Free Agency

“Miguel Tejada signs with the Minnesota Twins.”

Reading that headline wouldn’t elicit the excitement it would have five years ago, but it’s still an intriguing proposition.

Five years ago, Tejada was one of baseball’s best players and had recently signed a massive six-year, $72 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles.

This is nothing new to Red Sox fans.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

This famous saying serves not only as a motivational tool, but also as a solid offseason philosophy for small-market general managers.

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times.

The Twins need another infielder and they need a legitimate hitter to handle the two-hole in the lineup.

Both of these facts have been beaten to death by Twins fans this offseason, and for good reason.

Pitching wasn't exactly an issue last season for the Boston Red Sox, but as shown in years past, there's no such thing as having too much of it.

This has to be my favorite time of year. The beautiful leaves have fallen. The air is getting much cooler. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Gone is summer—the long days, the starry nights.

College Football Bowl season is so close we can taste it, NCAA Basketball holiday tournaments are getting ready to begin, and Hot Stove League baseball is in hyper mode.

The latter of that trio is one of my favorite aspects of the great sport of baseball. That time where everyone is 0-0. Every team has a shot.

The Minnesota Twins came into this offseason with three major goals:

1) Sign Joe Mauer to an extension
2) Improve the infield
3) Add at least one veteran arm to the rotation

General manager Bill Smith got off to a quick start on his offseason “to do list” by acquiring shortstop J.J.

Minnesota general manger Bill Smith is a busy man.

In the last week alone, Smith was rumored to be in on a deal for new Pittsburgh second baseman Akinori Iwamura, he traded away Carlos Gomez for J.J.

Chien-Ming Wang is a member of the World Champion New York Yankees, for now.

The 29-year-old right-handed starter is eligible for arbitration this winter and the Yankees have until the December 12 deadline to offer him a contract for next season, something that doesn’t appear likely.

First of all, here's a link that will help us establish a proper frame of reference. The sheet attached is from Cot's Baseball Contracts, a valuable source for contract information for baseball players. It breaks down the 2010 financial obligations of the Chicago Cubs.

According to this breakdown, the Cubs are already obligated to $119 million in 2010, a number that's down from the nearly $135 million it reached this past season.