Despite Matt Adams’ value as a first basemen, there are only 2 teams I see that have potential to acquire Adams via trade this off season from the Atlanta Braves.
While the reality of trading Matt Adams exists, so does retaining Adams for the 2018 season. Towards the end of the season, Adams was limited to pinch hitting duties because, Atlanta Braves players that play LF and have the first name ‘Matt‘, have hamstring issues.
Adams’ hamstring was simply sore in September, but he is always a threat vs RHP off of the bench – or to give Freeman a day off – and Atlanta would have Adams as a backup plan God forbid Freeman gets injured again.
Still – it would be a better idea to move the veteran, and here is an updated list of options… after a quick review of 2017.
Matt Adams’ 2017 Stats
339 AB, 46 R, 96 H, 20 HR, 65 RBI, .274/.319/.522/.841. wRC+ 112
Of note: Adams’ WAR value varied greatly, depending on who you ask:
- Baseball-reference, Offensive: 0.0 with St. Louis, 0.8 for Atlanta
- Baseball-reference, Defensive: -0.4 with St. Louis, -0.5 for Atlanta
- Baseball-reference, Overall: -0.3, 0.7
- fangraphs: 1.6 overall
Boston Red Sox
Mitch Moreland is going to be a free agent when the off season begins, and Hanley Ramirez is predominantly a DH for the RSox. Adams had similar stats to Moreland in 169 LESS plate appearances and could have much better stats if he played more games and had more plate appearances.
Moreland had 125 hits in 508 AB’s with 22 HR, 79 RBI in the regular season, and had a slash line of .246/.326/.443/.769. In terms of WAR, Moreland is better than Adams as Moreland had a 2.0 WAR for 2017 while Adams only had 0.7 or 1.6.
Moreland was one of the most productive players for the Red Sox in the postseason, but his postseason performance doesn’t guarantee they’ll re-sign him for next year.
Giving Alex Cora, the Red Sox newly signed manager, an extra tool to play with could prove extremely beneficial for the Red Sox next season. Someone who hits a much better slash line and a similar, if not better, amount of HR/RBI is available to them at the right price.
Los Angeles Angels
Matt Adams would be a significant upgrade over the Angels current first base options: C.J. Cron, Jefry Marte, Luis Valbuena. Albert Pujols is obviously a defensive liability playing first base, which is why he is a DH.
The addition of Adams could give them a good chance at making a postseason run in 2018 after adding Justin Upton before the trade deadline this past season… assuming he opts to ‘opt in’ to his current contract.
Cron, Marte, and Valbuena hit for a combined slash line of .201/.289/.392/.681 in 2017. Adding Adams would create much needed consistency in the Angels line-up. A 4-man power threat in Upton, Mike Trout, Matt Adams, and Albert Pujols would make their heart-of-the-order very intimidating.
Once Garret Richards comes back healthy in 2018, Ricky Nolasco, Garret Richards, and Andrew Heaney should be able to get the Angels through the season and give them a legitimate chance at getting into the postseason. Adding Adams’ bat to the lineup would give them even more of a chance to reach the postseason.
Any other takers…? Not really, but if anyone…
New York Yankees
The 3-man first basemen crew at Yankee Stadium has not been as productive as they could have been.
The only light at the end of the tunnel for the Yankees 1B is their newly promoted prospect Garrett Cooper. In the minors, Cooper has been extremely productive, and has continued to produce at the big league level; given his minimum exposure to the big leagues.
In his whopping 13 games played for the Yanks, he’s gotten 14 hits in 43 plate appearances, and has a slash line of .326/.333/.488/.822. He could easily keep this pace up in the big league level, as in 5 years in the minors, he has accumulated a career slash line of .305/.370/.473/.843.
Big City could head to a much bigger city, but the chances are extremely slim as Greg Bird and Tyler Austin are platooning at first base along with Cooper. But if the Yanks want to add some consistency at first base: “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Chad Green right over.”
Texas Rangers
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Ronald Guzman is the Rangers’ 22y/o 1B in the minors, and he has been doing a great job in AAA. They may decide to start the 2018 season with Guzman at first base, but that depends on how the Rangers approach the off season.
The Rangers are going to begin their rebuild very soon (the team and a new stadium) and giving Guzman the starting spot in 2018 could be the beginning; at least for first base.
Mike Napoli is going to be a free agent once the free agent market tradeopens (Rangers said to be declining his option), and it is about that time in Napoli’s career where being a DH is all he can really do, similar to that of Albert Pujols.
The Rangers didn’t pose much of a threat going 78-84 in the AL West, tying the Seattle Mariners for 3rd place. As the Rangers start rebuilding, I don’t see the them trying to scoop up Adams this off season.. unless they want to fill a position cheaply.
Next: Atlanta Braves remove two pitchers from the 40-man roster
The Red Sox or Angels should be engaged in some talks with Atlanta this off-season – given that front-office issues are resolved.