A weird winter for free agents continues with maybe the weirdest of all. Mike Moustakas will return to Kansas City after agreeing to a one year deal with a mutual option for the second that will guarantee $6.5 million and can max out at $22.7 million. The Royals were not expecting to have Moose back as they were committed to not signing any longterm deals as they try to rebuild. Everyone was expecting Moustakas to get serious looks all over the league for longterm big money contracts. He’s only 29 and had a breakout offensive season last year slugging 38 home runs and driving in 85 runs while hitting .272. Moose is also an above average defensive player at the hot corner. The Royals extended a qualifying offer to Moustakas that would have paid him $17.4 million this season but he opted to test the market. This deal has everyone around the league, including myself, scratching their heads. Mouse is worth way more that $6 million a year. For comparison, the Mets just picked up the option on Asdrubel Cabrera’s contract. Cabrera is 32 and is slotted to play third this year. His option will pay him $8.5 million this season. Cabrera does not play third nearly as well as Moose and only hit 14 homers last year with 59 RBIs. I think the lack of interest in Moustakas is more about the strength of next year’s free agent class than his talent. Josh Donaldson and Manny Machado are slated to become free agents next fall and both will get top dollar to play third base. I think teams did not want to commit to Moose with an opportunity to land one of those superstars next season. This will prove to be a mistake. Moustakas doesn’t have the superstar appeal of those two players but is just as productive. I expect him to hit the market again next season and find a long term deal with a team that misses out on Donaldson and Machado.
