Remaining Free Agents

Of MLB Trade rumors 2011 top 50 free agents only 11 remained by January 10th, including the number 7 overall Rafael Soriano and in the 11 days since 5 of them have signed and those were:

Soriano:Yankees
Pavano: Twins
Thome: Twins
Balfour: A's
Fuentes: Angels

MLBTR remaining top 50 free agents are Vlad Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Andy Pettitte, Scott Podsednik, Kevin Millwood and Johnny Damon. I will also include Orlando Cabrera and Russel Branyon who were both featured in other top 50 free agent lists and then to make it interesting why don't we add in the Yankee free agents of Nick Johnson and Chad Moeller just for fun. Obviously Pettitte will either retire or play for the Yankees so he is not much of a free agent, but the rest are all interesting cases especially Guerrero who found himself out of what seemed like a sure thing in Texas.

Ramirez, Guerrero and Damon are all looking to DH next year, so they are limited to the American league but many clubs, including the Yankees, still view Damon as a possible 4th outfielder, but I haven't heard of any National league teams expressing interest in him. Damon and Ramirez both have the huge advantage of Scott Boras as an agent and he did pull that starting job in Detroit for $8 million out of thin air last year, but Vlad had more HR's and RBI's than both of them put together last year. MLBTR reports that Vlad is close to a deal with the Orioles but that the Angels remain another possibility, the article also says that Manny is likely to sign by next week. The Angels, Rays, Rangers and Blue Jays have all shown interest in Manny, but i think that the Rangers are the best option for Manny as the Rangers have stated that they want a veteran bat and Manny could easily become the primary DH if Mitch Moreland starts off bad and Michael Young moves to first. The Rays remain a possibility and they could use another bat that can hit above .250, but they probably won't see eye to eye on money. Damon and Scott Podsednik have both been discussed as lead-off options for the Blue Jays and the Angels and while Podsednick is the better lead-off option both players would fit with either team.

There has not been a lot of talk about Orlando Cabrera, but the Pirates and the Giants seem the most likely possibilities and he would have to compete for a starting job in spring training but could definitely win the job with either teams. Kevin Millwood is another interesting piece as he went 4-16 in 31 starts and had a 5.10 ERA, but he is reportedly being pursued by the Indians, Orioles and even the Yankees. I doubt that the Yankees would match what the Indians and Orioles would offer as both those teams would likely insert him into the rotation immediately, while the Yankees would make him compete for a rotation spot . Millwood has expressed interest in returning to the Orioles, but Progressive Field is more pitcher friendly and he did play for the Indians back in 05. Russel Branyon has a number of options and could catch on with a number of teams, including the Rays, Rockies and several other clubs, but he will likely have to accept an incentive based contract similar to his deal from last year with Cleveland.

As for our former Yankees; Nick Johnson and Chad Moeller, both will likely receive minor league deals and they both could very well start the year in AAA. Moeller will get another minor league contract where he will provide depth and as a result he could end up in a number of clubs, his off-season does weigh party on  if Bengie Molina signs, because Moeller is only real option left after that and some club could bring him to compete for the backup job if a trade changes things. There has been almost Zero talk about Nick Johnson this off-season and that has everything to do with his injury back in May, he will probably get a minor league deal, spend the beginning of the year on the disable list and hope to get called up to the bigs, to think we gave him $5.5 million for 98 PA.