Reds Pick Up Dunn/Hatteberg

The Cincinatti Reds made it clear that just because Dusty Baker loves veterans, Adam Dunn is still their number one player, picking up his $13.5M option tonight. They also excersized first-baseman Scott Hatteberg's $1.65M option, and both were quite worth it. Dunn hit 40 home-runs, he deserves $13.5M, simple as that. As for Hatteberg, he continued getting on-base for the club, posting an OBP of .394 last season, raising his career-average to an astonishing .363.

Cameron To Be Suspended 25 Games

Free-Agent Mike Cameron told XX Sports Radio in San Diego today that he will receive a 25-game suspension as result of testing positive for a stimulant. This will drive his price down quite a bit, as he can only play a maximum of 137 games next season. Even after the suspension it looks like the Atlanta Braves are heavily interested in Mike, as he will be a much cheaper alternative than Andruw Jones and might actually produce a bit better, especially if Jones hits a mere .222 like he did in 2007.

Yankees Might Go After Miggy

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald believes that the New York Yankees will attempt to acquire third-baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins, with Melky Cabrera possibly being included in the package. As for Miguel, he's likely going to get $11M or so in arbitration, and will only rise from there. There's no doubt he's soon going to be out of the Marlins' range and they will have to trade him.

Makes complete sense for the Yankees, as he's definitely hall-of-fame caliber and still extremely young. He's also the only third-baseman that is somewhat available, enjoying a stellar .320 34HR 119RBI season with the lowly Marlins.

Many Options Declined Around Majors

A quick flurry of options were declined today, so let's recap the action.

The Kansas City Royals declined options on both reliever David Riske and starter Odalis Perez. Riske declined his half of the mutual option, so it looks like his time in K.C. is over. As for Perez, there was no way the Royals were gonna pick up his dreaded $9M option.

The Chicago White Sox matched the Royals, declining the options on both outfielder Darin Erstad and reliever Mike Myers. Erstad's option was at a steady $3.5M, and Myers' sat at $1.1M.

Curt Schilling also filed for free-agency today, but still believes the Red Sox are the front-runners to sign him. On his blog, he lists the teams he may play for: "Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A., S.D., Arizona, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Milwaukee."

BREAKING NEWS: Dodgers To Hire Torre

The Journal News is reporting that the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to hire Ex-Yankee manager Joe Toree, and believe that Don Mattingly will follow Torre to be the bench coach. Quite a turn around for Grady Little, as less than a month ago the team said he would be back next season.

Can't wait to see if Alex Rodriguez or Mariano Rivera will go to Los Angeles because of this astounding news.

Milwaukee Lets Jenkins Walk

The Milwaukee Brewers paid the $1M buyout in left-fielder Geoff Jenkin's contract, letting the 33-year old walk instead of picking up his $9M option. Geoff had a decent power year in '07, hitting 21HR's in 420 AB's. If I were to choose an early favorite, it would definantly be the Detroit Tigers, who have no left-fielder after trading away Craig Monroe and finding out that Cameron Maybin isn't quite ready for the major-leagues.

Tigers Begin Offseason With Bang

The Detroit Tigers didn't even wait 24 hours before making the first move of the offseason, acquiring short-stop Edgar Renteria from the Detroit Tigers in return for starter Jair Jurrjens and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.

Renteria, 32 years old, had a tremendous season for the Braves, batting at a career high .332 mark. This move fixes the Tiger's short-stop difficulty, as Carlos Guillen was already told he would play first-base next season.

Very good deal for Atlanta, as Jurrjens is one of the top pitching specs in the game, and has already had major-league experience at only 21 years of age. In Double-A last season before getting called up, Jair went 7-5 with a 3.20 ERA and a tremendous K/BB ratio.

Gorkys Hernandez is a 20-year old outfielder who spent his 2007 campaign with Single-A West Michigan. He batted .293 with 4HR 50RBI and an OBP of .341, decent numbers for such a young prospect.

BREAKING NEWS: Alex Rodriguez To Opt Out

The fiasco has started, ex-Yankee's 3B'man Alex Rodriguez will opt out of his contract, as Scott Boras blames the "unsecurity of Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettite". Quite a wierd timing, as only minutes after the World Series had ended, the announcement was made.

