Where Free Agents Will Sign If Kansas City Royals Completely Rebuild

Mike Moustakas

Coming into 2017, Mike Moustakas seemed destined for a large payout. The extent of said payout would depend — more than almost any other free agent — directly on how that season went. Moustakas had performed extremely well with the Kansas City Royals during their 2014 postseason run and carried that momentum over into 2015.

After helping the franchise win the 2015 World Series, the third baseman suffered a devastating knee injury in a collision with Alex Gordon that essentially ended the Royals’ chances to repeat. Thankfully, he recovered fully enough to start on Opening Day 2017. By the end of the season, Moustakas had shown he deserves a deal worth at least $75 million over about five years.

His slash line of .272/.314/.521 was well above his career averages of .251/.305/.425. Obviously, the biggest jump came in the slugging department, thanks to his 38 home runs that set a franchise record. Elsewhere his stats seemed to dip, Moustakas had just 34 walks to his 94 strikeouts and his defense dropped off considerably.  But in this day and age, home runs get you paid. It will also help that the third base market isn’t deep after Moustakas and Todd Frazier.

There will be a few teams fighting to pay Moustakas this winter. The most logical fit would seem to be the Angels. FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman has already reported the Angels will be interested in Moustakas. Not only is he from Los Angeles but also he fills a huge need for the team. If the Angels want him, Moustakas will be in Southern California next year.

Logical spot: Los Angeles Angels