Circling the Central: Free Agent Edition

With the World Series ended and the Central Division still without a title since 2005 it is just about time for free agency. Already, thanks to the new rule that makes formal filing for free agency irrelevant, we know exactly which players (barring those with options) are going to be available for purchase this Winter. While there are too many around the league to list them all here, there are only a few leaving the most important teams to the Tribe, their opponents in the American League Central. To start however, we’ll take a quick look at the former Indians who have the opportunity to return to Cleveland thanks to the freedom of free agency.

Cleveland Indians

The Indians only have one exiting free agent, Jason Giambi, but could have a bunch coming back if they so please. The list is posted to the right and includes players who were signed recently as Spring Training invitees, even if they never played for the Tribe, such as Daisuke Matsuzaka and Aaron Harang. The list is generally full with aging players that have struggled in recent seasons. In fact, many, like the former Fausto Carmona, Chris Perez, Jack Hannahan and Justin Masterson, may not be welcomed back by the Indians fans and front office in any case.

One player that could be worth a slight bit of interest is Gutierrez of Seattle. The outfielder missed all of 2014 with injury, but could be the kind of cheap, low risk players the Indians love to bring in for Spring Training. Depending on the market, he could possibly be brought in on a minor league deal and would be a great option to improve the outfield defense that was disappointing in 2014. If the Indians decide that Tyler Holt and Zach Walters are not quite ready to be Major League starters, Gutierrez would be a solid option for fourth outfielder.

Minnesota Twins & Chicago White Sox

Like the Indians, the Twins and White Sox are very young teams that have almost their entire roster under control for the upcoming season. Each team will lose just one reliever that wasn’t tremendously important to their bullpen. In addition, Paul Konerko of Chicago is retiring, although the White Sox may have been better off if he had decided to do so the previous season. The two unimpressive relievers who will possibly be leaving their team are Jared Burton of the Twins and Matt Lindstrom of the White Sox. Neither team is legitimately expected to compete in 2015 and neither exiting player would make much of a difference either way.

Kansas City Royals

The AL Champion Royals have seven players on their way out of Kansas City, a couple of which may actually be important in their attempt at a repeat visit to the play-offs in 2015. Of those that are not integral, Luke Hochevar missed 2014 due to injury while Scott Downs and Jason Frasor were rarely used pitchers out of the incredible Royals bullpen that proved itself again and again in October. In addition, like Konerko for the White Sox, Raul Ibanez is likely to retire after this season, whether he wants to or not.

In addition to those players who won’t cause much misery in Missouri, there are a couple starters the Royals be without as well. The least of these will be Josh Willingham, the DH and left fielder who came over at the trade deadline from the Twins. While he is nowhere near his former self, some team is likely to be happy to be a home to the slugger who knocked in 40 in 92 games across the two teams. Even more important, the Royals will likely be losing starting right fielder, Nori Aoki. Aoki signed a three year deal coming out of Japan and now that he has proven himself over each season, he is set to cash in through free agency.

The biggest loss for the Wild Card winners will be the pitcher formerly known as “Big Game” James. James Shields was the Royals ace for the past two seasons, but after failing so poorly in the World Series that it could be said he cost his team a World Championship, the Royals shouldn’t be too sad to see him leave. In addition, the recent successes by Yordani Ventura and Danny Duffy should make the parting easier as the Royals should have little trouble replacing him internally.

Detroit Tigers

While they didn’t finish the season as strongly as Kansas City, it was the Tigers who won the Central and as the oldest team in the division, it is the Tigers that will be hurt the most by free agency. Like the other teams, the Tigers will be losing a few unimportant players (Joel Hanrahan and Jim Johnson), but unlike the other teams, they will also be losing a large part of the core of their team. Out of the bullpen, two of the top three used relievers will prospectively be exiting Detroit this off-season as Phil Coke and Joba Chamberlain are now free agents. The Tigers bullpen has been one of their biggest weaknesses the past few seasons and losing two of their top three relievers (the other being Al Albuquerque) will certainly not help the situation.

The Tigers will also be losing the services of two starters, unless they are prepared to add significantly to their already lofty pay-roll. Starting right fielder Torii Hunter and DH/1B/C Victor Martinez are both free from contractual obligations, two hitters that were responsible for 295 of the Tigers 757 runs scored in 2014. While Hunter is reaching advanced age and may only play another season or two, Martinez is likely to get one more hefty deal from some American League team looking for a DH that can play in the field when other players need a day off the field, but still in the lineup. While the Tigers could resign any of the above players, their primary goal will likely be to retain the services of the one player yet to be mentioned, Max Scherzer.

With Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw and Corey Kluber all under team control for years to come, every rich team looking for a superstar pitcher this off-season will be focused on Max Scherzer. While he wasn’t quite as impressive as in the past two seasons, Scherzer still won 18 games, struck out 252 and is likely to grab at least $20M per season for a very long time. Based on the Tigers recent roster moves, such as dumping salary by trading Prince Fielder and Doug Fister, it should be expected for the Tigers to compete for Scherzer, but not go crazy signing other free agents. There are only a few teams capable of paying Scherzer that much for that long, but the situation may distract the market enough for teams like the Indians to grab lesser pitchers at a discount early in the off-season.