An agent recently described the state of the 30-team winter market. About 10 teams are aggressively trying to get better, he said. About 10 teams are open to the idea of additions, but not interested in chasing the most expensive players. And the other 10 teams, he estimated, aren't really trying at all, as they rebuild or tank or whatever you want to call it.
But there's almost a separate category of teams beyond those three -- the clubs that seem to have withdrawn strategically from the early feeding frenzy with the intent to move in after the most aggressive clubs have fattened up. You might refer to the patient teams as "The Scavengers" if not for the pejorative sound of the word, because that's pretty much what they're doing -- waiting for the most expensive players to get pulled out of the market, and for the big spenders to have tapped their budgets, before then looking for value in the carcass of what's left.
This approach generally worked effectively for former Baltimore Orioles general manager Dan Duquette, who executed a lot of late-winter signings, including that of Nelson Cruz, and as the volume of free agents continues to grow, the motivation to scavenge grows, for clubs in very different circumstances, for different reasons.
Atlanta Braves: The final pieces
Atlanta is the defending champion of the NL East, and the Braves already have done the heavy lifting of their winter by adding third baseman Josh Donaldson and catcher Brian McCann. As GM Alex Anthopoulos indicated to reporters earlier this week, the Braves don't have a lot of money to spend under their current budget. But they figure to jump in to the outfield market once the most expensive players come off the board, such as Bryce Harper and A.J. Pollock, and they probably will take advantage of the staggering number of unsigned relievers.
Texas Rangers: Future assets
Texas is not expected to contend this year, and in a lost season, it makes sense for the Rangers to take advantage of their hitter-friendly ballpark late in the winter, just as the Orioles have done, and coax a veteran looking to establish value on a good one-year deal. If Mike Moustakas doesn't find a multiyear deal elsewhere, he might be an interesting candidate, with the Rangers signing him with the intent of flipping him in the midseason trade market.
San Francisco Giants: Wallpaper
They're in a really weird place right now, a lane that teams are working to escape -- not really good enough to make the playoffs as currently constructed, but perhaps too good (and with too ardent of a fan base) to give up and tank it. Farhan Zaidi, the new master of baseball operations, could try to patch holes and prop up different parts of the club through one-year signings. This is what the Twins attempted to do last winter, and while it never really paid off for Minnesota in the standings, the team wasn't stuck with any long-term obligations.
Chicago Cubs: Budget management
Theo Epstein told reporters Thursday what rival executives had suggested weeks ago -- that the team really doesn't have a lot of payroll flexibility as it looks to reach the postseason for the fifth straight year in 2019. The Cubs figure to add bullpen help, lefties in particular, and with about five dozen relievers looking for work, they'll have some low-budget opportunities in the weeks ahead.
Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics: Because this is what they do
Both teams have to be very careful with the pennies they can spend, relative to the superpowers in their respective divisions. For example, last winter the Rays went through arbitration with outfielder Corey Dickerson -- but then decided to move him to the Pirates and save a little money for other needs. Initially, this was viewed as part of a tanking effort, but as the season played out and the Rays were surprise contenders, it was evident that it was a case of Tampa Bay's proactive front office trying to allocate as wisely as possible. The Athletics invested heavily in relievers, which are cheaper than starters, and made the playoffs.
Both teams will look for the right player at the right price. The Rays were involved in the talks for Paul Goldschmidt and the one year left on his contract, but sources say Tampa Bay wasn't really close to landing the slugger. There will be other players who could become a nice fit for them -- maybe Nelson Cruz, for example. Oakland would like to re-sign Jed Lowrie, now a free agent, and with an enormous number of second basemen in free agency it's possible that the market forces will nudge Lowrie back to the Athletics -- or Oakland could sign one of the other free-agent second baseman, or perhaps give youngster Franklin Barreto a shot to hold down the job.
Cleveland Indians: Exhausting the available dollars
If Cleveland can get a team to take the contract of Jason Kipnis in a trade with Trevor Bauer or Corey Kluber, that could free some money for the Indians to take advantage of the saturated second-base market. For example: They could sign someone like Josh Harrison to a modest deal -- and if you're wondering how modest, keep in mind that the Twins just locked up Jonathan Schoop for a one-year, $7 million contract.