The Major League Baseball season is over, but hot-stove action is just heating up.
It’s a time when bad teams look to get better, but even the World Series champion Kansas City Royals don’t shut it down in the offseason.
While they are looking to make an already strong team stronger, they also are fending off teams that are seeking to add the services of free agents who played in Kansas City last year, such as Alex Gordon and Ben Zobrist.
One of the major blueprints for Kansas City’s success was a strong bullpen, and middle relievers and closers are hot commodities on this year’s market.
Let’s take a look at where some of the top free-agent relievers could land and how one rival may be trying to lure Zobrist out of Kansas City.
Flamethrower Chapman Draws Interest
Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is 6’4″ and 215 pounds. He’s left-handed and throws 100 mph. It goes without saying that teams like that combination in a closer—or any pitcher, for that matter.
Chapman saved 145 games in Cincinnati the past four years, and according to Peter Gammons of MLB Network, he has many potential trade suitors:
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported the Boston Red Sox could be one of those teams:
Chapman will be a free agent after the 2016 season, and Travis Durkee of Sporting News said the Reds have no interest in paying him to remain with the team thereafter:
Chapman, 27, has recorded no fewer than 33 saves in the last four seasons as the Reds closer. However, he’ll hit free agency after the 2016 season, and the Reds reportedly have no plans to keep him as he’ll certainly command even more than the $13 million he’s set to make in his final year of arbitration.
If so, it would make a lot of sense to unload him now. Closers don’t usually bring back equal value in a trade, but Chapman is one of the rare ones who could come close.
He would be a good fit in Boston. The Red Sox have closer Koji Uehara, but he is 40 and has regressed the past two seasons after a phenomenal 2013 campaign.
The Reds look to be rebuilding this year after trading starting pitcher Johnny Cueto to the Royals midseason. Per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, Cincinnati is listening to offers on just about anyone at this point.
Chapman is all but gone, but where will he land?
Boston makes sense, as does Detroit, but don’t be surprised if a sleeper comes in at the last minute and makes a deal.
Zobrist on Cardinals’ Radar
The Royals won the World Series in 2015 thanks in large part to midseason acquisition Ben Zobrist. The utility man played mostly second base for Kansas City and batted .284 with seven home runs and 23 RBI in 59 games, after coming over in a trade just before the deadline.
He played a solid second base and registered 20 hits in 16 playoff games for the Royals. Kansas City fans want him to stay. One fan even set up a Go Fund Me page to help keep Zobrist and Gordon with the team. Zobrist and his wife Julianna have become fan favorites, especially when they gave their newborn the middle name, Royal.
That would all change if a recent report from ESPN’s Buster Olney comes to fruition. He writes that the St. Louis Cardinals are interested in Zobrist.
The Royals and Cardinals are bitter rivals. While most realize professional sports is a business, the last thing Kansas City fans want to see is Zobrist in Cardinals red.
With Zobrist’s flexibility to play nearly anywhere, it would be hard to imagine a team that is not interested in his services. However, Crasnick said the Royals are going to make a push at re-signing the 34-year-old:
Olney’s report on the Cardinals’ interest in Zobrist means they most likely will pursue him, but don’t look for him to end up there.
Zobrist fills a need for Kansas City—who played most of the year with light-hitting Omar Infante at second base—and even as far back as August, he expressed an interest in remaining with the team, per
Struggling Tigers Look to Bolster Pen
The Detroit Tigers won the American League Central from 2011 to 2014 with a less-than-stellar bullpen. They were typically exposed in the playoffs, although they did reach the 2012 World Series, only to be swept by the San Francisco Giants.
In 2015, a horrid bullpen wasn’t the only reason the Tigers fell to last place in the Central, but it was a huge factor. Detroit relievers blew 25 saves and converted just 58.3 percent of save opportunities—both ranking 14th out of 15 AL teams.
There are plenty of solid relievers in free agency for the Tigers to go after. According to Crasnick, that’s exactly what they’re doing. Detroit has shown interest in Ryan Madson, Shawn Kelley, Tommy Hunter, Darren O’Day and Joakim Soria—who pitched with the Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015.
O’Day, 33, is the most sought-after relief pitcher right now and could demand at least a three-year, $18.5 million contract, per Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. He thinks O’Day is likely to stay in Baltimore, but nothing is imminent.
“All things being equal, I think O’Day would like to remain in Baltimore,” Connolly wrote. “But once free agency unfolds for real, things stop being equal. And some team is going to pay a whole lot of money for O’Day’s consistency and leadership.”
In 65 innings, O’Day had a 1.52 ERA, and a team could use the setup man as a closer if needed. The side-arm righty closed six games for the Orioles in 2015 and has not finished with an ERA higher than 2.28 since 2011.
Showing interest and actually making a move are two different things. As early as Nov. 10, Olney said an O’Day signing could happen soon:
The Tigers have money to spend after dumping the contracts of Yoenis Cespedes and David Price during the regular season. Agent Scott Boras said owner Mike Ilitch is willing to spend money on starting pitching, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.
However, the Tigers had plenty of pitching over the past five years with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister and still never got over the hump. If they want to win that elusive World Series, the bullpen must improve.
Ousted general manager Dave Dombrowski is no longer there to make a signature blockbuster trade, but count on new GM Al Avila and Ilitch to add at least one of these relievers from the list.
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