KJNL Week 1 Preview

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson (Houston Astros)

Who makes these schedules anyways?!!

Week 1 is a juggernaut’s bonanza in the NL . . . two, week 1, intra-division clashes between the four predicted playoff teams from the NL? It’s like the season starting off with two four game series one between the Red Sox and Yankees and the other between the Indians and Tigers. It really gives the media something to talk about, but in the grand scheme of things it’s just one series. But because of the colossal clashes . . . this week we have TWO featured match-ups rather than just one.

Featured Games of the Week:

Astros at Rockies:

The Rockies jump out to an early lead having drafted the Red Sox roster and getting the benefit of two early games in Japan. Honestly though, outside of Manny Ramirez and a surprise win for Okajima, the Red Sox were unimpressive in Japan. Sunday night action evened up the “surprise win” category as Jon Rauch blows a save on a passed ball and Ryan Zimmerman homers him to the RP win. But these are just the opening salvos in a week long war . . . here’s how the week could shape up.

Batting is going to be hard to call as spring training stats are rarely predictors of the regular season, but the Astros are down one of their two main SB producers and thus have Randy Winn inserted into the lineup ahead of Frank Thomas to try and make up the number a little, though there are few SB to find on the Rockies side. Batting stats will probably be split. On the pitching side, Boston is down two starters in this first week (Beckett and Liriano) and Broxton will be serving the LAD’s closer role while Saito catches up from being behind in the spring. The Astros are at full strength with 6 starters and 6 relievers ready to go. With Rauch holding down the closer role this first week with Cordero ailing and a full complement of starters look for the Astros to win the non-ratio categories with the exception of holds. With fewer innings available to them, the Rockies could take advantage in the ERA and WHIP. Overall . . . don’t look for either team to come out of this week much better than 7-4-1 at the best and that’s if everything falls perfectly for one team over the other. Though which team that will be depends on who’s hot and who’s not . . . this will be easier to predict after a couple of weeks.

Cubs at Braves:

Braves SP come roaring out of the gate with 3 solid performances, but only 1 win to show for it, giving them the early lead and Johan Santana is scheduled for today. The Cubs haven’t really had anyone compile any stats, so they can’t be counted out yet.

The Cubs are in trouble off the bat with 3 strong SP performances + Santana to come today for the Braves. It also doesn’t help that Hermida, Dukes and Lackey all begin on the DL while Cordero seems to be ailing and unable to close. It’s never good to go up against the projected NL pennant winner with a full complement of weapons. Jenks vs. Gregg for the saves category this week is the PVP match-up to watch. BJ Ryan and Chad Cordero should be non-factors this week. The Cubs should fall behind in the batting categories, except for SB . . . look for the Braves to go at least 8-4 this week . . . but the Cubs will contend as their lineup gets healthy.

The Rest of the League:

Royals at White Sox:

It will be interesting to see how hot the Royals pitching staff starts out, there is a lot of unfulfilled potential there . . . Saito will be hard to use the first couple of weeks for the Sox leaving all of their saves number up to Billy Wagner. Pitching should be a wash and the White Sox bats are dominant over the Royals . . . though it will be interesting to see if Pudge Rodriguez can keep up his spring power surge.

Mariners at Twins:

The Mariners are fully healthy and have two saves guys for as long as Accardo holds the job and BJ Ryan is making his way back . . . they are the dominant team on paper that was predicted before the season. TheTwins are down two top-of-the-line SP (Smoltz and Escobar) and only have two RP on their entire roster. They get a boost since Ethier beat out Pierre for the starting OF job in LA, but I don’t think it is enough this week. Mariners Roll.

Blue Jays at Indians:

Both teams are fully healthy . . . I give a slight edge to the Blue Jays on batting and a bigger edge to the Indians on pitching, except for saves, I am not sure anyone in the league is going to beat the Blue Jays on Saves this year if they stay healthy. I look for a 6-6 or 7-5 series here.

Reds and Cardinals:

The Reds being down Lidge doesn’t hurt that badly with Todd Jones and Troy Percival still available . . . though Lidge is arguably the most consistent of the three and that’s a little scary. I like Reds pitching a little more than the Cardinals and the Cardinals can mash the ball for sure . . . but they will be lucky to steal 40 bags on the whole year with the lineup I see in there right now. Look for a wash on batting with Cards winning HR,RBI, and OPS while the Reds win R, SB and Avg.

