See the 2017 MLB Free Agent Tracker for the all the player movement updates.
Oswaldo Arcia has been released by the Padres. The 25 year old outfielder has struggled to find his footing and, remarkably, was on four teams in 2016 (Twins, Rays, Marlins & Padres). That’s a whole lot of clubs that have given up on the youngish lefty swinger. His slash line admittedly stinks at .203/.270/.360, but I’m still surprised so many clubs are just giving up on him. After all, per 500 at-bats in the big leagues he’s averaged 22 homers and 65 RBIs which makes him, basically, the same type of hitter as Pedro Alvarez.
Alex Guerrero was a failure in the States after coming over from Cuba. The 30 year old infielder could never find a spot with the Dodgers where his glove played, and over 117 big league games he hit .233 with a .695 OPS. Looking to reestablish his big league value, Guerrero has chosen to continue his career with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League. Guerrero will still likely earn $5 million from the Dodgers in 2017 as it seems the language in his contract would only be offset if he signed with another club in the majors.
Victor Martinez is a player that the Tigers might deal as they look to trim payroll and get younger. Due $36 million the next two seasons, the Tigers will have to eat some of that salary to deal a soon to be 38 year old designated hitter even if he is coming off yet another productive season (.289-27-86 with an .826 OPS).
Sean Rodriguez has signed with the Braves on a 2-year deal worth $11.5 million. Where he will play seems to be determined though he could challenge Jace Peterson for duties at second base or supplant Adonis Garcia at third. Or he could play somewhere else. Here are his games played by position numbers from 2016 showing that he can indeed play all over the field: 57 games at first, 32 in the outfield, 29 at second, 27 at shortstop and 11 at third base. In his 9th season he produced career bests in homers (18), RBI (56), average (.270), OBP (.349) and SLG (.510) in 342 plate appearances but he would likely be exposed if given full-time at-bats.
Pablo Sandoval could be dealt back to the Giants. Well, at least that is what one report suggested. Quickly, the Giants said they wished Pablo well, but not so much. "I am not aware of any consideration of a reunion," Giants’ GM Bobby Evans said, "but we'll never forget all that he meant to the Giants organization." Sounds like the Giants will use Eduard Nunez (.288-16-67-73-40 with a .758 OPS) at third base, and they seem content with that decision. As for Pablo, he’s coming back from surgery on his left shoulder. The belief is that he will be 100 percent by the start of the season though his role in Boston is completely up in the air with the expectation being that superstar prospect Yoan Moncada is very likely to begin the year at the hot corner.
Miguel Sano was a third baseman, then an outfielder, and now it appears that he will open the 2017 season as the Twins’ starting third sacker after Trevor Plouffe was let go. Many thought that he might spend some time playing the hot corner in Winter Ball but it doesn’t seem likely at this point. “As of now Miguel will not be playing winter ball,” Kyle Thousand, Sano’s agent, wrote. “He plans to work out the entire offseason and does have a desire to play in the WBC.” No matter whether he plays or not he needs to work on the leather as he made a whopping 15 errors in 42 games of butcher boy at third for the Twins. That’s a 60 error pace folks which is monumentally horrific (no third baseman in baseball had more than 23 errors last season and that number was posted by Eugenio Suarez who appeared in 151 games). Sano disappointed most with his 25 homers and 66 RBI but this scribe was warning in December not to buy the inevitable out of control hype that was coming last preseason.
Gleyber Torres will begin the 2017 season at the Double-A level. Torres, who doesn’t turn 20 until mid-December, won the Arizona Fall League MVP after going .403/.513/.645 with three homers, four steals and 15 runs scored in 18 games as he flashed his dynamic talent. "He had a tremendous Fall League, being the MVP and best player in that league," GM Brian Cashman told the New York Post. "When I was out there for the GM meetings, I went to see him play, and the buzz among all the baseball people, the scouts and front-office execs alike, was, 'This is the best player in the league.' And he was the youngest player in the league, so that's pretty exciting to hear." Torres was ranked inside the top-20 prospects in baseball according to MLB.com at the end of the 2016 season, so his arrival at the big league level is highly anticipated. Blessed with elite speed, he could end up at second or shortstop, with short being the most likely spot as the Yankees hope he’s their new Derek Jeter. It may not happen in 2017, but with the way teams promote players anymore I’ve learned never to say never.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).