New York - The Yankees now have Kendrys Morales, which I’ve made my feelings clear about. EE would fill the whole instantly, although they could choose to move internally and promote Yordan Alvarez instead. Houston values his positional versatility, but Gurriel is less than a month from his 35th birthday and is a below-average hitter for a 1B. To succeed then, they could use more than what they’re getting from Yuli Gurriel, who is once again the team’s weak link. Houston - The Astros wrapped up the AL West about three weeks ago, and even with José Altuve struggling their focus has to be on October already. Briefly, let’s go through each team’s need or counterbalance. That leaves six teams - three AL, three NL. Moreover, while the Angels could certainly use better production from their 1B/DH position, Billy Eppler’s team appears uninterested in trying to win for the third straight season, and with Justin Bour headed to AAA in exchange for a LHH/LHP, Pujols ever-present, and Ohtani on the mend, there’s less of a fit than might be expected. Similarly, though Oakland’s odds of returning to the playoffs are cratering, their poor production at 1B is due to Matt Olson’s absence with injury, and Khris Davis has been decent. In addition to their tenuous playoff odds, the Reds are set at 1B with Joey Votto, and will live or die with their star. A few can be ruled out fairly comfortably with extra information, of course. We run the gamut here of shoo-ins like Houston to long shots like Cincinnati, but these nine clubs are the framework of the market. Sorted by playoff odds B-Ref and FanGraphs Blending playoff odds and positional production, who is the best fit for Edwin?īad 1B/DH Production & Playoff Odds/Intent Team In the AL, the haves and have-nots are stark, with six teams at over 60% odds of making the playoffs per FanGraphs and no others above 7.1% Meanwhile, only two teams in the NL are complete and utter toast, and an incremental upgrade would be significant. It’s a bit early for buyers and sellers to make decisive moves, but both leagues have teams with great reasons to act early and boost their roster. Fortunately, despite being merely mediocre with the glove, the Parrot’s papa has accrued more innings at 1B this year than either of the past two seasons, looking passable enough for an NL club to bite. Unfortunately, while EE would be an upgrade at the 1B and/or DH positions of several teams, much of the league is uninterested in improving their roster for the 2019 season. The Rockies, meanwhile, are floundering thanks to a combo of a hurt/underperforming Daniel Murphy and under-qualified Ryan McMahon and Mark Reynolds. The Dodgers, with a combo of Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy, are blitzing the league at the cold corner. In the table above we can get a decent sense of who is leading and who is lagging. Edwin’s resurgence has helped the M’s to some of the best 1B/DH production in the league. Half a year older than his former teammate Kendrys, Encarnación has rebounded all the same for a 127 wRC+ thus far, upping his walk rate and cutting his K% to its lowest point since 2015. After a truly elite stretch from 2012-2015, Encarnación’s offense has declined each season, from a 136 wRC+ in to 2016 to 130 the following year, and just 115 in 2018. Given the choice between a pricier, quality option and cheap, replaceable mediocrity, teams have increasingly selected the latter, and that’s a clear obstacle for the Mariners efforts to trade Edwin Encarnación.ĮE has been everything Seattle could’ve hoped for and then some this year. The Blue Jays are paying $10 million of Morales’ $12 million salary this year, and New York will likely be paying only a portion of the remainder in their deal with Oakland. A month and change from his 36th birthday, Morales looks cooked, but his pint-sized price tag made him an easy plug for both Oakland and New York. He hasn’t been for three years, posting a 98 wRC+, a. The only issue, of course, is that Kendrys Morales isn’t a good MLB player anymore. Both the Yankees and A’s came into 2019 with reasonable playoff aspirations and were facing injuries to their 1B and DH depth. Oakland themselves acquired Morales a month and a half ago from the Toronto Blue Jays for a low-minors infielder named Jesus Lopez and a small chunk of international free agent cap space. They sent the Oakland Athletics cash in exchange for veteran DH/”1B” Kendrys Morales. Yesterday the Yankees made a move to weaken their roster.
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