EVIL~! alkeiper

Jason Bay, Rich Harden, and Justin Morneau.

As an aside, Puerto Rico would field the most interesting team. They have Ivan Rodriguez, Javy Lopez, and Jorge Posada all available at the catcher's position. However, the island only has two starters in the majors right now, Javier Vazquez and Joel Pineiro.

From what I hear, the Netherlands have a pretty good national team.

Oh god. Can you imagine the Yankees' attempts to civilize Kline?

Jason Lane is the obvious fill-in for the Astros. Whatever else they'll have on the team depends on the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes.

Relief pitchers can be a highly inconsistant lot. A reliever with a career year is less likely to follow it up than any other player. So take these rankings with a grain of salt, especially after the first few. 1. Armando Benitez 2. Troy Percival 3. Chris Hammond 4. Antonio Osuna 5. Steve Kline 6. Scott Williamson 7. Trever Miller 8. Steve Reed 9. Rheal Cormier 10. Jose Mesa 11. Kent Mercker 12. Dan Miceli 13. Bob Wickman 14. Dave Weathers 15. Wilson Alvarez 16. Terry Adams 17. Esteban Yan 18. Antonio Alfonseca 19. Jeff Nelson 20. Buddy Groom This is a weak market for closers, with only Benitez and Percival contributing reliably. Jose Mesa is inconsistant, and Scott Williamson and Bob Wickman are injury risks. However, the market is absolutely loaded with lefties, including Steve Reed, Chris Hammond, Rheal Cormier, Kent Mercker, Buddy Groom, and Steve Kline on the market. Mike Myers, Gabe White, and Terry Mulholland also fall outside the list. Trever Miller is a possible steal, as he put his finest season together in Tampa Bay, coming off a two year layoff from 2001-02. Antonio Osuna has avoided the injury bug for two years now, and also looks like a capable reliever. This is a fine reliever market, particularly for teams who can sort through the candidates wisely.

The Cardinals declined Woody Williams' option, making him a free agent. I'd slide Williams in at #12, between Lieber and Lowe. Williams has been on a slow slide over the last two years, but he could still pitch effectively for another year or two.

The Sox usually have good hitting. Their pitching is what kills them.

Please understand I am not saying Lieber isn't a good pitcher. He is. But he is not a vital piece of the Yankees. I would take him over Milton, and I might take him over Wells. I certainly wouldn't take him over Radke, who has better control, more strikeouts, and less of an injury history. You also have to consider Lieber's history. How wise is it to make a judgement on a pitcher based on two months performance? Lieber had a 104 ERA+ this season. That also happens to be his career mark. That puts him about average. Could the Yankees use him? Of course. But if they don't resign him, they'll be fine, as long as they find a suitable replacement.

Why? He's a nice starter and all, but he's average.

At one point, he had 33 Ks in 24 IP, after an August 1st start where he struck out nine batters. His K rate was still 8 per 9 innings in September, so he didn't fall off. Just a leveling effect.

For those interested, an MLB exhibition team featuring Manny, Hank Blalock and others is playing Japanese stars, in Japan. MLB.com has the audio broadcast, free of charge.

If they expand the LDS, I could buy it. I would rather they just schedule a doubleheader or two somewhere in the season. They would probably make more money giving 2-for-1 days than cutting eight games off the schedule.

