ST. LOUIS -- Some MLB front offices are already deep into their planning for the upcoming offseason, but this is the time of year when players start to look ahead in earnest. Recently, one veteran headed into free agency stood outside a dugout before a game and mentioned some possible landing spots, talking about how he might fit into the plans of specific bidders, and how his skills might translate in particular ballparks.
Manny Machado and Bryce Harper will be the headliners in the upcoming class of free agents, and Clayton Kershaw's pending decision about whether to opt out of the final two years of his deal with the Dodgers will draw interest. But others seem poised for lucrative dives into the market as well.
Outfielder Michael Brantley: He has demonstrated that he's healthy and a solid contributor again, playing in 132 games and hitting .307 with 35 doubles and 16 homers -- more extra-base hits (53) than strikeouts (52). He's 31 years old and the days when teams invest really long-term deals in players at that age -- especially corner outfielders -- are probably over, but he figures to do well.
Starting pitcher Patrick Corbin: He has a staggering 230 strikeouts in 186 innings, and only 42 walks and 14 homers allowed, with a 3.05 ERA. Corbin is a native New Yorker and grew up a Yankees fan, and given the Yankees' needs and their improved payroll flexibility for 2019, many evaluators assume it's more likely than not that the 29-year-old Corbin will land in the Bronx.
Infielder Daniel Murphy: He's batting .306 since June 23, showing that he still can be an excellent hitter. Because he'll be 34 next April 1, he might get a lot of short-term offers, and the question could turn out to be whether some team is willing go beyond two years in a deal to serve as a second base/first base/designated hitter type.
Starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel: The outset of this season looked as if it could cost him, given his 4.45 ERA through June 10. But since then, the lefty has a 2.87 ERA in 17 games, doing what he does, nicking the outside corner to right-handed hitters, mixing sinkers and changeups and keeping the ball in the park -- he has given up only five homers in his past 106⅔ innings.
Starting pitcher Charlie Morton: He was surprised when the Astros offered him a two-year deal before the 2017 season, and he might be just as pleasantly pleased when teams start calling this winter. Yes, he'll be 35 in November, but in his two seasons with the Astros, he altered his style of pitching, remained healthy and has a 3.38 ERA in 52 starts, and he closed out Game 7 of last year's World Series. That's the kind of durability and the kind of comfort on the big stage that will inform the bids from contending teams.
Closer Zach Britton: He's represented by Scott Boras, who is willing to wait for offers to develop over the course of the winter -- and Britton hasn't fully defined what he is through 2017 arm trouble and an Achilles injury that kept him out until June of this year. Through his 34 games this year, he has had command and good velocity on some days, and some days he hasn't. But he is 30, he has experience in just about every bullpen role, and in an ocean of relievers, his history will inevitably intrigue interested teams.
About the forthcoming free-agent market: Not counting the pitchers who won't be tendered contracts this fall, it appears that about 50 relievers will be free agents this winter, a staggering total that reflects the increasing implementation of the bullpen and the resulting service time. To put that number into perspective, here are the numbers of free-agent relievers in recent seasons, dug up by ESPN Stats & Information's Sarah Langs:
Winter crops of free-agent relievers
2017-18: 39
2016-17: 32
2015-16: 33
2014-15: 14
2013-14: 29
Starting pitcher J.A. Happ: Pitching in the American League East in 2018, for the Blue Jays and then the Yankees, he has a 3.75 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of about 4-1. He'll be 36 in October so he's not getting a nine-figure deal, but he'll probably have a relatively high volume of teams in pursuit with multiyear offers.
Catcher Yasmani Grandal: He has power, with 72 homers over the past three years. He's a switch-hitter -- although he has been markedly better from the left side than the right side -- and he'll take walks (.341 OBP this season). From behind the plate, he has nice history of success working with pitchers. And finally, there just aren't a lot of free-agent catchers as young as he is, at 29. He could be a fit for the Washington Nationals, as well as a handful of other contenders and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
News from around the major leagues
The Dodgers' rout of the Cardinals here Saturday overshadowed what was a really scary moment for L.A. When Justin Turner was hit on the left wrist by a John Gant pitch in the third inning, a unanimous sentiment swept through those in the visiting dugout: Not again. His teammates had seen Turner hit in just about the exact same spot during spring training, with a resulting fracture that would cost him weeks at the beginning of the season and discomfort that lingered after he returned to the Dodgers' lineup. It wasn't really until after he made an adjustment with his stance in early August that Turner, widely considered to be the Dodgers' best hitter, got Justin Turner-hot. So yes, as they watched Turner bent over Saturday, coping with the pain, there was concern.
