MLB Players in Worst Spots as Winter Meetings Dust Settles
While the baseball world is still trying to get its hands around the insanity of the 2014 winter meetings, the dust is finally beginning to settle, giving us a clear view of where things stand.
Every move that a team made has consequences. Some moves result in former starters being relegated to bench duty or a seemingly clear path for a prospect to break into a team's starting lineup suddenly being blocked.
Often, those consequences are felt beyond the confines of a team's clubhouse.
Potential landing spots for free agents suddenly disappear, whether it be due to a team going in another direction or spending the bulk of its disposable income elsewhere, leaving little in the coffers to accommodate an unsigned talent.
Ultimately, a player winds up in an unenviable (sometimes untenable) situation.
Which players currently find themselves in the worst spots? Let's take a look.
OF Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
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2014 Stats (LAD): 130 G, .249/.322/.370, 27 XBH (4 HR), 42 RBI, 2 of 4 SB
Andre Ethier didn't demand a trade heading into the winter meetings. But as he explained to Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times, he let it be known to everyone—including the Los Angeles Dodgers—that he wasn't interested in repeating history, either.
"I’m not there saying that yet because there’s still a lot of things to hash out and get going with this team," Ethier said. "It’s one where I said through my agent, I want to play every day, and that’s what I’m expecting to do this year. It’s their decision to make from there what they want to do with that."
While the Dodgers have since traded Matt Kemp, that doesn't necessarily clear a path to a regular spot in the lineup for Ethier.
Carl Crawford is entrenched in left field, and Yasiel Puig, while he can play center field, figures to be the team's everyday right fielder. That leaves Ethier to play center field, which he doesn't really have the speed for, and it just so happens to be the position that the team's top prospect, Joc Pederson, plays.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has never shied away from declaring Pederson as the team's best defensive option in center, and it's pretty clear that he's a fan of the talented 22-year-old.
With veterans Chris Heisey and Scott Van Slyke on the roster to provide outfield depth, there's not a regular spot to be found for Ethier, who would be an incredibly expensive reserve player and is due more than $50 million through the 2017 season.
It's Ethier's contract—and not so much his subpar 2014 performance—that has hindered the team's efforts to move him.
ESPNLosAngeles.com's Mark Saxon reported during the winter meetings that a proposed deal that would have sent catcher Miguel Montero from Arizona to the Dodgers in exchange for Ethier fell apart because of how much of Ethier's contract the Dodgers would have needed to pick up.
If the club wasn't willing to pick up a substantial portion of his contract to acquire a two-time All-Star at what was then a position of need, there's little chance that it will be willing to do so to acquire mid-level prospects or pieces that would provide organizational depth.
That leaves Ethier exactly where he doesn't want to be—on the outside looking in.
SP Max Scherzer, Free Agent
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2014 Stats (DET): 33 GS, 18-5, 3.15 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 220.1 IP, 196 H, 2.6 BB/9, 10.3 K/9
It had to come as a surprise to Max Scherzer and his agent, Scott Boras, that the biggest news at the winter meetings about the 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner was the lack of any substantial interest in his services.
Nearly every big-market club that needed to address its rotation has, with one notable exception: the New York Yankees. But as we looked at recently, the odds of Scherzer landing in the Bronx aren't good.
It's not as if there's a shortage of arms left available, either. While Scherzer and James Shields remain as the only two front-line starters on the free-agent market, there's a number of less expensive, quality options for teams to bolster their rotations with.
Eventually, some team is going to sign Max Scherzer.
But it's not likely going to be for the the $200 million that he and Boras believe he's worth. Whatever leverage the pair believed they had heading into the winter has all but disappeared thanks to teams looking elsewhere for their rotation needs.
Scherzer's market is already a small one given his sizable contract demands. The longer he waits to sign, the fewer available dollars teams with the ability to offer him a lucrative, long-term deal will have to spend.
That could ultimately lead to a situation where Scherzer finds himself having to decide between taking a shorter-term deal from a contender or a long-term pact from a team looking to vault itself into the playoff picture.
Most of the Youth Movement in Boston
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While the 2014 season was a disaster in Boston, it did provide the club with a chance to see what it had in a handful of its top position prospects, many of whom were getting their first taste of major league action.
After the team's additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval—coupled with its late-season signing of Rusney Castillo—that was probably also the last time that you'll see many of those faces in a Red Sox uniform during the regular season for quite some time.
Brock Holt, 26, has played his way into a roster spot thanks to his versatility, while Christian Vazquez, 24, is the club's starting catcher. Xander Bogaerts, 22, who made his MLB debut in 2013, is the present—and future—at shortstop.
That leaves the likes of Mookie Betts (22, pictured), Jackie Bradley Jr. (24), Garin Cecchini (23) and Will Middlebrooks (26)—who has spent parts of the past three seasons in Boston—to return to the minor leagues.
