Every
team has a flaw somewhere; pitching, hitting, defense and even coaches could
hinders a team from making the playoffs.
While most teams now and days use the farm system to replenish their
needs as best they can some teams don’t have the pieces that they need to fix
the holes. When this happens a
team turns to the free agent market to fix the holes that the team hasn’t or
can’t fix alone. There are many
obstacles during this process though that in the end could hurt a team as badly
as they were before they signed the player in the first place. What I want to do is list the players
that will be free agent eligible at the end of the next season and talk about a
few that could be interesting.
First Basemen
Lance Berkman *
Jason Giambi
Travis Hafner
Todd Helton
Eric Hinske
Paul Konerko
Mike Napoli
Paul Konerko
Casey Kotchman
Adam Lind *
James Loney
Kendrys Morales
Justin Morneau
Mike Morse
Lyle Overbay
Carlos Pena
Mark Reynolds
Juan Rivera
Kevin Youkilis
Second Basemen
Robinson Cano
Alexi Casilla
Mark Ellis *
Mike Fontenot
Omar Infante
Kelly Johnson
Nick Punto
Ryan Raburn
Brian Roberts
Ramon Santiago
Skip Schumaker
Chase Utley
Ben Zobrist *
Shortstops
Alfredo Amezaga
Clint Barmes
Willie Bloomquist
Jamey Carroll *
Alexi Casilla *
Stephen Drew
Yunel Escobar *
Rafael Furcal
Alex Gonzalez
Cesar Izturis
Derek Jeter *
John McDonald
Jhonny Peralta
Brendan Ryan
Third Basemen
Wilson Betemit *
Eric Chavez
Mark DeRosa
Mike Fontenot
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Brandon Inge
Placido Polanco
Mark Reynolds
Juan Uribe
Kevin Youkilis
Michael Young
Catchers
Rod Barajas
Henry Blanco
John Buck
Jesus Flores
Ramon Hernandez
Gerald Laird
Brian McCann
Jose Molina
Dioner Navarro
Wil Nieves
Miguel Olivo
Ronny Paulino
Brayan Pena
A.J. Pierzynski
Humberto Quintero
Carlos Ruiz
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Kelly Shoppach
Chris Snyder
Geovany Soto
Kurt Suzuki *
Yorvit Torrealba
Outfielders
Alfredo Amezaga
Rick Ankiel
Jeff Baker
Jason Bay
Carlos Beltran
Shin-Soo Choo
Coco Crisp *
Nelson Cruz
Rajai Davis
David DeJesus
Mark DeRosa
Matt Diaz
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jeff Francoeur
Curtis Granderson
Franklin Gutierrez
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Corey Hart
Raul Ibanez
Reed Johnson *
Austin Kearns
Jason Kubel *
Nate McLouth
Nyjer Morgan
Mike Morse
David Murphy
Xavier Nady
Laynce Nix
Hunter Pence
Juan Rivera
Luke Scott
Ryan Sweeney
Andres Torres
Chris Young *
Delmon Young
Starting Pitchers
Bronson Arroyo
Scott Baker
Erik Bedard
Nick Blackburn *
A.J. Burnett
Chris Capuano *
Chris Carpenter
Bruce Chen
Bartolo Colon
Aaron Cook
Jorge De La Rosa
Scott Feldman
Gavin Floyd
Jeff Francis
Armando Galarraga
Jon Garland
Matt Garza
Roy Halladay *
Jason Hammel
Aaron Harang *
Rich Harden
Dan Haren
Roberto Hernandez
Tim Hudson
Phil Hughes
Ubaldo Jimenez *
Josh Johnson
Jeff Karstens
Hiroki Kuroda
John Lannan
Jon Lester *
Colby Lewis
Ted Lilly
Tim Lincecum
Derek Lowe
Paul Maholm
Shaun Marcum
Jason Marquis
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Brett Myers *
Ricky Nolasco
Mike Pelfrey
Andy Pettitte
Wandy Rodriguez *
Jonathan Sanchez
Ervin Santana
Johan Santana *
Joe Saunders *
James Shields *
Tim Stauffer
Jason Vargas
Ryan Vogelsong *
Edinson Volquez
Tsuyoshi Wada *
Chien-Ming Wang
Chris Young
Barry Zito
Relief Pitchers
David Aardsma
Jeremy Accardo
Manny Acosta
Matt Albers
Scott Atchison
Luis Ayala
Grant Balfour
Matt Belisle *
Joaquin Benoit
Rafael Betancourt *
Bill Bray
Craig Breslow
Tim Byrdak
Shawn Camp
Matt Capps
Joba Chamberlain
Jose Contreras
Manny Corpas
Jesse Crain
Joey Devine
Octavio Dotel
Scott Downs
Chad Durbin *
Kyle Farnsworth
Pedro Feliciano
Frank Francisco
Jason Frasor
Chad Gaudin
Mike Gonzalez
Kevin Gregg
Matt Guerrier
Joel Hanrahan
LaTroy Hawkins
Clay Hensley
Rich Hill
J.P. Howell
Casey Janssen *
Jesse Litsch
Matt Lindstrom *
Kameron Loe
Boone Logan
Javier Lopez
Mark Lowe
Brandon Lyon
Ryan Madson
Carlos Marmol
