Curveballs and Sliders 02.05.08: The Return

Posted by Jared Marcus on 02.05.2008

A joyous day is here as it's the long-awaited return of Curveballs and Sliders to 411 mania. Thats right baby, we are back and better than ever. We return this week with a full recap of the Hot Stove League ranking all 30 teams on how they did this winter. Don't miss it!!!

LEADING OFF

Welcome to the return of your favorite baseball column, Curveballs and Sliders. It's a very exciting day here as the column has finally returned to the greatest site in the world, 411mania.com. There has been a lot of talk over the past few months about where the column and I have been, and we have received a lot of feedback requesting its return. Well, the good news is that last week myself and 411mania were able to come to terms on a new deal. It was rumored I was going to be surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble, but instead we ended up deciding to hold off my return until today. I want to thank all of you who wrote letters asking to have me back, it was very reminiscent of the Jericho fans saving the doomed show from the CBS scrapheap, well except for the fact that many more letters were sent on my behalf than theirs. Right out of the gate I want to thank Ashish for once again giving me an opportunity to write for his great site. And I want to also thanks Dan Owen, the 411 Sports Editor for being so accommodating with my return. He has done some great things with the sports section since I left and I am anxious to be working with him once again.

There will be a lot of new and exciting things here in this column going forward as well as many of the old favorite features you have all come to know and love. Also, thanks to the edition of the comments section at the bottom of every article that did not exist on my last go-round, I will now have the opportunity to respond to many more readers in this space. In addition to still doing the occasional mailbag and replying to all the e-mails I receive, I will now feature some responses from the comments section each week and respond to some of them, particularly the ones that complement and agree with me. LOL, just kidding, as many of you know, I am completely unable to brush off criticism of my opinions (mostly because I believe they are always right) and will be quick to respond to any and all critiques of my rankings, ratings or biases…..errr, I mean opinions.

I also have to mention that this coincidentally turned into a dream scenario week to make my return. I mean, what better time for me to return than during arguably the greatest sports week of my life. The New York Giants won the Super Bowl defeating the evil, undefeated Patriots. That game was not only one of, if not the greatest Super Bowl of all-time, but it was one of the great upsets of all-time, featured one of the greatest plays in the history of sports (Eli to Tyree on the final drive) and was probably the biggest New York sports moment in history, all things considered. Not to mention the fact that it has to be the greatest run in football history, beating the Cowboys at home, the Packers at home and an 18-0 juggernaut in the Super Bowl. If all that wasn't enough, the Mets landed the best pitcher in baseball just days before. In the matter of a few days, my two favorite teams had franchise-altering, legendary moments that may change the face of each sport for the foreseeable future. That may all sound like hyperbole and bravado, but it's really not. I couldn't possibly understate the importance of this past week if I tried. If I could, I would make it sound even bigger, I just don't think the words exist to do so. Alright, alright, enough about how happy I am, I know there are fans of 60 other NFL and MLB teams that could care less. Let me just lastly say how thrilled I am to be back and I look forward to an incredible year of writing, talking and debating baseball with all of you, after all it is one of my favorite things in the world to do. So without any further sappiness, let's move on to……….Curveballs and Sliders, version 2.0.


THE TWO HOLE

This has been as bizarre of a baseball off-season as I can ever remember. I know that over the last five or six years the hot stove league has come to move at a slower and slower pace as teams prefer to wait and let markets and trades develop rather than just handing over multi-million dollars to players like Kyle Lohse. I think this is a great idea and good for the game as a whole, but this off-season has taken that thinking to the nth degree. It started off kind of coolly, but then gained a ton of steam around the Winter Meetings with trades and signings seemingly coming in bunches by the day. Then one day it all just suddenly stopped. Now here we are just 10 days from the start of Spring Training and more "name" players are unsigned and without jobs than ever before at this stage of the year. Now it is true that a bunch of players (Pedro Feliz, Luis Gonzalez, Brad Wilkerson, Morgan Ensberg, Jorge Julio, Johnny Estrada and Sean Casey) have all signed within the last 10 days, but there are still a large number of players who have been starters for the last decade without jobs in February (more on that below). It has been such a slow crawl the past 6 weeks that there has even been talk of collusion by the players union. Now I don't think that is the case at all, I think teams have just finally come to their senses and finally started realizing that they would rather give their own young, cheap players a look, rather than doling out millions to mediocre players, many of whom are way past their prime. Sure there are still the ludicrous $5 million dollar deals for the Brett Tomko's of the world, but for the most part teams would rather not take the chance. I mean not to pick on the guy again, but why on earth would any team rather give Kyle Lohse $10 mil a season than try out some young prospect or waiver-wire pickup. Anyway, the point of all this is that the 2007 Hot Stove league was as interesting and as boring as any in history, though its probably not done yet by a long shot. Look for a lot of moves to be made between now and the start of the season. However, for the purposes of this column we are going to review the off-season as a whole right here today. The assumption is that any move going forward is pretty much a portion of the 2008 season rather than the 2007 Hot Stove League.

