Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
3. Milwaukee Brewers
Ever since Prince Fielder left in 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers have had a black hole at first base. Corey Hart filled the void in 2012 with a 30-homer season, but since then, the Brewers have been among the league’s worst at first base in terms of offense.
This season, a platoon of Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay produced the third-worst slugging percentage, the second-worst on-base percentage and the second-fewest runs batted in in all of Major League Baseball. Reynolds, notorious for his strikeout-prone tendencies, slashed a disappointing .196/.287/.394 with 22 home runs and 45 RBIs across 130 games, managing just nine doubles.
Overbay appeared in 121 contests for the Brewers, a team that looked poised to make a postseason run early on, batting .233/.328/.333 with four home runs and a mere 35 RBIs at age 37.
Both players will be coming off the books this offseason, which will free up $3.5 million in payroll. Some around the game feel LaRoche could fill the left-handed, power-hitting first baseman that the Brewers have been missing for the last three years, although he would command a much more hefty sum, as MLBTR projects him netting a two-year deal in the neighborhood of $30 million.