Playing Fact or Fiction with All of MLB's Hottest Pre-2016 Winter Meetings Buzz
Labor peace has returned to baseball, ending the veiled threats of lockouts and boycotts of the winter meetings, which are set to begin next week. That's good news.
It's even better news—and a stone-cold fact—that sanity has returned to MLB's All-Star Game, which will no longer have any World Series implications associated with it. That alone makes the new collective bargaining agreement a rousing success.
As Bleacher Report's Jacob Shafer wrote Wednesday, the offseason should really start to get interesting now.
Has the return of a team's adopted prodigal son forced one of his teammates out the door? Will a fringe contender look to unload an All-Star talent? Is the face of one of baseball's oldest franchises about to change for the first time in nearly a decade?
We'll hit on all that and more in this week's edition of Fact or Fiction.
Fact: Pittsburgh Will Trade Andrew McCutchen
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For the first time in nearly a decade, there will be a new face of baseball in Pittsburgh.
On the heels of a report from Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal that Andrew McCutchen might be the "most likely" of the big names to be traded, multiple sources confirmed to Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the Pirates are "actively shopping" the center fielder and former National League MVP.
The Pirates have already reached out to Seattle, Texas and Washington about a potential deal and, per Nesbitt's sources, are looking for prospects in return. While the 30-year-old is coming off the worst season of his career, he would be a fit on all three of those teams.
Due $14 million in 2017 and with a $14.5 million team option for 2018 left on his deal, McCutchen doesn't carry a burdensome long-term contract, which should help to facilitate a deal.
Fiction: The Rockies Will Give Up the 11th Pick in the 2017 Draft
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There's been plenty of chatter and speculation about Colorado potentially signing a big name or two in free agency ever since owner Dick Monfort told the Denver Post's Patrick Saunders last month that the team would have a record-high payroll in 2017.
Thoughts about the sort of damage that Mark Trumbo could do over the course of a full season at Coors Field or Colorado native Mark Melancon locking things down in the ninth inning have been running through the minds of Rockies fans, among others.
But neither scenario is going to become reality, because signing either one of those free agents—or any free agent who declined a qualifying offer—would cost the Rockies the 11th pick in MLB's 2017 draft on top of whatever financial commitment it took to reach an agreement.
That's simply too costly an investment.
What could become reality, as MLB.com's Mike Petriello speculated, is Chris Carter filling Colorado's void at first base instead of Trumbo. As Petriello noted, the slugger, who recently became available, has posted the same slugging percentage (.470) as Trumbo over the past four seasons.
Fact: The Mets Are Going to Trade an Outfielder
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I was wrong on Yoenis Cespedes, whom I had pegged as a lock to leave New York for greener pastures elsewhere as a free agent. The Mets made him a very rich man, and in return, he'll try to make the Mets into World Series champions.
With Cespy back, the Mets' outfield situation has become crowded—and other teams have taken note.
The team would prefer to unload Jay Bruce instead of Curtis Granderson, per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo, but the club has also received interest from other teams in both Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares, who, DiComo added, aren't going anywhere.
While both Bruce ($13 million) and Granderson ($15 million) are in the last year of their respective deals, dealing Granderson would bring back a bigger haul for the Mets. Though older than Bruce, he's more athletic, a better defender and more than one-dimensional at the plate.
One of them will be wearing a different uniform come Opening Day.
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Fiction: Miami Will Trade A.J. Ramos
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Miami "might be willing to trade" All-Star closer A.J. Ramos, as tweeted by ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The keyword there is "might."
Ramos, 30, pitched to a 2.81 ERA and 1.36 WHIP while successfully converting 40 of 43 save opportunities in 2016. Since becoming Miami's full-time closer in May 2015, he has converted 91.1 percent of his save chances (72-of-79).
Under team control through 2018, he carries plenty of value as a trade chip. But if there's one thing this offseason isn't light on, it's available closers.
Between free agency, which not only features high-level options like Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon but lesser closers such as Koji Uehara and Brad Ziegler, and the trade market, with names like Wade Davis and David Robertson potentially available, Ramos doesn't stand out from the pack.
Miami's asking price would have to be enticing enough for a team to pass on those other options and make a run at Ramos. There's simply no reason for the Marlins to sell low on him.
Fact: Edwin Encarnacion Will Wind Up in Houston
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While free-agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion continues to be linked to multiple teams—MLB Network's Jon Morosi recently tweeted that the Houston Astros and New York Yankees are still in the mix—he can only wind up in one place.
That place will be Minute Maid Park in Houston.
"He likes it," Encarnacion's agent, Paul Kinzer, told Fox 26's Mark Berman of his clients thoughts on joining the Astros. "He thinks its a great fit." Kinzer noted that nothing was imminent with any club but that he thinks the franchise "appreciate[s] Edwin as a player and a person."
Adding Encarnacion might seem like overkill for a team that has already signed Josh Reddick and traded for Brian McCann to bolster its lineup, but when the opportunity arises to sign one of the game's premier run-producers, you don't pass it up.
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