MLB rumors: 5 teams that should begin a rebuild
This offseason will start plenty of MLB rumors of teams that are going to tear down and start a rebuild. Here are five that should.
Multiple teams recently have made it to the playoffs after a rebuild. The MLB rumors say that multiple teams will begin teardowns this winter to begin a rebuild. We’ll explore 5 teams that should tear down, starting with one team that was in the playoffs this season.
Cleveland Indians
The Indians were just put through a rough sweep at the hands of the defending World Series champions. Many felt coming into the postseason that the Indians were the weakest of the postseason teams that had won a division. However, after making the postseason, why blow things up?!
This offseason will bring multiple players hitting the free agent market that are vital pieces of the Cleveland Indians foundation. With Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, and Oliver Perez all free agents out of the bullpen, the MLB rumors have already begun about significantly the Indians bullpen will be affected by the loss of those arms. Add in outfielders Melky Cabrera, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Michael Brantley, and you have some huge holes to fill with a very limited budget.
The current Cleveland Indians team is built around young power arms in the rotation and their two elite infielders in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. After 2019, veterans Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kipnis, Corey Kluber, Dan Otero, and Yonder Alonso will each have options for the 2020 season.
Those option seasons would make each of those players extremely valuable in a trade market that is going to be seeking big arms heavily. Carlos Carrasco has two option seasons (2019, 2020), Trevor Bauer has two arbitration seasons, and Kluber is under contract for 2019 with two option years (2020, 2021) that would make them incredibly valuable trade properties on the market.
The Indians signed Jose Ramirez long-term last offseason, and there have already been MLB rumors that Francisco Lindor will be extended this offseason to buy out his arbitration years. Those two along with Mike Clevinger, who doesn’t even face arbitration until after 2019, and one of the three starters mentioned earlier chosen as a key long-term piece would be excellent as a foundation to build around.
The Indians farm system currently does not have a lot to offer in depth, though there are some solid players overall. Making a pair of their starters available as well as Encarnacion, Kipnis, and Alonso would allow the Indians to build some very solid depth in their farm system for a long-term healthy position for the team.
St. Louis Cardinals
Three straight seasons. For many Cardinals fans, three seasons with no postseason is way too much. Most baseball fans would love the Cardinals history of success, but spinning wheels does get to be frustrating eventually for a fan base.
The Cardinals are in a spot where they could clear off some salary quickly and allow themselves to rebuild quickly. This offseason will see Adam Wainwright leave along with a lot of good role pieces in Matt Adams, Bud Norris, and Tyson Ross. However, with limited room already in the 2019 budget, the Cardinals are looking at a pay raises for Matt Carpenter, Jedd Gyorko, Kolten Wong, and Miles Mikolas built into their deals along with arbitration for Marcell Ozuna, Michael Wacha, Dominic Leone, and Chasen Shreve.
The finances could end up forcing a sell-off of some pieces, and if the Cardinals did this right, they could open themselves to attack a very loaded 2019/2020 free agent class with books that are fairly clear.
Obviously, franchise stalwart Yadier Molina would remain, and the team would be built around young pitching in their rotation as they already have an overflow of young arms to fill in behind Mikolas. Moving electric Carlos Martinez could allow them a major windfall in the trade market and open up significant salary as well.
The only other “big” contract beyond 2019, outside of a host of options for players for the 2020 season, is Dexter Fowler, which could make his deal difficult to move, though the team’s relationship with Fowler may have deteriorated to the point where they’d eat money to send him elsewhere.
With a farm system brimming with “fill-in” talent, this could be a chance for the Cardinals to use players like Wacha, Ozuna, Martinez, and possibly Wong and Carpenter to bring in a few elite young pieces to compliment the grouping of solid players in the upper minors, allowing the Cardinals likely to follow their deep young pitching back to competitiveness as quickly as 2020 or 2021, as well as giving them the financial flexibility to address the market for a big star piece they may need.
San Francisco Giants
A new GM being brought in with the chance to enter into a full-scale rebuild could be a very attractive selling point when recruiting the next general manager to San Francisco, and with MLB rumors that some of the top candidates would enjoy the chance to do just that, this could be a very wise choice indeed.
The Giants went all-in for 2018 and nearly finished last in their division with a roster that was obviously old, terribly overpriced, and had little flexibility to do anything financially. It really is time to simply take the ax to the Giants tree at this point and give it a significant chop.
Speaking of logging, baseball’s own Paul Bunyan-wannabe, Madison Bumgarner, would be a prime piece of any rebuilding effort. Bumgarner is almost certainly going to have his option picked up for 2019, but then he becomes a free agent, and at a very reasonable $12 million cost in 2019, plenty of teams would be willing to make a significant bid on him, even as a 1-year rental.
The fate of some of the other monster contracts in the system is much less clear. Buster Posey is signed through 2021 with a 2022 option and is coming off a significant injury that ended his 2018. Evan Longoria has taken significant steps backward, and he’s signed at a high pay rate through 2022 with a 2023 option. Johnny Cueto missed most of 2018 due to injury, and he’s locked in through 2021 with a 2022 option. Jeff Samardzija and Mark Melancon are locked in through 2020. Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt are locked in through 2021.
