Free agency officially started at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday, and this week CBS Sports is going to break down the top free agents at each position. And rank them. What fun would this be without rankings?
This offseason features one of the weakest free-agent classes in recent memory, especially on the starting pitching side. There are a few attractive corner infield/DH types, but not many. We'll take a look at the top 10 here.
Justin Turner was a farmhand for the Orioles until he became a utility man for the Mets. In his ages 29-31 seasons for the Dodgers, he became a star. This past season, he hit .275/.339/.493 with 34 doubles, 27 homers and 90 RBI. Turner's career-high seven homers in 2014 turned into 16 in 2015 and then the 27 you see from 2016.
He's now about to get paid in a big way, as the next best third baseman on the market is Luis Valbuena and past that no one else is worth considering for a starting job. Turner has experience all over the infield, but the hunch is his days of moving around are long behind him. He spent all but one inning in 2016 at third and he's about to be a big-ticket free agent acquisition for someone.
Edwin Encarnacion will be 34 next season, but he's coming off one of the best five-year slugging stretches in baseball. In those last five years with the Blue Jays, he's averaged .272/.367/.544 (146 OPS+), 39 homers and 110 RBI. That's an average! Last season, he clubbed 42 homers and drove home 127. Encarnacion can play first base, but he should probably stick in the AL where the DH option is open for nearly all of the season. I have seen many people connecting him to Boston to take David Ortiz's vacated DH spot and that makes a lot of sense, but don't count out the Blue Jays bringing him back.
We listed him in the outfield as well, but Mark Trumbo should really be relegated to only using a first baseman's glove -- or just not use one at all. He led the majors with 47 homers last year while hitting .256/.316/.533 with 27 doubles and 108 RBI. He wasn't nearly as good in 2015, though, which cleared the way for his peers to vote him as the AL Comeback Player of the Year. So are you paying for 40-plus bombs or somewhere in the 20s with a lackluster OBP?
Does Mike Napoli possess the "winner" gene? He's been to the playoffs eight times with four different teams and played in three of the last seven World Series, with three different teams. It's tough to say whether or not that's a total coincidence, but what's not tough to say is that Napoli brings a big stick with him. He clubbed 34 homers and drove home 101 runs last season. There's risk, of course, as he's only a first baseman or DH. He hit .239 with 194 strikeouts and then slashed .173/.232/.288 with 21 strikeouts in 56 postseason plate appearances. He's 35 now, too. The raw power finds him a job.
After an excellent two-year stint in Kansas City, Kendrys Morales finds himself back on the open market. In 2016, he reached his highest home run total since the broken leg, knocking 30 out of the yard. His average/OBP tumbled from .290/.362 to .263/.327, though. His walk rate lowered while his strikeout rate went up. His doubles went down from 41 to 24. He's turning 34 next season. But, again, he hit 30 homers. There will be a DH job for him somewhere.
The second-best third baseman available in free agency? Luis Valbuena. He could also play first and maybe even head back to second a few times. There's good power and on-base chops here, as Valbuena had 17 doubles, 13 homers and a .357 on-base percentage in just over a half season worth of plate appearances last year. He'll be 31 in 2017.
Since going to the A's for the 2012 season, Brandon Moss' power has proven an asset to his teams. His 162-game average during that span is 27 doubles, three triples and 31 homers with a .478 slugging percentage. So, yes, even at age 33 next season, the power will play. He also hit just .225 with a .300 OBP and 141 strikeouts in 413 at-bats last year. This is becoming a common theme here, no? Big power but low OBP and high strikeouts.
Coming off an excellent season, possible future Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran could be higher on this list. He's not, though, because he'll be 40 next April and he's playing on two bad knees. Of course, that three-year deal with the Yankees seemed too long and here we are. He hit .295/.337/.513 with 33 doubles, 29 homers and 93 RBI last year. He's been an All-Star with the Royals, Mets, Cardinals and Yankees (nine times in all). Will he add another to the list?
In duty for the Rays and Orioles last season, Steve Pearce hit .288/.374/.492 with 13 homers in 302 plate appearances. That sounds very good, but it comes with a caveat. Pearce is a platoon player who generally needs to only be facing left-handers. And he can mash them. In his career, he's hit .269/.353/.499 against Southpaws and more recently he's gotten even better.
Mitch Moreland has been with the Rangers organization since they drafted him out of Mississippi State in 2007, but now he heads out to free agency. The 22 home runs in 460 at-bats looks pretty good, but he hit just .233 with a .298 OBP. In 2015 he slashed .278/.330/.482 (116 OPS+), though, so there's some hope for an offensive bounce-back. At 31, he's past his prime years but not into the drastic decline phase. Perhaps a move to the NL helps?
Honorable mention DH: Billy Butler, Justin Morneau, Pedro Alvarez
Honorable mention 1B: Adam Lind, Mark Reynolds, James Loney, Logan Morrison, Ryan Howard, Dae-ho Lee
Honorable mention 3B: Ruben Tejada
Yeah, it's thin, notably at the hot corner. Enjoy your payday, Mr. Turner.
