Free Agents 2020 left unsigned for a brand NEW baseball team
It is that time of year again. The month of March draws closer, which means we are closer to Opening Day and baseball season is underway. Spring Training has officially begun for clubs in Arizona and Florida, and players young and old will play their best to make the roster for the first game of the season. Just like every other winter, a wild free agency took place. There always leaves a group of players without homes before Spring Training begins, and there are always enough players left to build a brand new team to play in the majors. There have always been talks of expanding the league a few more teams, it is only a matter of time where it happens for the better or for worse.
This Spring Training, there will be a few featured rosters that are catered to the idea of "what if" teams. The first one that will be focused on is the team of players that are without jobs and could possibly be the stars of a brand new MLB team. Placing in the possibility that some estranged billionaire could afford a brand new team and all of these listed players, they could make the argument of being a sellable team to a brand new city that would be a home of a new baseball team.
Catcher: Jonathan Lucroy, age 33: Lucroy is a seasoned veteran that has done some fine time in the majors for a few ball clubs. He is the best catcher available on the free-agent market for any team that is looking for a catcher that can make all the right plays for his pitcher. The two-time All-Star once led the majors in doubles during his 2014 campaign and finished shy of being the National League MVP for the Milwaukee Brewers. A career .274 hitter, Lucroy would be a good middle-man in the lineup to get on base and bring in runners. The problem where we have seen Lucroy fall from grace as being one of the best is his inability to stay healthy. It has been a real chore for Lucroy to play at least a hundred games, and lately, he has been platooning. Given the opportunity the team has him as the starting catcher for the team, a groomed catching prospect should be behind him taking in the lessons and to split time with Lucroy.
First Base: Yonder Alonso, age 32: Alonso has spent at least a decade in the majors and had the promise of becoming a great first baseman at the end of the last decade. It was his time to shine becoming a good featured player for the Chicago White Sox in an experimental lineup, but did not show his numbers like he did for the Oakland Athletics and the Cleveland Indians. For both the 2017 and 2018 season, Alonso hit for over 20-plus home runs and had an OPS in the .800s. Alonso has the promise to show power at the plate and be a guaranteed glove for first base. He has the best bet on the roster to play the majority of the games of the regular season at the position.
Second Base: Scooter Gennett, age 29: Gennett was one of the youngest players out of the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers' systems, and it seems to be a mystery on why he was used as a trade chip for San Francisco rather than stay for the Reds' rebuild instead. He probably has the best career batting average of this entire lineup sitting at .286. From 2017 and onward, he was hitting closer to .300 and eventually was hitting .310 in his All-Star season in 2018. He also had a great glove in the infield, turning 101 double plays in the same All-Star season. A quick player with effective speed, he knew how to execute plays on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, Gennett was a part of teams when they were not a winning caliber team and his fundamentals did not go as appreciated. On the right team with a good amount of supporting players, Gennett would be the everyday second baseman and the leadoff hitter for most games.
Third Base: Jung Ho Kang, age 32: Everyone likes a great comeback story when someone has hit rock bottom, just ask Josh Hamilton. Kang was on his way to becoming one of the best phenomes to come out of the Korean baseball system, but was unfortunately overshadowed with his off the field problems with a drunk driving accident in South Korea during the offseason of 2016. The incident cost him his work visa to play the 2017 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his three seasons with the Pirates, the Korean slugger hit 46 home runs and collected 144 RBIs. Sure, the guy has a history behind him, but the third base depth has been slim after the Josh Donaldson signing. Kang would make a case of being a legit cleanup hitter, perhaps pumping those RBI numbers into clearing the bases.
Shortstop: Addison Russell, age 26: Yeahβ¦like I said, everyone likes a great comeback story. Another player that has his offseason troubles was Russell. Despite the domestic abuse of his ex-wife, however, when has that ever stopped the MLB from keeping a player from playing? Russell is the whole package with youth to build a team for years to come. With a World Series ring and an All-Star campaign in the same season as 2016, he knows how to get it down defensively with the glove at the shortstop position. In his time with the Chicago Cubs, he kept the statistic of making sure runs were prevented from being scored; a statistic he shared with Javier Baez. Offensively, Russell struggles at the plate. He has been a career .242 hitter with a high strikeout count. In the given lineup, Russell would be the last hitter. He benefits being on the field defensively anyway.
Left Field: Domingo Santana, age 27: Noted that Santana normally plays right field, there are not plenty of left fielders available in the pool who are still actively playing. Santana has played all three positions in the outfield, so he can definitely fill the shoes of left field. This lineup needs a slugger like Santana, who normally starts the season hot and can hit for the fence. Santana's best season was 2017 with Milwaukee when he hit 30 home runs with 85 RBIs. He has progressed to hit better than his career average since the turn of the last decade, but he has a lot of work cut out for him. He is hitting .259 for his career numbers, which makes him a slugging power hitter. Expect him to hit sixth in the clean-up crew.
Center Field: Austin Jackson, age 33: A team is going to need contact hitters that are going to get on base and move along the bases, and Jackson is the man to do so. Jackson has a career .273 batting average with a total of 114 stolen bases. He and Gennett would go game-to-game figuring out who would be the leadoff man. If Jackson was hitting before Gennett, he is the best chance of being a runner in scoring position if given the opportunity to get on base. A veteran like Jackson would be great leadership for the outfield to look up to on a senior level. He would most likely be the voice of reason for his other two teammates out there.