So this week we are going to begin our look ahead to the 2008 season by first looking back at the 2007 off-season. Over the next two sections we are going to review all the moves made during this past "Hot Stove League" by all 30 Major League teams. In addition, we are going to rank each team, by league, in the order of who had the best winter. Remember, this is not a ranking of who the best teams are, that will come once we get closer to opening day, this is just a ranking of how each team did over the past three months. Let's begin with the……………………………………


AMERICAN LEAGUE


1) DETROIT TIGERS
Key Additions – Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Edgar Renteria, Jacque Jones, Kenny Rogers (re-signed), Todd Jones (re-signed)
Losses – Sean Casey, Chad Durbin, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Mike Rabelo, Jair Jurrjens, Gorkys Hernandez, Omar Infante
Analysis – Is there any team that had a better winter than the Tigers? Not in my opinion. And this is a team that was already pretty good, just a year removed from a World Series appearance. Detroit got bust early in the off-season and stockpiled a number of all-star caliber players that add up to possibly the best lineup in baseball and one of the better rotations. Sure they emptied the top tier of their farm system to do it, losing excellent prospects like Maybin, Miller and Jurrjens, but that is the price you pay to put a World Series contender on the field. And the Tigers certainly have that. In Cabrera they add one of the top 5-10 hitters in the game and being able to acquire Dontrelle Willis in that same deal was fantastic. Dontrelle should be helped by the switch in ballparks as well as the enormous upgrade in lineups, though his switch from the NL to AL may help to counter those edges. In Edgar Renteria they acquired one of the better shortstops in baseball and in doing so were also able to move Carlos Guillen to first base, making him an upgrade there over Sean Casey. Jacque Jones is coming off a down year but is worth the chance, especially considering he will be their number nine hitter. Kenny Rogers was brought back for one last run and despite his age, Todd Jones was a no-brainer to bring back as the closer once it was clear that Joel Zumaya would miss the 2008 season.

2) CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Key Additions – Orlando Cabrera, Carlos Quentin, Nick Swisher, Octavio Dotel, Juan Uribe (re-signed), Scott Linebrink
Losses – Jon Garland, Gio Gonzalez, Ryan Sweeney, Darin Erstad, Mike Myers, Scott Podsednik, Craig Wilson, David Aardsma
Analysis – The White Sox opted to pretty much stay completely out of free agency this winter (other than a few bullpen signings) and concentrate on making trades, and boy did they make a couple of beauties. The greatly improved their lineup by adding Cabrera, Swisher and Quentin, three guys that figure to make immediate contributions. They lost a few top prospects in the Swisher deal, most notably Gio Gonzalez, but overall their take was much better than their losses. In addition adding Dotel and Linebrink greatly helps to shore up their bullpen. The only issue they didn't address is their rotation, though losing Jon Garland is not as big of a loss as it may seem.

3) NEW YORK YANKEES
Key Additions – Alex Rodriguez (re-signed), Bobby Abreu (picked up option), Mariano Rivera (re-signed), Andy Pettitte (re-signed), Jorge Posada (re-signed), LaTroy Hawkins, Jason Lane, Morgan Ensberg
Losses – Roger Clemens, Doug Mientkiewicz, Andy Phillips, Ron Villone, Luis Vizcaino
Analysis – Sure the Yankees missed out on Johan Santana, but both they and the Sox are probably better off having not made the move. What gets lost in the fact that the Yankees failed to land Santana or any other impact player is that they were able to bring back the best player in the game. Before the World Series was even over it was thought to be a foregone conclusion that A-Rod would be playing elsewhere in '08. Regardless of how it went down or who is to blame, or who looks good and who looks bad, the fact is that the Yankees needed A-Rod back, period. You cannot dispute that they are a better team with him than without him. In addition they were able to re-sign franchise pillars in Rivera, Posada and Pettitte, all deals that also needed to get done. Picking up Bobby Abreu's option was a no-brainer and taking a chance on Morgan Ensberg is a decent gamble. The only area where the Yankees really came up short this winter is in the bullpen, where they lost key parts in Chamberlain (move to rotation), Villone and Vizcaino, and gained only LaTroy Hawkins, who is no longer the pitcher he once was.