There will likely be a gigantic bidding war between the Giants, Dodgers, Angels, and maybe even Red Sox if Boston lets go of Mike Lowell. Texas is sure happy with the news, as they saved their selves quite a bit of money.

Photo Of The Day: October 27th

Bedard To Be Shopped?

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe believes that the Baltimore Orioles might make left-hander Erik Bedard avaliable this offseason. He believes that Baltimore has enough pitching now, but needs everyday players to bat in the 3 and 4 holes. Bedard could probably bring 2-3 major-league ready players that would help round out the lineup, but losing Bedard is quite a bit pricey. Especially as the 28-year old had an amazing season, going 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and an astonishing 221K's in only 182IP's.

Perhaps it would be smarter to trade Jeremy Guthrie, as you can expect a downfall in his production come next season. There's no way he's a 3.70 ERA pitcher, unless he never goes back to his old Cleveland days, which is highly unlikely.

Yanks To Offer A-Rod Extension?

The great Buster Olney believes that the New York Yankees are going to offer A-Rod a 5-year extension worth $30M per year ($150M in all) to third-baseman Alex Rodriguez once the World Series ends.

They've already asked Alex and his agent Scott Boras to have a meeting with the team before his deadline, and now it looks like we all know why. Quite a turn, as back in the all-star break the Yankees made it clear they would not go after Rodriguez if he were to hit the market.

Photo Of The Day: October 26th

Francona Decides To Sit Youk

According to Rotoworld, the Boston Red Sox have decided on playing David Ortiz at first base, sitting Kevin Youkilis for Game 3 tonight. Quite a big decision, especially as Youkilis is batting .396 with 4HR and 10RBI in the postseason. If I had the pleasure of being the manager of the Red Sox, I would of decided to sit right-fielder J.D. Drew and play Youkilis in his spot, but Terry didn't that that route.

Will be interesting to see both how Ortiz fairs at first, and how Manny Ramirez will play left-field in a very spacious park when it comes to left-field depth. Josh Fogg vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 3 at 8:35 eastern tonight.

If Hunter Leaves, Bay May Come

Let’s face it, Jason Bay had a horrible year. After hitting 35 home-runs and driving in 109, Jason only put up a .247 21HR 84RBI line this year. Pretty bad timing as the Pirates named a new general manager duo of Neil Huntington and Bill Smith, almost guaranteeing that Bay will be dealt this offseason in order to replenish Pittsburgh’s minor-league system.

“The Bucco Blog” over at MLBlogs.com reports that the Twins might have quite a bit of interest in a Matt Garza for Jason Bay deal. Makes a lot of sense for the Twins, as Bay could be pretty adequate in center-field and is signed for a mere $5.75M next year.

Garza is only 24 years old and has already had a 5-7 season, compiling a 3.69 ERA in the process. He could fit in quite well with a rotation including Ian Snell, Zach Duke, Tom Gorzelanny, & Matt Morris.

Lofton's Indians Career Likely Over

Both Indian's General-Manager Mark Shapiro and manager Eric Wedge did not mention left-fielder Kenny Lofton's name when asked their most likely candidates to fill left field next year. What does this mean you ask? Looks like Lofton's grand total of 38RBI between Texas and Cleveland aren't exciting the team. Who can blame them, especially as Lofton's not leading off anytime soon in Cleveland and you need a wee-bit more RBI's from the 7th hole.

The Indians are also likely to excercize closer Joe Borowski's $4M option, despite having a 5.07 ERA on the year. He's got to lower that ERA if he wants any chance at repeating a 45-save season as he did this year.

Romero And Phillies Slowing Talks

The Philadelphia Phillies and left-handed reliever J.C. Romero have "had discussions" about a contract extension for Romero and his 1.24 ERA. When asked about the extension, J.C. replied "I'm not too optimistic at this point. I'm waiting to hear back from the Phillies" (Rotoworld).

Would be quite foolish if the Phillies don't go out and give JC a 3 year deal worth $12-15M, as he was one of the main pitching in the NL East's pen.

Photo Of The Day: October 26th

Yankees To Excersize Abreu's Option

The New York Post's George Sherman made it clear that the Yankees are "certain they are going to pick up Bobby Abreu's $16M option for next season" (New York Post). Abreu struggled hitting in the low .250's the first half of the year, before closing out the second half batting .305, finishing the season at .283. He also hit 16 HR's, batted in 101, stole 25 bases, and scored 123 runs.

