson told Saunders. “We think we have a chance to do that for a really long time.”
- The Mets will be able to place David Wright on the 60-day disabled list as soon as Feb. 14, notes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, which could be advantageous given the glut of free agents that remain unsigned and the number of players that’ll be jettisoned from 40-man rosters throughout the league as free agents (presumably) begin to sign at some point in the coming weeks. New York can’t and won’t simply release Wright, as doing so would cancel their insurance policy on the remaining $47MM of his contract (which reportedly covers 75 percent of his salary) and because Wright continues to strive for an improbable comeback. If Wright ultimately decides he’s no longer able to continue his career, the Mets and the insurance company could work out a settlement, but that doesn’t seem likely for the current season, it seems. Wright is owed $47MM through 2020 — $20MM in 2018, $15MM in 2019 and $12MM in 2020.
Msvhs79
Honestly I don’t see him as an upgrade at 3rd for the Cards!
JFactor
He’s not. Gyroko=moose
bigcubsfan
Hello, monkey man! Did you like my bacebal playing last season? I maybe get .233 batting average in 47 pa last season. Yall be watching out tu tu!
mcdusty31
I remember my first beer
soggycereal
nah, that’s giving me more of a vodka kind of vibe
andrewgauldin
I wish the Marlins could have gotten one of McMahon or Rodgers in a Bour/Straily or Realmuto trade. That could have made the rebuild look really good. Still hopeful, but I really doubt it will happen. Oh well, good for the Rox
JoeyPankake
Moustakas isn’t very good. I think front offices know this.
socalblake
World Series 2017 > Super Bowl LII
kenly0
World Series game 7 2016 > any other game ever
bastros88
2017 world series game 5>2016 world series game 7
mattsmattedin
2011 World Series “Game 6”>everything mentioned above
rerogers
Watching Texas get that close, twice, and lose it was fantastic. 2017 game 5 was better. Go Astros!
bigcubsfan
Habeebo, who remembers what happened in 2001? I sure don’t know habeebo bout baseball back then. Habeebo, what you saying?
CoryM
Jack Morris and John Smoltz would like to chat
pjmcnu
indeed!
Cubguy13
I’m with Kenly0
layventsky
I agree. Even though my Indians lost, it was some of the best baseball I’ve ever seen.
Tom E. Snyder
The Astros were first-time winners of the World Series and the Eagles were first-time winners of the Super Bowl. Congrats to both.
jdgoat
It’s gonna come full circle when the Toronto Raptors sin the NBA and the Vegas Golden Knights win the NHL
bigcubsfan
Ahhhhhh!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! AHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! You say “sin” instead of “win” You funny little man!!!
xabial
JD’s one of biggest quality commenters here.
Always keeps it real.
I’m laughing too. I’m laughing at you.
bigcubsfan, why do you choose to be serious, and make sense, at most random time, when you feel like it?
I like serious bigcubsfan, more Lol.
pjmcnu
Hope the Golden Knights pull it off (not just 1st Cup, but 1st Cup in 1st season in existence!). Indifferent about the Raptors (and the NBA).
thegreatcerealfamine
Sanity>you
The Oregonian
Rockies should let LeMahieu go and probably could afford to let Blackmon go, but they need to make Arenado their franchise guy long-term.
minoso9
Yes Mr. Wilson, part of your job is to worry about Charlie, Nolan and DJ. I think they all enjoy playing ball in Denver and could possibly be signed for team friendly contracts. But that would still cost a big bundle of bucks particularly for Arenado.
pjmcnu
Pretty sure Wilson’s point was that he’s in charge of developing minor leaguers, while others in the front office are in charge of Majors guys & their contracts. Not that it’s not the Rockies’ job generally.
southi
Victim? Really? Moustakas was always a very flawed free agent. Yes, many expected him to nail a very large contract because “that is how it has always been done”. The truth is though that if you keep doing the same thing that has always been done you end up with the same results (which translates into if you keep over paying flawed free agents that in the end you regret it).
There were too few teams before the off season began that appeared ready to sign a long term free agent for thirdbase. If Moustakas is a victim of anything it is of bad timing and his own flaws.
Please quit spinning it as if he is a victim of anything else.
darkstar61
Having Scott Boras as his agent likely isn’t helping him much either
CardsNation5
Plus the draft pick teams would lose by signing him
ohmy
southl
EXACTLY. What is it with the players as “victims” garbage? Does he NOT have any contract offers? If he does,, then how is HE the victim?
Slipknot37
And most of the team’s that were searching for third baseman already got them like the giants with longoria. And certain teams don’t want to go long term with him because they have prospects waiting. Say maybe braves with Austin Riley or Yankees with andujar. Unless they want to block that spot, I don’t see them wanting to sign him.