1. Pedro Martinez 2. Matt Clement 3. Odalis Perez 4. Brad Radke 5. Carl Pavano 6. Orlando Hernandez 7. Russ Ortiz 8. David Wells 9. Paul Byrd 10. Jaret Wright 11. Jon Lieber 12. Derek Lowe 13. Kevin Millwood 14. Ron Villone 15. Matt Morris 16. Kris Benson 17. Paul Wilson 18. Eric Milton 19. Cory Lidle 20. Elmer Dessens Other free agent pitchers had better years than Pedro Martinez, but no pitcher holds his kind of track racord. His defense independant statistics were still excellent, and that is even before you remember that he pitches in a good park for hitters. No pitcher in this market has the pure stuff to dominate hitters like Martinez. Matt Clement suffers from bouts of inconsistancy, but he has excellent stuff. His last below average ERA was in 2001. The most similar pitcher to Clement at 29 was Jason Schmidt. Odalis Perez struggled in the postseason, but posted excellent numbers in the regular season. Perez throws Wells/Lieber type control, but is much younger. His poor W/L record makes him a potential bargain. Brad Radke experienced one of the best years of his career. Radke is a ten year vet with a career 114 ERA+, so you know what to expect from him. No active pitcher walks less batters. A great #2 option. Carl Pavano put it all together for the Florida Marlins. The major concern is whether this season was a career season or not. Still, the lack of great pitchers gives him an advantage in this market. Orlando Hernandez surprised baseball with a comeback season. No one knows how old he really is. Still, he was great before he missed last season, and his peripherals were excellent (nearly a strikeout per inning). Russ Ortiz walks alot of hitters, but gives you consistancy. His ERA+ the last three seasons has averaged 106. His peripherals are a problem, but he keeps the ball in the park. David Wells has not posted a below average ERA since 1996. Wells' issue is his lingering back trouble, which pops up from time to time. Still, Wells has reached 30 starts the last three seasons. He's a great control pitcher, and could be excellent with the proper defense behind him. Paul Byrd has a history of success, and arm difficulties. He has only pitched 200 innings once in his career. Byrd is homer-prone, so he needs a deep ballpark to pitch at full potential. Jaret Wright broke out in a big way this season. His walk rate is a problem, but just 11 home runs in 186.3 IP, which is excellent. Wright definately has a good shot at keeping this up, if he can avoid the injury bug.

ESPN.com reports 5-6 months. In any case, the Astros are lost without Berkman, so they need him back. Whoops your right, for some reason i thought it said may miss season even though it said start of the season. They could have updated the story after the initial report. That happens quite often.

ESPN.com reports 5-6 months. In any case, the Astros are lost without Berkman, so they need him back.

Hank Greenwald, Denny Matthews, and (what the heck) Richie Ashburn. I'm allowed homerism once in a while.

Ugh. Javy Vazquez would be an utter disaster at Texas.

This is Scott Boras' style. Announce a high price tage, and try and get a team to bite. Anyone remember when Kevin Millwood supposively had a 5 year/$75 Million offer on the table? The A-Rod type contract will not happen again, but Beltran will get a big contract. There are at least six teams seriously interested in his services. All of them are willing to pay $12-14 Million, I bet. This starts a bidding war, because some team has to set itself apart from the rest in order to land that contract. That team will likely be the team willing to risk seven or eight years. I would certainly question whether Beltran is worth that money. He is not a great hitter in the Rodriguez or Ramirez mold. .284/.353/.490 is hardly impressive, and you have to hope that this season wasn't a career year at the plate.

I think its worth noting that the Portland Trailblazers drafted Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan because they needed a center. Beltran is clearly the best player in this market. Sometimes when you persue subpar players to fill a position, it bites you.

Most are of the "He's a Yankee, I don't want a Yankee managing the Mets" variety. Nobody's really complaing about his ability on the managerial aspect. A few have said a first time manager shouldn't get his start as a Met Joe Torre's first managerial gig was as a Met.

Howard Eskin can kiss my ass.

Absolutely. Willie Randolph has been a top managerial candidate for several years now, and it is about time a team gave him an opportunity to manage.

How many times do I need to point this out? Beltran will help their DEFENSE.

Talk about wanting to get in the ground floor. After Drew and Beltran, the market thins considerably. 1. Carlos Beltran 2. J.D. Drew 3. Magglio Ordonez 4. Moises Alou 5. Steve Finley 6. Jeromy Burnitz 7. Jermaine Dye 8. David Dellucci 9. Danny Bautista 10. Juan Gonzalez Carlos Beltran is an absolute stud. He is the greatest percentage base stealer of all time, a great defensive outfielder, and a great hitter. He turns 28 next season, so he has many years left. J.D. Drew avoided the injury bug at the right time. Drew holds a 133 OPS+, an excellent mark. He can absolutely crush the ball. A real sleeper free agent. Magglio Ordonez is an injury risk. No one seems to know what his knee holds for the future. Assuming it holds up, he'll be an excellent pickup. A perennial 315/380/500 type hitter. Moises Alou earned a foul reputation from his days in Chicago. But he did club 39 home runs. He is unlikely to repeat his performance, and he could carry alot of baggage. I would expect performance similar to his 22 home run season in 2003. Steve Finley holds a strong defensive reputation, but it is slipping, and his OBP took a hit last season. He turns 40 before next season, so buyer beware.