* CATCHER
- AL: Welington Castillo (White Sox, 2-year deal w/ club option)The man known as "Beef" played well enough with the Orioles in 2017 to opt against exercising his player option to stick around with the club for a second year. Castillo's next trip to the open market netted him a two year deal with an option from the rebuilding White Sox, which could possibly provide a glimpse into their projected window of contention.
Honorable Mention: Derek Norris (Tigers, minors deal, suspended)
- NL: Chris Iannetta (Rockies, 2-year deal w/ vesting/club option)When the Rockies brought back a catcher who played the first half of his career in Colorado, they quite possibly took themselves out of the running for a reunion with the offseason's top free agent backstop Jonathan Lucroy. Iannetta should welcome his insertion into a rather unsettled situation behind the plate at Coors Field after being a member of a three-part timeshare in Arizona.
Honorable Mention: Jose Lobaton (Mets, minors deal)
* FIRST BASE
- AL: Yonder Alonso (Indians, 2-year deal w/ vesting/club option)After watching their longtime first baseman sign with the Phillies (see below), the Indians struck a deal with the breakout former top prospect who embraced the fly ball revolution and more than tripled his career high home run total in 2017, even while playing at a pair of spacious home parks. Alonso's production did tail off significantly during the second half (right after he made his first All-Star team), and he does have a significant platoon split, but Cleveland is in the unique position of having an All-World DH who can play first against left handed starters.
Honorable Mention: Ryon Healy (Mariners, trade with Athletics, see below)
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| Image from NBC Sports |
- NL: Carlos Santana (Phillies, 3-year deal w/ club option)
The Phillies, like the White Sox, are another club in the midst of a rebuild who nevertheless embarked on a fairly sizeable free agent outlay. Santana got one more year on his contract than Castillo got in Chicago, but he's also a much more significant force in the lineup, given his power bat, excellent plate discipline, and prized defense, and should serve as a clear sign that Philadelphia has plans to be relevant again in the near future. "Slamtana's" acquisition is also a clear sign that 2017 rookie phenom Rhys Hoskins's future is as an outfielder rather than a first baseman.
Honorable Mention: Matt Adams (Nationals, 1-year deal)
* SECOND BASE
Here we have the first All-Acquried player to change teams via trade rather than free agent signing. The acquisition of Kinsler fills a gaping hole in Anaheim's keystone position, and was one of four big ticket moves the Angels made to try and put themselves in a position to chase down the Astros in the AL West, three of which we'll cover here. (The first move, chronologically speaking, was to re-sign oufielder Justin Upton, who was acquired during the 2017 season.)
Honorable Mention: Andrew Romine (Mariners, waiver claim, also from Tigers)
- NL: Starlin Castro (Marlins, trade with Yankees)
While Castro went to Miami largely as a way to offset some of the salary changing hands in the massive Giancarlo Stanton blockbuster (see below), he also fills a need for the Marlins after they shipped out their incumbent second baseman Dee Gordon in a separate trade (see a different section below). It's unclear whether the powerful Castro will ever suit up for Miami or if he'll be flipped to try and shed more payroll, but unless he goes to an AL club, it's likely that he'll maintain his position on this list.
Honorable Mention: Alen Hanson (Giants, minors deal, unconfirmed, see a third section below)
* THIRD BASE
When Seattle acquired the power hitting Healy from the A's in what proved to be the offseason's first major transaction, they brought him in to play first base, despite the fact that he spent almost as much time at the hot corner (34 games) as he did at first (39 games) in 2017. Of course, he's not a great defender in either spot, as evidenced by his 78 games at DH in 2017, but for this All-Acquired thought experiment, it simply makes the most sense to put him here, iron glove be damned.
Honorable Mention 1: Ryan Schimpf (Rays, trade with Padres)
Honorable Mention 2: Christian Arroyo (Rays, trade with Giants, the main return for...)
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| Image from MLB Trade Rumors |
- NL: Evan Longoria (Giants, trade with Rays)
One of the big storylines heading into the 2017-18 offseason was whether the Rays would try to add to their roster and push for contention or sell off some of their highly desirable controllable players and embark on a rebuild. I'd say that trading the longtime face of their franchise Evan Longoria (who remains under contract until at least 2022) is a pretty clear sign of their intentions. Whether this leads to trades of coveted starters Chris Archer and/or Jake Odorizzi, we can only guess, but for now, it's safe to say that San Francisco has a better option at the hot corner than hoping for a career resurgence from Pablo Sandoval...
Rather than bury him in an "Honorable Mention" tag, I'd like to point out that Chase Headley would be first in line to serve as the NL All-Acquired team's DH, in the event that the Senior Circuit ever decides to adopt the 20th century way of playing baseball. I was a little surprised when the Yankees shipped Headley back to the Padres, his original team, since it created yet another hole in New York's infield, but it also saves Brian Cashman's team roughly $13mm in their all important quest to stay under the luxury tax threshold.
* SHORTSTOP
It was often speculated that Cozart, the brilliant defensive shortstop who also broke out with the bat last year, would have to consider a position change in order to maximize his earnings in free agency. And that's exactly what happened, since there's no way that the Angels will even consider moving Andrelton Simmons, who is arguably the game's best defender. Instead, Cozart will slot in at third base, where, even if his offense regresses, he should still provide surplus value with his glove. However, given the players acquired by the AL so far, it makes sense to keep him at his natural position for our purposes.