One Fan
Well said Southi! He is no victim nor are any if the free agents. They want to many years
RunDMC
“doing the same thing that has always been done you end up with the same results”
Reminds me of the definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
bastros88
Moustakas simply isn’t that good, he has power, and can easily hit 30+ homers, but you can find that anywhere now-a-days
22222pete
Playing in a park that is death to hitters. Put him in YS3 and he may hit as many HR Stanton. HR are one of the games underrated stats even with the juiced ball. K rates so high that OBP has become over rated. Pretty hard to string together hits and wlks now except against bad pitching
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Player A Free Agent Walk Year: 41 HR .321 OBP 113 OPS+
Player A Career: 750 games 158 HR .312 OBP 108 OPS+
Player B Free Agent Walk Year: 38 HR .318 OBP 116 OPS+
Player B Career: 836 games 119 HR .305 OBP 96 OPS+
Which player would you rather sign?
I’ll reply below with the names…
swinging wood
Not enough context. What are walk year and career fWAR for both (I have an idea of who they are).
BlueJayFan1515
I thought that it might be Chris Davis, but no. Player B is clearly Moose, but the OBP is incorrect according to baseball reference.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
My bad. .314 in his walk year. I accidentally gave him too much credit.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Player B is Moustakas. Player A is Chris Carter. Carter got a 1 year $3.5 million deal after his walk year*.
Not sure Moose is a victim of anything but reality.
*Just remembered, it wasn’t even a walk year…Carter was non tendered.
Carter was non tendered after arguably a better season than the one Moose thinks should get him $100 million.
mike156
Chris Carter was a 1B with a bad glove. Moose is a better player,.just not worth 100+M more
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Exactly. MM is better but I don’t see why he’s expecting 9 figures instead of just hoping to match the Jay Bruce deal.
Codeeg
One plays first and the other plays third. doing a comp like this doesn’t fit so well when you include that tidbit.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
How much you paying for Moose’s defense?
seamaholic 2
A lot, compared to Chris Carter’s “defense”. Carter was also a clubhouse negative big time.
xabial
Carter is “Clubhouse negative big time”?
Mind elaborating? On the Yankees, he was the epitome of Pro. (just struck out 76 times in 184 AB)
Yankees designated him for assignment, twice in 2 weeks— first time to Triple-A. He never reported to AAA because of Tyler Austin injury. He went 1-for-12 and was DFA’d again— only this time it wasn’t to AAA.
It was his release.
Carter wasn’t good player, but never complained, about PT, saying he would do whatever asked of him to help team win, in all his interviews.
Even though, guy got DFA twice in 2 weeks— before getting released, still never said anything.
He hit .201/.284/.370 (73 wRC+) with eight homers.
No complaints on Carter’s personality. Just his game.
xabial
And I would like to add, I hope the guy finds a job here, or in Japan.
I hope he becomes the next Eric Thames.
Every Yankee fan hates him with a passion because he was a terrible player, for the Yankees. But Chris Carter was never “negative clubhouse presence”
dortmans
moutakas and loMo
Cam
I like Moose, but the reality is, it’s a dead set coin flip whether or not his OBP will crack. 310 each year, his only real calling card is one year of power, when the game experienced a massive power spike across the board..and he’s generally average everywhere else. The slow market is hurting everyone, but he shouldn’t have big offers on the table to begin with.
BlueJayFan1515
If he only walked more..
bastros88
if only he stayed healthy as well
LongTimeFan1
He would be better off reducing the excess home run focus and work on improving OBP., get more agile, be a more balanced player which teams desire.
25 homers, 35 2B, .285/..360/.510/.870 is far more attractive. than his career 251 .305 .425 .730
He’s still very young at 29 and is best suited for short term deal to prove further worthiness for long term. Adding first base to increase his defensive flexibility is also worthwhile. But his current Q.O. may be obstacle for short term deal and it’s questionable whether he’ll get the long term deal he seeks this offseason..
chesteraarthur
Outinleftfield will still claim he is being colluded against…
Arnold Ziffel
Amber some of these Boras clients wake up and fire him.
Arnold Ziffel
Maybe not Amber
jdgoat
It’s really not that hard to figure out why so many guys aren’t signed. Teams are smart enough to realize red flags and stay away from those players until they don’t need to overpay for them. The only top free agent I’d be confident in signing is Darvish. Every single other free agent has serious question marks. Lower the price, or else don’t complain why guys aren’t being signed
Ejemp2006
The Astros, Dodgers, and Indians all had awesome depth that helped them weather the storm of injuries that hits every team. Big contracts to middlings destroys most team’s ability to build whats necessary to compete.
pustule bosey
I think the red flags would be able to be dealt with if they weren’t asking for so many years, guys might take a big money risk on arrieta or JDM or hosmer if they were asking for 2 or 3 year deals but they all want 5+ years and that can seriously handcuff your team, I mean noone wants to get into a pujols or votto contract nowadays.
greatdaysport
The market for Mous dried up when the Angels got Cozart. I’ll bet his agent thought the Angels would at least give him the time of day.
Ejemp2006
Moustakas is my favorite pick to represent this free agent class. The stove is staying cold because guys like him are not worth a big contract. I can’t see him being worth more than a 4 year deal at 40 million.
