There is no shortage of talent in the Major League Baseball free-agent pool, and a World Series champion is starting to make some waves in the market.
Ben Zobrist came to the Kansas City Royals in a midseason trade with the Oakland Athletics and was rumored at one point to have both teams from The Big Apple interested him.
Now, the New York Yankees have backed off, but the New York Mets are still interested, per Ken Davidoff and Dan Martin of the New York Post.
Let’s take a look where Zobrist could end up, as well as two top free-agent pitchers.
Zobrist Could Re-Sign with Royals
Zobrist’s versatility, which includes playing second base and outfield along with switch-hitting, should be enough to have nearly every team interested him in. Just because a player is in demand, though, doesn’t mean he fits with every team. As Martin and Davidoff wrote, believe it or not, the Yankees aren’t willing to shell out the cash for him.
“According to industry sources, the Yankees aren’t willing to spend as much as Zobrist likely will receive on the market, even if he does fill a need in the infield and is a switch-hitter,” the Post reported.
The Mets are looking to replace National League Championship Series MVP Daniel Murphy after he rejected the team’s one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer, per Davidoff and Martin, which would open the door for Zobrist.
It would be interesting if he signed with the team that the Royals defeated in the World Series, but don’t look for it to happen.
Per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com, Zobrist said during the regular season Kansas City was on his list of choices for 2016 and even gave his newborn the middle name Royal.
With most of the core talent returning for the 2016 season, it would make sense for him to re-sign with the Royals.
Prediction: Multiyear deal with the Royals
Cueto Testing the Market
Zobrist’s teammate Johnny Cueto played a big role in the Royals’ championship season as well, throwing a two-hit, complete game to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead in the World Series.
However, as soon as Kansas City traded key minor leaguers to get him right before the deadline, there was speculation Cueto was just stopping by for a visit.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote during the playoffs that the Royals had no plans to re-sign the 29-year-old: “The Royals already know they will not be trying to retain Johnny Cueto. They expect his free-agent price tag to go beyond their comfort level and, also, they have seen enough of his inconsistency to be worried about trying to keep him long term anyway.”
Despite some strong playoff starts and a complete-game shutout in his first home start with Kansas City, Cueto was just 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA after the trade.
The Royals don’t shell out contracts like he’s seeking—which varies, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports—and they probably feel like his time in town was worth the trade considering they ended the season as champions.
The Boston Red Sox, on the other hand, make a habit of doing just that. Per Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald, the Red Sox are looking to fill a hole at the front of the rotation via free agency, after trading for All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.
Cueto, and his 96 career wins and 3.30 ERA, would fill that void nicely.
Prediction: Multiyear deal with the Boston Red Sox
Zach Greinke Commanding a Huge Contract
If you want to make some money, go 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA in a contract year. That’s exactly what Zach Greinke did in 2015 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Now he is commanding a contract somewhere in the neighborhood of $125-$150 million over five years, according to John Heyman of CBSSports.com.
Greinke is 32, and as Mark Saxon of ESPN.com recently wrote, the Dodgers “probably” won’t look to re-sign him:
The Dodgers are looking to get younger, and another mega-contract makes that more difficult. Also, team president Stan Kasten has a blanket policy against extending pitchers beyond a certain number of major-league pitches and Greinke, who has been durable throughout his career, has thrown more than 33,000.
It can’t be easy to let a guy go who has gone 51-15 the past three seasons, but that appears to be the case.
Greinke is a private person and has given no indication of where he might end up. It’s all speculation at this point, but count on him going to a contender if he doesn’t change his mind and re-sign with Los Angeles.
He forced his way out of Kansas City in 2011 and was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, who made the postseason that year. He left a year later to sign a six-year deal with the Dodgers.
Prediction: Multiyear deal with the New York Yankees
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