4) SEATTLE MARINERS
Key Additions – Carlos Silva, Miguel Cairo, Brad Wilkerson, Arthur Rhodes (re-signed)
Losses – Jose Guillen, Tomo Ohka, Jeff Weaver, Rick White
Analysis – My big sleeper team for 2007 (which ended up being a pretty good pick if I do say so myself) may turn out to be much more than that for 2008. This list of additions above may be very incomplete as the rumored Erik Bedard deal may finally go down any time now. For the purposes of this analysis and this ranking I am going to assume the M's will end up with Bedard losing a package of players headlined by Adam Jones. This trade will be ENORMOUS for the Mariners and one that could change the future of the franchise the way a young kid named Ken Griffey Jr. did some 20 years ago. Now I am not comparing Bedard to Griffey by any means, just saying that he will assuredly take them to another level as soon as he arrives. You hate to lose a player like Jones, but in this case it is well worth it. With Bedard and King Felix at the top of the rotation, the Mariners would be a huge threat to win the AL West. Brad Wilkerson was a nice addition to the team whether he ends up being a utility player or the guy to replace Jones in right field. And while the Mariners were the one team this off-season to fall victim to the weak free agent market, severely overpaying for Carlos Silva, he still could be a nice addition in that ballpark as a 3rd or 4th starter.

5) LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Key Additions – Torii Hunter, Jon Garland
Losses – Bartolo Colon, Dallas McPherson, Orlando Cabrera
Analysis – It is often said that the difference between the rich teams and poor teams is not that the rich teams can make better moves, but rather they can more easily recover from poor moves. Just a year after giving a ridiculous contract to Gary Matthews Jr. to man center field, the Angels went out and were able to sign one of the best center fielders in the game in Torii Hunter. There are only a handful of teams that could have pulled that off as most others would just have to sit with Mr. Matthews for the next five years and hope that he was able to justify the contract in some way. Luckily for the Angels they could do it and I say kudos to them for doing so. The only other big move they made this winter was dealing Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland which at the time seemed like a precursor for a trade for Miguel Cabrera, the guy they desperately wanted. Of course that trade never went down and in hindsight, without that deal the one they made doesn't look so hot. They already have 5 other starters meaning that Garland will knock either Joe Saunders or Ervin Santana out of the rotation, and Orlando Cabrera will be replaced by Erick Aybar or Maicier Izturis. In my opinion those are both downgrades and the Angels may regret this one. Other losses are Colon and McPherson, neither of which contributed anything to the team 2007.

6) TEXAS RANGERS
Key Additions – Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley, Ben Broussard, Eddie Guardado, Jason Jennings, Jamey Wright (re-signed)
Losses – Akinori Otsuka, Edinson Volquez, Sammy Sosa, Brad Wilkerson, Victor Diaz, Nick Gorneault, Jerry Hairston,
Analysis – About six weeks ago it looked like the Rangers barely had the talent to field a team. Their strategy was clear to wait the market out and fill in all their holes with cheap players with big upsides. Fast forward to the present and they did a fairly admirable job of doing this. Sure they lost some of last years key contributors like Sosa and Otsuka, as well as a top prospect in Volquez, but all things considered their winter was pretty good. Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley could become a force in the middle of their order and we have been waiting for years to see what Ben Broussard could do with an everyday job. Plus Jason Jennings and Eddie Guardado could be steals if they are healthy and return to form. Of course that is an awful lot of question marks and an awful lot of ifs, but everyone of those guys is low cost and potentially high reward, so it was worth the shot, right?

7) TAMPA BAY RAYS
Key Additions – Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, Al Reyes (re-signed), Cliff Floyd, Troy Percival, Mike DiFelice
Losses – Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, Shawn Camp, Tim Corcoran, Greg Norton, Jae Seo, Elijah Dukes
Analysis – The Rays were busier this off-season than any other in recent memory. Clearly their strategy going in was addition by subtraction, but they managed to add by adding along the way as well. Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes are unquestionably top talents, but they both clearly needed a change of scenery. And while the Rays didn't get much in return for Dukes, they were able to turn young into Matt Garza, one of the top young pitchers in the game. Garza, along with Kazmir and Shields will form the greatest pitching rotation in Rays history. The team also upgraded its infield with the acquisition of Jason Bartlett, fortified their bullpen by signing Troy Percival and bringing back Al Reyes and made a great value signing in Cliff Floyd. If healthy, Floyd is still capable of being a 30 HR threat.