Nick Masset
Kyle McClellan
Peter Moylan
Edward Mujica
Joe Nathan *
Pat Neshek
Eric O’Flaherty
Will Ohman
Hideki Okajima
Darren Oliver
Juan Carlos Oviedo
Vicente Padilla
Manny Parra
Oliver Perez
Rafael Perez
Chad Qualls
Jon Rauch
Mariano Rivera
Fernando Rodney
J.C. Romero
George Sherrill
Joe Smith
Matt Thornton *
Koji Uehara
Jose Veras *
Jamey Wright
Lance Berkman *
Jason Giambi
Travis Hafner
Todd Helton
Eric Hinske
Paul Konerko
Mike Napoli
Paul Konerko
Casey Kotchman
Adam Lind *
James Loney
Kendrys Morales
Justin Morneau
Mike Morse
Lyle Overbay
Carlos Pena
Mark Reynolds
Juan Rivera
Kevin Youkilis
Second Basemen
Robinson Cano
Alexi Casilla
Mark Ellis *
Mike Fontenot
Omar Infante
Kelly Johnson
Nick Punto
Ryan Raburn
Brian Roberts
Ramon Santiago
Skip Schumaker
Chase Utley
Ben Zobrist *
Shortstops
Alfredo Amezaga
Clint Barmes
Willie Bloomquist
Jamey Carroll *
Alexi Casilla *
Stephen Drew
Yunel Escobar *
Rafael Furcal
Alex Gonzalez
Cesar Izturis
Derek Jeter *
John McDonald
Jhonny Peralta
Brendan Ryan
Third Basemen
Wilson Betemit *
Eric Chavez
Mark DeRosa
Mike Fontenot
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Brandon Inge
Placido Polanco
Mark Reynolds
Juan Uribe
Kevin Youkilis
Michael Young
Catchers
Rod Barajas
Henry Blanco
John Buck
Jesus Flores
Ramon Hernandez
Gerald Laird
Brian McCann
Jose Molina
Dioner Navarro
Wil Nieves
Miguel Olivo
Ronny Paulino
Brayan Pena
A.J. Pierzynski
Humberto Quintero
Carlos Ruiz
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Kelly Shoppach
Chris Snyder
Geovany Soto
Kurt Suzuki *
Yorvit Torrealba
Outfielders
Alfredo Amezaga
Rick Ankiel
Jeff Baker
Jason Bay
Carlos Beltran
Shin-Soo Choo
Coco Crisp *
Nelson Cruz
Rajai Davis
David DeJesus
Mark DeRosa
Matt Diaz
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jeff Francoeur
Curtis Granderson
Franklin Gutierrez
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Corey Hart
Raul Ibanez
Reed Johnson *
Austin Kearns
Jason Kubel *
Nate McLouth
Nyjer Morgan
Mike Morse
David Murphy
Xavier Nady
Laynce Nix
Hunter Pence
Juan Rivera
Luke Scott
Ryan Sweeney
Andres Torres
Chris Young *
Delmon Young
Starting Pitchers
Bronson Arroyo
Scott Baker
Erik Bedard
Nick Blackburn *
A.J. Burnett
Chris Capuano *
Chris Carpenter
Bruce Chen
Bartolo Colon
Aaron Cook
Jorge De La Rosa
Scott Feldman
Gavin Floyd
Jeff Francis
Armando Galarraga
Jon Garland
Matt Garza
Roy Halladay *
Jason Hammel
Aaron Harang *
Rich Harden
Dan Haren
Roberto Hernandez
Tim Hudson
Phil Hughes
Ubaldo Jimenez *
Josh Johnson
Jeff Karstens
Hiroki Kuroda
John Lannan
Jon Lester *
Colby Lewis
Ted Lilly
Tim Lincecum
Derek Lowe
Paul Maholm
Shaun Marcum
Jason Marquis
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Brett Myers *
Ricky Nolasco
Mike Pelfrey
Andy Pettitte
Wandy Rodriguez *
Jonathan Sanchez
Ervin Santana
Johan Santana *
Joe Saunders *
James Shields *
Tim Stauffer
Jason Vargas
Ryan Vogelsong *
Edinson Volquez
Tsuyoshi Wada *
Chien-Ming Wang
Chris Young
Barry Zito
Relief Pitchers
David Aardsma
Jeremy Accardo
Manny Acosta
Matt Albers
Scott Atchison
Luis Ayala
Grant Balfour
Matt Belisle *
Joaquin Benoit
Rafael Betancourt *
Bill Bray
Craig Breslow
Tim Byrdak
Shawn Camp
Matt Capps
Joba Chamberlain
Jose Contreras
Manny Corpas
Jesse Crain
Joey Devine
Octavio Dotel
Scott Downs
Chad Durbin *
Kyle Farnsworth
Pedro Feliciano
Frank Francisco
Jason Frasor
Chad Gaudin
Mike Gonzalez
Kevin Gregg
Matt Guerrier
Joel Hanrahan
LaTroy Hawkins
Clay Hensley
Rich Hill
J.P. Howell
Casey Janssen *
Jesse Litsch
Matt Lindstrom *
Kameron Loe
Boone Logan
Javier Lopez
Mark Lowe
Brandon Lyon
Ryan Madson
Carlos Marmol
Nick Masset
Kyle McClellan
Peter Moylan
Edward Mujica
Joe Nathan *
Pat Neshek
Eric O’Flaherty
Will Ohman
Hideki Okajima
Darren Oliver
Juan Carlos Oviedo
Vicente Padilla
Manny Parra
Oliver Perez
Rafael Perez
Chad Qualls
Jon Rauch
Mariano Rivera
Fernando Rodney
J.C. Romero
George Sherrill
Joe Smith
Matt Thornton *
Koji Uehara
Jose Veras *
Jamey Wright
Yes kind of a big list but these
