The winter meetings are ending and the top teams in the National League and the American League are looking to add value to their negotiations with free agents.
The meetings have given players and clubs time to hasten the interaction in the off season period. The two parties are now looking to drive home a bargain that could see them working together in the coming year. Management teams in clubs have the hard task
to restructure the rosters and it seems the event has paid off in terms of progressing deals in the season.
In the recent days, two Type-A agents have moved out of free market and into different clubs. The Washington Nationals were the first ones to break the ice with a 7-year deal as they brought on Jayson Werth for $126 million. The Boston Red Sox have been
the other team to make progress in the winter meetings. Their acquisition of Carl Crawford has sent shockwaves across the baseball world. With Adrian Gonzalez and Crawford added to the hitting line up, the club looks stronger than ever before.
However, the lesser teams have been the ones to suffer greatly. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians and the New York Mets are heavily active but with their previous year rankings, chances to sign anyone have gone down. Nevertheless, there is a developing
story coming up in the press and it concerns the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals have been in contact with many players this season and two of their recent associations have been with former Atlanta Braves players. The recent one picks Melky Cabrera as the top target and it is alleged that a deal is close to becoming a pact.
The wheels seem to be turning as the Royals are making progress in the market. They signed on free agent Jeff Francoeur recently and he too was a Braves’ player.
The deal has not been agreed upon yet and though the figure is still under consideration, the amount seems to be totalling $1.25 million. The contract would be packed with incentives worth $250,000 as well. The player will have a deduction in his previous
season salary if the deal does go through. The outfielder played for the Braves for a year before moving out in October. He smashed a batting average of .255 in the season to guide the side to the playoffs.
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