Some—or all—could eventually be included as part of a package to obtain a front-line starting pitcher, such as Cole Hamels. But that scenario didn't play out at the winter meetings as some expected it would.
The problem is, there's no guarantee this scenario is going to play out between now and Opening Day, either.
Boston shipped malcontent Yoenis Cespedes to obtain Rick Porcello from Detroit, while a pair of young arms, Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, along with a low-level shortstop, Raymel Flores, headed to Arizona in exchange for Wade Miley,
While the club could use a legitimate ace, the team's rotation, as presently constituted (Porcello, Miley, Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly), isn't terrible, and it has the potential to be pretty good if you believe that Masterson and Buchholz can regain their former All-Star form.
If the Red Sox happen to believe that as well, there's no reason for them to consider moving anyone from the young foursome that, aside from Cecchini, really has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.
These players' biggest challenge is to prove that they belong in the big leagues, and the only way to do that is with consistent playing time at the game's highest level, an opportunity that, barring injury, they simply aren't going to get with the Red Sox.
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RP Rafael Soriano, Free Agent
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2014 Stats (WAS): 64 G, 4-1, 3.19 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 62 IP, 51 H, 2.8 BB/9, 8.6 K/9, 32 of 39 SV
Rafael Soriano may have finished the 2014 season in a setup role for the Washington Nationals, but the veteran reliever still considers himself to be a closer and a pretty darn good one at that, as he told James Wagner of The Washington Post after the Nationals were eliminated from the playoffs.
“There aren't many closers with the numbers that I have that are active," Soriano told Wagner. "What can I do? We’ll see and what opportunities I get.”
Soriano's 2014 numbers might not look too bad, but it's easy to forget how bad he had to be to finish where he did. He entered the All-Star break with a minuscule 0.97 ERA and 0.81 WHIP while converting all but two of his 24 save chances.
His numbers after the All-Star break? A 6.48 ERA and 1.60 WHIP while blowing five saves in 15 attempts.
Those second-half numbers have certainly contributed to Soriano not having the opportunities that he was hoping for. There is also the fact that only three teams are still dealing with an unsettled situation at closer: the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.
All three of those teams have either signed other relievers or have internal options to choose from, albeit most not as experienced as Soriano. Should they decide that additional help is needed, there's no shortage of options available to them.
Soriano isn't the only former All-Star closer available, with Heath Bell, Jason Grilli, Chris Perez, Francisco Rodriguez and Sergio Romo all still unsigned. Former Blue Jays closers Casey Janssen and Sergio Santos remain free agents as well.
There are also oft-injured starters, like Janssen and Santos' former teammate, Brandon Morrow, a power arm who teams could perhaps view as a potential closer.
Granted, not all of those options are terrific ones, but they serve as competition for Soriano in finding a roster spot. Depending on where and under what terms they eventually sign with a new team, they could severely limit Soriano's earning power.
At this point, the problem for Soriano isn't going to be finding a team on which he can close—it's going to be finding a team, period.
OF Dayan Viciedo, Chicago White Sox
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2014 Stats (CWS): 145 G, .231/.281/.405, 46 XBH (21 HR), 58 RBI
It's an exciting time to be associated with the Chicago White Sox. For the second consecutive winter, general manager Rick Hahn has done a stellar job of improving his club, adding the likes of Adam LaRoche, David Robertson, Jeff Samardzija and Melky Cabrera.
That last one puts Dayan Viciedo in a tough spot.
Viciedo, 25, has never quite lived up to expectations since defecting from Cuba in 2008. While he's provided power, hitting 60 home runs since 2012 (including a pair of 20-plus home run seasons), he's struggled to hit for average and been a defensive liability.
Even before the club signed Cabrera, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times wrote that the White Sox, who had been trying to pawn Viciedo off on the Seattle Mariners, were likely to designate him for assignment before too long.
With Cabrera now in the mix, Viciedo is at best a fourth outfielder or potential right-handed platoon option with LaRoche as the team's designated hitter.
But the White Sox aren't paying LaRoche $25 million over the next two years to be a part-time player, and Jordan Danks is a far better defender than Viciedo capable of playing all three outfield spots. Danks will likely serve as the team's primary reserve outfielder.
When asked about Viciedo's future with the club by the Chicago Tribune's Colleen Kane, Hahn provided more questions than answers: “He still has a world of talent. He still has power that is tough to find in this game, and it’s just a matter of finding the right fit for him on this club or assessing the value that’s out there for him.”
One thing to keep in mind, besides the lack of an obvious fit (other than as a right-handed pinch hitter off the bench), is what it will cost to carry Viciedo on the roster in 2015. Arbitration eligible for the second time, he's going to get a raise from his 2014 salary of $2.8 million.
Considering how much the club has shelled out this offseason, is that an expense the White Sox really want to carry? Or would they rather save that money and give themselves more flexibility with the roster spot he currently occupies?
It seems pretty clear, one way or another, Viciedo will be playing elsewhere in 2015.
Unless otherwise linked/noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts.
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