The option should of been a given with Abreu's ability to do everything in the game pretty well. He also has a career .408 OBP, so he is the ideal number 3 batter for the New York Yankees and new owner Hal Steinbrenner.

Braves Claim Resop

The Atlanta Braves have claimed reliever Chris Resop from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Resop was the reliever the Angels acquired for Kevin Gregg in spring-training of this year. He only pitched 4.1 innings for LAA, surrendering a 4.15 ERA with 2 K's. The move also allowed the Braves to designate Chad Paronto, the 32-year old reliever who had a 3.57 ERA in 40.1 innings-pitched this season. On the downside, his WHIP on the year was a horrid 1.64.

I'm sure there will be many suitors for Paronto if he were to be a minor-league free-agent, and it looks like since he's still arbitration eligible, he won't be claimed by any club. It's in Atlanta's hands from here.

Mariners Need To Focus On Pitching

The Seattle Times has a great article about Jose Guillen, and what he really meant to the Mariner's club this season. He also notes that it is highly unlikely that they will sign Guillen, as they need the $10-11M to desperately sign a number-2 starter who can actually win some games.

The hot seat has to be on general-manager Bill Bavasi, as he's last two pitching signees of Jeff Weaver and Jarrod Washburn haven't panned out. Looks like he'll get a third chance to sign a good number 2, or else his job will be gone. Big risk and reward the Mariners are taking because if they let Guillen go and can't find a starter, they will be in very bad shape.

Devil-Rays Mixing & Matching Roster

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays made a pair of moves today. First, they claimed outfielder Chris Snelling from the Oakland Athletics. Snelling has yet to have a season in which he's had more than 96 AB's, so his health is the main concern with the left-fielder. He has shown a great eye, as his career OBP is .357. If he can stay healthy for a season, i'm sure he can have a very good .260 15HR 60RBI season.

They than flip-flopped and released reliever Jay Witasick, who was horrible in Tampa, after posting a 3.60 ERA for the A's in the first half. His 12ER's in only 16.1 gave him a 6.61 ERA in 20 games. He's also 35 years-old, so his major league service might have came to an end.

Photo Of The Day: October 24th

Cardinals Release Maroth

The St. Louis Cardinals have cut ties with ex-Tiger's pitcher Mike Maroth today, after the lefty went 0-5 with a 10.66 ERA in 7 starts and 7 relief apperances. This makes the pitcher's market slightly better, as there will be a handful of teams interested in Mike to be their 5th starter. Don't forget he was 5-2 with a 4.19 ERA in 53.2 innings for the Tigers in '06 and was a consistant 200+ innings-pitcher through '04-'05.

Maroth still had one year of arbitration left on his deal, making $2.95M this season. I can easily see a 3-year $15M deal handed out somewhere in need of some pitching, Tampa Bay maybe?

Cardinals Might Shop Duncan

Dave Wilhem of the News-Democrat believes that if versatile position player Chris Duncan would land a starting pitcher, the Cardinals should make the move. This is despite manager Tony La Russa showing that he is "aggressively against" trading Duncan. He could do wonders in the American-League because of his versatility and ability to pound the ball.

I wouldn't see a deal for Chris happening though, for the very fact that La Russa loves him and St. Louis would like to remain on his good side since they've just resigned him to a multi-year deal. But it's a well-known fact that the Cardinals are gonna need a pitcher. If they should somehow rid themselves of Rolen or Edmond's contracts, that would be quite luxurious.

Carlos Silva Wants Four Years

Charley Walters of TwinCities.com (registration required) noted that the Minnesota Twins made a 3-year contract offer to starter Carlos Silva worth up to $7M per year, and he turned it down. Silva told the Twin's organization that he would need a 4-year deal, noting that Gil Meche and Kei Igawa received 4-year deals last year.

Silva was 13-14 this year with a 4.19 ERA, after bouncing back from a horrible '06 campaign. If Silva is re-signed by the club, it only raises their payroll higher and puts even more pressure on them making a Johan Santana trade.

Padres Looking At Retaining Barfield

Padres General Manager Kevin Towers was in admist of his own winter meetings when he told the San Diego Union-Tribune that they would love to reacquire second-baseman Josh Barfield from the Indians. Cleveland now has Asdrubal Cabrera holding the job for the next decade, so Josh is no doubt expendable.

