2004 MLB Free Agent Class
 

Now that I've come out of the haze of the Red Sox World Series Championship, it occured to me that the 2004 free agent class is one of the deepest in recent memory. Here is the list of the bigger names out there:

Adrian Beltre (signed with Seattle: 5yrs/$64M)
Roger Clemens
Carl Pavano (signed with NYY: 4 yrs/$40M) :|
J.D. Drew (signed with Los Angeles: 5yrs/$55M)
Jeff Kent (signed with the Dodgers: 2yrs/$17M)
Jason Varitek (re-signed: 4yrs/$40M) :thumbsup:
Troy Glaus (signed with Arizona: 4yrs/$45M)
Pedro Martinez (signed with NYM: 4yrs/$54M) :lol:
Odalis Perez
Carlos Beltran
Nomar Garciaparra (re-signed: 1yr/$8M)
Carlos Delgado
Edgar Renteria (signed with Boston: 4yrs/$40M) :thumbsup:
Magglio Ordonez
Eric Milton (signed with Cincinnati: 3yrs/$25.5M)
Brad Radke (re-signed: 2yrs/$18M)
Richie Sexson (signed with Seattle: 4yrs/$48M)
Orlando Cabrera (signed with Anaheim: 4yrs/$32M)

Aside from the free agents, Sammy Sosa, Kevin Brown, Javier Vasquez, Randy Johnson, et al, might also be on the move.

So, any thoughts as to where some of these guys might end up? I would be absolutely shocked if Varitek left Boston or if the Yanks didn't over pay for a middle of the road starting pitcher.

No...we don't want Pedro. :thumbsup:

Nobody will be surprised if Steinbrenner takes his pick from this deep free agent class. He is expected to seriously pursue Carlos Beltran, as well as, of course, pitching. I would expect Pavano and Milton or Russ Ortiz to be on his list, not to mention trading for Randy Johnson.

You know who is going to have the best offseason of anyone? Scott Boras. According to ESPN, he represents Beltran, Beltre, Drew, Mags, Varitek, Lowe, and Kevin Millwood. Good God.

I hear a lot of things around Baltimore, especially about Carlos Delgado wanting to come here. Also rumors about Glaus willing to move to first base for a team to sign him.

There are also stories about Beltran not wanting to go to the Yankees, so we'll see on that (he'd look nice in center in OPACY, that's for sure :p).

One thing on Ordonez: supposedly Boras is not allowing any team to examine his injured knee before signing him.

You have to think the George S. is smarting from losing to the Red Sox. He is going to go shopping that is for sure, and he is sure to start with the pitching.

In a Peter Gammons' chat on Boston.com, he said that Beltran is deeply religious and would feel more comfortable in an area which suits those attributes. In other words, working for Satan and living in NYC doesn't really seem to fit his desires. I think he'll probably stay in Houston and take Kent's money to pad his own contract.

I don't understand the obsession with Pavano. I see him as somewhere between fool's gold and high risk/high reward. The guy has had exactly one good season. Why does that make him so coveted? Before this year, here are his ERA and IP:

1998 134.2 4.21
1999 104.0 5.63
2000 97.0 3.06
2001 42.2 6.33
2002 136.0 5.16
2003 201.0 4.30

Look at his record. What is there in his history that indicates he will build on this year?

Milton is another enigma to me. Sure, he went 14-6, but he had a 4.75 ERA. It was no off year for him either, he has a 4.76 CAREER ERA. The only way for a pitcher like that to win is to have a very good offensive team when he pitches.

I'd take a chance on Javier Vazquez but not Kevin Brown. Vazquez did so bad in NY that a good GM might be able to get the Yanks to pay off half of his salary for the right player.

Clement could be a nice #2 starter. He's been fairly consistant the last three years. Since people put so much stock in records, his 9-13 record might turn some teams off and drop his value. I'd love to see the DBacks make a push for him.

Russ Ortiz is also a free agent. Although he's no ace, he's a consistant #3 guy. You know what to expect from him, lots of innings and a high 3's - low 4's ERA.

JD Drew had one HELL of a career year at the perfect time. I'd love to have him on my team. He always has a high OBP (.391 career OBP!) and fairly good slg% (31HR is a bit of a fluke for him though).

