While most of the winter's biggest prizes have been snatched up (Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford to name a couple) and delivered as early Christmas presents to franchises, there still remains a solid group of free agents who can impact the upcoming season for many prospective teams. In the spirit of the New Year, let's countdown from the Type Bs to Type As remaining on the Free Agent landscape and where they will land in 2011:

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The name Bartolo Colon and the New York Yankees should never be linked in a sentence again this offseason.
 
Yes, Colon won the 2005 American League Cy Young Award, but that is not what resonates in my memory.
 
Back in 2008, the Red Sox were the only team interested in signing the overweight pitcher, who stood at 5’11" and tipped the scale at 245 pounds. Making seven starts as a member of the Red Sox, the injury-prone Colon found himself back on the DL again.
 

Nearly two months ago, the San Francisco Giants took care of some unfinished business, their first world championship in San Francisco. 

Now, with spring training just two months away, the Giants have little time to prepare for next season's campaign. They brought back most of their 2010 championship team, including their pitching staff, and added Miguel Tejada to replace Juan Uribe, but is it enough?

In wake of the upcoming Hall of Fame elections, I have decided to cast an unofficial ballot.

John Franco: The all-time leader in saves for a left-handed closer.

Lee Smith: Was Trevor Hoffman before Trevor Hoffman.

Fred McGriff: 493 homers... close enough

Roberto Alomar: One of, if not the best second baseman of all time.

Bert Blyleven: Bert is the pitching version of Fred McGriff. Didn't get 300 wins, but was very close.

Why the not-so-optimistic title? Because a fifth place finish in the NL Central isn't quite worthwhile when you're the Chicago Cubs. In 2010, the team sported the highest payroll in the senior circuit at $137.9MM and were 12 games under .500 by the trade deadline.

Under manager Lou Piniella, the Cubs played with little enthusiasm and became complacent with their reputation as a team with a curse.

It will be up to new manager Mike Quade to shake the curse and keep his team motivated during his first full season at the helm, one which needs more ups than downs.

Earlier in the week, I filled out my Hall of Fame ballot here at The Ghost of Moonlight Graham.

Phil Hughes was the toast of baseball through May as he appeared nearly unhittable.  He was 6-1 over the first two months to go along with a 2.72 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 57 strikeouts over 56.2 innings of work. 

Over the next four months, however, he was not nearly as effective.

For the entire season, he posted the following line:

18 Wins
176.1 Innings
4.19 ERA
1.25 WHIP
146 Strikeouts (7.45 K/9)
58 Walks (2.96 BB/9)
.281 BABIP

As the new year comes to a close with the Red Sox being a very early favorite for the American League, let's take a look back at one of the "greatest" trades that never happened.

The Yankees and the Red Sox rivalry is easily the biggest, and most heated in all of sports.

In the 1950s, Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of all time, was the "face" of the Boston Red Sox.

I have mentioned this a few times already, but he is worth the attention again.
 
Rafael Soriano is still a free agent, available and on the market. Whatever it is shocking considering he was the AL’s dominate closer in 2010 with the Tampa Bay Rays.
 
Even before Cliff Lee’s decision, Soriano as a player would have been more than enough for the New York Yankees to walk away with heads high.
 

The latest MLB rumors on Adrian Beltre, Rafael Soriano and Derrek Lee are here, and Bleacher Report has the inside track on where these players may be headed, for how many years and for how much. 

Beltre leads the class of remaining free agents, and although there are only a few teams reportedly in the sweepstakes, there may be a few dark-horse candidates that no one else is talking about.