In 2006 when Josh was with the Padres, he hit .280 with 13HR 58RBI and a .318 OBP, much better numbers than his .243 3 50 .270 line in 2007. Would be a great fit for the Padres, as they would have both Josh Barfield and Kevin Kouzmanoff rounding off their infield of Khalil Greene and Adrian Gonzalez. The Mets might also look at Barfield, but it looks like they will most likely retain Luis Castillo.

Photo Of The Day: October 23rd

Aaron Cook To Start Game 4

Colorado Rockies made a decision today on RHP Aaron Cook, moving him from the DL into the World Series roster. He also told the media that Aaron will indeed start game 4, a risky decision since he's been out since August with an oblique strain. Cook was very good during the season, going 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA in 166 IP's. The move will probably bump Taylor Buchholz out, as Franklin Morales will be forced to move to the bullpen.

On the other side of the field, the Boston Red Sox have announced that Jacoby Ellsbury will start in center-field during Game 1. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield also won't be on Boston's roster, most likely because of back and shoulder problems.

Photo Of The Day: October 22nd

MLB "Didn't Grant Permission" To Byrd

The New York Daily News reports that MLB senior vice president Rob Manfred has made it clear that MLB never granted Indian's starter Paul Byrd permission to use HGH. "If he's saying that to create the impression that he was authorized or had permission, we have never granted a (therapeutic use exemption) for human growth hormone, ever(Rotoworld)".

If this is the case, it looks like Paul Byrd is gonna have quite a bit of trouble with the MLB and will have to face a few interviews. At first thought, I believed that Byrd really did have a tumor in one of his glands. Especially since he doesn't reach 90 mph on his fastball, you can't really blame him for using it to "cheat".

Nationals Express Interest In Crisp

The Washington Post believes that Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp, who became expendable with the arrival of rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, would be a great fit for the Nationals for 2008. Coco is signed to a very good contract, and would be a major upgrade over current CF/leadoff-hitter Nook Logan. Seems like the Nationals are going to sign a big free-agent as Andruw Jones, Tom Glavine, Aaron Rowand, Torii Hunter, and now Coco Crisp. You can also feel that one of those 5 will be Nationals, as a new stadium is set to open next year and they can generate quite a bit of revenue with either or.

La Russa Resigned

EDIT: The news is final, La Russa is resigned to a 2-year deal with an option set for 2010.
The St. Louis Depatch reports that Tony La Russa is set to return for his 13th season with the club. "The fact that we're talking pretty much daily and everything is progressing tells you where it's heading and where we'd like it to end up," La Russa said after speaking with DeWitt. "Obviously, that's assuming nothing falls through the cracks(STLtoday)". Frankly, the whole La Russa as the next manager for the Yankees was all speculation, as he never even received a call from Yankee's GM Brian Cashman.

The Cardinals are gonna need a lot of work just to be over .500 next season, as they need pitching help desperately and we all know how bad this year's batch is. Most believe that their payroll will eclipse the $115M rankings though. That could all mean nothing, though, as they have no clue what to expect from Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Mark Mulder, Juan Encarnacion, and Chris Carpenter.

Boston Sets Up Sox-Rox World Series

Second-baseman Dustin Pedroia knew it was his day. He knew it was his time when he would go 3-5 with 5 RBI's. His 7th inning home-run pretty closed out the what would be a 11-2 win for the Boston Red Sox. Amazing win, especially considering the fact that ALCS MVP Josh Beckett was not needed to come out of the pen and sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez only combined to go 1-8. Kevin Youkilis also hit a towering shot in the 8th against reliever Jensen Lewis, rounding off his ALCS average to a cool .500. Once again, the Red Sox came back from a 3-1 deficit to return to the promise land and face off with the Colorado Rockies. Game 1 is set to go on Wednesday as Josh Beckett will face off with Jeff Francis.

Luckiest & Unluckiest Pitchers of 2007

RotoAuthority has an amazing article up in which the writer's show which pitcher had the luckiest and unluckiest seasons by creating a formula including WHIP and a few various other stats. His work shows that Blue Jay's starter Josh Towers had the unluckiest 2007. His ERA was 5.38 while it should of been at a 3.83. He goes on to say that Mark Hendrickson, Jeremy Bonderman, Andrew Sonnastine, and David Wells also had amazingly unlucky years.

