CarterHud

             The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired goalie Louis Domingue from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for goalie Michael Leighton and forward Tye McGinn.

             Off to a bad start, Domingue was waived by the Coyotes. He will likely stay in the AHL with the Lightning. But, he\’s better than Leighton. If either Andrei Vasilevskiy or Peter Budaj go down, Domingue will be the backup. The price wasn\’t high, and they got a discount.

              Domingue, 25, has a 4.33 GAA and .856 SV% in seven games in the desert this season. In his NHL career, all for the Coyotes, Domingue has a GAA of 3.00 and a .906 SV%.

             The Coyotes don\’t need Domingue. They already have Antti Raanta, Scott Wedgewood and Adin Hill. Leighton will just add depth in the AHL to go along with Hill. McGinn, brother of other NHLers Jamie (Florida) and Brock (Carolina) is a solid bottom six forward. He has also had a short stint in Arizona in 2014-15, so he knows some of the team.

             McGinn, 27, hasn\’t played in the NHL this season. In his NHL career for the Lightning, Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers, McGinn has scored nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 89 games.

             Leighton, 36, also hasn\’t played in the league at all in 2017-18. In his NHL career for the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Flyers and Nashville Predators, Leighton has a .900 SV%  and a GAA of 2.98.

              This is an even trade. Both teams trade away useless assets, and get depth for them. If I had to choose a winner, I\’d say Tampa Bay won. It\’s simple Domingue>Leighton, and McGinn doesn\’t fill the gap between them.

              The next two months are going to be wild. We\’ll have lots of free agents signing. Here is a list of all the free agents, by position. Note: players that play multiple positions will be on multiple lists.

               Catchers:

               Jonathan Lucroy, 32
               Welington Castillo, 31
               Alex Avila, 31
               Nick Hundley, 34
               Chris Iannetta, 35
               Miguel Montero, 34
               Carlos Ruiz, 39
               Hector Sanchez, 28
               A.J. Ellis, 37
               Geovany Soto, 35
               Rene Rivera, 34
               Jose Lobaton, 33
               Chris Stewart, 36
               Raffy Lopez, 30

               First basemen:
 
               Eric Hosmer, 28
               Carlos Santana, 31
               Lucas Duda, 32
               Logan Morrison, 30
               Yonder Alonso, 31
               Mitch Moreland, 32
               Danny Valencia, 33
               Mike Napoli, 36
               Mark Reynolds, 34
               Adam Lind, 34
               John Jaso, 34
               Chris Carter, 31
               Tyler Moore, 31
               Efren Navarro, 32
       
               Second basemen:

               Neil Walker, 32
               Brandon Phillips, 37
               Howie Kendrick, 34
               Andres Blanco, 34
               Chase Utley, 39
               Danny Espinosa, 31
               Nick Franklin, 27
               Jose Reyes, 35
               Josh Rutledge, 29
               Cliff Pennington, 34
               Darwin Barney, 32
               Ryan Flaherty, 31
               Christian Colon, 29
               Arismendy Alcantara, 26
               Phil Gosselin, 29

              Shortstops:
    
              Zack Cozart, 32
              Eduardo Nunez, 31
              Alcides Escobar, 31
              J.J. Hardy, 35
              Erick Aybar, 34
              Adam Rosales, 35
              Alexi Amarista, 29
              Jose Reyes, 35
              Stephen Drew, 35
              Ruben Tejada, 28
              Chase d\’Arnaud, 31
              Dusty Coleman, 31
              Pedro Florimon, 31

              Third basemen:

              Mike Moustakas, 29
              Todd Frazier, 32
              Eduardo Nunez, 31
              Brandon Phillips, 37
              Yunel Escobar, 35
              Trevor Plouffe, 32
              Jhonny Peralta, 36
              Cliff Pennington, 34
              Darwin Barney, 32
              Jose Reyes, 35
              Josh Rutledge, 29
              Conor Gillaspie, 30

              Left fielders:

              Melky Cabrera, 33
              Cameron Maybin, 31
              Jarrod Dyson, 33
              Eduardo Nunez, 31
              Jayson Werth, 39
              Curtis Granderson, 37
              Jon Jay, 33
              Rajai Davis, 37
              Howie Kendrick, 34
              Austin Jackson, 31
              Ben Revere, 30
              Michael Saunders, 31
              Colby Rasmus, 31
              Hyun-Soo Kim, 30
              Adam Lind, 34
              Chris Young, 34
              Nori Aoki, 36
              Andre Eithier, 34
              Franklin Gutierrez, 35
              Peter Bourjos, 31
              Craig Gentry, 34
              Cody Asche, 28
              Chris Heisey, 33
              Tyler Collins, 28
              Daniel Nava, 35
              Eric Young Jr., 33
              Alex Presley, 32
              Ah-seop Son, 30
              Jared Hoying, 29
              Jim Adduci, 33
    
