Post by Lark11 on Nov 3, 2011 10:56:15 GMT -5
sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AjXqsMaSazVFoebqKdzV98o5nYcB?slug=jp-passan_ultimate_free_agent_tracker_baseball_110211
Baseball’s ultimate free-agent tracker
By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports 11 hours, 6 minutes ago
Here is the free-agent class of 2011-12, ranked from Nos. 1 to 182. The rankings are based on a number of variables, including each player’s history, age and potential, and are as much about predicted performance as market value, providing a general outline as free agency unfolds between now and spring training.
1. Albert Pujols(notes), 1B: The best player of his generation seeks a contract to match. While he won’t exceed Alex Rodriguez’s(notes) overall deal, he might best it in average annual value. The big question: Will St. Louis go that high?
2. Prince Fielder(notes), 1B: For all the questions about how his body will age, it has done so remarkably well through his first six seasons. Hitters as accomplished as Fielder simply don’t hit free agency at 27, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him pass Mark Teixeira’s(notes) eight-year, $180 million deal – or even crack $200 million.
3. Yu Darvish, SP: The Japanese import’s stuff is better than Daisuke Matsuzaka’s,(notes) his work ethic is way better and his marketability – a Japanese-Iranian star – is off the charts. If he gets posted, the frenzy will be similar to Daisuke-mania – only warranted.
4. Jose Reyes(notes), SS: Was well on his way to Carl Crawford(notes) money before injuries hit and dragged along the same concerns that have plagued his career. Still could get a nine-figure deal because of positional scarcity as well as overall explosiveness.
5. C.J. Wilson(notes), SP: Barry Zito(notes) got $126 million. John Lackey(notes) and A.J. Burnett(notes) each got $82.5 million. Darren Dreifort got $55 million a decade ago. So when Wilson gets filthy rich after a mediocre postseason, the answer is one simple word: precedent.
6. Carlos Beltran(notes), OF: Comeback year stalled once he got to San Francisco, and his dynamism is as shot as his knees, but the bat still plays, and he’ll forever be a smart enough ballplayer to adjust to his age.
7. Roy Oswalt(notes), SP: Even if his stuff has gotten more hittable, Oswalt on a three-year deal is significantly more palatable – and cost-effective – than committing four years to Edwin Jackson(notes).
8. Jimmy Rollins(notes), SS: His glove and speed remain plus assets, he rarely strikes out and he’s enough of an emotional force in the clubhouse that a team with a leadership vacuum could value him accordingly. He wants four years. Three with a team option seems fair.
9. Grady Sizemore(notes), OF: Nobody else will have him this high, which is fine. He’s 29, will be a year off microfracture surgery and primed to come back. Whether it’s a one-year, make-good deal or a multiyear, under-market package, the team that strikes on Sizemore – and moves him to left field – will be happy it did.
10. Aramis Ramirez(notes), 3B: Looks and plays a lot older than 33. His defense is terrible and his baserunning even worse. But third base is a suckhole of talent, and Ramirez is the only player on this list a contender would take comfort in starting daily.
11. David Ortiz(notes), 1B: The best DH since Edgar Martinez looks for love in a market that in recent years has told DHs they’re essentially worthless. Papi wants multiple years. Despite the numbers to warrant such a deal, he may not get them.
12. Mark Buehrle(notes), SP: With St. Louis’ rotation more or less set for next season, Buehrle’s return to Chicago is practically a foregone conclusion.
13. Hiroki Kuroda(notes), SP: On one hand, he’ll be 37 opening day. On the other, he’s a 200-inning horse who can generate gaudy groundball rates and walks few. The perfect two-year gap-plugger for a team in need of a top-notch No. 3 starter.
14. Jonathan Papelbon(notes), RP: The velocity is there. The strikeout rate is phenomenal. The walk rate plummeted last year. As long as he doesn’t go to a place where fly balls really fly, he’ll continue to be among the five best closers in the game.
15. Ryan Madson(notes), RP: One of the game’s most devastating changeups makes him the ideal sort of pitcher: a groundball-inducing, strikeout-throwing machine. That he showcased the ability to pitch in the ninth inning only increases his value.
16. Michael Cuddyer(notes), 1B/OF: The older he gets, the more contact he makes. And for a 33-year-old-to-be bat-only guy (whose time spent at second base does make him an injury-replacement possibility) that’s a pretty good position to be entering free agency.
