The Kansas City Royals might be getting ready for the World Series, but teams that are already into their own offseason are counting on some of their players, like the Baltimore Orioles being very interested in Ben Zobrist.
The second baseman will be 35 at the beginning of next season, but his defense and ability to get on base (.355 OBP for his career, .364 in 2015, .375 in the postseason) will make him a candidate for quite a few teams looking to improve their on base percentage and defense with someone who is very versatile and can play a number of other positions without it becoming a liability.
Zobrist made $7.5 million with the Royals, and it’ll be interesting to see what a player of his age can command in free agency.
The Orioles were one of the worst teams in baseball this season when it came to getting on base (just .307 team OBP). If they do go after Zobrist, it won’t be for the 2B position, where they already have Jonathan Schoop. They’d probably use him in the corner outfield spots if they sign him, although he has also played some shortstop during his 10-year career in the majors, beginning in 2006 with the Tampa Bay Rays.
He was traded by Tampa to the Oakland A’s before being traded by the Athletics to the Royals midway through the 2015 season.