Diamondbacks at Dodgers:

The D-backs have a lineup built on speed and not power and their top 3 SP all begin on the DL. The Dodgers are a well balanced team with a LOT of guys coming back off of questionable years. The D-backs will probably take the SB and R categories (as they should just about every week) . . . but will be lucky to win another one in this match-up . . . especially given the health of their pitching staff.

Tigers at Red Sox:

This match-up is REALLY tough to call. The batting should be a tight race all week . . . the Red Sox starting pitching honestly scares me a little, but they could still perform on a week to week basis . . . the Red Sox have a slight edge on saves with 2 closers vs. Rivera. If you made me choose I would give the edge to the Red Sox since they have more diversity on their team and the Tigers rely mostly on Yankees who have a tough first week to start with.

Commissioner's Corner (03-24-08)

Well, the season is almost upon us. It kicks off with the Red Sox playing the A's in Japan with a 6:05am eastern start time Tuesday 3/25 morning. I know I won't be getting up 4am to watch it, I get up at 4:45am as it is during the week already. I'll be catching it on MLB.com gameday audio after it's done probably. Be sure to set your rosters tonight to put in any of those players you have and want in.

I've completed the wording for the new Paid Minor Leaguers rule. I've posted it on the website in the rules section and will include in this post for discussion. However, unless I've forgotten something major that should be in there, this is the rule. I've tweaked the rule suggested, as I said I would, and feel comfortable with this rule as I have it now. Be sure to adjust your sheets to account for these players. Also be sure to fully read the rule and ask any questions you may have if you do not understand it. Good luck to all this season and let the games begin!!!!

Minor League Rule Ammendment

"Paid Minor Leaguers"

I) You may demote any player, who is under the 250/80 limit, on your major league roster to your minor league roster (providing they have options left). The minor league rules and Free Agent rules sections still apply.
II) You will be allowed to demote players above the 250/80 limit under the following guidelines:
a) There will be a maximum of 2 above limit/paid minor league players allowed in your minor leagues at any given time. No team will be allowed to go above this maximum number for any reason.
b) Any player sent down will need to clear waivers first. Post your intention to demote that player in the Waivers thread on the board. Use the player’s name, position, & MLB team as the subject for your post. In the body of the post, state your intention of waiving him for the purpose of placing him in your minors and the player’s salary. There will then be a 48hr window where any team can submit a waiver claim on that player.
i) If there are no claims at the end of the 48hr window, then that player will be assigned to your minor league roster as a paid minor leaguer.
ii) If there is a claim placed, then the team who put the player on waivers has the option of pulling that player off waivers and keeping them on their major league roster. This decision must be posted under that player’s thread within 24 hrs of the end of the 48hr window. It can be posted as soon as the first claim though.
(1) Should the team decide not to exercise that option, then the team placing the waiver claim will be awarded that player at their presently used salary figure. This will either be the salary from the year the league is using or the auction salary if the player was won in the Free Agent Auction in the current KJNL season.
(2) If there is more than one team placing a waiver claim, then the team with the worst record is awarded the player.
c) All above limits players will have one option only each season. Meaning they can only be sent down and called up once per baseball season. Once a player is out of options in a season, they must either stay on your MLB roster or be released (if you don’t want them anymore).
d) The salary of any player demoted under this rule will count against your team cap while they are on your minor league roster.
i) You may not go over your cap in demoting a player under this rule.
e) You will need to have room on your minor league roster for these players. You cannot exceed the 25 man maximum limit set for the minor league rosters.
f) You may not demote a player who is on the DL.
i) A player on the DL must occupy one of the three DL slots on your major league roster.
ii) The salary of a player who is on your major league level DL will not count against your cap.
g) A player demoted under this rule who goes on the DL in real life after being demoted, will not be allowed to occupy one of your three DL slots and their salary will still count against your cap.
i) If you wish to promote said player to occupy a MLB roster DL slot, you may do so. However, it will burn that player’s option.
(1) In this case, the player’s salary will not count against your cap.
III) It is the responsibility of each team owner to adjust their team spreadsheets to factor in these Paid Minor Leaguers. The league will also adjust the league workbook to reflect this for each team. However, the league will not take responsibility should you exceed your roster size or cap. Each manager must track their own team’s roster and financials and up date with each transaction.