Glendon Rusch also gets my interest. He had a great year but has never been good at all. If he could sign for cheap I'd take a chance.

I'm a DBacks fan and many think we need a new SS. I don't necessarily agree. Sure, there are great names like Rentaria and Nomar but those guys are out of out price range. We keep hearing about Larkin and Royce Clayton. I hope the talk radio guys are joking. I'd rather we hope Alex Cintron can rebound and hit well next year than take one of two over the hill players.

The problem with Carl Pavano is that he has an alter ego named Sidney Ponson.

Underacheiving most of their careers, with an okay year and a great year in the last two before FA.

Of course, Pavano will get WAY more then Ponson got.

Dodgers are gonna try their hardest to get Beltre back. I think he enjoyed the team chemistry last year and will return.

If beltre doesn't return you will have the same anemic offense you had a year ago. Pavano is overated. I hope Nomar goes to Yankeeville because I don't want him in chitown. Milton is way overated too, but u can count on the Yanks overbidding a ton for everybody. Varitek is solid, it would be a big blow to boston if they can't resign him.

I've heard alot of places that Beltran would love to play for new york, since his idol plays there too. Bernie basically tought Carlos what he knows about the game and he says he'd love to play alongside him.

And if it goes to a bidding war....

well nuff said.

I also heard the A's are tryign to deal one of the big three and I've been hearing that a posada/gordon/prospects deal for Hudson could be made, that is if the Yankees eat some of Jorges contract.

This deal makes absolutely no sense from the A's standpoint. Hudson is only going to make $6M next year. And for their slightly above average talent, Gordon and Posada make an obscene amount of money ($12M total in 2004). Jermaine Dye was the highest paid Athletic last year with $11.6M and the A's declined his 2005 option. Billy Beane is not going to make this deal unless he wants to destroy the A's and hand the AL pennant to the MFYs. Also, what prospects could the MFYs send in a trade that anyone would be interested in? Their farm system is bare.

The A's would do better to unload Zito (Arizona?) and keep the Hudson-Mulder duo.

I keep waiting like everyone else to see Zito put it together like he did during his cy year. I would be scared to trade him as he could win 10 games or 22 next year. wish i had his curve.

So Borass came out and said Beltran wants a 10 year deal. Any team that does that deserves the future torment that they would recieve for it.

Supposedly Manny may be on the move as well. He would look great in a Mets uniform :)

Please let someone make an offer for Sammy, so the Cubs can give a wad of dough to Beltran. Am I just dreaming?

My take on where these guys go:

Adrian Beltre: Cubs or LA

Roger Clemens: back to Houston (but maybe the surprise of the offseason and sign with.......... BOSTON)

Carl Pavano: Indians say they are going to chase Clement but I think Pavano will be more affordable

J.D. Drew: Houston or REDS

Jeff Kent: Cubs

Jason Varitek: White Sox with Omar Vizquel

Troy Glaus: Stays on WC San Francisco

Pedro Martinez: goes cheaply to Baltimore

Odalis Perez: another Cleveland possibility but Red Sox

Carlos Beltran: Rangers

Nomar Garciaparra: A's

Carlos Delgado: NY Yankees over priced

Edgar Renteria: stays with St. Louis

Magglio Ordonez: My opinion best offensive FA LA

Brad Radke: St. Louis

Percival: Cubs

Benitez: INDIANS

Clement: back to the REDS

Wickman: Orioles or retires

My take.... I might have 1 right......

I think you may be way odd, Pedro will not go cheaply, he did good in post season

According to ESPNews, Omar Vizquel signed a 3 year deal with the Giants today. More pressure for the BoSox to get off their ass and sign a solid SS.

get off there asses? did the free agent period just start on friday!

SF gave a 37 yr old Vizquel too many years ..... 3 yrs for a SS with bad knees? I love Omar but couldn't believe it when I heard about the new contract.

Either SF is stupid or this is going to be a very HUGE spending F/A off season by some teams.

I have heard Boston is looking at Barry Larkin...... I find that hard to believe.... could see Larkin going to the Indians though

I heard from ESPN that Delgado may go to the Marlins, which makes no sense because the Marlins probably can't afford him. But, they definately could use the offense.
I see Beltre staying with the Dodgers. He had one heck of a year (Good for my fantasy baseball tearm), but it was just that, one year. I think that he won't get as much as he may be worth, and he'll stay a dodger.
Pavano is a good location pitcher, but he's not lights out. It's amazing that he won 18 games with the Marlins and their offense. I see him going to the Orioles.