are all of them. No one thing that
I’ll mention right now is that a lot of these players will be signed before they
hit free agency, many more will sign after the season ends so they don’t have
to worry about negotiations during the season. Lets take a look at the big names that could hit the market
position by position.
1st
base has a number of veterans in the ranks from Lance Berkman to Kevin Youkilis
but many of them are past their primes, like the two I just mentioned. To me the best of the bunch is James
Loney, Adam Lind, Mike Napoli, Mike Mores and Kendrys Morales and the rest seem
to be to injury risk or way to old.
The 1st base pool is not very deep or good this upcoming free
agency so teams might want to look in team to fix this hole, that or signing
players to a 1 year deal for a cheap fix.
2nd
base is actually an interesting options for teams next year. But lets get 1 thing straight right off
the bat; Robinson Cano is going to stay a Yankee and if he doesn’t I won’t be
the only very confused baseball fan.
That out of the way Chase Utley is a great option if a team remembers
he’s not a 20 HR guy anymore but a solid defense and still a good batting
average guy. Ben Zobrist is the
master Utility guy and can help teams with a decent bat and good glove. Omar Infante is a “poor mans” Zobrist
but could be a good UTIL guy. The
rest of the pool is fool of guys can help a team in 1 way or another but not
many starting 2nd baseman.
Stronger than 1st base in the depth of position and could be
interesting to see how many go for these players.
Shortstop
isn’t in much better shape than 1st base but is full of players that
can be useful. Rafael Furcal,
Stephen Drew and Jhonny Peralta are the guys that have the most upside and
could compete for jobs if they don’t resign with the current team. After that its mostly bench player and
back up players, I’m not counting Derek Jeter in this list since if he doesn’t
resign I believe that he will retire.
3rd
base is weak, very weak and has no one under the age of 30 in the pool. Its got some interesting names but at
the same time Wilson Betemit and Eric Chavez are not really the guys teams are
looking for to fill the void.
Micheal Young is the best of the bunch but that’s really not saying much
since he’s a DH at best and he has no power.
Catcher
actually has some very interesting names that could help a team out. Brian McCann, Jared Salty, Carlos Ruiz
and Kurt Suszuki are just a few names that could help a team with the bat or
the glove. There’s no one guy that
will help in every category except the first 3 guys of the 4 I listed. Given what I know my guess Salty and
Ruiz will resign and the teams looking for catcher are going to have to settle
for a 1 trick pony.
Outfield
could be interesting with guys like Jacoby Ellsbury, Hunter Pence, Coco Crisp,
Nate McClouth, Shin-Soo Choo, Nelson Cruz and Raiji Davis all being
available. That’s just a small
sample of the talent in the pool potentially. That said many of these guys are most likely not going to
hit the market, I don’t see the Giants letting Pence go or the Reds letting
Choo go. Overall OF is easily the
position that will draw the big teams that need OF help.
I’m
going to clump pitching together since there are a lot of them. While there are guys like James Shield
and Ryan Madson on the list there are more interesting names than actual help. For every Jon Lester on the list
there’s a Tim Hudson and Jason Hammel .
Pitching is going to have a good amount of innings eaters and middle
relief guys but nothing that screams game changer other than James Shields that
is.
Well
that was a quick look at the upcoming off season’s free agent pool. Were getting to that point in the
season were we will see the signings come out and that’s why I decided to show
off the potentials but not go into massive detail since many will sign well before
free agency.
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