17. Edwin Jackson, SP: Yes, he’s an inning-eating horse. Yes, he’s got great raw stuff, from the mid-90s fastball to the 89-mph slider. Perhaps the team that awards him four or five years gets great return. And yet something about this – whether the pitch-count abuse or just how many teams have willingly dumped him – screams red flag.
18. Hisashi Iwakuma, SP: After Oakland’s proposed deal underwhelmed him last offseason, the 30-year-old right-hander returns from Japan as a free agent, happy to sign wherever he pleases.
19. Carlos Pena, 1B: A three-true-outcomes king, with his walk, strikeout and home run rates all well above average. Don’t let the .225 batting average last season fool you; Pena put up an excellent season.
20. Heath Bell(notes), RP: Precipitous drop in strikeout rate could portend something bad. San Diego plans to offer him arbitration, and Bell could well accept and return for $10 million.
21. Javier Vazquez(notes), SP: The threat of retirement wouldn’t seem so silly had Vazquez not posted the third-best ERA in baseball after June 16. Only Clayton Kershaw(notes) and Cliff Lee(notes) were better than Vazquez’s 1.92.
22. Francisco Rodriguez, RP: Mellowed-out K-Rod provided the same results as angry K-Rod: hysterical innings from which he somehow managed to escape. How he gets through them still defies logic.
23. Josh Willingham(notes), OF: Even in the hitters’ hell that is O.co Coliseum, Willingham managed to pop 15 home runs and slug .523. He’ll be a nice find as a six-hole hitter for a contender.
24. Jason Kubel(notes), OF: A bum foot limited him most of the season and left him with a second-half OPS more than 100 points lower than his first half. If he heals, Kubel is solid left-handed power option.
25. Paul Maholm(notes), SP: The good: high groundball rate, age (29) and left-handedness. The bad: ended the season on the DL with a shoulder strain. If Maholm is healthy, he should field multiyear offers.
26. David DeJesus(notes), OF: Lost season in Oakland after a career year in Kansas City. Excellent corner outfielder, smart baserunner and ideal No. 2 hitter if any of his previous on-base mojo returns.
27. Kelly Johnson(notes), 2B: Turned season around after trade to Toronto and hopes to recapture some of that amid a crowded mid-tier second-base market. Hits home runs.
28. Jonathan Broxton(notes), RP: Non-reconstructive elbow surgery should leave him ready for the beginning of the season, and if his stuff returns along with him, a risk-taking team will have the steal of the offseason.
29. Coco Crisp(notes), CF: Pure center fielders aren’t easy to find. Ones with game-changing speed – Crisp led the AL in steals with 49 – are even tougher. The problem: He still can’t get on base, and it severely mitigates his value.
30. Tsuyoshi Wada, SP: The most successful Japanese left-handers in the major leagues have been Hideki Okajima(notes), Hisanori Takahashi(notes) and Kaz Ishii. Wada, a free agent, would like to change that.
31. Erik Bedard(notes), SP: Started 24 games. Or, as the rest of us call it, progress.
32. Joel Pineiro(notes), SP: While a shoulder injury impinged on his velocity, his sinker lost only an inch of movement. As long as his arm returns in good shape – and with the shoulder, that’s always a question – he could be an excellent buy-low option.
33. Aaron Hill(notes), 2B: Turns 30 in March, and after back-to-back brutal seasons, needs a good one to salvage his career.
34. Johnny Damon(notes), DH/OF: Just keeps hitting. Two more decent years and he’ll become the first member of the 3,000-hit club not to make the Hall of Fame.
35. Kerry Wood(notes), RP: His reinvention as a late-inning reliever is one of the nicer stories in baseball. No more talking about what could’ve been. What he is now is pretty darn good.
36. Francisco Cordero(notes), RP: Likely to suffer financially because of the surfeit of relief pitching as well as his declining strikeout rate. Still, his closing experience will intrigue someone.
37. Jim Thome(notes), DH: Remains a dangerous 300-at-bat asset as well as the most unfailingly positive clubhouse presence in the game. And, at 41, continues to look for that first championship.
38. Rich Harden(notes), SP: Still puts up a monster strikeout rate and palatable walk rate. Allowed a disproportionately high number of home runs last year, which should even out this year if his right arm agrees to postpone its inevitable falling off.