Free Agency in Review(So Far)

With the Free Agency period of the KJNL dying down, lets take a look at the action the past several weeks.
Free Agency Winners-
-To be a free agency "winner" i'm looking for good, cheap signings that fill your needs. Just because your not listed as a winner doesn't mean your a loser or did badley, it just means I think another team knocked it out of the park.
-Cincinnati Reds-The Reds had several cheap, small singings that could be overlooked. They signed Miguel Batista, Kevin Correia, and Josh Fogg all together for a whopping 6,162, 500. Thats 3 arms in the rotation for the price of one in Jon Garland or Pedro Martinez's case. Also relating to that signing, the Reds didn't have a 4th and 5th starter going in to the auction. They picked up Troy Percival, even though they probably overpayed for him, to close while Brad Lidge is out as well.
-St. Louis Cardinals-While they missed out on big name stars like Eric Chavez and Adrian Beltre, St. Louis really improved. They signed SS Y. Betancourt, C A.J. Pierzenski, and SP Greg Maddox to name a few of the big signings. St. Louis's line-up, while still not great, was in shreds a few weeks ago, and these signings really help.
-Seattle-While I may be a little biased, I think Seattle was a winner as well. Aside the Hernandez signing, were Seattle through 5 million to Hernandez to sit on the bench, the Mariners did some good things dealing with depth. Going into the auction they had one of the best line-ups in the league, but some of the worst depth. The additions of Eric Chavez, Ramon Hernandez, and Jon Garland(to the pitching staff) makes Seattle an viable pick to win it all.
Losers-
-I'm writing my opinion, do not freak on me if your on this list!
-Arizona Dimondbacks(formally SF)-This team had the first franchise pick, they piced TB, becuase they were cheap. He then sold off most of his picks for cash, expanding his already huge cap room. Then, when FA starts, and he can fianlly use his 60,000 dollars or so to just crush the auction, he doesn't bid on one player.
-Chicago White Sox-This team through money out everywere and didn't even land a major player. He payed Tim Wakefield, for example, 2 million dollars. Wakefield may not even start due to Jon Lester and Clay Bucholtz.

Biggest Hitter Signings-
Bobby Abreu-Abreu signed a 14 million dollar deal with the Cleveland Indians. I don't like the signing personally, I think it's to much money for a fading player who might put up some nice numbers. Even if he does play well, you can find 100 RBI adn 20 HR most cheaper elsewere.
Kosuke Fukudome-Fukudome signed a 13.5 million dollar deal with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had to outbid the Red Sox, and possibly almost hit thier ceiling(they stopepd bidding on Abreu at 13 million) before Boston pulled out. Fukudome is an extremly risky signing due to hes never played an inning as an MLB player.
Biggest Pitcher Signings-
Pedro Martinez-Martinez, whos getting older, signed a 9 million dollar deal with Cleveland. Pedro could be really good, or hurt himslef again. While a stint on the DL wouldnt hurt Cleveland cap wise, it certenly hurts when the 9 million could have been spent elsewere.
Jon Garland-Garland, coming off a bad year, got 6 million from Seattle. Garland will challenge Jamie Moyer and Shaun Marcum for the 5th spot in the rotation. Even if he doesn't start, hes one hell of a back-up now that hes in LAA.

Overpayment Of The Year: Kosuke Fukudome-Chicago Cubs. While the addition of Fukudome helps, and his contract does drop to 6 million dollars next season, he's still overpayed. Fukudome has never played for a US team ever, who knows if he'll be a total bust? In this case, an expensive bust? Abreu, who cost only a bit more, would have been a much safer option, and thats saying something due to Abreu is old and injury prone.

Steal OF The Year: Boof Bonser-Cleveland Indians. What!? Clam down, most players this off-season were payed what, or more, than they deserved. With Silva and Santana out of the real Minnesota Twins, Bonser will move to the head of the rotation. He should see decent run support and get at least 6-10 wins, and at under a million, thats not bad.

The auction was a good one, and its still going on.

