He's not the prototypical corner guy (although neither are the other available options right now), and we've talked about him a little before, but if you're going to do a "mega-deal", doesn't Merrifield fit just about as well as anyone? Now that you've got Donaldson to add to Acuna and Freddie, are we really that desperate for a corner OF that will hit 20+ bombs? Plugging him in in left gives you three guys capable of playing CF as your everyday outfield.
He'd be expensive to acquire, sure, but not as expensive as Haniger, and he's not the type of player you worry about extending at this point in his career - you let him play out the years of control you have left over him and then just let him walk if he's not interested in going year-to-year. With Nicky Lopez knocking on the door and Mondesi beginning to look like he finally may have turned the corner late last year, you have to thing DMGM would be drooling all over himself with a chance to add Riley and more or less have their infield situation settled for the next 5-6 years. Without looking at the charts, surely Merrifield shouldn't cost you much more than Riley and Waters, should he? Maybe a lesser arm included?
I get that some folks aren't particularly keen on playing Johan at SS, but a Merrifield, Albies, Acuna, Freeman, Donaldson, Camargo, Flow/Mac, Inciarte lineup would be an absolute handful for other teams to deal with, and it would allow you to keep Pache and all the top arms to see if one or two reach their ceilings or package with Dansby for a front-line guy. Sign Gonzalez to be the super-sub instead of making Camargo a "cheaper Gonzalez".