On the lucky side, Cubs starter Steve Trachsel was extremely lucky in the 2007 season, having an ERA at 4.48 while it should of been at 6.32. Giants starter Noah Lowry was also very lucky, as his WHIP was one of the highest in the league and he still was able to keep his ERA under 4.

Pirates Might Look To Move Bay

Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune-Review believes that "Over the new couple of weeks, the Pirates will hire a new manager, scouting director, director of player development and assistant general manager. The turnover could extend to coaches and scouts throughout the system.

New facilities are rising in Bradenton, Fla., and the Dominican Republic. The club also plans to develop a leaner, more efficient data storage system.(Mlbtraderumors.com)" He also notes that since the Pirates won't be a World Series team anytime soon, they might shop ex-Met Jason Bay. Bay's signed to a very good deal at $4.5M for the next 2 seasons, so there would be quite a bit of interest if he were to hit the trade block.
I could definantly see a Brandon Webb, Juan Rivera, Ervin Santana swap from the Angels, but they will need to open up LF by either moving Garret Anderson or Reggie Willits.

Nomo Attempting Return

Hideo "The Human Tornado" Nomo pitched a scoreless frame last night for Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League. He believes that he will return to the Majors next season at 39 years of age. Coming off of elbow surgery, Rotoworld believes that he is quite a long shot to make a starting-rotation out of spring training. In his rookie year of 1995, Nomo pitched to an astonishing 13-6 record with a 2.54 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He than followed that with another excellent year (16-11 3.20) but than continued his down fall from there. Nomo than returned to the Dodgers in 2002 and came back to form, pitching 220.1 innings surrending only a 3.39 ERA. He has not been a quality major-leaguer since that 2003 season though.

Classic Beantown Beatdown

The Boston Red Sox knew this was the day to put up or shut up. And they chose to put up. After a horrid first-year with the club, right-fielder J.D. Drew smashed a 2-out grand slam in the very first inning en-route to a 12-2 trouncing. Indians' starter Fausto Carmona looked absolutely pathetic, only lasting 2+ innings surrendering 7 earned-runs with 4 walks. He also failed miserably when it came to keeping the left-handers honest, throwing all his sinkers away. Fausto's gotta learn that he must throw the ball "at" the lefties in order for it to sink inside and back them off.

Curt Schilling earned his 10th career postseason win going 7 innings only allowing 2 earned-runs with 6 hits. Now it'll be Daisuke Matsuzaka's turn to lead the Red Sox in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Jake Westbrook, Cleveland's starter, defeated Matsuzaka in this series already and will hopefully prove that he can do it again.

Yankees To Make "Eye-Popping" Offers

MLBTradeRumors.com believes that the New York Yankees are set to make "eye-popping" offers to both catcher Jorge Posada and closer Mariano Rivera. It might take a ridiculous amount to sign either, because both showed major discomfort with the fact that Joe Torre is not returning for next season. 4-year $48M deal for Posada? Probably even more considering the Tigers are paying Pudge $13M. Even if the Yankees through $15M per year at Mariano, I have a gut feeling that he does not want to play for the Torre-less Yankees any more.

The report also expresses that the New York Yankees are going to make a serious run at Aaron Rowand. If Rowand is signed though, they would have to trade either Johnny Damon or Melky Cabrera to make room. A rumor also came up believing that a package of Melky Cabrera, Chien-Ming Wang, and Ian Kennedy would be enough for Johan Santana.

Playoff Pointers

+ Red Sox prospect Jacoby Ellsbury will likely get the start in center-field for tonight's ALCS Game 6. The struggles of Coco Crisp have made it even more likely that he will be traded in the offseason.

+ Josh Beckett made it clear that if the Red Sox force a Game 7, he will be avaliable to come out of the bullpen in that game. Boston will most likely start Daisuke Matsuzaka, but will have a quick hook with Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, and Josh Beckett in the pen.

+ The Red Sox were also interested in sitting Dustin Pedroia tonight in favor of Alex Cora, but this has been declined by the Red Sox.

