Taking a sneak peek at free agency ...
Not that free agency figures to be a big story around these parts this winter -- at last check, Dave Dombrowski was taking in his returnables just to scrounge up enough pocket change to get through arbitration -- but it's always fun to look at the names that might be available.
With the help of Rotoworld.com and my own personal research, here's a pretty solid list of who's for sale this offseason -- headlined, of course, by outfielder Matt Holliday, above. By no means do I claim this list to be perfect, but it's a decent road map for those who enjoy the hot-stove season as much as I do.
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
SP Daniel Cabrera, free agent
1B Tony Clark, free agent
SP Doug Davis, free agent
RP Scott Schoeneweis, free agent
1B Chad Tracy, $7M club option ($1M buyout)
SP Brandon Webb, $8.5M club option ($1.5M buyout)
ATLANTA BRAVES
OF Garret Anderson, free agent
RP Mike Gonzalez, free agent
SP Tim Hudson, $12M mutual option ($1M buyout)
SP Chuck James, free agent
1B Adam LaRoche, free agent
1B Greg Norton, free agent
RP Rafael Soriano, free agent:
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
RP Danys Baez, free agent
RP Mark Hendrickson, free agent
3B Melvin Mora, $8M club option ($1M buyout)
OF Jay Payton, free agent
BOSTON RED SOX
OF Rocco Baldelli, free agent
OF Jason Bay, free agent
SS Alex Gonzalez, $6M mutual option ($500K buyout)
C Victor Martinez, $7M club option ($250K buyout)
RP Takashi Saito, $6M club option
C Jason Varitek, $5M club option or $3M player option
RP Billy Wagner, $8M club option ($1M buyout)
SP Tim Wakefield, $4M club option
CHICAGO CUBS
RP Chad Fox, free agent
RP John Grabow, free agent
RP Kevin Gregg, free agent
SP Rich Harden, free agent
OF Reed Johnson, free agent
OF So Taguchi, free agent
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
C Ramon Castro, free agent
RP Ocavio Dotel, free agent
OF Jermaine Dye, $10M mutual option ($1M buyout)
2B Jayson Nix, free agent
OF DeWayne Wise, free agent
CINCINNATI REDS
C Ramon Hernandez, $8.5M club option ($1M buyout)
RP Kip Wells, free agent
CLEVELAND INDIANS
2B Jamey Carroll, free agent
COLORADO ROCKIES
RP Rafael Betancourt, $5.4M club option
SP Jose Contreras, free agent
RP Alan Embree, $3M club option ($250K buyout)
1B Jason Giambi, $6.5M club option ($1.25M buyout)
SP Jason Marquis, free agent
C Yorvit Torrealba, $4M mutual option ($500K buyout)
DETROIT TIGERS
SS Adam Everett, free agent
DH Aubrey Huff, free agent
RP Brandon Lyon, free agent
2B Placido Polanco, free agent
RP Fernando Rodney, free agent
SP Jarrod Washburn, free agent
FLORIDA MARLINS
1B Ross Gload, $2.6M club option
1B Nick Johnson, free agent
HOUSTON ASTROS
3B Geoff Blum, free agent
1B Aaron Boone, free agent
RP Doug Brocail, $2.85M club option ($250K buyout)
OF Darin Erstad, free agent
SP Mike Hampton, free agent
RP LaTroy Hawkins, free agent
OF Jason Michaels, free agent
SS Miguel Tejada, free agent
RP Jose Valverde, free agent
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
OF Coco Crisp, $8M mutual option ($500K buyout)
RP Juan Cruz, free agent
C Miguel Olivo, free agent
RP Yasuhiko Yabuta, $4M player option ($500K buyout)
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
OF Bobby Abreu, free agent
SP Kelvim Escobar, free agent
3B Chone Figgins, free agent
DH Vladimir Guerrero, free agent
SP John Lackey, free agent
RP Darren Oliver, free agent
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
C Brad Ausmus, free agent
2B Ronnie Belliard, free agent
SS Juan Castro, free agent
SP Jon Garland, $10M mutual option ($2.5M club buyout/$1M player buyout)
2B Orlando Hudson, free agent
3B Mark Loretta, free agent
RP Guillermo Mota, free agent
RP Will Ohman, free agent
SP Vicente Padilla, $12M club option ($1.75M buyout)
SP Jason Schmidt, free agent
DH Jim Thome, free agent
SP Randy Wolf, free agent
