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.