The Cincinnati Reds could use a powerful left-handed bat out of the free agent pool this offseason.
Kyle Schwarber, who grew up an hour from Cincy, is the popular target. But lots of teams want Schwarber, and the Reds might need a backup plan.
The good news is that there's a solid one out there: Mike Yastrzemski.
The grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, Mike Yastrzemski was a solid player the last handful of years with the San Francisco Giants.
He was traded to the Kansas City Royals before the deadline, and now he's a free agent.
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MLB.com wrote in a new article that Yastrzemski could outperform his free agent expectations:
Yastrzemski has been a reliably solid outfielder for seven straight seasons in the Majors. Since debuting in 2019, Yastrzemski has been worth at least 1.5 WAR in every season and has only dipped below a.700 OPS once (.697 OPS in 2022). Other than posting a.968 OPS and 1.9 WAR in 54 games in the shortened 2020 season, Yastrzemski has been a good bet for a.750-ish OPS and 1.5-2 WAR every year.
No, there's not much upside for more in his profile, especially at 35 years old. And while Yastrzemski has struggled against lefties in his career (.648 career OPS), he’s on the strong side of a platoon and owns a career.809 OPS against righties. He’s also been a durable big leaguer, appearing in at least 106 games in every full season, including 140-plus games in each of the last two years.
Yastrzemski could be a welcomed addition to any club, including contenders that could use a solid left-handed-hitting outfielder in their lineup.
That'd certainly fit for the Reds.
And it'd be a fun last name to add to the mix in Cincinnati, too.
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