39. Casey Kotchman(notes), 1B: Has always been a great contact hitter. Last year, the balls just happened to fall. Regression seems inevitable, though an OPS over .800 in the AL East will get him a job somewhere.
40. LaTroy Hawkins(notes), RP: While it remains mystifying how someone can throw as hard as Hawkins and strike out so few batters, he returned after a lost 2010 to look as good as he has in nearly a decade. Getting groundballs on 62 percent of hitters certainly helped.
41. Jason Marquis(notes), SP: Gobbles innings like Pac-Man does ghosts. And while he’s no better than a No. 4 starter, there can be significant value in that.
42. Hideki Matsui(notes), DH/OF: First half: .209/.290/.327. Second half: .295/.353/.425. And that was in Oakland. Could turn into a Thome or Jason Giambi(notes) type with a lesser workload.
43. Bartolo Colon(notes), SP: Batters against him in the second half: .298/.338/.498. Looks like the expiration date on injecting your own stem cells is approximately three months.
44. Mark Ellis(notes), 2B: Rough season notwithstanding, Ellis still has plus range and can hold his own with the bat.
45. Jamey Carroll(notes), UT: Peaking in his late 30s, Carroll brings on-base viability as well as positional flexibility that may score him a two-year deal.
46. Bruce Chen(notes), SP: Jamie Moyer(notes) 2.0.
47. Ryan Ludwick(notes), OF: He’s almost certainly never going to be Ludwick ’08 again. At the same time, he could prove a bargain for 400 plate appearances.
48. Takashi Saito(notes), RP: Seven scoreless innings in the postseason. A 2.03 ERA in the regular season. All at 41. If he doesn’t retire, he’ll be a valuable contributor somewhere.
49. Matt Capps(notes), RP: His 34 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings were unsightly. Ditto his 10 home runs.
50. Chris Capuano(notes), SP: From sidelined for two seasons to a touch-and-go comeback to nearly 200 innings with the Mets, Capuano has earned a rotation spot somewhere, especially with his 3.2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
51. Darren Oliver(notes), RP: It’s never good when the best left-handed reliever available starts getting social security in spring training.
52. Ryan Doumit(notes), C/OF: Pure upside play. He can be an excellent and versatile option if he’s healthy, which he hasn’t been for most of his career.
53. Chad Qualls(notes), RP: Went to Petco paradise, posted a favorable ERA, will get paid for it despite just 43 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings. Every reliever looking to resurrect his career should offer to play for the minimum in San Diego.
54. Brad Lidge(notes), RP: His fastball velocity is down seven mph from its peak. Threw his slider on nearly three-quarters of his pitches last year. Could reinvent himself as an offspeed, groundball specialist as long as he can command his breaking ball.
55. Joe Nathan(notes), RP: A rough April ceded to a decent rest of the season in his return from Tommy John surgery. Like Lidge, betting on the person as much as what’s left of the arm.
56. Andruw Jones(notes), OF/DH: Too damn fat. Though it doesn’t matter as much now that his job is to fill in for corner outfielders and hit home runs, both of which he does rather well.
57. Wilson Betemit(notes), 3B: His bat – which carries his awful defense – fell apart after a trade to Detroit. Nonetheless, he’s only 30, a switch hitter and a proven producer in back-to-back seasons.
58. Matt Murton(notes), OF: Two straight monster seasons in Japan should earn him another big league shot after a touch-and-go career here. He may be nothing more than a AAAA player. Worth a flier to find out, no?
59. Derrek Lee(notes), 1B: As the Pirates tanked, Lee surged to the tune of .337/.398/.584. Small sample size? Yep. Indicator that he’s not done at 36? No question.
60. Ramon Hernandez(notes), C: One of the best free agent catchers available, which says all you need to know about free agent catchers this offseason.
61. Jeff Francis(notes), SP: Nursed himself back into 183-inning shape last season, and while many of them were underwhelming, Francis is young, left-handed and possesses excellent control. A viable No. 5.
62. Aaron Harang(notes), SP: The Chad Qualls corollary: To rescue thyself, go to San Diego. Will be interesting to see if the market is for Harang’s 3.64 ERA or 98 ERA+, the latter being far more in line with the scouting reports than the former.