Honorable Mention: Aledmys Diaz (Blue Jays, trade with Cardinals)
It's no secret that Galvis is meant solely as a placeholder to keep the shortstop position warm in San Diego until highly touted 18-year-old prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. is ready to step in full time. And considering Philadelphia has its own MLB-ready shortstop prospect (J.P. Crawford) waiting in the wings, this trade made tremendous sense for everyone involved. It's unlikely that Galvis will approach the power numbers he put up over the last two years now that he's moving to spacious PetCo Park, but he should at least provide passable defense at a fairly reasonable salary.
Honorable Mention: Charlie Culberson (Braves, trade with Dodgers)
* OUTFIELD (CORNER)
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| Image from CBS New York |
- AL1: Giancarlo Stanton (Yankees, trade with Marlins)
- AL2: Denard Span (Rays, trade with Giants)
Without a doubt, the biggest move of this offseason so far has been the trade of NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton, and his record-setting contract, in a blatant cost-cutting move by the new Marlins ownership, continuing a tried and true tradition of fan-enraging fire sales in South Florida. Seriously, if you have any doubts about how fans in Miami feel about how their team has been run, you need to listen to this interview (hat tip Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors). But back to the baseball side of things, this trade puts two of the top three fantasy point scorers in the same lineup for 2018: #1 overall batter Charlie Blackmon (2,859) barely beat out Stanton (2,833), who finished just above his new teammate (and AL Rookie of the Year) Aaron Judge (2,765). It's no question the Yankees are going to be a force to be reckoned with next year.
In a similar situation to Starlin Castro in Miami, Denard Span went to Tampa Bay mainly as a means of offsetting some of Evan Longoria's salary. But if the Rays continue to sell, Span could be a useful roster piece, despite the fact that he really shouldn't play center field anymore, or Tampa could try to flip him to try to get some of his salary off the books. Looking ahead to my Honorable Mentions, Stephen Piscotty had a pretty disappointing season with St. Louis last year, but if you're looking for more of a long term building block than a declining veteran, he could be a good corner option.
Honorable Mention 1: Stephen Piscotty (Athletics, trade with Cardinals)
Honorable Mention 2: Jabari Blash (Yankees, trade with Padres)
- NL2: Matt Kemp (Dodgers, trade with Braves)
Given their "everything must go" attitude, it's no surprise that the Marlins have provided each league with their top-scoring All-Acquired player so far. Marcell Ozuna fulfills the Cardinal's search for an impact bat, while also allowing them to deal away some of their outfield surplus for prospects (see above). It's unclear whether "The Big Bear" will be able to maintain his 150-point increase in OPS from last year, but he's got two more years of control through arbitration, which should help put St. Louis right back into the fight for the NL Central.
Matt Kemp is yet another player whose acquisition was strictly financially based, as the extremely complicated five-player swap between Los Angeles and Atlanta was engineered purely to help get the Dodgers under the luxury tax threshold. But until LA is able to flip Kemp elsewhere (which should include a pretty big "if"), he places here in a weak all-acquired outfield market.
Honorable Mention: Shane Peterson (Padres, minors deal, unconfirmed)
* CENTER FIELD
While Gordon has spent his entire career to date as a middle infielder, he wasn't about to bump superstar Robinson Cano off the keystone position upon his acquisition by Seattle, so a position change was going to be in the cards. I'm not personally a fan of the inconsistency in terms of established/projected new positions in this All-Acquired list (given that I've placed Zack Cozart at shortstop rather than third base), but sometimes you need to do some clever maneuvering in order to maximize potential production.
Honorable Mention 1: Leonys Martin (Tigers, 1-year deal)
Honorable Mention 2: Jaycob Brugman (Orioles, trade with Athletics)
The center field market in the NL has been virtually nonexistent - Sierra patrolled center for just seven games of his 22-game cup of coffee in 2017 (which was also his MLB debut), but has spent the majority of his minor league career there. The next best option is former Yankees farmhand Mason Williams, who reportedly joined the Reds on a minor league deal, but he has just 25 MLB games on his resume, spread out over the last three years. Another interesting option is to move slugger Marcell Ozuna back to center, where he has spent the majority of his MLB games, and was a regular as recently as 2016, which would open up the second corner outfield spot to utility option Alen Hanson, who played a just-enough-to-qualify 20 games in right field, split between the PIrates and the White Sox. Hanson's deal with the Giants has not technically been confirmed (I'm not counting the post on his instagram), but I find that MLB TR is rarely wrong about these things.
* DESIGNATED HITTER
Outside of the Giancarlo Stanton trade saga (or maybe even said trade saga included), the pursuit of Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani was the biggest story of this offseason. The implications of whether he'll be allowed to develop as both a hitter and a pitcher are fascinating, but what's perhaps even more so is Ohtani's willingness to sacrifice a possibly historic payday by choosing to make the jump to MLB now, rather than waiting a few short years to qualify for international free agency. While he has the chance to log some significant playing time at DH for the Angels in addition to serving as their ace pitcher (which would throw my baseball database into complete disarray), I'll cover his story more completely in my next post, dealing with All-Acquired pitchers.
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