Eric Hosmer reached free agency last year after playing in two World Series and winning one, and after doing and saying all the right stuff. He had been an All-Star, won four Gold Gloves, batted .318 in the last season before he hit the market, and yet last January, his choices were stark -- either he accept a multiyear offer from the Padres, a team that hasn't had a winning record in almost a decade, or he could return to the Royals for a lot less money than San Diego offered.
Hosmer mentioned to friends he was surprised he didn't have more alternatives than this, more options. But so much about free agency is about timing, something completely out of the player's control, and it just so happened that when Hosmer reached the market, just about all of the contenders already had first basemen -- and Hosmer was one of many corner infielders in the market, with the reality of supply-and-demand working against most of them.
Hosmer went to San Diego and, yes, the Padres finished 30 games under .500 and in last place again. Meanwhile, longtime teammate Mike Moustakas had to settle for a one-year deal with the Royals.
This winter, the free-agent position of saturation is second base.
Astros: Jose Altuve
Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt
Braves: Ozzie Albies
Cubs: Ben Zobrist or Javier Baez, depending on the day
Yankees: Gleyber Torres, perhaps, especially if the Yankees pursue Manny Machado
Brewers: Jonathan Schoop, Travis Shaw, etc.
Dodgers: They have an array of options, including Chris Taylor and Max Muncy
Among teams that didn't make the playoffs in 2018, the Mets like what they saw out of Jeff McNeil, who posted a .381 on-base percentage in 63 games. The Giants can stick with Joe Panik. Joey Wendle played well for the Rays. The Angels can fill second internally, perhaps with Zack Cozart, David Fletcher or Luis Rengifo. Depending on whether the Phillies land Machado in free agency, they could field Cesar Hernandez or Scott Kingery at second.
The Indians might pursue a second baseman, but they won't have much money to spend, in all likelihood, given their intention to manage their payroll this winter.
You get the picture. Not a lot of possible landing spots for second basemen, right?
And here is a partial list of second basemen looking for jobs:
DJ LeMahieu
Jed Lowrie
Daniel Murphy
Josh Harrison
Neil Walker
Brian Dozier
Logan Forsythe
Daniel Descalso
Ian Kinsler
Asdrubal Cabrera
Further complicating the landscape for players at this spot is the increasing preference of contenders to use second base as a place to maximize daily platoon advantages, sometimes opting for better hitters whose defensive deficiencies can be protected by shifts (Muncy and Shaw are two examples of this). This year, the Dodgers used eight players at second base, none of them for more than 47 games; the Cubs used seven players at second, including Baez (91 games), Zobrist (59 games), Ian Happ (one game), David Bote (12 games), Tommy La Stella (13 games) and late-season acquisition Murphy (32 games).
Hosmer did well in the end, landing an eight-year, $144 million contract with the Padres. It'll be interesting to see if the unsigned second basemen this winter can make that much combined, because there does not appear to be that much demand for the position in the market.
What we're hearing from around the major leagues
• Other teams believe the Blue Jays are very open to the idea of moving right-hander Marcus Stroman, as they prepare for a new generation of Toronto players.
• The Braves are looking for a catcher to complement Tyler Flowers.
• Because of how so many players had to wait deep into the winter for free agency last year, the expectation among some execs and agents is that there will be an early push for quick resolution on deals this year.
• Only the Red Sox and Nationals exceeded the Competitive Balance Tax threshold for the 2018 season, and some agents see this as further affirmation that most clubs regard the CBT as a soft salary cap -- and those agents believe that will continue, slowing spending.
• There are more than 50 free-agent relievers, a total almost double that of last year.
• On the agenda at the GM meetings is discussion about the use of technology to steal information during games. There is widespread belief in the game that this is what slowed down the pace of postseason games dramatically, and fueled the voluminous catching mistakes in the playoffs and World Series.