Free Agency

Free-agent ace Cliff Lee is burning his talents right through the MLB winter meetings this week.

Just a week ago Lee was on his way to New York, unless the Rangers could convince the southpaw he had good reasons to stay in Texas.

The baseball world is still whining and complaining about Jayson Werth's seven-year, $126 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

Let 'em whine, I say.

For some reason, the Nationals just can't placate anyone, so why try? For years, the team has been slapped about because they refused to spend millions of dollars on players who wouldn't help them become a contender.

With the ungodly signing of Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126 million contract the cost of outfield help has gone through the roof. The Tigers are most likely working pretty hard to get a deal in place with Magglio Ordonez to be the right fielder in 2011. However, because of the lack of outfield depth on the free-agent market, Ordonez might be able to land a ridiculous deal. If that happens the Tigers may be forced to look to the trade market.

Picture a young kid, no older than 12, hitting hundreds of baseballs into a ragged net, or throwing them at a makeshift backstop. They grow up with huge dreams, living in an impoverished nation of less than 10 million people.

Aside from the location, their dream sounds none to different than the one we all had, right? Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two out. The pennant on the line. With one swing, you win a ring, the love of a city, and secure financial stability for your family.

My upcoming articles will look at each free agent this season, signed or unsigned, and try to analyze what the player can be expected to do over the coming years, what the player will probably get (or has gotten) on the free agent market, and what I would want to pay the player if I was in charge.

When Kevin Towers took over the job as general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks he had several items on his to-do list to make this team more competitive. The top of that list included rebuilding the worst bullpen in all of Major League Baseball and cut down the number of strikeouts by the offense.

Both of these items were addressed when Arizona sent starting third baseman Mark Reynolds and either a player to be named later or cash to Baltimore for right-handed pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.

Yesterday, conjecture became reality.

After months of speculation that Jayson Werth would leave the Phillies when his contract expired, it became official when the Washington Nationals signed him to a mega-deal.

In a shocking move, Jayson Werth has signed a seven-year deal with the last place Washington Nationals, snubbing higher-profile teams like the Red Sox. 

After losing Adam Dunn to the White Sox and star rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg to Tommy John surgery, the Nats needed a seat-filler.  Attendance in DC has been pathetic over the years due to a lack of success for the team and high ticket prices. 

Adrian Gonzalez went a thorough physical at Massachusetts General Hospital today. While the organization has not officially commented on the results, a team official (speaking on the condition of anonymity) said he passed.

Currently, the club, the player and his agent are sequestered in an effort to hammer out a contract extension…so while the Red Sox have not confirmed that he passed the physical, it seems unlikely they would be negotiating a contract extension if he had not.

Well, folks, the Atlanta Braves have been doing some much-needed improvements to their roster and the results are starting to look nice.  Gone is the dead weight of guys like Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth, Melky Cabrera and a few more who weren't worth the uniforms they had on.  Also, Derrek Lee and Matt Diaz are now free agents and can test the waters. 

So, what does this mean for Atlanta?  Let's find out.