Regardless of how hot the Hot Stove Season actually is this year — it’s been lukewarm, at best, the past few offseasons — Sporting News will have you covered with all the trade rumors and free-agent rumblings you can handle.
Rumor: At least one of the superstar trio of Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts and Kris Bryant will be traded this offseason.
Source: MLB Network’s Jon Morosi
At least one player among the Mookie Betts/Francisco Lindor/Kris Bryant group will be traded this offseason, in the opinion of multiple @MLB team execs I’ve checked with over the last 24 hours. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 11, 2019
Need to know: On one hand, each of those three superstars has been at least mentioned as a possible trade candidate, so in that way it’s not shocking. But on the other hand, this tweet is worded a bit more firmly than a speculative, “Oh, this guy might get traded for the right can’t-say-no deal at some point before his contract ends." And Morosi is a veteran reporter who words things carefully. Any trade involving Lindor, Betts or Bryant would qualify as a massive, massive deal. And, of course, this doesn't mean that only one of the three could be dealt. If all three are available, it's possible all three could be traded.
Betts is a free agent after 2020. Lindor is a free agent after 2021. Bryant’s scheduled to hit the market the same year as Lindor, though he has a pending service-time grievance against the league that needs to be sorted out, one way or the other, before he’s moved. Betts and Bryant both have MVP awards, and Lindor has three top-10 MVP finishes. Bryant is the oldest of the group, at 27. All three are rumored to be available because their current teams don’t feel they can afford to — well, don’t feel it’s worth it, even though they financially could — sign the home-grown players to long-term deals. It's worth noting that two of these three — Betts and Bryant — play in major markets.
Could this happen: Yes, though Lindor seems by far the most likely to be moved, largely because Cleveland owner Paul Dolan already said, essentially, that Lindor won’t stay in Cleveland long term. Trading Betts — the most popular player, for good reason, on the Red Sox — would be an enormously risky move for new front-office guru Chaim Bloom. And, as we mentioned earlier, Bryant can’t really be dealt until the grievance is resolved.
Potential domino effect: Depending on how soon a potential trade would happen, that would obviously impact free agents. Picking one: If Bryant’s grievance was resolved quickly and he was traded, that would impact the market for third basemen such as Anthony Rendon, Josh Donaldson and Mike Moustakas.
MORE RUMORS
Cole Hamels back to Philly? | Brett Gardner back to Yankees? | Braves going after MadBum?