Cubs land Fukudome

Cubs Land
Fukudome
Staff Writer Matt Sanders
The Chicago Cubs signed free agent Kosuke Fukudome
Thursday, a free agent export from Japan.
Fukudome, who hasn’t played an inning in Major League
Baseball, earned $13,500,000 from Chicago. The deal turned out to be one of the biggest paydays of the winter off-season, just under Bobby Abreu’s monster deal with Cleveland.
“We hope this signing takes us to the next level,” Chicago’s GM said, “We don’t want another ‘next year’”
The odds that Fukudome will pan out in the big leagues are slim, however. Only a handful of Japanese players currently play in Major League Baseball, and only a few of those are constant contributors.
The best known and most successful Japanese export has to be LA Dodger’s outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.
“I don’t think Fukudome is the next Ichiro, although that would be a good thing,” a fairly blunt Cubs GM said.
Although Fukudome makes a major dent in Chicago’s pay roll this season, his salary will cut in half in 2009, a potential bargain if he is indeed the next “Ichiro.”
“Fukudome will start Opening Day and I think he will lead us to a [World Series] title,” Chicago’s GM said. The addition of Fukudome, while it helps, probably won’t lead to a World Series title, however they’re handful of stars in Justin Morneu, Hanley Ramirez, and Dan Uggla could reek havoc for contending teams.

Free Agency - Who's Still Out There?

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

Position-by-position Free Agent Analysis: Who’s still available?

Catcher: Only two non-platoon catchers are currently available on the FA Market . . . Jason Kendall in Milwaukee and Gregg Zaun in Toronto. Neither is a particularly appetizing option for those that are not desperate. Matt Treanor could be a third option from Florida if he indeed beats Mike Rabelo outright for the job. If you want to go the platoon route two good ones are available . . . Ross/Valentin in Cincy (.234/51/19/73 combined last year) or Snyder/Montero in Arizona (.241/67/23/84 combined last year) have both ends available for daily switching on the platoon.

First Base: The list is extensive though not exactly star-studded . . . each of the players below is all but guaranteed 450 AB’s this season if health doesn’t become an issue: Aubrey Huff, Carlos Delgado, Kevin Millar, Richie Sexson, Brad Wilkerson (OF eligible too), Ben Broussard. Huff, Delgado and Sexson are all in the lineup for sure, but have price tags to match. Ben Broussard excites the people in Texas and comes at a cheaper price. Matt Stairs and his 1B/OF eligibility with .917 OPS is available as well, but he isn’t guaranteed any AB’s unless Overbay, Thomas or one of the OF for the Blue Jays goes down.

Second Base: Luis Castillo, Mark Ellis, Jeff Kent, Mark Grudzielanek and Jose Lopez are all guaranteed starting jobs out of Spring Training and are currently available on the market. A good combo of either speed or power guys can be found here, strengthening your weak stat categories if needed. There are several more players that aren’t guaranteed spots here at 2B too. They may become more attractive later as actual MLB rosters are solidified.

Shortstop: Tony Pena, Jr., Julio Lugo, David Eckstein, Bobby Crosby and Cristian Guzman are all healthy this spring and should be in starting lineups come opening day. Lots of speed found here, but not a lot of power. I think Lugo will have a bounce back year this year, but can’t nearly afford to take a chance on him.

Third Base: The only interesting names here all have big price tags . . . Scott Rolen and Melvin Mora. Mike Lamb and Rich Aurilia could have starting jobs out of spring training, but wait and see is the best tactic with them. Brandon Inge is also interesting, if he is traded away from Detroit.

Outfield: Mike Cameron, JD Drew, Garrett Anderson, Moises Alou, Milton Bradley and Kosuke Fukudome are just a few of the top stars and possible contributors available at this still deep position.

Starting Pitching: A lot of the old guard are still available here and can still be effective . . . Pedro Martinez, Andy Pettitte, Randy Johnson, Tim Wakefield, Tom Glavine, Jason Schmidt, Paul Byrd, Randy Wolf and Mike Mussina are all here. BUT . . . the only SP with a lower than 4.00 ERA from last year that are still available are: Jesse Litsch and Curt Schilling (100 IP min.)

Relief Pitching (Saves): Projected closers are gone, getting saves now is a matter of having the right set-up man on your roster for the right closer injury . . . Tom Gordon is available and could pick up a few saves for the Phillies in the first couple of weeks of the season if Lidge’s injury lingers.

Relief Pitching (Holds): Top holds guys available is a short list, but they are very hard to predict . . . Scott Linebrink, Justin Speier and Octavio Dotel are tops on my list in this category.