63. Freddy Garcia(notes), SP: Another case of the results not matching the reports. To have done it in New York was even more impressive. Scouts expect a return from orbit.
64. Kosuke Fukudome(notes), OF: As miserable as he can look – his swings and misses are worse than Bieber on loop – he does have a career .361 on-base percentage.
65. Frank Francisco(notes), RP: Throws hard. Sometimes knows where it’s going. Often doesn’t. Succeeds anyway. Just keep him away from folding chairs.
66. Cody Ross(notes), OF: Solid fourth outfielder worth 400 or so plate appearances.
67. Clint Barmes(notes), UT: Defensive metrics love him at shortstop. Scouts see a utilityman with a little pop in his bat.
68. Vladimir Guerrero(notes), DH/OF: Twenty years from now, when he’s in a wheelchair, he’ll still be able to hit the damn ball.
69. Juan Rivera(notes), OF: On the verge of signing a one-year, $4 million deal with the Dodgers that includes a team option for 2013.
70. Raul Ibanez(notes), OF: Hit like crazy at Citizens Bank bandbox. Stunk on the road. Crushed right-handers. Couldn’t touch lefties. In other words, give him a tiny park, platoon him and keep him away from the field, and it’s an excellent signing.
71. J.D. Drew, OF: Likely to retire, which will give Red Sox fans one final, cathartic day of complaining how J.D. Drew(notes) is the worst thing in the history of things.
72. Ronny Cedeno(notes), SS: Hasn’t figured out how to hit and may never, but his glove should keep him employed, if not starting, for a while.
73. Alex Gonzalez(notes), SS: Outlasted the other Alex Gonzalez. Now trying to outlast his .291 lifetime on-base percentage, which is a significantly more difficult fight.
74. Rafael Furcal(notes), SS: It’s a sheer delight to watch him throw. Other than that, there’s only a drop or two left in the tank.
75. Jerry Hairston Jr.(notes), UT: Plays everywhere and at a solid defensive level, posts a respectable on-base percentage and is beloved in the clubhouse. He’ll have his pick of teams.
76. Juan Pierre(notes), OF: At 34, could see backup duty for the first time in his career. No longer a potent stolen-base threat (caught stealing a major league-leading 17 times this year) and still a defensive liability.
77. Livan Hernandez(notes), SP: Proof that you can be old, fat and tied to a Puerto Rican drug lord and still be eminently employable as a professional athlete. This is America, man.
78. Kevin Millwood(notes), SP: He spent the majority of 2011 at Triple-A and walked only eight in 54 1/3 innings with Colorado, which should get him a guarantee somewhere, even if his fastball rarely breaks 90 mph.
79. Joel Zumaya(notes), RP: The guy threw 104 mph. So what if his arm is made of cotton candy? It’s a far more worthwhile million-dollar gamble than most of the places free-agent money goes.
80. Mike Gonzalez, RP: The second-best left-handed reliever on the market is Mike Gonzalez. That is all.
81. Kevin Kouzmanoff(notes), 3B: Came up as a slugging, mediocre-glove third baseman. Will survive as a great-glove, mediocre-bat third baseman.
82. Ramon Santiago(notes), UT: Cobbles together solid seasons with good glovework at all the infield positions and a bat that is fine in limited use.
83. Endy Chavez(notes), OF: Excellent defensive replacement at all three outfield positions, serviceable bat and good wheels. Need a fourth outfielder on the cheap? He’s your guy.
84. Nick Punto(notes), UT: Set a career high with a .388 on-base percentage in 166 plate appearances. If he’s even within 40 points of that next season, he’s a good addition.
85. Dontrelle Willis(notes), SP/RP: How does .100/.169/.200 sound? Those are Willis’ splits in 60 tries against left-handed hitters last year. Give up on the starting dream, convert him to a lefty specialist, thank me later.
86. Rod Barajas(notes), C: Lots of power and decent-enough receiving ability make him stand out in this catching crop drier than a Barolo.
87. Jon Rauch(notes), RP: Struggled in Toronto, particularly in the second half when opponents hit .317/.349/.617 off him as he hit the DL with appendicitis and torn cartilage in his knee.
