The MLB playoffs are in full swing, but once the year ends free agency will take over and some of the top free agents for 2015 include Hanley Ramirez, Jon Lester, Victor Martinez, Max Scherzer, James Shields, Nelson Cruz, JJ Hardy, Russell Martin, Andrew Miller, Chase Headley, Pablo Sandoval and Asdrubal Cabrera and teams like the NY Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles could be interested in those players.
The free agency period of the winter doesn't start up until the playoffs are over, but there are a number of names that have already been targeted by teams. The Seattle Mariners expect their payroll to go up and they may target a bat and that means Victor Martinez will be on the top of their list. The Tigers will be looking to keep V-Mart as well and the Yankees, White Sox and a number of other teams also could chase him. Lester and Scherzer are the top pitchers on the market and the Yankees and Cubs could be options for those players along with some other big spending teams.
The Boston Red Sox may dip into the free agent market, but after what they did last year and after trading Jon Lester, it's clear they are not major players. The team isn't willing to give a massive deal to Lester and that means Scherzer is likely off the table. The Boston Globe reports that the team may target some third basemen in trades this winter, with Mariners star Kyle Seager as a dream option. Colin O'Keefe from Lookout Landing wrote on Twitter that the Sox should keep dreaming, as the Mariners are likely working on a contract extension for their budding All-Star.
The Yankees and the Mariners are interesting teams in free agency this winter, as both are on the lookout for offense and both have money to spend. After the Mariners beat out the Yankees for Robinson Cano (yeah, that happened) many have wondered what the Yanks will do this year. The team spent big on Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann last season and they need offense and pitching. Scherzer and Lester will cost a ton and while the Yankees can afford it, will they pull the trigger?
The Yankees also need to replace Derek Jeter and if they want to spend in other places, that means Hanley Ramirez is likely off the table as an option. And just like that, scratch JJ Hardy off the list, as Hardball Talk is reporting that just as we are writing this, the O's and Hardy have reached a contract extension. The Yankees would have looked at Hardy as an option to replace Jeter, now the list is narrowed by one.
Martinez, Lester and Scherzer will get big money from someone this winter and while the Mariners want to spend more, they may avoid another Robinson Cano like deal. The team should spend though, as they have Cano in his prime for only so long and the same goes to King Felix Hernandez, who showed that he is still one of the best pitchers in the league this season.