National League Free Agency Review

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

We are now almost two weeks into the Free Agent Auction and that makes it a good time to update what the teams are doing and how things are being handled in reflection of the AL and NL previews. 12 teams (out of a total of 16) have signed at least one Free Agent in the auction. There have been varied levels of spending among the teams and two heated auctions are still going . . . Fukudome is up to $13.5 M and the Pedro Martinez auction is just getting underway. At the end of these reviews I’ll make a list of the top, still available FA’s that have not been bid on at each position and make some comments on their possible contributions.

Team-by-Team National League Free Agency Review:

Atlanta Braves – NO FA ACTIVITY . . . The Braves still need a Catcher, but the pickings are slim on the FA market . . . they will probably try to trade on some of their offensive depth to find a #1 C.

Chicago Cubs – The Cubs were indeed ready to stand pat with their FA signings. They have decided to go after foreign born players rather than “normal” free agents. Paying $1.1 million for Alexei Ramirez confuses me as he projects to be a utility man at best. Kobayashi makes more sense as his extensive closing experience has him in line for lots of holds and maybe a few saves in Cleveland. Also of note, the Cubs are the current top bidders for Fukudome . . . if he’s not the bust that some are predicting, he could provide a good veteran presence (though not a veteran of MLB) for this team.

Signees: Alexei Ramirez, Masahide Kobayashi - $2.9M

Still Bidding On: Kosuke Fukudome

Bottom Line: Still depending on youth and made some minor signings while making a big push for the #1 Japanese FA OF.

St. Louis Cardinals – First a quote from the NL Preview . . . “In my opinion, this team needs a fantasy style catcher, a fantasy style SS and a good, veteran starter.” . . . the Cardinals must have taken these words to heart signing Betancourt, Pierzynski and Greg Maddux . . . three of the best available options at the above positions in the Cardinals’ price range. They also bring on board a solid holds guy in Aaron Heilman and replace the questions and expense of Scott Rolen by dropping him and signing Pedro Feliz for much cheaper. The Cards are having a nice, solid auction so far.

Signees: Pedro Feliz, Aaron Heilman, Yuniesky Betancourt, AJ Pierzynski, Greg Maddux - $13.65M

Still Bidding On: Ryan Franklin

Bottom Line: Filled every hole I saw in the lineup with a decent fantasy player and made some cap room for themselves by releasing Rolen.

Cincinnati Reds – No team has signed more players in the first two weeks of the auction than the Reds with 7. However, in spending less than $2M per signing on average they are obviously going the quiet, but effective route. Some of their signings are more effective than others though. Percival and their MiLB callups should make for a solid AND deep bullpen. Batista fills an immediate need as a decent SP, but there are still questions surrounding Correia and Fogg and their bids for rotation spots out of Spring Training. Marlon Byrd and David DeJesus solidify the OF3 spot, while Gotay is more of a signing for the future since he is buried behind Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes on the depth chart.

Signees: Troy Percival, Marlon Byrd, Josh Fogg, Ruben Gotay, Miguel Batista, Kevin Correia, David DeJesus - $13.0625M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Filled as many holes as they could as well as they could with a limited budget.

Colorado Rockies – The Rockies had two holes going in to the FA auction . . . a big one at Catcher and a small lack of saves out of the bullpen. They addressed the big one with the signing of the veteran Varitek and will let the smaller holes resolve itself as their team matures.

Signees: Jason Varitek - $5.1M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Filled their one major hole with a solid fantasy contributor, what else can you say?

Houston Astros – The Astros made one HUGE signing after making a trade to free up cap space and a small hedging maneuver to insure that they had some saves in the bullpen. Trading expensive and old Borowski for injured Chris Ray is a move the Astros can afford to make. The signing of Tyler Walker provides more holds and some insurance in case MiLB stud Brian Wilson doesn’t lock down the closer’s job in SF. If the job goes to Hennessey rather than Walker or Wilson the the Astros are in major trouble to find saves this year. The Beltre signing moves Ty Wigginton into competition with Frank Thomas, Cuddyer, Randy Winn and Lyle Overbay for the Util spot . . . look for the hot hand to be played. No starters were signed for the back of the rotation, the GM must be counting on solid years from his SP bench or MiLB contributors.

Signees: Tyler Walker, Adrian Beltre - $9.375M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Moved Wigginton to the bench where he belonged and signed some cheap Brian Wilson insurance with a very low budget.

Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers addressed overall pitching depth in their signings, but mostly solidified an already tough bullpen with Sherill and Cruz. The singular SP signed was John Patterson of the Nationals who may or may not comeback strong from last year’s injury. Even with an optimistic projection for the back end of the Dodgers rotation Scott Baker, Cliff Lee and John Patterson are not names that most would want to depend on. The Dodgers still have a lot of money to go after someone though.

Signees: George Sherrill, Juan Cruz, John Patterson - $4.825M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Strengthened bullpen, still needs depth in the starting rotation and has the money to get it, if any is still available.

San Francisco Giants – NO FA ACTIVITY . . . The Giants still haven’t logged in to the message board since February 18^th, but they did manage to get their roster entered on the ESPN site. A shame they weren’t involved in the auction . . . they could have been a major player.

Effect of FA on NL Playoffs Race:

After the first two weeks of free agency, the NL has really tightened up I see it as a three tiered league. Tier 1 – Braves; Tier 2 – Rockies, Astros, Cubs, Cards, Reds; Tier 3 – Giants and Dodgers.

The Braves are still the team to beat in the NL. The Rockies improved a little more than the Astros did because of the strength of the bat they added vs. the weakness of the bat they removed from the lineup. The Cubs can either stand pat or jump up with a Fukudome signing, but that’s not a given at this time, so I now rank them slightly behind the two NL West teams. The Reds and Cards have improved their teams where they may compete for a Wild Card and not be just “also-rans.” I give the Dodgers and Giants very little chance of making the playoffs.

All in all I still have the same 4 teams making the playoffs here, with the Astros jumping ahead of the Cubs for now for the #3 seed . . . but if the Cubs get Fukudome and he isn’t as bad as I think he will be, then the Cubs move back ahead of the Astros for that #3 spot.

American League Free Agency Review

By Staff Writer: Brad Atkinson

We are now almost two weeks into the Free Agent Auction and that makes it a good time to update what the teams are doing and how things are being handled in reflection of the AL and NL previews. 12 teams (out of a total of 16) have signed at least one Free Agent in the auction. There have been varied levels of spending among the teams and two heated auctions are still going . . . Fukudome is up to $13.5 M and the Pedro Martinez auction is just getting underway. At the end of these reviews I’ll make a list of the top, still available FA’s that have not been bid on at each position and make some comments on their possible contributions.

Team-by-Team American League Free Agency Review:

Boston Red Sox – The Red Sox have been conservative on the market so far, but they are in the middle of the Fukudome sweepstakes. Though I am surprised by that . . . with Holliday, Hawpe, Granderson and Matthews Jr. already on board and the FA signing of Austin Kearns, is there really any room on this team for a possible bust OF for more than $13M in salary? After missing out on Ramon Hernandez to fill the obvious Catcher hole they have the Red Sox settled for Carlos Ruiz at a paltry $200K signing . . . I think this may be the best signing of the year and I am shocked that Hernandez went for over $5M while the equally talented, younger and far less injury prone Ruiz went for under the league minimum.

Signees: Carlos Ruiz, Austin Kearns - $2M total

Still Bidding On: Kosuke Fukudome

Bottom Line: Filled obvious hole at catcher admirably and seems to be stocking OF bats.

Detroit Tigers – I called them a Free Agency non-factor with only $1.4M in cap space and I said it was a shame because they needed a good #2 SP in the AL Review. Well, the Tigers took that $1.4M, went and got Sean Marshall from the Cubs, not an immediate fix . . . but in 3 years, this may be the most dominating SP team in the league . . . Bedard, Owings, Garza, Marshall, Loewen, Hughes, Kennedy and Chamberlain.

Signees: Sean Marshall - $1.4M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Needed a high end pitcher and only had $1.4M to get it . . . went and got the best SP they could.

Cleveland Indians – The Indians have been VERY active on the FA market, as predicted, and are the big spenders so far with more than $26M in Free Agent contracts. Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome fill the holes at OF3 and Util respectively. Lindstrom and Bonser provide pitching depth and injury insurance in the starting and relief corps. Crede could provide Mark Reynolds insurance, in case the youngster is a fluke, but since Crede is in a competition with Josh Fields for his own starting spot and there are still available uncontested starters at 3B, I am not sure on this signing. The Indians are still gambling on Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the organization’s sole catcher . . . I wish them good luck in that.