Kuroda To Come To America

Rotoworld has the goods, 32-year old starter Hiroki Kuroda opted out of his 3-year $8M deal in Japan to come to America. He had a 3.56 ERA this season with a thrilling 123/42 K/BB ratio. This was nothing compared to his 2006 season though, where Hiroki lead the league in ERA, sitting at a cool 1.85.

Known interestees include the Mariners and Cubs. Scouts believe that he does not have a good breaking ball to get outs with, and will rely on his 95-mph fastball too much. Hopefully he won't be another Kei Igawa.

Liriano Finishes Rehab

Minnesota Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano finished up his rehab program in Florida today and will now go back home and get ready for spring training as he always does. Francisco missed all of the 2007 season with tommy-john surgery, but had one of the best rookie years ever in 2006.

GM Bill Smith told reporters, "He has done very well, he's thrown a couple of bullpens this week and will discharge from the rehab program completely". Will be an interesting story to see how Liriano will return in '08 after missing an entire season.

Brewers Let Go Of Koskie

The Milwaukee Brewers let third-baseman Corey Koskie leave, declining his $6.5M option. He receives a $500,000 buyout in the process, but hasn't played baseball since '06 suffering from a concussion. He will most likely attempt a comeback in the spring if he's up to it, but will most likely have to be a mere bench player with another team. Twins reunion maybe?

Corey had a decent 2006 season though, batting .261 with 12HR 33RBI and a .341 OBP in 257 at-bats. He could be a very good pinch-hitter for an NL team, or maybe even become a starting DH with an OBP hungry team like the A's.

Torre Out As Yank's Manager

The Joe Torre era has ended for the New York Yankees, as the skipper turned down a 1-year deal worth $5M with $3M worth of incentives. The deal was $2.5M less than Joe made last season, most likely the reason he left. Should be quite a big turn for the Yankees, as Mariano Rivera has said that he will pend his decision on a return for the simple fact if Torre was managing. Therefore, this means that the Yankees will most likely be without their star skipper and closer. On the flip side, it looks like Joe Girardi will get the job he's been waiting for in New York.

All FA Team

So, you wanna see who would be the best bet to sign for your struggling team? Well I've compiled the All FA team to show you exactly where your team should go this offseason. Enjoy

C: Michael Barrett
I've already considered that neither Yorvit Torrealba or Jorge Posada will leave their respective teams. Barrett is a slightly better choice than Lo Duca for the simple fact that he's 5 years younger and considerably better defensively. Michael hit .244 with 9HR's and 41RBI's in 101 games between the Cubs and Padres, but hit considerably better with San Diego and heated up in the last month, hitting .333

1B: Sean Casey
Unlike Barret, Casey is for a fact going into free-agency and will be a great fit for any club. For one, he's a left-handed bat with an amazing eye, collecting an OBP of .353 for the Tigers this year. Hitting .296 with 4HR and 54RBI, Casey is a great number three bat for clubs who need OBP and occasional power.

2B: Tadahito Iguchi
Since Luis Castillo and Kaz Matsui don't look to be moving anywhere, the picking are quite slim at second, but Tadahito is definantly the front-runner. We all know he's a magician with the glove, and hitting .267 with 9HR 43RBI and 14SB with a .347 is pretty good production for a second-baseman. Easy choice here.

SS: David Eckstein
My gut feeling is that Eckstein will not be a Cardinal in '07, so a pesty short-stop who gets on base at a frequent pace is still very valuable. Slimmest position in the market, especially as besides Eckstein there is Cesar Izturis and nothing else.

3B: Alex Rodriguez
The soon to be 2007 American League MVP, A-Rod will easily opt out of his contract and play for the team with the most cash. A 10-year $300M deal is nowhere out of question, and Alex will be the home-run king by the time that deal ends.

OF: Mike Cameron, Torii Hunter, Barry Bonds
On Mike Cameron's side, he's a great player on both sides of the ball but is 35 years old and will lose a step or two in center the next few seasons. Hunter is the best bet in the outfield department, as he's 32 and is capable of hitting .280 with 25-30HR and driving in 85-100 in a year. Bonds is a great choice if you don't care about the excess baggage he brings with him. His OBP will help plenty of teams and I still believe he's capable of hitting 20HR's in a year.

DH: Mike Piazza
Piazza is an absolute professional hitter and will be a great DH for anyteam that will pick him up. He can take walks, hit the long ball, and move runners over. Teams like the Angels and Twins should take a great look at the ex-catcher.

