AL East fire sales could start with star infielders
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Watch third base. The rest of the AL East is obviously going to talk about seeing the Yankees flex with the addition of Giancarlo Stanton and brace for a counter-strike by the Red Sox that could be an Eric Hosmer or J.D. Martinez.
But brave words will not tell as much as what the Rays do with Evan Longoria, the Blue Jays with Josh Donaldson and the Orioles with Manny Machado.
In the past, those three teams have avoided full-on tanking and tried to win in the face of whatever spending was being done by the Northeast powerhouses. And the success rate has been pretty good in recent years. Over the past five seasons, each of the five AL East teams has made the playoffs at least once.
But we may be having a bit of a back to the future now. In the eight seasons from 1998 to 2005, the Yankees finished first and the Red Sox second every year. In 2017, the Red Sox won the AL East, the Yankees earned a wild card and then the third-place Rays were 11 games beyond the Yankees. And from those cores, the Yanks already have added Stanton.
“We make our decisions independent of what other teams are doing,” Rays owner Stu Sternberg said. “At least that is our goal. Competing in the East is either impossible or next to impossible, which is why I value the AL East championships we have won as our brightest accomplishments.”
Longoria has represented the one immovable piece in the Rays’ ever-changing cast. They have signed him long-term on two different occasions, and he is under control through 2023. But, more than ever, Tampa is considering a pivot and will listen on the greatest player in its history, as well as starters Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi and closer Alex Colome.
The Orioles have been more defiant about not breaking up. But Machado, Zach Britton and Adam Jones are all free agents after 2018, Baltimore’s rotation is currently short-handed and its farm system is not ready to provide big-time support.
“It’s nothing new as far as the challenge to the rest of the division,” manager Buck Showalter said. “But God bless the Yankees, if I were them, I’d do the same thing.”
GM Dan Duquette added: “We are still going to try to compete the best we can.”
Like Machado, Donaldson is in his walk year. The Blue Jays are looking for corner-outfield bats to continue to try to win with their current group while not doing the kind of long-term deals or trade significant prospects that would unsettle the near future. Toronto officials know the team has done a good job regaining a fan base’s support and do not want to disenchant them with a sell-off.
“It’s hard not to be impacted by it, but we need to control what we can control and the general plan remains the same,” Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro said.
The current belief is that Longoria is much more likely to be dealt this offseason than Machado or Donaldson, but since the latter two are in their walk year, if the AL East plays out as expected — with the Red Sox and Yankees separating themselves at the top — then already you could see Machado and Donaldson becoming the biggest names discussed at the July trade deadline.
The Mets are looking at myriad second base options and one of them is Ryan Goins, who was recently non-tendered by the Blue Jays.
Goins has been known for his versatility and strong defense, but also lacking offense. The Mets want to upgrade their defense and, in theory, could team the lefty swinger with a righty partner such as Wilmer Flores or T.J. Rivera at second.
The Phillies did due diligence on Stanton, making calls to get background information on him. But apparently nothing ever got overly serious between Philadelphia and Miami.
The Royals, contemplating a further teardown to rebuild, are fielding interest in closer Kelvin Herrera, who drew interest from the Astros, among others, at the trade deadline last July.
Herrera, who can be a free agent after the 2018 campaign, is coming off his worst season. He had a 4.25 ERA and allowed nine homers in 59 1/3 innings.
The Reds continue to listen on outfielders Billy Hamilton and Adam Duvall. The Giants, in particular, have had interest in the fleet Hamilton, who has topped 55 steals in each of the past four seasons and is rated a top defender at a time when San Francisco is looking to upgrade its fielding.
The Giants also are looking for righty power, and Duvall is one of only 12 players to top 30 homers in each of the last two seasons. He was actually traded by San Francisco to Cincinnati at the July 2015 deadline for Mike Leake. The Blue Jays also are interested in a corner-hitting outfield bat with power.
The Reds are trying to open up a corner outfield spot so Jesse Winker can play regularly.