8) MINNESOTA TWINS
Key Additions – Delmon Young, Joe Nathan (picked up option), Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey
Losses – Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, Carlos Silva, Lew Ford, Jason Tyner, Rondell White
Analysis – Its hard to know really what to make of the Twins off-season, other than loving that they traded Johan to the Mets. It seems like every step forward was followed by a step back, or vice versa. It was all of a case of six of one, half dozen of the other. The Twins struck early adding Delmon Young, which could end up being an incredible trade for them. The also added Brendan Harris in the trade and signed Mike Lamb and Adam Everett, which amazingly enough all combine to upgrade the infield significantly. Yet still, I can't imagine many Twins fans that are bowled over with excitement over that new infield. Sure they lost Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva, but all things considered, all their early moves had them in place to be a better team in '08 than they were in '07. Then they go and trade Johan, for seemingly pennies on the dollar (though I understand why they did), and it feels like now, regardless of any other moves they made, they don't have any more chance to contend this year than they did last season.

9) BOSTON RED SOX
Key Additions – Mike Lowell (re-signed), Mike Timlin (re-signed), Sean Casey, David Aardsma
Losses - Matt Clement, Eric Gagne
Analysis – The Sox didn't do much in the wake of their second World Series victory in four years, but let's be honest, they really didn't need to. Bringing Lowell back was a big key, even if he did probably overachieve a little last season. Losing Matt Clement, who barely ever pitched for them, and Eric Gagne who was awful for them after being acquired in August, is probably more of a positive than a negative. Sean Casey will be a solid bat off the bench and provide them with even more depth than they already have. The one move that they didn't make was to trade Coco Crisp in order to clear room for Jacoby Ellsbury, but still look for that move to go down sometime during Spring Training.

10) TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Key Additions – Scott Rolen, David Eckstein, Shawn Camp, Rod Barajas, Marco Scutaro, Matt Stairs (re-signed)
Losses – Troy Glaus, Josh Towers, Joe Kennedy (passed away)
Analysis – Another blah off-season from the Jays in which they are just hoping the natural progression of the players they already have will pay off in 2008. And that's probably not a bad bet. The only move of significance, other than the terribly sad Joe Kennedy situation, is the trade of former all-star third-basemen, Troy Glaus and Scott Rolen. Its probably a win for both teams as both players needed new surroundings, particularly Rolen who clearly could no longer co-exist with Tony LaRussa. However, if I had my choice between the two, at this point in their careers I would easily take Glaus. David Eckstein was a nice signing and despite my feelings of him being overrated, he is clearly an upgrade over any shortstop the Jays have had for the last few years.

11) KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Key Additions – Jose Guillen, Brett Tomko, Miguel Olivo, Ron Mahay, Albert Callaspo
Losses – Emil Brown, Jason LaRue, David Riske, Reggie Sanders, Mike Sweeney, John Thomson
Analysis – A year after diving headfirst into the free agent market and signing Gil Meche to a huge deal (a deal that despite being considered a joke by many actually paid off), the Royals again went back to a philosophy of less talk and less action. The signing of Jose Guillen is decent and will help bolster the lineup and Brett Tomko will add a veteran presence in the rotation, despite the ridiculous contract they gave him as mentioned above. Overall though it is hard to say the Royals are any better than they were when the season ended, though they certainly aren't worse and I guess that's something. Though losing longtime face of the franchise Mike Sweeney may be hard on the fans.

12) BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Key Additions – Lance Cormier, Troy Patton, Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate
Losses – Miguel Tejada, Kris Benson, Corey Patterson, Jaret Wright, Victor Zambrano
Analysis – Well, the Orioles have been talking about dismantling for years and it looks like they have finally given in. Obviously this process is far from complete right now, but as of this writing it is become more and more clear that the Erik Bedard trade is probably going to go down. If and when it does, it is expected that Brian Roberts will be moved to the Cubs shortly thereafter. With the departure of Miguel Tejada earlier this off-season, it leaves very little optimism for Orioles fans for the 2008 season. The good news however is that for the first time in a very long time, they will have hopes for the future. Peter Angelos finally seems to have accepted that the team as presently constructed will never be a threat to topple the Blue Jays, let alone the Sox and Yanks. As upsetting as it must be in Baltimore to lose Bedard, Roberts and Tejada all at once, fans should take solace in the fact that the additions of Adam Jones, Troy Patton, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate and Luke Scott may prove to be very beneficial a few years from now.

