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Mets may hold onto Granderson

Earlier this week there were rumors that the Mets were trying to find a solution to their outfield situation, which is awfully crowded. One of the players mentioned in that piece who could’ve potentially been traded was Curtis Granderson. However, if Sandy Alderson’s comments to ESPN’s Adam Rubin are any indication, it appears as if the Mets are feeling a bit hesitant to trade Granderson away.

Alderson told ESPN that Granderson’s ability to play center field makes it hard for the Mets to trade him. Additionally, Alderson showed a bit of concern when it comes to Michael Conforto permanently taking the center field spot, stating that he would be a “question mark.” There’s also the idea of playing Juan Lagares, but he’s coming off of two consecutive disappointing seasons, including an injury-plagued 2016 that was capped off with a shoulder injury during winter ball.

So, while it seems like the Mets do indeed need to address their surplus in the outfield, it looks like Granderson may be staying for the time being. The Mets could benefit from moving Granderson’s contract off the books so that it could allow them to make other moves, but New York seems content to keep Granderson around if only to make sure that center field is settled.

Trumbo’s asking price continues to go down

Mark Trumbo is still garnering interest, but it appears that his asking price has steadily gone down as the offseason has progressed. There were rumors that Trumbo wanted a multi-year deal for up to $80 million back in November. Now, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports is reporting is that Trumbo is willing to accept a deal that’s worth half of that—somewhere in the $40-50 million range.

What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Trumbo was willing to accept this deal from the Orioles. Trumbo’s been linked to multiple teams throughout the offseason, but as Rosenthal noted in his article the Orioles appear to be one of the last teams that Trumbo would want to go to—and they're actively exploring other options as well, so a reunion appears to be unlikely.

Still, with Trumbo lowering his asking price this should open the door for other teams to potentially make a move for the 30-year-old power hitter. It doesn’t seem like the Orioles would mind picking up the compensatory draft pick that would come with Trumbo signing with another team, so it appears that both parties will end up satisfied once this particular saga comes to a close.

Angels may pursue Wieters

Another player with ties to the Orioles is still on the market: Matt Wieters. The longtime Baltimore catcher is probably going to wind up with another team for 2017, but it's tough to get a handle on where he'll land. As Jon Heyman notes, the Nationals and Braves have shown interest in Wieters, but now the Angels are another team considering bringing in the catcher who’s entering his age-31 season.

It seems like a decent fit for both club and player. As currently constructed, the Angels would be going into 2017 with Martin Maldonado and Carlos Perez as their catchers. A pairing of Maldonado and Wieters wouldn’t exactly be earth-shattering, but it definitely has the potential to be better than what they have now. Wieters would provide a bit of stability with the bat and some more stability with experience, since neither Maldonado or Perez have spent a full season starting behind the plate.

If the Angels do decide to bring in Wieters, it would probably be because he decided to take a cheap deal. Even though Wieters is a client of Scott Boras, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be commanding a huge amount of money and the Angels have been pretty frugal this offseason as well. Wieters could fit nicely into what’s been a very under-the-radar offseason for the red side of Los Angeles.

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BrewersTT
1/13
In recent years, the Orioles have been able to wait until a Nelson Cruz or someone is left hanging late in the offseason, and get a bargain. Cruz gets expensive, let him move on and repeat the cycle. Trumbo is probably the next chapter, though it's possible he'll be the underpriced replacement as well as the putatively expensive departure.