The San Francisco Giants will have to battle for their outfielder Angel Pagan as he has become a hot commodity this winter following the numbers he posted in the regular season and the way he played defense in the postseason.
The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have been rumored to having heavy interest in Pagan as both teams are seeking outfield help.
For the Braves, Pagan makes sense because they need a leadoff hitter.
They are preparing themselves for the departure of Michael Bourn who has the money sucking Scott Boras as his agent. With Bourn possibly being lost to free agency, the Braves have a gap in the outfield and at the leadoff hole.
Pagan would fill their needs in the outfield and in the lineup. He possesses speed, smacking 15 triples in 2012 and also posted a .338 OBP. Pagan stole 29 bases and struckout 97 times.
Bourn finished 2012 with nine homers, the most he's hit in his career, 42 stolen bases and 155 strikeouts, which is way too much for a leadoff hitt. His OBP was .348 and would have likely been higher had he strucken out less.
For the Phillies, they could use an outfielder this offseason having traded both Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino before the trade deadline.
The switch-hitting outfielder would bring balance to this lineup as both their power hitters Chase Utley and Ryan Howard bat from the left side of the plate.
Pagan could hit behind Jimmy Rollins or leadoff for the Phillies and set the table for the other guys behind him.
Winter meetings are coming up next week. Deals will likely not get done before then.
