Since these names keep cropping up in the risk/reward threads, it may be interesting to look closer at the first base market.
Many first basemen broke out last year (Bellinger, Olson, Hoskins, Gallo, Bird, Bour, Smoak, Bell, Mancini, Jose Martinez, Thames and uhh, Zimmerman), and it flooded the market. There are now way more available first basemen than spots for them.
Here they are listed in order of their 2017 xwOBA (per Statcast), because why not.
Starting caliber FA
Moreland (.371)
Alonso (.368)
Morrison (.367)
Santana (.362)
Duda (.353)
Hosmer (.353)
Frazier (3B) (.352)
Bruce (RF) (.351)
Adams (.340)
Possibly available by trade
Cabrera (DH) (.382)
Belt (.379)
Abreu (.364)
Cron (.333)
Myers (.321)
Flores (2B/3B) (.318)
Miller (2B/SS) (.316)
Valbuena (3B) (.312)
Vargas (.303)
Joseph (.302)
Platoon/DH/free guys
Avila (C) (.401)
Lind (.379)
Holliday (.333)
Reynolds (.321)
Napoli (.311)
Valencia (.297)
Carter (.294)
*Hanley Ramirez had a .351 xwOBA.
Likely few of those trade guys will actually be traded (and circumstances differ for each), but there's many good ones available, a buyer's market to say the least.
Only Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay have clear openings at first. Teams with possible openings at first base include the Angels (Cron/Valbuena), Twins (Mauer), Mets (Flores/Smith), Rangers (Gallo), and Rockies (Desmond/McMahon).
Who knows how it's gonna shake out, but it would seem getting good value at first base would be hard to screw up.
Many first basemen broke out last year (Bellinger, Olson, Hoskins, Gallo, Bird, Bour, Smoak, Bell, Mancini, Jose Martinez, Thames and uhh, Zimmerman), and it flooded the market. There are now way more available first basemen than spots for them.
Here they are listed in order of their 2017 xwOBA (per Statcast), because why not.
Starting caliber FA
Moreland (.371)
Alonso (.368)
Morrison (.367)
Santana (.362)
Duda (.353)
Hosmer (.353)
Frazier (3B) (.352)
Bruce (RF) (.351)
Adams (.340)
Possibly available by trade
Cabrera (DH) (.382)
Belt (.379)
Abreu (.364)
Cron (.333)
Myers (.321)
Flores (2B/3B) (.318)
Miller (2B/SS) (.316)
Valbuena (3B) (.312)
Vargas (.303)
Joseph (.302)
Platoon/DH/free guys
Avila (C) (.401)
Lind (.379)
Holliday (.333)
Reynolds (.321)
Napoli (.311)
Valencia (.297)
Carter (.294)
*Hanley Ramirez had a .351 xwOBA.
Likely few of those trade guys will actually be traded (and circumstances differ for each), but there's many good ones available, a buyer's market to say the least.
Only Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay have clear openings at first. Teams with possible openings at first base include the Angels (Cron/Valbuena), Twins (Mauer), Mets (Flores/Smith), Rangers (Gallo), and Rockies (Desmond/McMahon).
Who knows how it's gonna shake out, but it would seem getting good value at first base would be hard to screw up.
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