Certainly the MLB hot stove news has kicked up on the Monday following Thanksgiving, per usual. For instance, earlier in the day the Brewers announced they will listen to offers on Josh Hader.
Now the Cincinnati Reds have made a pretty nice signing of one of the more heralded free agents on the market. Indeed, Mike Moustakas signs a four-year, $64 million dollar deal to head to Cincinnati. This news comes per Jeff Passan on twitter.
BREAKING: Third baseman Mike Moustakas and the Cincinnati Reds are in agreement on a four-year deal, league sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 2, 2019
Moustakas is a true grinder and displayed a career best .854 OPS in 2019 during his age-30 season in Milwaukee. The three-time All-Star has been pretty solid since his early years in Kansas City. Now after a year and a half in Milwaukee, he heads to another friendly offensive park in Cincinnati. Without question, he will be insulated there with some other good offensive players in the lineup.
While the huge prizes remain on the market, Moustakas is a sign that some key guys are going to begin getting the early-bird special deals from teams. Remember, several players remained unsigned until late in the game or into the 2019 regular season a year ago.
For Moustakas, he now has the piece of mind of a solid new contract instead of trying to get multiple teams involved in a bidding war.