              Center fielders:

              Lorenzo Cain, 32
              Carlos Gomez, 32
              Jarrod Dyson, 33
              Cameron Maybin, 31
              Jon Jay, 33
              Austin Jackson, 31
              Rajai Davis, 37
              Peter Bourjos, 31
              Tyler Collins, 28
              Alex Presley, 32
              Jared Hoying, 29
              Jaff Decker, 28
              Pedro Florimon, 31

              Right fielders:

              J.D. Martinez, 30
              Jay Bruce, 31
              Carlos Gonzalez, 32
              Jose Bautista, 37
              Melky Cabrera, 33
              Seth Smith, 35
              Jayson Werth, 39
              Curtis Granderson, 37
              Jon Jay, 33
              Austin Jackson, 31
              Michael Saunders, 31
              Nori Aoki, 36
              John Jaso, 34
              Ichiro Suzuki, 44
              Craig Gentry, 34
              Tyler Collins, 28
              Alex Presley, 32
              Ah-seop Son, 30
              Jim Adduci, 33

              Designated hitters (since anyone can be one, I\’m just putting the guys who primarily play the position):

              Carlos Santana, 32
              Carlos Beltran, 40 (though he\’ll likely retire)
              Jose Bautista, 37
              Logan Morrison, 30
              Matt Holliday, 38
              Mike Napoli, 36
              Chris Carter, 31
 

              Right-handed starting pitchers (It\’s a long one):

              Jake Arrieta, 32
              Yu Darvish, 31
              Shohei Otani, 23
              Alex Cobb, 30
              Lance Lynn, 31
              Hisashi Iwakuma, 37
              John Lackey, 39
              Jeremy Hellickson, 31
              Tyler Chatwood, 28
              Andrew Cashner, 31
              Tyson Ross, 31
              Yovani Gallardo, 32
              Jhoulys Chacin, 32
              Michael Pineda, 29
              Trevor Cahill, 30
              Chris Tillman, 30
              Ubaldo Jimenez, 34
              Doug Fister, 34
              Scott Feldman, 35
              Jordan Lyles, 27
              R.A. Dickey, 43
              Bartolo Colon, 45
              Clay Buchholz, 33
              Miguel Gonzalez, 34
              Drew Hutchison, 27
              Ricky Nolasco, 35
              Wily Peralta, 29
              Anibal Sanchez, 34
              Jesse Chavez, 34
              Dillon Gee, 32
              Miles Mikolas, 29
              Matt Garza, 34
              Chris Young, 39
              Hideaki Wakui, 32
              Asher Wojciechowski
              Mike Bolsinger, 30
              Christian Bergman, 30
              Jacob Turner, 27
              Chris Smith, 37

              Left-handed starters:

              Jaime Garcia, 31
              C.C. Sabthia, 37
              Jason Vargas, 35
              Brett Anderson, 30
              Francisco Liriano, 34
              Wade Miley, 31
              Hector Santiago, 30
              Derek Holland, 31
              Jeff Locke, 30
              David Holmberg, 26

              Right handed relievers (even longer than the starter\’s list):

              Wade Davis, 32
              Greg Holland, 32
              Brandon Kintzler, 33
              Pat Neshek, 37
              Brandon Morrow, 33
              Addison Reed, 29
              Joe Smith, 34
              Seung-Hwan Oh, 35
              Luke Gregerson, 34
              Bryan Shaw, 30
              Anthony Swarzak, 32
              Koji Uehara, 43
              Tyler Clippard, 33
              Steve Cishek, 32
              Joaquin Benoit, 40
              Trevor Cahill, 30
              Sergio Romo, 35
              Huston Street, 34
              Yusmeiro Petit, 33
              Juan Nicasio, 31
              Bud Norris, 33
              Jeanmar Gomez, 30
              Neftali Feliz, 30
              Jason Grilli, 41
              Fernando Rodney, 41
              Francisco Rodriguez, 36
              Tommy Hunter, 31
              David Hernandez, 33
              Trevor Rosenthal, 28
              Tom Wilhelmsen, 34
              Jason Motte, 36
              Jesse Chavez, 34
              Matt Belisle, 38
              Matt Albers, 35
              Blaine Boyer, 36
              Austin Bibens-Dirkx, 33
              Josh Collmenter, 32
              John Axford, 35
              Jumbo Diaz, 34
              Fernando Salas, 33
              Drew Storen, 30
              Craig Stammen, 34
              Carlos Torres, 35
              Rob Scahill, 31
              Chris Young, 39
              Chad Qualls, 39
              Tyler Pill, 28
              Deolis Guerra, 29
              Yoshihisa Hirano, 34
              Dillon Gee, 32
              Tony Barnette, 34
              Christian Bergman, 30
              Mike Bolsinger, 30
              Asher Wojciechowski, 29
              Paolo Espino, 31
              Casey Lawrence, 30
              Chris Martin, 32
              Peter Moylan, 39
              Dustin McGowan, 36
             