88. Yuniesky Betancourt(notes), SS: And we’re not even halfway through the list.
89. Willie Bloomquist(notes), UT: Still doesn’t have a season with an OPS+ over 86.
90. Octavio Dotel(notes), RP: The Brewers should sign him specifically so Ryan Braun(notes) doesn’t have to face him.
91. Dan Wheeler(notes), RP: One of the many relievers whose reinvention via the cut fastball could add years of life onto his career.
92. Arthur Rhodes(notes), RP: If he adds any years of life onto his career, could become the first desiccated corpse to pitch in the major leagues.
93. Reed Johnson(notes), OF: On one hand, his .309/.348/.467 showing represented a career renaissance. On the other, he struck out 63 times and walked five. Those are not typos.
94. Rick Ankiel(notes), OF: He’s got a tremendous arm. Maybe he could be a pitcher?
95. Laynce Nix(notes), OF: Getting to the part of the list where we begin to wonder what the Y in Laynce stands for. Yes? Yahtzee? Ypsilanti? Yahoo!?
96. Jorge Posada(notes), DH/C: It’s going to be really weird to see him in a different uniform.
97. Mike MacDougal(notes), RP: Finished last season with a 2.05 ERA. Full name is Robert Meiklejohn MacDougal. Not sure which is a less-known fact, nor which is cooler.
98. Luis Ayala(notes), RP: Joined MacDougal for best under-the-radar ERA season. Ended up at 2.09 with the Yankees.
99. Aaron Cook(notes), SP: Disastrous back-to-back seasons for a sinkerballer who has lost a couple inches of movement over the last few years as a broken leg and broken finger sidelined him.
100. Wily Mo Pena(notes), OF: Still room on the bandwagon. #wilymo4derby
101. Andrew Brackman(notes), SP: The 6-foot-10 right-hander lost his command at Triple-A last season and ended up cut by the Yankees. Huge potential will earn him plenty of chances.
102. Shawn Camp(notes), RP: Better-than-league-average ERAs for four straight years in the AL East should fetch him a shot somewhere.
103. Scott Hairston(notes), OF: Mondo power, decent outfield range and an allergy to getting on base.
104. Chien-Ming Wang(notes), SP: Infinitesimal strikeout rate all right if he can keep his groundballs above 55 percent and his walks around two per nine. Oh, and if his arm can survive.
105. Ben Sheets(notes), SP: Sat out all of 2011. Even if his arm isn’t 100 percent yet, worth a flier. Why not?
106. Chris Young, SP: If he could just stay healthy, I wouldn’t have to start off every sentence about him with the words “If he could just stay healthy.”
107. George Sherrill(notes), RP: One year removed from disaster with the Dodgers, he was solid, if hittable. One-out lefties need to be more the former than the latter to survive.
108. Guillermo Mota(notes), RP: Ranked 107th last year. Ranked 107th this year. At least he’s consistently mediocre.
109. Jason Isringhausen(notes), RP: Nearly 20 years ago, he headlined Generation K. Now he heads up a new pitching crew called Generation Get Off My Lawn.
110. Jonny Gomes(notes), OF: No. 110. Like a fine high-proof tequila.
111. John Grabow(notes), RP: Smack dab in the middle of the mediocre-lefty parade.
112. Lyle Overbay(notes), 1B: When the Pirates were winning, he was in the lineup. When they started losing, he wasn’t. Coincidence? Of course.
113. Eric Chavez(notes), 3B/1B: All the power is gone. So is the Gold Glove defense at third base. At 27, he was on his way to the Hall of Fame. Crazy – and sad – to think of how injuries can ruin careers.
114. Casey Blake(notes), 3B: Late bloomer lost his job with the Dodgers and could be on his way out, unless he wants a backup/pinch-hitting role. Always has hit lefties well, and last year (.283/.365/.415) was no exception.
115. Jamey Wright(notes), RP: Every year, he accepts a minor league invitation. And every year, he ends up spending the vast majority of his time in the major leagues.
116. Magglio Ordonez(notes), OF: Another lefty killer whose bat turned flaccid last season when the Tigers were paying him $10 million.
117. Mark DeRosa(notes) UT: For $12 million, the Giants got 42 hits, one home run, 18 runs, 22 RBIs, 17 walks, one stolen base, three caught stealing and 34 strikeouts in 201 plate appearances. Brian Sabean is like Life Alert for ballplayers: He helps save all the old ones.