But as Cody Bellinger said, there was relief when Turner stayed in the game, and probably even more when he banged a single to center field in his next plate appearance. Turner, on the other hand, sounded a little more shaken, and more cautious in his perspective, as if he's assuming nothing about the condition of his wrist. Turner said he'll ice the spot a few times, and see how it feels Sunday, before the final game of the series between the Dodgers and Cardinals, when L.A. will be trying to complete a sweep.
"We'll do what we need to do to get ready to play the game," he said.
• Yasiel Puig will sometimes go through stretches when he just seems to disappear, when his dynamic talent just seems to evaporate underneath a series of anxious swings. But then he will have days when he reminds others of his seemingly inhuman strength. Like Friday, when he bashed two homers, and Saturday, when he hit three more, with quick, short swings. Confident swings.
"Looseness," Bellinger said. "If there's that ... he's so friggin' strong. He's so talented that once he figures it out, it's going to be scary. I think it's going to be soon."
Why? "The quality of at-bats," Bellinger said, mentioning Puig's recent focus on swinging at pitches in the strike zone.
Puig's plate eruption perpetuated the show of affection he shares with hitting coach Turner Ward. After his first homer, he kissed Ward on the cheek, and Ward said that if he hit another, he'd kiss Puig -- and when that happened, he obliged the right fielder with a smack on his left cheek.
When the third homer was hit, Ward put a hand over Puig's mouth and then kissed the back of his own hand, the closest he would come to a kiss on the lips.
• The grasshoppers began to appear in the visitors dugout Friday, Rich Hill said, and they were all over the place Saturday. Puig told another member of the traveling party that he'd give him $500 if he would eat one of the bugs, and the counteroffer for Puig to devour a hopper was $100. "Cheap," Puig said, before adding that given how he's swinging the bat, he might eat one for free.
• This weekend's series has a chance to be the pivotal blow to the Cardinals' chances for making the playoffs: three losses in three home games against another club fighting for the same wild-card spot, so far, with Adam Wainwright scheduled to start against the Dodgers' Ross Stripling on Sunday night. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt spoke evenly, as always, after Saturday's loss, but he also acknowledged the urgency of Sunday's game.
"I think it's important to be even-keeled, and it's also important to stay in the moment," he said.
And Shildt referred to Sunday's game as a "rubber match" between these two teams. Because the Cardinals swept the Dodgers in a three-game series in L.A., and because the Dodgers won the past three days, they are tied in head-to-head for 2018. In possible tiebreaker situations at season's end, Sunday night's outcome could be extremely important.
• I haven't cast a ballot for a major award since 1996. If the season ended Sunday, this is who I'd pick:
National League Cy Young Award: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets. The award is for the best pitcher, not the best-pitcher-on-a-team-that-contended-for-most-of-the-year, and deGrom has been his league's best pitcher.
American League Cy Young Award: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros. Boston's Chris Sale and the Indians' Trevor Bauer would have been the clear front-runners if not for their second-half injuries. But in the end, Verlander is going to compile 35 to 50 more innings than those two and the Rays' Blake Snell, the sort of difference in volume that can't be overlooked. When Sale pitched this year, his dominance has been unmatched, with 221 strikeouts in 147 innings and a 1.96 ERA. But remember, it was only two years ago that Britton had arguably the greatest season of any reliever ever, and he got only five of 30 first-place votes -- largely because he just didn't amass as much production as Rick Porcello, Verlander and Corey Kluber.
AL MVP: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox. He leads all position players in WAR, running just ahead of Mike Trout.
NL MVP: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee benefitting from one of the best trades in recent memory, as Yelich continues to grow as a hitter.
AL Rookie of the Year: Miguel Andujar, New York Yankees.
NL Rookie of the Year: Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves.
In some of these categories, however, the leader could change in the final days of the regular season.
And today will be better than yesterday.