As you know this year's off season is filled with questions regarding Mark Texeira, Manny Ramirez, CC Sabathia as the big names. Personally, if I were a GM I wouldnt want any part of the latter two "big ticket" names. Before you start thinking that I am retarded let me enlighten you on why. Manny, I just plain dont like him, he is a great player but is a selfish prick and would be a detriment to any team he plays on. Now, CC is a proven stud based on what he did for the Brew Crew last year, but come on this guy is eventually going to break down.
The point of this article is not to highlight the big names, but the other free agents and/or deals that could be difference makers in the up-coming season. The list consists of position players of the likes of Orlando Cabrera, Orlando Hudson, Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn, and Edgar Renteria. I love both Orlando's because they are spark plugs at the top of the order and are solid defensive presences in the feild. It would be crazy for the White Sox and the D-Backs not to retain them. Bobby Abreu is a solid player who produces solid at bats and is a true grinder at the plate making opposing pitchers work for the out. Adam Dunn, he truly is a donkey, he has possibly the most power of any left handed hitter in all of baseball other than Ryan Howard, but this guy either hits a HR or strikes out. Although this is the case he would be a solid player on a good team that could afford his strike out per at bat ratio. He reminds me of a young Jim Thome, he has power and could drive in runs if he had the complementary players that got on base for him and he walks and strikes out a lot.
As for pitchers, you have A.J. Burnett, Ryan Dempster, Derek Lowe, and Ben Sheets as the other top pitchers out there. Personally, I think A.J. Burnett is a poor mans Josh Beckett who has not lived up to the potential and has underutilized his ability. With that said I personally believe that he will be heading to the NL where he can take advantage of only having to get 8 outs against sub par hitting. The team that will sign him, in my opinion will be the Cards, which will put them back at the top of the NL Central and will give them stability to completment the pure force of Albert Pujols. Ryan Dempster is an interesting pitcher, he has experience both starting and closing, but I am not convinced he will be worth the money his will end up getting this year. More than likely he will probably end up in a Cubies uniform, however I feel that he is nothing more than a 3rd starter but will put up numbers because the NL sucks so much. Ben Sheets has nasty stuff, but gets hurt way to much, he reminds me of Matt Clement because he just cant stay on the feild. But with that said, he is worth the risk of any team that signs him because of his number one starter stuff. I feel he will end up in the AL possibly in Baltimore, New York, and I would love to see him sporting a Red Sox uniform. With that said, Derek Lowe is the most intreguing free agent of them all. Hate him or love him, he is a solid starter and has the post season experience that teams desire. Its been said he wants to come back to Boston but I feel the Sox wont make that happen because they already has Justin Masterson, a young D-Lowe in the making. So, my feeling is that he will be a Detroit Tiger next season, pitching with a chip on his shoulder to prove that he still is a valuable pitcher.
Now the needs of the Red Sox have had me thinking a lot lately after seeing all the rumors that have been reported. All I know is that Lugo has to be moved to allow Lowerie a chance to prove himself as a full time player for a whole season. Despite how terrible he has been in Boston, much like Edgar Renteria a few years ago, I feel that he is one of those players that just cant play in the lime light. The good news is that there is a market for SS this year, with teams like the Tigers, White Sox, and others in need of one. My feeling is that no team is going to take a chance on him until spring training to see what he has after the injury pleagued season he had last year. Any deal including Lugo would be for a shitty prospect or another high priced contract that has not panned out. With that said the Tigers are probably the best suiters in any deal because of the apparent washed up D-Train. I just don't see how Dontrelle has gotten so bad so quickly, and I do believe that he will regain his form and become the exciting young pitcher that he once was.
The second issue is what to do with Coco. Should he stay or should he go? I believe that its time to go, not because he wasn't good last year, but because of his value at this point. I believe that he will be dealt in a situation that will include a young catcher such as one of the 3 in Texas or Jeff Clement of the Mariners.