There isn’t one free agent in this class that you would expect to go on and win the Cy Young or MVP award. I can’t see anyone in this class projecting out to produce big time value for 3 or more seasons.
bastros88
also, teams are trying to find more cheaper options, and trying to find the next Charlie Morton
CubsRebsSaints
Everyone keeps saying Moose isn’t that good. Sure he’s not a great MLB player. But he’s a good one. And in any other year he would have already signed a 4-5 year deal worth 15plus million annually. He is the poster child of this FA class.
Tyler 20
whats good about him? hes meh at best. not worth a 3 year deal at all
chesteraarthur
I’m not even sure if he would sign a 4 year 60m contract if it was given to him right now
DS1
Did Hosmer really get an offer for 7/147?
If so, why is he still unsigned? What an idjit!
vacommish
Moose in Atlanta with the short RF porch could put up some great power numbers. He is on their radar, but at a lower price point – though the same could be said of the remaining FA class.
RunDMC
If a 1 year contract, sure. But he would sit out before doing that. He will be blocking Riley any longer. Moving on.
Out of place Met fan
Question about the 60 day DL. I thought teams were unable to place players on it (or any DL) until the official start date of the season; typically last week of March. Did this change in the recent CBA?
mgoblue75
It doesn’t look like David Wright is ever going to play again…
BobbyJohn
Clear first priority for the Rockies is to lock up Arenado. I am honestly confused as to why that hasn’t happened yet.
DJ is fairly easily replaced on the whole, despite his excellent glove work. Brendan Rodgers should be ready to open the 2019 season at 2B.
Of the three, I honestly believe Charlie would be the most likely to give a little discount.
baseballpun
Is Carp going to be a “super-utility” b/c Martinez is expected to be playing a ton of 1B, or are they going to sign someone (LoMo?)?
brucewayne
I think MO wants Voit or Martinez to win the 1B job !
pepesilvia
Colorado should sign moustakas and trade arrendo for a tremendous hail. They won’t likely be able to sign him when he becomes a free agent anyway might as well cash in now. Trade him to the Mets for Rosario Smith and syndergard.
hojostache
Rosario + Smith + 1-2 lower level prospects…absolutely. For Syn…no way.
BobbyJohn
I am 100% on-board with the Rockies trading Arenado – before the start of this season – if they cannot get an extension in place.
I don’t think his value is going to increase as his team control lessens, and while I like the progress they have made I don’t see them contending for a division title or NL pennant in 2018.
That said, I would make him my top priority and move other money (Blackmon, LeMahieu) in order to make it happen.
frankthetank1985
Pepe, Mets would never do that lol…..This time last year this type of article on wright would have received feedback such as “what a greedy guy hanging around for money” or “do us a favor and retire already” or “he is full of class and heart and will retire when he is ready”…..this year you hear crickets when anything about wright comes out. We all know he is done, he knows he is done, the best scenario for both sides is the insurance scenario, end of story.
frankthetank1985
And Rockies fans, how do you guys view Trevor story? Do you guys like him or feel like he is just blocking the position? Is he over rated, under rated? What’s his splits from in Colorado and outside? He could be an interesting piece for Mets maybe for infield positions but I honestly don’t know much about him after his injury in rookie season.
BobbyJohn
Having watched him for the better part of two seasons now, I see very little in the way of plate discipline. If he can develop that and consistently get himself into hitter’s counts, the power is real (even away from Coors). So is the glove. He can stay at SS at the MLB level for several more seasons, I believe.
frankthetank1985
Thanks for that!
minoso9
Story is an excellent defender with a strong arm. He has very good foot speed. This year could be pivotal for him in Colorado as his hitting skills declined last year. Pitchers may know how and where to pitch to him. He chases many bad pitches, and I hope he improves his pitch selection. Good kid with good power and work ethic.
mlb1225
Really don’t see a fit with The Cards. They’ve got Gyorko, who had a higher WAR than Moustakas. Plus, Gyorko is a better defender at third, and has 30+ homer power, and 260-270 average potential.
jakec77
Clearly he doesnt know he is done or he would have retired- if he retires for medical reasons he still gets paid the full value of the contract. His only reason not to have just quit is he wants to play and believes it is still possible.
As a Mets fan (and Wright fan) I wish he would give up, because as long as he is hanging around the Mets have to account for his salary, but I can’t begrudge him not willing to give up.
JYD5321
The Wilpons have no shame. Buy the guy out for God sake! Stop this charade to collect insurance proceeds each year. Everyone knows he’ll never play again (except maybe nominally). He has a degenerative spinal condition in addition to breaking his neck and seriously damaging his shoulder 2 seasons ago. But he can’t just retire and leave the money on the table. Insurance won’t pay 75% of the remaining contract, but they’ll pay close enough, pay the rest so he can leave with the dignity he deserves. I was never his biggest fan, and thought it was embarrassing to make him “the face” and “captain” of your losing low rent franchise (albeit its been that only since you became controlling owner), but he doesn’t deserve this. No player does.
mlb-icon
Cardinals fans welcome back to the 1970’s Cardinals. Won’t see another World Series until the 20’s!