CL: Octavio Dotel
Octavio still throws extremely hard and can easily save 30 games for a team next season. Will be interesting to see how the Braves play Dotel, as they should let him go to save up for the Teixera resigning.

Remember, I've already summed up the FA starting-pitcher batch over here.

Nationals Clean House Once Again

Seems like the Washington Nationals are cleaning all the veterans off the team, shown even more with today's transactions. Washington outrighted both Alex Escobar and Micah Bowie to the minor leagues. Both are most likely going to become free-agents and move on. Escobar missed the entire 2007 season with a variety of injuries, but can still serve as a decent 4th outfielder for any club willing to take a gamble. Bowie, who also missed time with an aggravated hip, compiled a 4.55 ERA in 30 appearances this season. He is also a lefty, so i'm sure if he decides to be a free-agent there will be some looks.

D-Backs Want To Retain Clark

Josh Byrnes, GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks, made it clear that they will try very hard to keep veteran first-baseman Tony Clark this offseason. Clark hit .249 with 17HR's in 221 AB's and had much needed leadership for the extremely young team. He just finished up a 2-year $2M contract, so it will probably be a 2-year $3-4M deal for the 38 year old. This will be a very good deal for the Diamondbacks, as its almost a no-brainer than they need to retain Clark, who served as almost the "team captain" this season. It should be even easier as the Diamondbacks will have a huge revenue boost in '08 for making it all the way to the NLCS this year.

Minor Moves

+ The Texas Rangers re-signed reliever Frank Francisco to a 1-year contract. Frank posted a 4.55 ERA in 59.1 innings pitched for the club this season. He will be set to make $600,000 next season and will than have to face arbitration once again.

+ The Orioles claimed reliever Roberto Novoa from the Chicago Cubs. Novoa missed all of 2007 with a head fracture in spring training, but had a 4.26 ERA in 74 innings for the club in 2006.

+ MLBTradeRumors.com believes that today will be Tim Wakefield's last start for the club, but with another $4M option in his deal, I can seriously doubt that.

Cards Sign Piniero To 2-Year Extension

The St. Louis Cardinals signed starting-pitcher Joel Piniero to a 2-year contract worth approximately $13M. Somewhat of a good deal for St. Louis, as the pitching market is gonna be vastly overpriced and Joel had a good 11 starts for the club this season. This shores up their rotation somewhat, as long as Carpenter and Mulder can be healthy for Spring Training.

Baker Is New Red's Manager

ESPN.com reports that the Cincinatti Reds have signed ex-Baseball Tonight analyst Dusty Baker to a 3-year contract to manage the club through '10. Baker's last stint with the Cubs ended pretty badly, but he still managed to get them into the postseason multiple times. He does have too much respect for veterans, so i'm sure Josh Hamilton and Edwin Encarnacion might have trouble getting playing time. Great news for Adam Dunn though, as it looks like his option will get excersized.

Stoneman To Step Down As Angels' GM

Angels' GM Bill Stoneman has decided to step down from the position and going to be a consultant for the team. Director of player development, Tony Reagins is the most likely choice for general-manager, but Rotoworld believes they should go for Walt Jocketty first. Stoneman was a great general-manager when it came to signing free-agents that the team needs. He signed Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, and Kelvim Escobar in the past, all three to very good deals respectively. His problem has been trading some of their youth for a big bat to push the organization over the hump. The Angels have made the playoffs 4 of the last 6 seasons, but only went past the divisional series twice.

Dodgers Release Trio

The Los Angeles Dodgers said goodbye to 3-veterans announcing the release of infielder Shea Hillenbrand, Olmedo Saenz, and Roberto Hernandez. Hillenbrand hit .251 with 4HR and 31RBI, splitting time between the two Los Angeles teams. He did quite pathetic for the Angels, a team that paid the corner-infielder $6.5M to play for them this season. Saenz A.K.A. "The Killer Tomato" hit .191 with 4HR and 18RBI as the number one pinch hitter on the team. He had a very decent season in '06 for LA, hitting .296 with 11HR and 48RBI in 179AB's. As for Hernandez, his stints with Cleveland and LA didn't go well at all, going 3-3 with a 6.41 ERA in 46.1 IP's.