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It appears you can add another team to the Freddie Freeman sweepstakes — and it’s a surprising one.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the Rays made Freeman an offer prior to the league-imposed lockout that began Dec. 2.
The notoriously low-payroll Rays would seem to be an unlikely destination for Freeman, one of the top free agents remaining on the market, and their interest in the 32-year-old could complicate things for the Yankees.
Not only would the Yankees like to avoid seeing Freeman in their division, Tampa Bay would almost certainly only be able to land Freeman if he’s unable to get a five or six-year deal elsewhere — which is how the Yankees may choose to swoop in on the lefty swinger.
Long believed to be headed back to Atlanta, Freeman unexpectedly was still on the market more than a month into free agency, which gave interested teams – like the Yankees and Dodgers – an open ing.
Freeman is believed to be seeking a contract in the neighborhood of six years and $180 million.
And he’s not the only first baseman who may be on the move once the MLB lockout ends and transactions are once again allowed.
Anthony Rizzo is also a free agent and, after a solid showing in The Bronx after a midseason trade from the Cubs, might be up for a reunion. He would cost less and for fewer years than Freeman, who led the Braves to a World Series title in October.
Then there’s Oakland’s Matt Olson, who is expected to be moved sooner rather than later by the always cost-cutting A’s.
The Yankees are also seriously interested in Olson, who, like Rizzo and Freeman, would give them another left-handed bat.
As of now, Luke Voit remains the only first baseman on the Yankees’ 40-man roster. He’s confident he’s healthy after a season in which he was plagued with left knee issues. Voit would be due about $5.4 million in arbitration.
With the lockout now in its fourth month and MLB and the Players Association stuck in a stalemate, the work stoppage doesn’t seem to be close to an end.
And what the sport’s financial situation looks like on the other side will play a role in how the first base market develops, since the main sticking point between the two sides in the fight over a new collective bargaining agreement is the competitive balance tax.
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