MLB Trade Deadline 2017: 5 best spots for Mike Moustakas
By John Buhler
The Kansas City Royals have an All-Star third baseman in Mike Moustakas. If they were to trade Moustakas before the deadline, here are five landing spots.
After an injury-riddled 2016 MLB season, Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas is back to being one of the very best at what he does. He already has set a career-high in home runs before the All-Star break at 25. Moustakas is coming off his second All-Star appearance for the American League.
While he is largely considered a franchise cornerstone at third base for Kansas City, Moustakas isn’t a kid any more. He’ll be turning 29 in September and could be a viable trade asset if Kansas City wants to reload in a short-term rebuild.
Kansas City finds itself in a fickle spot in the American League standings heading into the second half. They are only one game above .500 at 44-43, but are only 1.5 games back of the second AL Wild Card spot and just three games back of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.
How the next two weeks go for the Royals will largely decide if this club is a buyer or a seller at the July 31 deadline. With Moustakas being one of their best trade assets, here are five teams that could make sense for him to land with before the end of the month.
Philadelphia Phillies
NL, East
The Philadelphia Phillies are a terrible baseball team. They are the only team in the majors to have not won at least 30 games before the All-Star break. 2016 looked to be a year where Philadelphia was slightly trending upwards in the NL East, but that proved to be an anomaly.
Frankly, the Phillies need some level of star power to keep the fans engage. With Moustakas’ abrupt power surge in 2017, he could become a fan favorite playing the hot corner for the Phillies. Barring some unforeseen injury, Moustakas will eclipse 30 home runs for the first time in his big league career. It is smooth stroke from the left-side continues to be a thing, he’s a prime candidate to hit over 40 a year for the Phillies and make Greater Philadelphia excited about baseball again.
What is a key component to bringing in guy like Moustakas is that he helped turn around a frustrating Royals organization in his mid-20s. Kansas City had not reached the AL postseason since winning it all in 1985 when the Royals emerged as a shocking AL pennant winner in 2014. They would win the World Series the next year.
Don’t expect the laughable Phillies to win it all in 2018, but adding Moustakas might help their club going forward. Keep in mind that he is playing on the last year of his deal with the Royals. Philadelphia won’t have to give up a ridiculous amount to get him. Just seeing what he could do for the organization for two months might be worth it. When you’re the worst team in baseball, you have to make big gambles and swing for the fences.