Signees: Joe Crede, Jim Thome, Matt Lindstrom, Boof Bonser, Bobby Abreu - $26.2M

Still Bidding On: Pedro Martinez

Bottom Line: Filled holes and signed organizational depth, but still relying too much on Salty and the Crede signing is a bit risky for $2.5M.

Toronto Blue Jays – If you just looked at the number of $37M in cap room you would think that the Blue Jays would be going nuts in the FA market . . . but ass predicted here in the AL preview the Blue Jays have pretty well stood pat. Signing a little bit of pitching depth and making a great signing of a young, speed OF in Rajai Davis. I really wanted to bid on Davis, but alas I didn’t have the roster space.

Signees: Rajai Davis, Jake Westbrook - $4.6635M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Two Quality low-end signings to provide depth to a really solid team and still keep the cap space available for the future.

Chicago White Sox – With only a few million to work with and obvious holes at both OF and C the White Sox went in a different direction and have signed three pitchers, which was already a strength of this team. They are still in the running on Dioner Navarro, Tim Wakefield and Pedro Martinez . . . but only Navarro addresses a true team need, but not very well.

Signees: Hiroki Kuroda, JC Romero, Justin Duchscherer - $7M

Still Bidding On: Pedro Martinez, Dioner Navarro, Tim Wakefield

Bottom Line: Lots of signings, few addressing of actual team needs.

Kansas City Royals – NO FA ACTIVITY . . . with only $7M and needing a complete depth overhaul, this is not a surprising result.

Minnesota Twins – NO FA ACTIVITY . . . with only $5.5M to spend and major starting lineup holes to fill I thought that the Twins would make at least one signing, but no dice.

Seattle Mariners – The Mariners cut loose their dead weight in the RP position and used all of their cap room on 3 big name Free Agents. Though they were big name signings, I doubt that they were all wise ones. In addition they traded away Brian Wilson for cash to bid on FA’s with and then have yet to replace his possible 20-25 saves or 20-25 holds depending on whether he wins the closer’s job or not. Chavez is already talking about missing the beginning of the season with a back issue. Garland is a solid addition to the starting rotation, but Hernandez is an odd signing to me. More than $5M for a catcher to backup Russell Martin that hasn’t been able to log 400 AB’s in the last three years . . . I can’t help but think that there were more affordable, equally talented, less injury prone options out there (Carlos Ruiz and AJ Pierzynski come immediately to mind) and that that money could have been used better.

Signees: Eric Chavez, Jon Garland, Ramon Hernandez - $16.1M

Still Bidding On: None

Bottom Line: Signed some backup bats and a solid starter, but could have used their $16M more wisely.

Effects of FA on AL Playoffs Race:

The Mariners widened their gap in the AL West, for though they made what I think are some small mistakes, the other three teams in the division either refused to participate or made bigger mistakes than the Mariners did.

The AL East tightened up as everyone was active in Free Agency and was also EFFECTIVE in the market. In think the Cleveland Indians may have vaulted themselves into Wild Card contention with their signings, especially if Salty comes through, and that cannot be said for any other non-playoff team in the AL. In fact, with the moves through free agency in the East and the odd moves out of the West, I would not be surprised if the East ends up with 3 playoff teams this year. The Mariners, however, are still the team to beat in the AL.

Commissioner's Corner (03-03-08)

Busy week on the free agent market. Cleveland made a big committment to Bobby Abreu with a $14 million contract for this season. The Fukudome bidding appears to be down to two teams with the Cubs and Red Sox battling it out for the services of the outfield import from Japan.

Thanks to Chris for picking up the slack over the weekend when I was ill. It's always fun to wake up at 12:30 am to the sound of your son throwing up in his bed. Macaroni & cheese just doesn't hold the same appeal when it comes back up.

Opening day is only 22 days away. Seems just like yesterday that my Sox were wrapping up the sweep of the Rox here in Colorado. It's going to be a tough road for them to try to repeat. In today's market, the big market teams have just too much money for one team to dominate. The Yanks will be there as usual and the Mets made a big splash w/ Santana. But, that's why they play the game on the field and not in the papers. I'm looking forward to our first season. I think things have gone quite well in the preseason and I feel that we're in for a very active and competitive 2008 season.