One move each MLB Team should make this offseason
By Brad Rowland
Los Angeles Angels – Go after Ben Zobrist
I don’t love the Angels lineup moving forward. Mike Trout is, quite obviously, nice to have in the middle of the order and Albert Pujols is still going strong, but after that, it’s a bit of a mess outside of Kole Calhoun.
The third base market is very weak this year, meaning the Angels will almost certainly lose David Freese to a higher bidder. Signing Zobrist and his positional flexibility won’t inherently fix that, but the Angels also have a relative weakness at second base and left field is a concern moving forward as well. It isn’t every day that a team can sign one player to fill multiple theoretical holes, but that is what Zobrist can and would do.
Los Angeles Dodgers – Let Zack Greinke fly away to the highest bidder
Money is no object for the Dodgers, but at some point, there has to be a ceiling. In theory, Los Angeles could just write a blank check to retain Zack Greinke, but the right-hander will be 32 years old at the start of the 2016 season, and handing him a five-to-seven year contract would be fairly crazy given his age.
Make no mistake, Greinke has been ridiculous in 2015, leading the Major Leagues in ERA while putting toegether a legitimate claim on the NL Cy Young award. Still, Clayton Kershaw is the anchor of this staff, and Greinke’s contract may be the surest bet to look like an albatross in a couple of years.
The Dodgers will likely ignore this advice, hand Greinke a massive deal and frankly not care about the downside. That is all well and good, but from a value perspective, signing him to a mega-deal is the wrong move.
Next: Marlins and Brewers