It's that time again! Hard to believe that Spring Training is a mere few weeks away and that there are still a number of notable free agents left on the open market without deals. Hopefully it will be a couple of action packed weeks and the Hot Stove will feel like the vintage Hot Stove again, but no guarantees with that one.
In an effort to try and get every AL East General Manager brainstorming about another move they can make to impact their ball club is the sole purpose of today's report. Last season, the Boston Red Sox won the AL East and were later crowned as World Series Champions, something that the entire city of Boston rallied around and Red Sox fans throughout the country rejoiced about. Boston pretty much held a sizable lead over the New York Yankees last season, who finished in 2nd place 8 games behind the Red Sox, ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, who finished the year in third, with a 90-72 record. The Rays vastly outperformed almost everyone's expectations and certainly had a remarkable season overall. Coming in fourth place were the Toronto Blue Jays, with a 73-89 record, followed by the Baltimore Orioles, who made history, finishing the year with 115 losses or 61 games back of the Boston Red Sox. Ouch!
How will the division look this coming season? That has yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain - all five teams still have a need to fill out their roster - all of which will be discussed in length below.
1. Boston Red Sox (Bullpen) - The Boston Red Sox are set from a roster standpoint, with the exception of their bullpen, which is expected to lose closer, Craig Kimbrel, to free agency. To this point, the Red Sox have done virtually nothing to improve their pen or bolstered it to the point, where it can stay competitive with the bullpen that the, New York Yankees are planning on utilizing this coming season. To date, Red Sox President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, has made it known that the team has very little spending flexibility this offseason, which means that any move or two that might be made, will likely be a minor one. However, the good news is that there are still a handful of relievers left on the open market that the Red Sox can chose from and you certainly shouldn't discount them from making a late potential run at reuniting with Craig Kimbrel. Throughout his front office career, Dave Dombrowski, has been known to downplay certain things and this could be one of those situations where he is downplaying the Red Sox true interest in signing Kimbrel or the fact that they have enough wiggle room in the payroll left to make it work. With that being said and assuming Craig Kimbrel signs elsewhere, a few names to monitor on the open market include: A.J. Ramos, Daniel Hudson, Alex Wilson, Brad Boxberger, and Dan Jennings. None of those come anywhere close to being as fancy as having Craig Kimbrel anchoring things down at the back end, but all five would come on the cheap and would be affordable options unless the Red Sox decide that their internal guys, such as Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, and Brandon Workman, are capable of holding things down and deserve a legitimate shot.
2. New York Yankees (Starting Rotation Depth) - Right now on paper, the New York Yankees don't have any glaring need and would be just fine if they went into the season with the way their roster and depth chart looked at this moment. However, for the sake of this report and assuming that New York is legitimately not going to sign Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, one slight area of potential need lies in the starting rotation. Again, it's definitely not a glaring need or something that the Yankees must fix otherwise their chance of contention is doomed, but rather the idea that they might be well suited trying to find some assurance at the middle-to-back end of the starting rotation might end up being a good idea in the event that an injury impacts one or two of their current starters this coming year. As they say in baseball, you can never have enough pitching and with how vulnerable both, Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia, have been from an injury standpoint over their career, it could stand to reason that an investment in some depth would be a good one. Given the current lack of trade options on the market, the Yankees would probably prefer someone on the free agent market so they don't have to trade away more from their system, to address a need that might not be that glaring of one. Of course, the Yankees could always chose to go big and ink Dallas Keuchel to a deal, but that doesn't seem very likely given that the team hasn't shown much inclination to sign Keuchel thus far. Therefore, one name in particular that would look really good and serve as some valuable depth is Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez has pitched on the East Coast before, with the Washington Nationals, and still showed that he can be valuable, as he illustrated last year after the trade deadline, with the Milwaukee Brewers.
3. Tampa Bay Rays (Second Baseman) - A need at second base might come as a surprise for some Tampa Bay Rays fans, but the fact of the matter is that the team expressed legitimate interest in free agent second baseman, D.J. LeMahieu, before he signed with the aforementioned, New York Yankees. Right now as it stands, Tampa Bay would open the season with, Joey Wendle, occupying second base on a full-time basis with David Robertson and Brandon Lowe serving as depth options at that position. However, with how deep the free agent and trade markets were this offseason with middle infielders, the Rays might be in luck in terms of still being able to find an upgrade. After all, the Rays were starved offensively during various points last season and being able to add one more bat to their lineup, might end up being the trick that helps them to remain competitive and improve their chances of contention even more. Turning things over to the free agent market, there are three guys in particular still left including: Josh Harrison, Logan Forsythe, and Neil Walker. Any three of those options would make sense for Tampa Bay on a short-term deal (1 or 2 years) and would give them more assurance within their lineup from an offensive standpoint. Best part about Logan Forsythe is that going back to Tampa Bay would be sort of like a homecoming for him since he spent three seasons with the team from 2014-2016. Although, out of those three names, the best option might be former Pirates second baseman, Josh Harrison. Harrison has long been one of the more respected second baseman in the game and he would bring some veteran leadership to a young Rays clubhouse. Plus, he would be an easy guy for Rays fans to root for.
4. Toronto Blue Jays (Continue Focusing on the Rebuild) - With how late into the offseason it is, a trade involving any of the Blue Jays top trade chips - Marcus Storman, Aaron Sanchez, and Kevin Pillar - seems highly unlikely, but you never know when a need might arise during Spring Training from a team that experiences an injury. However, assuming that doesn't happen, the Blue Jays would be best suited to continue focusing on the future and looking forward to the trade deadline when those, three aforementioned names, might be able to bring back an even greater return and recoup some of the value that they might have lost during the past few seasons. The coming season will be one of transition in Toronto and there really is no reason for the team to go out and spend money on any of the remaining free agents unless the team views them as potential trade chips come July. Furthermore, there really isn't one position on the Blue Jays depth chart where there seems to be a potential fit for a free agent without blocking one of their young, up and coming prospects or further complicating how their positional player group could sort out. Therefore, the Blue Jays can easily say that this offseason is pretty much a wrap for them, unless they somehow find a value free agent deal out there for someone that could be used as trade bait later on or have a team that calls, them at the 11th hour, offering a tremendous package for one of their aforementioned assets. To date, most of the core for the Blue Jays has already been dismantled, but there are certainly brighter days ahead for the organization, which features the top prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
5. Baltimore Orioles (Reunion with Adam Jones) - The Baltimore Orioles are another team that is in a time of transition and a period of time where they need to be focused on the future with a mind of trying to find an identity. After an offseason that saw their General Manager and Manager fired, the Orioles are now under an entirely new regime and General Manager, Mike Ellis, has already overhauled several different components of the Orioles front office. In addition, the organization has said they will be more committed towards scouting, especially from an international standpoint, and that will certainly be a pillar of the new front office regime. Given all of those things and where the Orioles are at in the rebuild process, a reunion with Adam Jones, is something that makes entirely too much sense for the team and the fans in Baltimore. Jones has always been a beloved icon of the city of Baltimore and turned down a handful of different trade destinations last July just so he could continue playing in Baltimore and working with the charities throughout the city that he has impacted over the years. If you look at the Orioles depth chart right now, Cedric Mullins, would open the season as Baltimore's centerfielder, but when theres Adam Jones still sitting on the open market, the Orioles would certainly be wise to sign him and make an upgrade at that position. In addition, Jones can provide a tremendous amount of leadership for a young team in the clubhouse and on the field with his style of play. It will still be a number of seasons before the Orioles are likely competitive again, but a reunion with Adam Jones, is just something that needs to happen so Orioles fans, at least have something, to look forward to this season.
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