March 4, 2018

Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas hit 38 home runs for the Royals in 2017, making his second All-Star team in three seasons, but only signed one year deal with the Royals for 2018. Moustakas hit .272 for Kansas City last season, better than his .251 career average, and also had a career-best 85 RBI. He tore his ACL in 2016, but did have seven home runs in 27 games before the injury, so this power may not be a one year occurrence. In fact, Moustakas has a .496 slugging percentage over the last three seasons and also had 57 extra-base hits in a World Series-winning 2015 season. He also has an .824 OPS in that same time span (over .800 in each of the three seasons), providing strong value as a mid-tier 3B. Moustakas could serve to have better plate discipline, only 34 walks in 598 plate appearances last season, but he did have a .348 OBP in 2015 and has shown that he could be better at the plate. The biggest difference for Moustakas over the last two seasons has been a jump in hard hit ball rate from his 28.7% career average (37.4% in 2016 and 31.9% last season). A notorious fly ball hitter (44% career average and 45.7% in 2017), Moustakas was able to hit more home runs as his hard hit ball rate jumped. While he is not in the upper tier of third baseman, Moustakas may be in the lower tier of the top-10 of 3B if he can maintain his power. He also has something to prove on a one year deal, still looking to cash in on his power.--Chris Zolli