2007 Free Agent Watch

First Base
Matt Stairs - could also play corner OF. A serviceable player who has some power, not a bad pickup for someone who needs an Olmedo type guy that might play more often.

This means that trading Nomar or Kent will look really good.

Second Base
Tadahito Iguchi - average 2B hitter, pretty good defensive reputation. Don't know where he ends up.

Third Base
A-Rod - the star of this year's offseason, as he will undoubtedly opt out. A signing that would spell a trade of Andy LaRoche for LA, but I would welcome it. Expect NY to want to keep him, but few others will afford him or even try to. Colletti might sign him to assert himself.

Mike Lowell - Boston will pick him up likely, unless they decide to spend more and grab A-Rod. More likely they stick with him, though, given he's put up a solid 128 OPS+ this year, and they'd rather not commit to A-Rod for a decade.


Shortstop

David Eckstein - St Louis will probably retain the all-star MVP, but it's worth mentioning.

Outfield

Matt Stairs - corner guy, not going to be everyday, probably, but not a bad player.

Sammy Sosa - recovered well from an 82 OPS+ to a 98 OPS+, but is still probably not that useful a player. He'll get people to look at him, though.

Trot Nixon - .346 OBP, .345 SLG. Bench jockey.

Geoff Jenkins - lifetime Brewer, 110ish OPS+ consistently, not a bad player to get. Milwaukee might keep him for that reason, though.

Milton Bradley - injury prone like crazy, and crazy, but a good ballplayer when he plays. Can play CF, but will likely stick to the corners.

Bobby Abreu - doing pretty good, though is walk rate is way down this year, although he still has more than Juan Pierre ever did in a season.

Barry Bonds - stay in SF, or be a DH?

Adam Dunn (T) - Having a good year, will almost certainly have 100 BB and 40 HR, but will Wayne Krivsky say that the strikeouts are a bad thing and let him go?

Mike Cameron - fading, and average hitter with a bit of power. A stopgap type of centerfielder.

Torii Hunter - an answer to a hole in CF. Look for Baltimore and NY to show interest, as the Twins won't try to afford him.

Andruw Jones - Braves will try to afford him and fail. Look for NY, Baltimore, Boston or, what the hell, Anaheim to pick him up.

Aaron Rowand - good runner up prize for those unable to get Hunter or Jones.

Catcher

Michael Barrett (30) - the best FA catcher on the market. Wow.

Jason Kendall (33) - having a terrible horrible no good very bad year. Who wants him?

Paul LoDuca (35) - May stay in NY, but who knows.

Mike Piazza (39) - No clue. Probably going for backup catcher gig, LA might look for him to give Little a reason to rest Russell Martin.

Closer

Eric Gagne - a very poor showing in Boston, though this is due to small sample size and an unusuallly high BABIP (.500! in 10 games!). This may be because his stuff is not as sharp as it once was, but that would only explain a difference from about .280 to .330. Gagne's just been having bad luck in Boston.

Mariano Rivera - His ERA is the highest it's been since he's been a closer, which sounds awful until you hear it's 3.02. But seriously, the Yankees will probably pick him up. I dont' know why I'm bothering with this paragraph.

Todd Jones - Is a middle reliever, but watch some idiot GM pay $5,000,000 for him next year.

Starting Pitcher

Tom Glavine - he's old, but still going. Will probably stick with the Mets, but who knows.

Andy Pettitte - had a good year with the Yankees. May stay, particularly as there will likely be Panic over Mike Mussina's awful year.

Kenny Rogers - he's old, and missed much of this year due to injury. That won't stop some team on picking up this veteran.

Matt Clement - out a year due to surgery, a Randy Wolf type gamble, likely to command a similar price of $8 million for a 1 year deal.

Bartolo Colon - After winning a Cy Young award 2 years ago, he's still fat, but he's been awful and injury prone. This looks like a Texas Rangers move.

Curt Schilling - best free agent pitcher on the market, and he's not coming back to Boston.