A stock-piled offseason of free agents is about to get into full swing in Major League Baseball with some of the game's top pitchers and position players ready to narrow down their suitors and sign offers for their futures.
The Kansas City Royals ran away with the 2015 World Series, but it is no secret that a lot of organizations are right there in terms of contending for the title. Some are just a piece or two away from taking the next step, and that should be reflected in some aggressive plays for the top available free agents.
With that in mind, let's take a look at three notable free agents and where we expect them to land.
David Price
A staple of a franchise just a few years ago, star pitcher David Price has suddenly shifted to a playoff mercenary in the last couple of years. But after coming up short in his World Series quest as a rental pitcher once again, he's likely aiming for a more permanent home in which to chase rings.
Entering the free-agent market, Price has apparently told about six teams that he'd be willing to join their pitching staff. Peter Gammons reports that list includes the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Price has been expectedly quiet in the recent days and weeks as he fields interest from teams, but one such team that could rise above the rest is the Cubs. Their sudden rise to prominence should carry extra weight for Price, who expressed interest in them way back before he was even traded from the Tampa Bay Rays, as he made the following comments to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Being a part of something special is also something you want to do. You can take that to a first-place team. You could take that all the way to a last-place team like the Cubs. With the talent they have coming up they could be a very special team in a few years as well. That would probably be the coolest city to win a championship in. They haven't done it in I'm not sure how long. To do that there that would be the coolest city to win a championship in right now.
Price has jumped from Detroit to Toronto in the hopes of contributing to a championship team but has fallen short. Despite his lowly postseason record, he showed vast improvements there in 2015, putting together some fantastic outings.
You can just tell by the way he talked about Chicago—which came when it was a last-place team, mind you—that winning there would be special for him. After seeing the Cubs' run to the National League Championship Series that fell short largely due to a lack of deep pitching, Price can envision exactly where he'd fit.
Prediction: Price signs with Chicago Cubs
Ben Zobrist
The three or four months that Ben Zobrist spent in Kansas City with the Royals were one of the most successful half-season stints with a new team in MLB history.
He settled into the Royals lineup seamlessly, put up big numbers and made huge contributions to the Royals' first World Series title in 30 years. Now, he can go use that spotlight to put his name on a big-money deal with another offense-thirsty contender.
The New York Mets are one team chasing him, as New York Post's Dan Martin and Ken Davidoff reported, but the Yankees across the city aren't keen on doing the same due to the big contract he'd command. If the deep-pocketed Yanks aren't intent on ponying up, it's hard to think the Mets—who will soon have to throw hundreds of millions at their young pitchers—will be able to, as Adam Rubin of ESPN.com noted:
Where does that leave the Zobrist sweepstakes? Right in the hands of two more NL powers, as the Giants and Cubs are both interested, as reported by Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com.
Chicago would be an ideal fit, as Zobrist could reunite with manager Joe Maddon, but the Cubs are already flush with skilled position players. Meanwhile, San Francisco is desperate to rekindle its offense and find more balance in the lineup, and it should be willing to throw a lot of cash around to do so.
Prediction: Zobrist signs with San Francisco Giants
Zack Greinke
Up until the 2015 season, the impending free agency of Zack Greinke seemed to suggest that this would be his last season in Los Angeles with the Dodgers.
Then, he went out and posted one of the most dominant seasons on the mound in recent memory. Suddenly, it's not far-fetched for fans to suggest he may be even more valuable than his counterpart, Clayton Kershaw—at least in the short term.
While Greinke is getting a boatload of interest, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal still sees a return to L.A. as the most likely scenario: "We learned the last time Greinke was on the market that he prefers the National League, and the best guess is that he will re-sign with the Dodgers, unless the Giants somehow bid higher."
Most of the teams that are willing to shell out a pretty penny for pitching hail from the American League, but Greinke apparently isn't a big fan of making that switch. There's always the chance that the Dodgers could be outbid, but after reassessing what Greinke has done for them on the mound in the last several years, they'll spend much more than initially expected to keep their ace in tow.
Prediction: Greinke re-signs with Los Angeles Dodgers
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