Spring training is less than a month away, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still a few players in the Major League Baseball free agent market that could make positive contributions to a team.
Though roster spots are filling up, teams still have needs, and there is still talent out there.
Here is a look at the five best free agents left on the market and where they might be able to land.
5. Jason Hammel (SP)
The free agent starting pitching market was weak overall this offseason, and Hammel is the best of the remaining bunch. It seems strange that, in a market like this, Hammel would still be on the market this late in the offseason. He posted a 3.83 ERA for the Chicago Cubs in 2016, winning 15 games for the World Series champions. It was the latest in a steady string of successful seasons with the team, as he posted a 3.59 ERA for the Cubs over parts of three seasons.
There were warning signs late in the season, though. The 34-year-old saw his strikeouts drop from 9.1 per nine innings in 2015 to 7.8 in 2016, with his walks per nine jumping from 2.1 to 2.9. More problematically, he posted an 8.35 ERA in his last seven starts of the season, and was left off the postseason roster in all three series the club played in. They cited an elbow issue, which isn’t good, but it’s not significantly better if the team simply deemed him untrustworthy.
Still, Hammel has enough recent success to his name that teams will be interested, though word is they’re unwilling to give him multiple years.
Hammel has been linked to the Texas Rangers, but an NL club would likely be a better fit. Most would be happy to take on a back-end starter for the right price.
4. Chris Carter (1B/DH)
What if I told you the National League’s home run co-champion was still available as a free agent? That’s the case for Carter, who hit 41 home runs for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016. Power is his game, and it always has been since he broke into the majors in 2010.
The reason Carter is still unsigned is because power is really the only thing he does well. He’s not a quality defender at first base, and with the home runs comes the trade-off of lots of strikeouts. Carter fanned 206 times in 2016, leading the NL and continuing a consistently high strikeout rate throughout his career. He doesn’t hit for a high average, either, as his .222 mark in 2016 was actually an improvement on his career average of .218. Carter will give you pop, but if he returns to something closer to the 24 home runs he hit in 2015, he gets less valuable, because that’s a comparatively modest home run total to go with the low average, high strikeouts, and iffy defense.
That said, teams will always go for pop, and the player could find his footing on any team that’s looking for a first baseman or, more likely, a designated hitter. The Texas Rangers would be a logical possibility, though Carter’s problem is that most of the teams in the mix for a player like this have already filled their needs. That said, if Mark Trumbo can get three years and a nice sum of money, Carter will find a landing spot, given that he’s not a whole lot worse.
3. Greg Holland, RP
Holland is a very, very interesting case. From 2011 through 2014, he was the closer for the Kansas City Royals, and one of the very best relievers in baseball, with an ERA of 1.86 and 12.6 strikeouts per nine over that time period. 2015 saw regression, but that was likely a result of the elbow problems that ultimately led to Tommy John surgery. For that reason, Holland hasn’t pitched since 2015, but his track record is enough to make any team seeking a reliever take a long look.
Elbow injuries are scary, though, even if Tommy John has a high recovery rate. There’s no guarantee that Holland would immediately, or ever, go back to being his old self. He’ still only 31, though, and there’s too much talent there for teams not to take the risk.
A multitude of teams have registered interest in Holland, with the Colorado Rockies convinced enough to reportedly offer him a multi-year deal. The Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals have been linked to him as well, and any team that needs a reliever or has a history with reclamation projects would be a perfectly good fit for Holland.
2. Mike Napoli (1B/DH)
Napoli’s market has been hurt by the fact that an abundance of similar players were on the market this offseason. Edwin Encarnacion was the biggest one — and a better player — and he ultimately took the job Napoli held down in Cleveland.
Napoli still offers plenty, even at the age of 35. He hit 34 home runs and drove in 101 runs for the Tribe in their pennant-winning season. Though he hit .239, his .335 on-base percentage indicates an ability to take walks to at least compensate for some of the low average. He’s also well-regarded off the field as a clubhouse leader, and it’s not really a coincidence that three of his former teams – the Red Sox, Indians, and Rangers – had an interest in signing him at some point during the winter.
The problem, beyond a backlog of available players at the position, is his late-season fade, coupled with a miserably bad 2015 that is still in recent memory. Napoli posted an awful .140/.289/.323 triple slash in the last month of the regular season, and his .173/.232/.288 postseason line will offer little consolation to potential suitors.
Did Napoli have two bad months, or is this the beginning of the end of him as a viable offensive force? That is the question that interested teams will have to come up with an answer for.
That said, he’s still got a fine track record, and the Rangers still have a need for a player like Napoli. He’ll definitely get a chance somewhere.
1. Matt Wieters (C)
Wieters was an All-Star in 2016, though his numbers don’t quite back up that level of production. The switch-hitting catcher batted .243 with 17 home runs but little other extra-base power — his worst offensive season since his sophomore year of 2010. His prime years can’t be ignored, though.
From 2011 through 2015, Wieters’ .254/.317/.436 triple slash is very respectable for a catcher. Despite some questions about his pitch framing, he also has two Gold Gloves to his name. He’s thrown out 33% of would-be basestealers over his career, and his reputation is such that opponents haven’t run a lot on him in the past.
Wieters turns 31 in May, and catchers sometimes age ungracefully. There’s concern over whether his offensive dip is a blip or something more permanent, and giving him an extensive commitment would be risky. He’s also a Scott Boras client, so a major discount likely isn’t on the table.
The Los Angeles Angels would probably like to upgrade at catcher, though it’s unclear whether they’d be willing to pay up for Wieters. It’s not out of the question that the Orioles could bring him back either. The most consistent links have been with the Washington Nationals, an interest that has been endorsed by their star player. Wieters still has plenty of value, but teams are probably hoping they can afford a long-term commitment, and they might get away with it as we march toward February.
