NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks—Jonathan Lucroy
No team is projected to get less production from the catcher position than the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Fangraphs depth charts project Jeff Mathis, Chris Herrmann and Jon-Ryan Murphy to combine for 0.7 WAR, which is a half-win worse than the 29th-ranked team (Philadelphia). Signing Lucroy would instantly move them up near the middle-of-the-pack.
Colorado Rockies—Mark Reynolds
If the Rockies want to bring Mark Reynolds back for another year, he should jump at the chance. Reynolds has been with the Rockies for two years and hasn’t cost much, just $4.1 million total.
This is good because he hasn’t been worth all that much either, just 1.0 WAR total. Coors Field has been very, very good to him and he might want to stay there to keep his career going.
Over the last two seasons, Reynolds has hit .301/.389/.546 at Coors Field, good for a 116 wRC+. That means he’s been 16 percent better than league average on offense after league and ballpark effects are taken into account.
Away from Coors Field, it’s a different story. Reynolds has hit .247/.318/.397, which is a below-average 89 wRC+. If the Rockies make him an offer, Reynolds should accept.
Los Angeles Dodgers—Frosted sugar cookies
The Dodgers have everything they could ever want, including a set lineup, one of the best starting pitchers in baseball and one of the best closers in baseball.
They’re basically as hard to shop for during the holiday season as your grandparents who live on the golf course and vacation in Palm Springs every winter. You can’t get them anything they don’t already have, so just make them some frosted sugar cookies. Unless they have diabetes.
San Diego Padres—Hall of Fame induction for Trevor Hoffman
As a kid one year, I asked for a baseball bat for Christmas. When I woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and ran to the living room to look at all the gifts under the tree, there it was: an easily-identifiable baseball bat-shaped present wrapped in red and green paper.
Under the Padres’ tree, this year is a wrapped present that looks remarkably like longtime Padres reliever Trevor Hoffman. He’s on the cusp of entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame (80 percent on the publicly-released MLB Hall of Fame ballots, according to Ryan Thibodaux on Twitter) and the Padres and their fans would love to see him get there this year.
San Francisco Giants—A center fielder
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Roster Resources currently has Steven Duggar listed as the starting center fielder for the Giants.
I don’t know which of the 19 Duggar children Steven is, but I don’t think he’ll be starting for the Giants on Opening Day. This is an MLB team that is set to win now, especially with the recent addition of 32-year-old Evan Longoria.
The Giants were rumored to be in talks with the Pirates about Andrew McCutchen, but McCutchen doesn’t seem like a good option for the spacious outfield at AT&T Park. His defensive metrics are not impressive. Lorenzo Cain isn’t the fielder he once was, but he’s better than McCutchen.
Jarrod Dyson would be a good option for the left-handed hitting side of a center field platoon if the Giants don’t want to spend the money on Cain.
Next: Fun fact rankings of American League ballparks
MLB teams are hoping for this gifts, and not coal under the tree. Will 2018 be a season of good cheer, or, more like Seinfeld’s Festivus?