What to Watch For This Off-Season

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

With the next meaningful baseball game another five months away, the true baseball addicts need something to turn to during the off-season. For me, it’s a variety of things. The NFL and College Basketball are high up on the list, but I also try to keep a close eye on the MLB free agent market.

What players are changing teams this off-season? How is this going to affect next year’s competitive landscape? Are my Orioles going to pick up a few players so that they have a chance to possibly make the playoffs in 2009? Probably not, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Here are a few players to keep an eye on during this off-season:

C.C. Sabathia – The Yankees courtship of Sabathia has started early. They have already made him a six-year, $140 million offer. Most of the experts expect Sabathia to sign with the Yankees, which will have an effect on the rest of the free agent pitcher’s market. If the Yankees don’t get Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe are the next best options. The Yankees may sign Lowe, even if they do get Sabathia. Watch for the Sabathia signing to have an effect on whether the Yanks sign Andy Pettitte, or pressure Mike Mussina to consider coming back for another year (he seems to be leaning towards retirement). There’s not much else out there, so this should be interesting. (Prediction – Anaheim Angels)

Manny Ramirez – This year, Manny “being Manny” took on quite a few different meanings. Manny was just “being Manny” when he shut down and for all intensive purposes, forced the Red Sox into trading him. Then there was Manny “being Manny” as a Dodger, which produced a .396 batting average, 17 homeruns, 53 RBI, 36 runs and an absurd 1.222 OPS in 53 regular season games. He went on to top that performance by just “being Manny” during the playoffs, hitting .520 with four homeruns, 10 RBI, nine runs and a 1.746 OPS in only eight games. Think he was playing for the last contract of his career? Regardless of his motivation, Manny put on a show last year and is going to be paid quite well because of it. But can you trust him to continue focusing and putting in this type of effort? I think the Dodgers believe in the West Coast version of Manny Ramirez. (Prediction – LA Dodgers)

Mark Teixeira – Like Manny, Teixeira went off last season after being traded. During his 54 game stint with the Angels in 2008, Teixeira hit .358 with 13 homeruns, 43 runs batted in, 39 runs and a 1.082 OPS. As if he wasn’t already a top free agent, this performance, not to mention a .467 average in the playoffs, really bumped up his stock (and asking price). Many teams are in the running including the Angels, Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers (if they don’t sign Manny). At age 28, don’t be surprised if he signs a seven+ year deal, especially with Scott Boras representing him. (Prediction – Baltimore Orioles…this might be more hope as an O’s fan, than intuition)

Francisco Rodriguez – Do you think there are a few teams out there that would like to have KRod at the end of their bullpen? Yeah, I do too. The Angels would love to keep him, but they can’t afford to and have already let him know this. The New York Mets made a splash last off-season by signing Johan Santana to a seven-year $137 million contract. He helped the front of their rotation, but the Mets still missed the playoffs, in large part because they didn’t have the pieces in their bullpen to close the door. KRod instantly provides them with consistency at the end of games. It’s a perfect fit, both on the field and off, as the Mets are ready to pay what it will take to get Francisco on the roster. (Prediction – New York Mets)

Here are the best of the rest. The top free agent players at every position, after the ones I listed above.

Catcher: Jason Varitek
First: Jason Giambi (probably more a DH, but not many 1B available after Teixeira)
Second: Orlando Hudson
Third: Casey Blake
SS: Rafael Furcal
Outfield: Raul Ibanez, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu
DH: Adam Dunn
Starting Pitcher: A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets
Closer: Brian Fuentes


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.