Throughout the MLB offseason we will track trade and free agent rumors on the hot stove.
RUMOR: With baseball's Winter Meetings underway, the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals have been linked to Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain.
REPORTED BY: Los Angeles Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch
DETAILS: Cain, a 2015 All-Star, is due $11 million next season before becoming a free agent next winter and fits the outfield needs of the Dodgers and Cardinals, who parted ways with Josh Reddick and Matt Holliday, respectively. A trade would also help alleviate the Royals' bloated payroll.
2016 SEASON: Cain batted .287/.339/.408 with nine home runs, 56 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 103 games because of wrist and hamstring injuries. Cain's 2016 slash line is eerily in line with his career .287/.337/.416 numbers, which include back-to-back 20-double, 20-stolen base seasons prior to last season.
OUR TAKE: The Royals are expected to be busy this winter as the club tries to unload a projected opening day payroll of $148 million, a massive number for the usually tight-pocketed small-market team, which won the World Series in 2015 with a payroll of nearly $113 million. Cain's contract needs to come off the books, but so does pitcher Ian Kennedy's remaining $62.5 million.
MORE: Ranking, tracking every MLB free agent for 2017
While the Royals are at it, they should sell pitchers Wade Davis (27 saves, 1.87 ERA) and Danny Duffy (12-3, 3.51 ERA), whose stocks aren't getting any higher. With a possible reunion looming with closer Greg Holland, Kansas City should sell high on Davis and try to package him with Kennedy like they did last summer.
That leaves the Royals with two members of their championship core set to become free agents after the 2017 season — Mike Moustakas and All-Star Eric Hosmer, who is likely to command a multi-year deal approaching $60 million.
As for Cain, the Royals played well when he was on the disabled list as speedster Jarrod Dyson took over in the outfield and at the top of the order.
Dyson, who is garnering trade interest of his own, batted a respectable .278 this past season with 30 stolen bases and eight triples.