Those huge albatross contracts are going to be difficult to move for any sort of significant prospect package, but that’s just the thing – anything coming back to the Giants system right now is a significant prospect package. The system is terribly decimated and is in need of depth, high-end talent, high-floor talent, heck, they probably could use some bats and balls, too.
One area the Giants could exploit for some trade return is their bullpen. Sam Dyson has two more controllable seasons through arbitration. Tony Watson has a 2019 contract at $3.5 million and an option for 2020. Will Smith is only controllable for 2019, so he would be a rental, but after his performance to close the season, he could have a big market. Add in the early arb status of Hunter Strickland, and you have a contingent that could be a very low-cost alternative to playing in the free agent market this offseason.
More than anything, the Giants need to clear payroll, so eating some of the deals around guys like Melancon, Belt, Crawford, and Cueto that still carry at least some value around the game may not bring back a big prospect haul, but it would allow for freedom in spending as the team looks to 2020/2021 and a chance to make a few moves to start the long process toward competing again.
Toronto Blue Jays
Just two seasons ago, the Blue Jays had the exact reverse record of their 2018 campaign, going 89-73 and making it all the way to the ALCS for the second season in a row. That as coming off of 6 seasons of finishing 4th or 5th in the AL East before starting to move toward competitiveness in 2014. In other words, the Blue Jays have been here before – they just didn’t think they’d be back so quickly.
The great thing for the Jays is that they are going to be anchored for the next half-decade by a group of young prospects that will start hitting the big league club next year and have incredible talent such that the team could turn around very quickly with some smart trdes right now to bring in the right close-to-majors pieces to pair along with those young prospects.
This offseason, the Blue Jays will be losing Marco Estrada from their rotation and Tyler Clippard from their bullpen to free agency, two big veteran pieces. With Russell Martin, Kendrys Morales, and Justin Smoak all set to hit free agency the year after, they could make a few moves with guys currently still seeking arbitration and really play for the future while setting up the club financially to attack in the 2019/2020 offseason.
Martin’s reasonably strong finish to the season could allow the Jays to market him as long as they chip in on his salary, and Morales and Smoak are both very reasonable and should draw interest. Yangervis Solarte’s ability to play all over the infield could be very valuable, and with other players at the big league level already in the infield along with the big-time prospects on the way primarily being infielders, Solarte could be a good piece to maximize value with.
On the pitching side, rumors have swirled around Marcus Stroman for years, and with two years of arbitration left, this could be the last time he demands a premium package, even coming off of a 5.54 ERA. Aaron Sanchez’s injury issues could be something another team sees as an opportunity as well if there’s a chance to get a surprising return for him.
While the Blue Jays would be left with very little under long-term contract outside of human paperweight Troy Tulowitzki, the team would have guys like Vlad Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, and more coming quickly, so the team would certainly still be exciting to watch, and the Jays could be major players in the 2019/2020 free agent market, where pitchers like Gerrit Cole, Kyle Gibson, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha, Zack Wheeler, and Alex Wood would all be hitting the market.
New York Mets
Another position with a GM opening, though the owner may stick his fingers into this one more and prevent possible rebuilding, even if it would be better for the team. However, if you were looking to start a rebuild, having the lower levels of the New York Mets farm system already in place and big-time pieces like the starting rotation that they currently have would be the ideal mix for a very, very successful rebuild.
Throughout his likely NL Cy Young Award season this year, we heard MLB rumors about Jacob deGrom being moved from the Mets. With two more seasons of arbitration left of control for deGrom, he seemed like a very valuable piece, even if he were to get $30-40 million over those two seasons of arbitration.
The Mets also have had their ups and downs in their relationship with the vocal Noah Syndergaard. He’s also in a similar spot with arbitration, but another year of it beyond deGrom. Then you add in Zack Wheeler, who broke through in 2018 and has this season left of arbitration that should be at a very reasonable rate, and the Mets could make an absolute haul in the trade market if they were ready for a rebuild.
After saying goodbye to David Wright and likely seeing the last game from Jose Reyes in a Mets uniform, it’d be a good time to take a rebuild approach to the organization and build around future start, letting free agents like Devin Mesoraco, Jerry Blevins, AJ Ramos, and Austin Jackson go.
With a tremendous finish to his season, Amed Rosario seems primed to be part of that next wave of great Mets, and the team has one of more dynamic farm systems from low-A on down in their system after some exciting drafts and recent Latin American signings.
Seeing those players work their way through the system along with the chance to add some other very big pieces from the moves of guys like deGrom, Syndergaard, and Wheeler should make this a no-brainer as the Mets are currently sitting in a spot where they simply are behind the Braves and the Phillies already, and both of those teams are on the upswing. If the Nationals are able to make a couple of moves, they will also be competitive, giving the Mets a good window right now to tear things down in order to build for a better day in Queens.
Next. Yankees possible starting options in the offseason. dark
That’s our five teams that you shold be hearing MLB rumors about a rebuild this offseason. Who’s missing? Who’s here that doesn’t belong? Comment below!!