              Left-handed relievers:

              Mike Minor, 30
              Jake McGee, 31
              Tony Watson, 32
              Kevin Siegrist, 28
              Boone Logan, 33
              Francisco Liriano, 34
              Craig Breslow, 37
              Jorge De La Rosa, 37
              Glen Perkins, 35
              Oliver Perez, 36
              Fernando Abad, 32
              Brian Duensing, 35
              Zach Duke, 35
              Eric O\’Flaherty, 33
              Josh Edgin, 31
              Ian Krol, 27
              David Holmberg, 26

                  It\’s free agent time! That means it is time for lots of players to switch teams. There will be some trades, but the main focus are on the free agents. They can sign wherever they want, and get some money. I did one of these posts a year ago, and did pretty well. I predicted two thirds of the players right, or 66.6666666…%. Or, you can say I got six out of nine right. Now that math class is over, here\’s a link to that article.

                  Jake Arrieta, RHP

                My prediction: St. Louis Cardinals.
       
            Though his ERA has risen each year since his Cy Young season of 2015, The 31 year old is still an ace. He had an ERA of 3.53 plus 163 strikeouts in 168.1 innings. Since joining the Cubs midway through the 2013 season, Arrieta has a 2.73 ERA, and 793 strikeouts in 803 innings. Arrieta is from Farmington, Missouri. That\’s not that far away from St. Louis. The Cardinals also would like a frontline starter. Adam Wainwright is falling off track, Michael Wacha is at best a number two or number three, and Carlos Martinez isn\’t a number one yet for a contender. Arrieta makes sense for them. 

                   Yu Darvish, RHP

                   My prediction: Cubs

                    Darvish, 31, struggled with the Rangers at the start of the season, but pitched better after a trade to the Dodgers. In all, he had a 3.86 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 186.2 innings. Darvish has some injury history to him, but his career 3.42 ERA is better than Arrieta\’s.

                  
                    Other possible locations: Dodgers, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles.

                     With Arrieta leaving, the Cubs might look to replace Arrieta. But, with Jon Lester, Jose Quintana and Kyle Hendricks, they might just sign a bottom of the rotation pitcher.

                   
                       Eric Hosmer, 1B

                       My prediction: Royals.

                       \”Hoz\” is coming of a career season. He had a .318 batting average (career high), plus 25 homers (tied a career high) and 94 RBIs (second most in career). He\’s averaged 679 Plate Appearances a season in his seven year career. The Royals have many pending free agents you\’ll see on this list. I think Hosmer is the only one they\’ll be able to sign.

                     
                        Mike Moustakas, 3B

                        My predictions: Mets.

                        Moose is coming off a season where he broke the Royals record for homers in a season with 38. The 29 year old is a favorite for comeback player of the year, after he missed all but 27 games in 2016. Not many teams need 3B, but the Mets are one. David Wright probably won\’t play in 2018, and Asdrubal Cabrera will most likely be traded at some point.

                          Lorenzo Cain, OF

                           My prediction: Giants.

                          Cain is a five tool player. One of the best CFs is always robbed of the gold glove due to the brilliance of Kevin Kiermaier. He can get over $100 million. The Giants currently have the oft-injured Denard Span in center. The 33 year old will fill the hole in LF if they sign Cain.

                           Wade Davis, RHP

                            My prediction: Angels.

                            This one came close between three teams, all that need a closer. It was the Angels, Cardinals and Diamondbacks. Even though the Angels are absorbing the contract of Justin Upton, the Cardinals wouldn\’t have enough money to sign Davis and Arrieta in one offseason, and the D-Backs have the contract of Zack Greinke, which is lot more than Upton\’s. Anyway, injuries led to the Angels having Blake Parker, Bud Norris and others be closers at different points. They need a guy like Davis.

                            Greg Holland, RHP 
                            
                             My prediction: Rockies

                             Holland returned to the MLB in style, with a league leading 41 saves. He opted out of his deal, but I think he\’ll remain with the Rockies,  who need a reliever with Holland and Pat Neshek being free agents.

                             Carlos Santana, 1B

                             My prediction: Indians.

                             The two teams with the biggest 1B need, the Mariners and Cardinals, will probably go after smaller names like Yonder Alonso, Mitch Moreland and Lucas Duda. That\’s why I think we\’ll see a reunion between the Indians, and the five time 20 home run hitter.

                             Alex Cobb, RHP

                             My prediction: Rangers.


                             They need a starter. Besides Cole Hamels, the Rangers staff isn\’t very pretty. The veteran right-hander makes sense for them.

