Mike Moustakas: Could wait until June to sign

Moustakas' agent, Scott Boras, recently suggested that his client could wait to sign with a team until after the first-year player draft in June, when draft-pick compensation would no longer be attached to the third baseman, Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star reports. "The teams are coming, and Moose is going to be playing baseball," Boras said, while expressing his frustration with free agents like Moustakas being "weighed down" by increasing draft-pick compensation under the current collective bargaining agreement. "But I don't control time, and I don't control competitiveness. The question is when do those teams want to commit to winning, and of course I think he'll be playing, yes."

Coming off a career-high 38-homer campaign, Moustakas is the clear top bat still available via free agency, but some combination of his lofty salary demands, a lack of contending clubs in need of a major upgrade at third base and the draft-pick compensation any team would have to surrender to Kansas City in order to sign him has resulted in a cool market for the 29-year-old. Moustakas has kept himself prepared for the upcoming season by fielding grounders and taking swings as part of a simulated spring training in California, but there's been no indication that Boras is gaining any serious momentum in negotiations with teams. The uncertainty regarding when and with whom Moustakas will sign had already dropped his acquisition cost in both fantasy auctions and drafts, and that may only plunge further if Boras is serious about holding Moustakas out until later in the summer, when more suitable offers are likely to be presented. There's a precedent for Boras free agents waiting deep into the season before reaching deals with teams, as Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales both remained unsigned until late May and early June, respectively, during the 2014 campaign.