118. Carlos Guillen(notes), UT: Looked like a shadow of himself down the stretch.
119. Edgar Renteria(notes), IF: All the momentum from the World Series translated into an awesomely terrible season.
120. Jack Wilson(notes), IF: In two stops this season, came remarkably close to the rare SLG-lower-than-OBP-when-both-under-.300 trick, something reserved for the very finest in offensive ineptitude. Thank goodness he owns a glove.
121. Fernando Rodney(notes), RP: Lost his closing job, his command and his manager’s confidence in Los Angeles. Next on the list is his career, which isn’t that far away.
122. Conor Jackson(notes), OF/1B: After a good 2007 and excellent 2008, devolved into replacement-level guy.
123. Kelly Shoppach(notes), C: Plenty of power, as he showed during the postseason. Enough to get him a backup job and make up for all his other deficiencies.
124. Jon Garland(notes), SP: A paragon of health for more than a decade, his shoulder finally gave out last season and necessitated surgery. Total risk, though a worthwhile one.
125. Nate McLouth(notes), OF: No longer an All-Star. No longer an everyday player. Can’t be the disaster he has been the last two seasons, either, not just as he turns 30.
126. Brad Penny(notes), SP: The moral of his last two seasons: Just because you throw hard doesn’t make you infallible. Penny never adjusted or learned how to pitch, his stuff faded and now he’s little more than a live arm that could and should be something but isn’t.
127. David Aardsma(notes), RP: Should return from Tommy John surgery late in the season. Perfect fit for a contender who would love to add a late-season piece without trading an asset.
128. Michael Wuertz(notes), RP: All those sliders did a number on his arm. If it somehow recovers, he’ll be a steal. Otherwise, just another casualty of the most unnatural action in sports.
129. Brian Sanches(notes), RP: The Marlins absolutely abused him, which is a shame considering he was among their most valuable relievers for the last three years. Once he started to get expensive, they booted him to the curb. Typical.
130. Rodrigo Lopez(notes), SP: Allowed 18 home runs in 97 2/3 innings. Hey, beats the 37 he gave up in 200 the year before.
131. J.C. Romero(notes), RP: Never really learned to throw the ball over the plate. How he has survived 13 years in the big leagues is a testament to resourcefulness and luck.
132. Brandon Wood(notes), IF: Turns the magic 27 years old during spring training. All his magic pretty much ends there.
133. Russell Branyan(notes), DH/1B: Sign him and Wily Mo, open up batting practice for the masses and hold a daily home run derby. People would buy tickets to see this. Seriously.
134. Aaron Miles(notes), UT: The short, white utilityman is quickly becoming the offensive answer to the slow-throwing, wily left-handed relief specialist.
135. Willie Harris(notes), IF: Plays second, third and all three outfield position and can get on base. Not a bad 25th man at all.
136. Greg Dobbs(notes), 3B: Played most of last season at third base for Florida, which says a lot more about the Marlins than it does Dobbs’ ability.
137. Ramon Castro(notes), C: Lots of power in minimal playing time equals a nice asset.
138. Scott Linebrink(notes), RP: Only 35, though he’s a half-decade removed from his last truly productive season.
139. Miguel Batista(notes), RP: Ready for team No. 11 and season No. 18. Rarely is someone so unloved and loved simultaneously.
140. Trever Miller(notes), RP: Left-hander. Pulse. You know the rest.
141. Gerald Laird(notes), C: He really needs to grow a horseshoe mustache and become Sal Fasano 2.0. It’s his destiny.
142. Vicente Padilla(notes), SP/RP: Won the ESPY for injury imitating life this year following surgery for a pain in his neck.
143. Damaso Marte(notes), RP: Co-owner, along with Carl Pavano(notes), A.J. Burnett, Kei Igawa and a few dozen others, of the hot new website www.theyankeesoverpaidme.com.