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
OF Mike Cameron, free agent
OF Frank Catalanotto, $5M club option ($2M buyout)
2B Craig Counsell, free agent
OF Jody Gerut, free agent
C Jason Kendall, free agent
SP Braden Looper, $6M mutual option ($1M buyout)
2B Felipe Lopez, free agent
RP Seth McClung, free agent
SP Ben Sheets, free agent
RP Claudio Vargas, free agent
RP David Weathers, $3.7M club option
MINNESOTA TWINS
SS Orlando Cabrera, free agent
3B Joe Crede, free agent
RP Ron Mahay, free agent
SP Carl Pavano, free agent
C Mike Redmond, free agent
NEW YORK METS
SS Alex Cora, free agent
1B Carlos Delgado, free agent
RP J.J. Putz, $8.6M club option ($1M buyout)
SP Tim Redding, free agent
C Brian Schneider, free agent
OF Gary Sheffield, free agent
NEW YORK YANKEES
OF Johnny Damon, free agent
3B Jerry Hairston, free agent
OF Eric Hinske, free agent
DH Hideki Matsui, free agent
SP Sergio Mitre, $1.25M club option
C Jose Molina, free agent
OF Xaver Nady, free agent
SP Andy Pettitte, free agent
OAKLAND ATHLETICS
1B Bobby Crosby, free agent
SP Justin Duchscherer, free agent
DH Nomar Garciaparra, free agent
3B Adam Kennedy, free agent
RP Brett Tomko, free agent
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
C Paul Bako, free agent
2B Miguel Cairo, free agent
SP Cliff Lee, $8M club option ($1M buyout)
SP Pedro Martinez, free agent
SP Brett Myers, free agent
RP Chan Ho Park, free agent
OF Matt Stairs, free agent
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
None
SAN DIEGO PADRES
C Henry Blanco, free agent
OF Brian Giles, free agent
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
1B Rich Aurilia, free agent
RP Bobby Howry, free agent
SP Randy Johnson, free agent
SP Noah Lowry, $6.25M club option
C Bengie Molina, free agent
SP Brad Penny, free agent
2B Freddy Sanchez, $8M club option ($600K buyout)
3B Juan Uribe, free agent
OF Randy Winn, free agent
SEATTLE MARINERS
RP Miguel Batista, free agent
SP Erik Bedard, free agent
3B Adrian Beltre, free agent
1B Russell Branyan, free agent
OF Endy Chavez, free agent
OF Ken Griffey Jr., free agent
DH Mike Sweeney, free agent
SS Jack Wilson, $8.4M club option ($600K buyout)
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
OF Rick Ankiel, free agent
3B Mark DeRosa, free agent
RP Ryan Franklin, $2.75M club option ($250K buyout)
3B Troy Glaus, free agent
SS Khalil Greene, free agent
OF Matt Holliday, free agent
RP Trever Miller, free agent
SP Mark Mulder, free agent
SP Joel Pineiro, free agent
SP John Smoltz, $12-13M club option
SP Todd Wellemeyer, free agent
TAMPA BAY RAYS
RP Chad Bradford, free agent
OF Carl Crawford, $10M club option ($1.25M buyout)
RP Jason Isringhausen, free agent
2B Akinori Iwamura, $4.25M club option ($250K buyout)
OF Gabe Kapler, free agent
RP Troy Percival, free agent
RP Brian Shouse, $1.9M club option
RP Russ Springer, free agent
C Gregg Zaun, $2M club option ($500K buyout)
TEXAS RANGERS
RP Joaquin Benoit, free agent
1B Hank Blalock, free agent
OF Marlon Byrd, free agent
OF Andruw Jones, free agent
C Pudge Rodriguez, free agent
SS Omar Vizquel, free agent
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
C Rod Barajas, free agent
SS John McDonald, free agent
1B Kevin Millar, free agent
SS Marco Scutaro, free agent
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
C Josh Bard, $3M club option
OF Austin Kearns, $10M club option ($1M buyout)
RP Mike MacDougal, $3.75M club option ($350K buyout)
1B Dmitri Young, free agent
FYI, free agency doesn't begin until 15 days after the World Series ends. Teams have exclusive rights to negotiate with their own free agents during those two weeks. After that, then it's the oh-so-fun free-for-all.
Now a little housekeeping ... here are my American League and National League previews. I went a ridiculously successful 1-3 on my first-round predictions, and now I'm banking on that Dodgers-Yankees World Series.