Right Field: Yasiel Puig, age 29: Well, this team is going to need a good public relations representative if the team is going to employ Kang, Russell, and Puig. Puig is the wildcard of the entire bunch and has been notorious for his antics on the field, but he would up being the primary starter of this team. Since his debut in the MLB, he has always been an insane power hitter. His career home runs sit at 132 in his seven years in the majors. Since leaving the Los Angeles Dodgers, he hit his career-high with 30 with both the Reds and the Indians last season. Puig is also a great weapon in the outfield. He has a cannon for an arm and can definitely prevent a runner trying to score from the outfield. With Puig's youth, he could be the player the team builds around for years to come. He would definitely be the franchise player for the team.
Designated Hitter: Brian Dozier, 32: Another World Series champion that can bring veteran leadership in the clubhouse is Dozier. His last two seasons have not been highlight-worthy, but he can be a great deal of more focus from hitting at the designated hitter spot instead of fielding. Since his All-Star season in 2015, he has averaged 24 home runs a season. He also brings the threat of collecting plenty of RBIs and could benefit hitting anywhere in the lineup, but would most likely be hitting towards the bottom half of it. With his only flaw being his batting average, as his career average sits at .245 which means he is a natural power hitter. Days where Russell or Gennett need a day off, he could take the field and play those infield of either of their positions. After all, he does have a Gold Glove from his last season playing with the Minnesota Twins.
The pitching depth for the free-agent pool is slim, but it does leave enough players to build an experience rotation. A great deal of these pitchers has seen some time in some stressful moments for their former ball clubs, which is why it makes them the best candidates for becoming a solid rotation. They are not the best pitchers of the bunch, but they can definitely make it work.
Ace Pitcher-Aaron Sanchez, age 27: Sanchez had a promising rookie year with the Toronto Blue Jays, and even gave the rotation promise when they were in talks of being a contender during his arrival. After suffering a lingering injury with a blister on his throwing finger, he has never had the opportunity to bounce back and pitch to his best potential. It has been a rollercoaster of a ride for Sanchez to get back into peak form, and it is another reason he was traded to the Houston Astros season during their last playoff run. After being the fifth starter out of the rotation, Sanchez looked like his form was coming back into form while pitching out of the bullpen. The alarming side of this entire rotation is that he holds the lowest career ERA at 3.98; an unimpressive stat line, but it happens to be the best out of the rest of the rotation hopefuls.
Starting Pitcher-Matt Harvey, age 30: Harvey has had his fair share of crazy career changes after riding the all-time high with the New York Mets. After having stints with the Reds and the Los Angeles Angels, Harvey has found his way struggling to keep an ERA under 3.00 since returning from Tommy John's injury in 2014. It would be a miracle for him to pitch over 150 innings, as it has been a chore to keep the ball in the park for the Dark Knight. Harveyβs best skill set has been his ability to get strikeouts whenever itβs needed. It is a risky move giving Harvey another chance, but perhaps a solid reliever that would eat those in-between innings could possibly bailout Harvey in order to get more wins.
Starting Pitcher-Andrew Cashner, age 33: Cashner has been an active pitcher for a decade for at least six organizations throughout his career. His best years happen to be during his time with the San Diego Padres when his ERA was 2.55 in 2014. His career ERA is north of that number, sitting at 4.10, but that does not remove him from being a supporting rotation member. Throughout his decade long career, he has a total of 901 career strikeouts. With the right team, he could possibly hit the career benchmark of a thousand strikeouts with this line-up behind him.
Starting Pitcher- Marco Estrada, age 36: At last, we come to the veteran who is at the back of this rotation with Estrada. He has his best years behind him, but he is one of the few pitchers in this rotation who can come close to 180 innings for a season. With eleven years in the majors, his career ERA is not as bad as Cashner's, sitting at 4.29 with 1094 strikeouts as well. Estrada may have enough in the tank to give the ace in Sanchez enough rest for the next series. In recent years, he has a tough time keeping the run control down, but he has just enough in the tank to be a supporting member of this pitching rotation.
Bullpen: Brad Boxberger age 31, Tony Cingrani age 30, Shawn Kelley age 35, and Wily Peralta age 30 (setup man): Surely, these sets of names are not enough players to have a solid bullpen. These are the highlighted names that have been a part of playoff-contending teams. Boxberger has spent a great deal of his career rotating between the closer and the setup man for the final innings, and he would be a guarantee pitcher to go to for a quick collection of outs in a close game. Cingrani was once a contributing pitcher that was part of rotations between the Reds and Cardinals, but towards the end of his career found more focus coming out of the bullpen for bulk innings that needed more relief than the average reliever. Kelley has solid career ERA coming out of the bullpen sitting at a 3.80 and is another pitcher that has the mechanics like Boxberger. Peralta has gone back and forth being a starter and an opener in his latest pitching years, and it would be best for him to come out during the eighth inning and shut down any chances for the opposing team to take advantage of before the closer can enter the game.
Closer-Addison Reed, age 31: There have always been closers who make their way back into the picture after others just show they have the same stuff anymore. Reed used to be one of the premier closers in the earlier years of his career. He was given fewer opportunities when his ERA began to climb, but in recent years he has been given that chance again. In 2017, he posted a 2.84 ERA as a closer between the Red Sox and Mets. With a career resume with 125 saves, 469 strikeouts, and a 3.53 ERA, Reed could be a definite guy to come in and lock it down during the ninth inning. At his age, he can definitely make a comeback and become one of the best closers in the game once more.
Do you think this team has what it takes to be a brand new team in the MLB? What will it take for Rob Manfred to move towards expansion if not trying to sell a current team to a brand new location? Sure, with the idea of him shutting down minor league teams, this team could absorb one of those teams and get some of those young talented players. After all, it is all that this team needs in order to thrive even further. There will be more "What if" rosters posted all Spring Training. Make sure to stay subscribed and to see what teams I will be coming up with next.