Anyways, I'm sure most of you have seen this, but here is ESPN's top 50 Free Agents, and their prediction as to where they are going.
ESPN Free Agents

Let's see... the Sox didn't waste any time last year when Schilling and Foulke were available and we all saw how that turned out. SS is a huge position to fill, especially with the terrifying thought of Pokey Reese taking Cabrera's place in the everyday line-up. So, yes, they need to get off their asses and get the stability back.

As a jays fan I really do like delgado but I see him as wanting the money and not caring about winning. Which is terrible since the guy has been one of the highest paid players for years so he has tons in the bank. I hope we can resign him (doubt it!) as he is a fan fav, and does loads for the community, but I think he'll end up in LA with his friend green, or in baltimore with rafi at dh.

I don't belive much that ESPN writes. If they get 10% of their predictions right they had a good year.

And the FA list expands: Al Leiter. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1923626)

The Mets didn't feel that his $10M option for next year was worth it. Screw Pavano and Radke, I'll take Pedro and Leiter as the BoSox two and three starters.

The Mets made a good choice. Leiter is too old to make that kind of money. He had a great season last year but at his age the likelyhood of him repeating it is not good. A fine #3 starter though...

Lidle signed with the Phils today. Guzman and Castilla signed with the Expos.

Lidle was not on the top 50. Guzman was predicted to stay with the Twins and Castilla was predicted to go to the Reds.

ESPN is now 0-3.

Ummmm, don't the Expos know that Castilla is the epitome of suckiness when he plays anywhere but Coors Field? I wouldn't pay him $5.00 let alone the $6.2M the Expos are now stuck with for the next two years. What a joke.

ESPN is never right, btw. Last year they picked 9 out of 50 free agent destinations correctly, with only three actually changing teams (Sheffield, Ponson and Pettitte).

Thats pretty interesting, I've never really checked up on their predictions much. I guess I assumed they knew what they were talking about. I still hope that Delgado goes to the Marlins as they predicted, they could really use the offense.

Troy Percival signed with Tigers for some stupid reason today. 2 years for $12M. Wait, I just figured out why he signed there.

Omar for 3 years 12 mill, Percival for 2 years 12 mil? Can anyone say over paying over their prime players?

It looks like another free spending year. The Indians are done, lol. Reds are probably done.

I could've seen 1yr/6mil for Percy. He has probably one solid year left before his arm falls off. The one year he'll give you will be solid though, he's money for 35 saves. It's very hard to see him go, he's from my hometown, and I'm a huge Angel fan. But, alas, it's time for K-Rod to take the closer reins, just like Percy did from Lee Smith.

Adios Guillen
 

Well Halx and Goddfather, looks like you guys got rid of some of your Angel clubhouse cancer today:

From FoxSports

I believe Maicer Izturis is the little brother of Caesar Izturis, the Dodgers' SS.

nice trade for both teams (esp the angels)

Maybe the Expos can sign Raul Mondasi, Milton (the Game) Bradley, and Albert (I SAID don't $&^@ing call me JOEY!) Belle too.

Then when it gets to midseason and the Washington fans realize that the Wizards playing baseball would be better to watch and stop coming, they can have promotions like four-way steel cage matches.

Don't forget Carl Everett and managing they can have Bob Boone.

I really don't understand what Detroit was trying to do with the Percival signing when they already picked up the option for Urbina, who is 5 or 6 years younger. Urbina did have a bit of a down year, but Percival is on the back side of his career and has had trouble staying healthy. It seems to me Detroit has a number of other needs beyond Closer. Though bullpen depth is always a plus, a decent setup man could've been had for much less I think. There are guys out there that would've come alot cheaper is your are looking to add depth in the pen -- Kline, Fox, Mercker, Medoza, etc.

Urbina is a huge question mark for next season; he is still in South America trying to get his mother released from her kidnappers. If he does come back, having a bullpen with two guys like this is not a such a bad thing. Case in point: Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera.

Oh, I didn't realize the situation with his mother was still unresolved.

Armando Benitez, formerly of the Florida Marlins, signed with the G-Men: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1935338

This should greatly displease Halx.