Archive for Free Agents

The other day I was struggling to think how the Braves’ offseason could get any worse. I’ll admit that this development hadn’t occurred to me: John Smoltz is leaving Atlanta for the most stunning of destinations. The Boston Red Sox. Smoltz, 41, is on the verge of signing a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the […]

Rosenthal has a piece up about Adam Dunn. The first post about it in the BTF thread is from the always insightful Harveys Wallbangers, and it’s pretty brilliant, actually: If I were Adam I would take a one year deal, play my *ss off and look to re-enter a much better market to start 2010. […]

Apparently Mark Teixeira’s wife made the call on signing with the Yankees: Thirteen days before Christmas, Mark Teixeira, the Yankees’ $180 million man, was having dinner with his wife, Leigh, when he pleaded with her for insight about the future. If everything was equal among Teixeira’s suitors, he said, where would she rather see him […]

Between this and the Kerry Wood signing, I can’t decide if the Indians are going to have a really good staff this season or set the record for use of the disabled list.

For three days straight I’ve been seeing the headlines about how the Yankees are planning to “unveil” Teixeira in some sort of news conference and have been wondering why, exactly, this is big news. We know who he is. We basically know about his contract. What is there really to unveil? It’s an empty exercise […]

Tony Massarotti does a post-mortem on the Red Sox’ unsuccessful pursuit of Mark Teixeira. Nothing all that shocking or new here, but then he says something interesting: 5. Can Boras and the Red Sox still do business? The answer to this question is probably yes, but one can only wonder. Part of the problem is […]

A look at the new Angels closer.

According to Rosenthal, it’s two years and $16 million for Pat the Bat: The Rays, filling their need for a power hitter, are close to signing free-agent Pat Burrell to a two-year, $16 million contract, according to major-league sources. Burrell, 32, will serve as the team’s designated hitter. The Rays, nearing their payroll limit, could […]

It’s for sale, anyway. Nice digs. Paid $3.5 million for it in 2005 and now wants north of $7 million. If he remains unsigned when spring training comes it means that he’s overvaluing the market for corner outfielder/DH types just as much as he’s overvaluing the market for real estate.

We continue our slow holiday schedule (sorry, the kids ain’t lettin’ me sit at the computer all day) with a note from the hot stove league. Seems that Manny and the Giants may be up to something. Via BTF: The San Francisco Giants are pursuing free-agent slugger Manny Ramirez and have offered him a four-year […]