144. Jose Molina(notes), C: Hit a dozen doubles last season. Took a dozen minutes to reach second base on each.
145. John McDonald(notes), UT: RE-SIGNED Despite a six-year sub-.300 OBP streak, McDonald snags a two-year, $3 million deal to re-sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Story
146. Ivan Rodriguez(notes), C: Grandpa (39 years old).
147. Craig Counsell(notes), UT: Great-grandpa (41).
148. Omar Vizquel(notes), UT: Methuselah (44).
149. Orlando Cabrera(notes), IF: His playoff streak finally ended. Perhaps now, too, can the idea that he’s any good.
150. Jose Lopez(notes), IF: He was an All-Star at 22. This is not a joke.
151. Juan Cruz(notes), RP: Yes, he’s still around.
152. Xavier Nady(notes), OF: Yes, he’s still around, too.
153. Ramon Ortiz(notes), RP: When people used to call him Little Pedro, they meant this one.
154. Mark Kotsay(notes), OF: Continued a spectacular five-year run of negative WAR. All right, now. Who’s gonna give him a sixth?
155. Sergio Mitre(notes), RP: Fun fact: Among pitchers with at least 60 games started and at least 140 total, Mitre has by far the fewest wins – just 13, compared to the next worst, candlestick Kelley, who had 18.
156. Ross Gload(notes), UT: The real Gloaden Rule: Do not give a major league contract to a guy coming off a 64 OPS+ season.
157. Adam Kennedy(notes), UT: Started 23 games at first base and 15 at DH for Seattle last season. Also batted cleanup eight times. Facts are funny.
158. Zach Duke(notes), SP/RP: It’s really difficult to strike out 32 hitters in 76 2/3 innings with an 87-mph fastball and survive, especially with an unsustainably low home run rate.
159. Matt Treanor(notes), C: [Played out joke about his attractive wife here instead of noting that he’s a well-liked and -respected backup catcher for whom there almost always is a market.]
160. Jason Varitek(notes), C: Veteran catcher acquainted with rugged AL East play, pitchers who drink beer and eat fried chicken during games.
161. Brian Schneider(notes), C: This is the backup-catcher portion of the program, where everyone is pretty much interchangeable.
162. Josh Bard(notes), C: The Bard: “To be or not to be; that is the question.” Josh Bard: “To hit or not to hit; not to hit.”
163. Alex Cora(notes), UT: Was the lowest-ranked player on the 2009 list to get a major league deal. Could the same be the case this year?
164. Tim Wakefield(notes), SP/RP: He got his 200th win. The glue factory beckons.
165. Todd Coffey(notes), RP: Someone needs to sign him for the sheer entertainment of a man pushing three bills running from the bullpen to the mound.
166. Brad Hawpe(notes), OF/1B: What in bloody hell happened to him?
167. Corey Patterson(notes), OF: Remember when he was logging significant playing time for the Cardinals in September? That La Russa was a genius
168. Cesar Izturis(notes), UT: Hitting .087 in winter ball. That translates to -.035 in the major leagues, which would be some sort of a record.
169. Jason Repko(notes), OF: Could find a job thanks to his acuity with the glove.
170. Chad Durbin(notes), RP: Pounded all over the park last season. If there’s any hope, it’s in a strikeout rate that remained respectable.
171. Sean Burroughs(notes), 3B: Great story, probably not a major leaguer anymore.
172. Steve Pearce(notes), OF/1B: One-time prospect marginalized by his own inability to hit.
173. Jake Fox(notes), C/DH: And “catcher” in only the loosest interpretation possible.
174. Chris Snyder(notes), C: Last we heard, Snyder couldn’t protect his wife in a road-rage attack because of back surgery. Hopefully, he’s well enough to at least block the plate.
175. J.R. Towles(notes), C: What shot J.R.’s career? A .184/.267/.315 slash line, that’s what.
176. Scott Atchison(notes), RP: Here’s to 26 percent line-drive rates!
177. Jason Michaels(notes), OF: Hit 21 line drives last season. Hit 10 pop-ups. That is not a good ratio.
178. Horacio Ramirez(notes), RP: Has made more than $8 million in his career. Hopefully not the same Horacio Ramirez who works at a carpet factory.
179. Jason Kendall(notes), C: A no-hit catcher with a bum shoulder and an ex-wife slated to appear on the reality show “Baseball Wives.” Even Scott Boras couldn’t get him signed.
180 Chris Jakubauskas(notes), SP/RP: Would love for him to sign with Florida just to hear Ozzie Guillen say “Jakubauskas.”
181. Brandon Webb(notes), SP: The market for 81-mph fastballs just isn’t as robust as it was in 1911. Rotator-cuff surgery leaves his career in doubt.
182. Pat Burrell(notes), OF: He is more likely to crash another World Series than play in one.