Together again? Potential Hot Stove reunions

November 18th, 2018

More than 50 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles for the Thanksgiving holiday this year. That's a lot of people going great distances to have turkey and stuffing with their weird uncle and to prove you can go home again.
Sometimes baseball's Hot Stove season provides a different sort of homecoming -- a reuniting of players with clubs they've played for previously. Here are 11 such reunions (not straight-up re-signings) that could conceivably happen this offseason.
or Zack Greinke (trade) to the Angels
The Angels drafted Corbin in 2009, but traded him to Arizona the following year in the Dan Haren deal. They traded for Greinke as a rental in the 2012 playoff push. With the Angels in serious need of pitching help, either of these guys would give them a big improvement in durability and reliability.
Cost is the rub. Greinke's due to make north of $100 million over the next three seasons, and Corbin's probably the top arm in the open market. Don't you hate when family members fight over money?

or Charlie Morton to the Braves
Kimbrel's contract that just expired was the extension he signed with the Braves in 2014. His trade to the Padres in 2015 was a big part of the Braves' rebuild project that's now complete. Atlanta isn't expecting to wade into the deepest waters of the free-agent relief market, but we've seen costs and approaches evolve over time.
If the Braves look for a veteran presence in the rotation, a return for the less-expensive Morton might be more feasible. He was drafted by Atlanta and debuted with it in 2008 before getting moved to Pittsburgh in a 2009 trade for Nate McLouth.

to the Nationals
Ramos' torn ACL near the end of the 2016 season ended an otherwise stellar free-agent walk year in Washington. The following offseason, he signed with the Rays, and the Nats brought in Matt Wieters.
In the two years since, the Nats have had the lowest OPS (.609) from the catching spot of any team in baseball. So they could benefit from bringing back their old backstop.

to the A's
Gonzalez came of age with the A's and was an All-Star for them in 2011 before, in true A's fashion, they dealt him to the Nats.
All these years later, Gio's a veteran lefty capable of stabilizing the back end of a rotation. He's an affordable fit for an A's team that suffered a wave of injuries in the rotation this year.

to Yankees
Eovaldi pitched for the Yanks in 2015-16 before coming back to bite them in the 2018 American League Division Series. Though his '16 season was cut short due to Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi has credited Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild with helping him improve his preparation and pitch mix.

or Joe Kelly to the Cardinals
St. Louis needs bullpen help, and Ottavino and Kelly are two attractive options in the open market. Maybe a return for one or both is in the … wait for it … Cards.
Kelly spent two and a half years on the Cards' pitching staff as a starter and reliever and was part of a high-profile trade to the Red Sox. Ottavino's history with the Cards was briefer. They drafted him 30th overall in 2006, and he pitched 22 1/3 bad innings for them in 2010 before he went to the Rockies on waivers in 2012.

J.A. Happ to the Astros
Either of Happ's 2018 teams -- the Yankees and Blue Jays -- could bring him back. But what about the Astros, for whom he pitched from 2010-12?
Houston fans didn't see the best of Happ. He went 18-28 with a 4.84 ERA in 59 starts. But that was before his late-career reinvention in Pittsburgh.

to the Mets
The Mets just traded Familia to the A's in July, but we can't go with the "family reunion" theme without including a guy named Familia. And can attest to the fact that a closer getting dealt from a New York team doesn't preclude him from rejoining that team a few months later.
The Mets are trying to rebuild their bullpen, and Familia seemed to figure some things out working with Dave Eiland in a bounceback 2018.

to the Red Sox
The Boston bullpen is where the light flipped on for Miller after he flamed out as a starter. He ditched his changeup, sharpened his slider and became a late-inning force. But he became good just as the Red Sox went bad, and they dealt him to the Orioles midseason in 2014.
With the Sox looking for a more affordable closing option than Kimbrel, it might be Miller Time in Boston again.

(trade) to the Padres
Eight years after acquiring Kluber from the Padres at a time when he was a relatively minor prospect, the Indians are willing to listen to offers for the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
This reunion idea is a reach, because the Padres probably shouldn't be going all-in on a pitcher who, while under contractual control for three more seasons, will be 33 years old and making $17 million in 2019. But they do have a deep farm system, ownership is itching to turn a corner (see last year's contract), and general manager A.J. Preller has turned in some surprise blockbusters in the past.

to the Brewers
Another reach, because the Brewers have a ton of bodies in the outfield and at first base. Of course, the threat of positional excess hasn't scared them off in the last calendar year, so maybe there's a creative way to make this work.
What we know is that the Brewers were a middle-of-the-pack offensive club that ranked in the lower-third in contact percentage in '18. So Brantley's high-contact skillset applies, all these years after the Brew Crew moved him as the "player to be named" in the swap for .