                              Lance Lynn, RHP

                              My prediction: Orioles.


                              Cobb could go to the Orioles, and Lynn could go to the Rangers. They are pretty similar. But, I predict this order will happen. The Orioles have only two starters: Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy. Make it three now.

                               Jonathan Lucroy, C

                               My prediction: Diamondbacks.


                                Jeff Mathis and Chris Ianetta (who is currently a free agent) were the Diamondbacks\’ catchers in 2017. Lucroy is a veteran power catcher, something very rare to find.I think the D-backs will sign him.

                                Zack Cozart, SS

                                My prediction: Royals.

                                Cozart will replace Alcides Escobar. Coming off a career year, Cozart is the best SS out on the market. Watch for him in free agency.

                                 J.D. Martinez, OF

                                 My prediction: Red Sox.

                                 The Red Sox need a power hitter after David Ortiz\’s retirement. Martinez would be the perfect DH at Fenway. His 45 homers in 2017 show that he\’s capable of being a big-time power hitter.

                                  Jay Bruce, OF

                                  My prediction: Rockies.

                                  Imagine Bruce in hitter friendly Coors Field. He can explode with another 30 homer season, and if he keeps up his pace in Cleveland, he can break 40!

                                  Carlos Gonzalez, OF

                                  My prediction: Reds.

                                  I think he\’ll sign a one year deal with a mutual option. \”Cargo\” is still a solid player, and can hit 20 bombs if he\’s healthy.

                                  Brandon Kintzler, RHP

                                  My prediction: Twins.

                                  After being traded from the Twins to the Nats, Kintzler blossomed even more. With the Twins needing  closer, we\’ll see a reunion here.

                                   That\’s it for my predictions. If you guys want my to predict more free agents\’ destinations, then tweet my @Carterhudblog, and I may do a part 2. But for now, see ya!

            The Dallas Stars have acquired defenseman Reece Scarlett from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Ludwig Bystrom.

             The trade is very even. Both aren\’t extremely young, but still are young. Bystrom is 23 and Scarlett is 24. I think Scarlett has more upside, but that\’s just my opinion. The trade is simply just a deal where the GMs like the other player more. Bystrom wasn\’t getting much playing time in the AHL so it\’s good that he\’ll be getting a change of scenery. Also, both players have no NHL experience.

             Bystrom has scored one point, a goal in six games for the Texas Stars (AHL) this year.

             Scarlett has now been traded twice in 2017. The other trade going from the New Jersey Devils to the Panthers for Shane Harper last trade deadline. He has scored two points, a goal and an assist in 12 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) this year.

            The Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche have pulled off a blockbuster deal that included six players and three draft picks. There is so many assets, here\’s the easiest and most understandable way to recap the trade.

To Senators: C Matt Duchene (from Avalanche)

To Predators: C Kyle Turris (from Senators)

To Avalanche: D Samuel Girard, F Vladislav Kamenev and 2nd round pick, (all from Nashville) plus forward Shane Bowers, goalie Andrew Hammond, 1st and 3rd round picks (from Ottawa)

            The Sens got Duchene, but gave up Turris, Bowers (who was a first round pick this past draft), Hammond, a depth goalie, plus two picks. Turris isn\’t that far below Duchene, and all other players aren\’t really filling that small gap between Duchene and Turris evenly. I think the Sens got the worst deal out of the three teams.

             Duchene, 26, has scored four goals and six assists for 10 points in 13 games this season. In his NHL career, all in Colorado, Duchene has scored 178 goals and 250 assists for 428 points in 585 games.

              The Preds got the second best part of the trade, only because how much the Avs got. Kamenev and Girard are decent prospects, but they didn\’t give up Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm or Dante Fabbro, so that\’s a win.

              Turris, 28, has scored three goals and six assists for nine points in 11 games for the Sens. In his NHL career for the Sens and Phoenix Coyotes, Turris has scored 320 points (136 goals and 184 assists) in 544 games.

             The Avs clearly won the deal. They got three picks and four players just for Matt Duchene. Duchene is no superstar, he\’s only a star. They got way too much, but that\’s good for them. Girard and Kamenev are NHL ready, while Bowers has his time to grow. Hammond will be their third goalie if either Semyon Varlamov or Jonathan Bernier go down.

             Girard, 19, made his NHL debut this year for the Preds, scoring a goal and two assists for three points in five games.

             Kamenev, 21, made his NHL debut last year, scoring no points in two games. He hasn\’t played in the NHL this year.

             Bowers, 18, was drafted 28th overall this past draft. He\’s scored four goals and two assists for six points in 10 games for Boston University this year.

             Hammond, 29, hasn\’t played in the league this year. The \”Hamburglar\” has a career GAA of 2.31, and a .923 SV% in 55 games, all in Ottawa.