13) CLEVELAND INDIANS
Key Additions – Joe Borowski (picked up option), Paul Byrd (picked up option), Jorge Julio, Jamey Carroll
Losses – Kenny Lofton, Troy Nixon,
Analysis – As teams often do after having success in the previous year, the Indians decided to sit on their hands this off-season. They brought back Borowski to close even though they have more than suitable replacements in Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez and brought back Paul Byrd on the strength of his October pitching, despite the HGH accusations. The Indians, like many of the other top teams in the AL, didn't really have that many moves to make, though for the life of me I can't understand (the exception to what I discussed earlier) how the Indians would rather go into Spring Training with an outfield platoon of David Dellucci and Jason Michaels rather than signing a veteran like Shawn Green or Shannon Stewart, or brining back Kenny Lofton for that matter. The Indians are still very good, but I think they were too complacent this winter.

14) OAKLAND A'S
Key Additions – Emil Brown, Carlos Gonzalez, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez, Ryan Sweeney, Joey Devine, Kirk Saarloos, Kiko Calero (re-signed)
Losses – Dan Haren, Nick Swisher, Mark Kotsay, Shannon Stewart, Mike Piazza, Jeff DaVanon, Marco Scutaro
Analysis – Its hard to really argue with anything that Billy Beane does based on his track record, but if you are an A's fan I think you really have to scratch your head at this point. Beane has been quoted as saying that most GM's don't realize that they key to rebuilding is realizing it a year early. In other most teams don't make the decision to rebuild until its already too late. Beane basically said he figures from assessing the AL landscape that the A's wouldn't have contended in '08 anyway, so they may as well rebuild. I see some logic in that, but isn't rebuilding all about getting young, great players with reasonable contracts like Dan Haren, who they already had? They did get some excellent young talent in exchange for Haren and Swisher, but I don't know how happy you can be about that going into this season which looks like it will be a disaster for the A's.



BATTING THIRD……………


Now we will switch to the Senior Circuit, the same rules apply as above. This is not a ranking of the teams as they presently stand, but rather a ranking of who had the best off-season. With that, let's move on to the…………….


NATIONAL LEAGUE

1) NEW YORK METS
Key Additions – Johan Santana, Moises Alou (picked up option), Luis Castillo (re-signed), Brian Schneider, Ryan Church
Losses – Tom Glavine, Lastings Milledge, Shawn Green, Paul LoDuca, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, Guillermo Mota
Analysis – WOW, what a difference a day makes. The last few months have been spent by Mets fans still smoldering over the late season collapse, waiting for the team to get off their butts and do something. Well, I can officially say that the wait was worth it and all bad feelings have been erased. Sure there was the dreadful Milledge trade which it's too bad I was writing this column during because that would have been a rant for the ages. There was the loss of Tom Glavine back to the Braves. There was even the passing over of LoDuca, a team leader in many ways. None of it matters now, the Mets only made one move of significant this winter but it happened to be the move of the off-season, acquiring the best pitcher in the game. It immediately transforms them from NL contenders to NL favorites and gives them one of the top 5 rotations in all of baseball. Yes, in this case, one move an off-season does make.

2) ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Key Additions – Dan Haren, Chad Qualls, Chris Burke
Losses –Tony Clark, Jose Valverde, Livan Hernandez, Jeff Cirillo, Carlos Quentin, Carlos Gonzalez, Dana Eveland
Analysis - The D-Backs didn't make one free agent signing this winter, but they are still winners because they are on the right side of one of the off-seasons biggest trades. They gave up a lot to get Dan Haren from the A's, but he is 27 year-old pitcher about to enter his prime while still making very reasonable money. He will combine with Brandon Webb to form one of the best 1-2 combos in all of baseball. Arizona didn't do much else, but as referenced earlier, after coming so close to the World Series to best thing to do is just make one or two impact moves rather than a series of small ones.

3) HOUSTON ASTROS
Key Additions – Miguel Tejada, Jose Valverde, Kaz Matsui, Michael Bourn, Geoff Blum, Jack Cassel, Darin Erstad, Victor Diaz, Geoff Geary, Oscar Villareal, Brad Ausmus (re-signed), Mark Loretta (re-signed), Brian Moehler (re-signed)
Losses – Craig Biggio, Brad Lidge, Adam Everett, Jason Jennings, Brad Lidge, Luke Scott, Matt Alberts, Chad Qualls, Chris Burke, Troy Patton, Mike Lamb, Trever Miller, Orlando Palmeiro, Eric Bruntlett, Josh Anderson
The Astros made a ton of moves this winter, none bigger than trading for shortstop Miguel Tejada. Sure Tejada has been down in recent years and is now dogged by HGH rumors and possible deportation, but that was still a trade the ‘Stros had to make. And I think it was a good one. They also added Kaz Matsui and prospect Michael Bourn to remake their offense into one of the leagues best. They traded away Brad Lidge and Chad Qualls but replaced them well with Jose Valverde and Oscar Villareal. The only real problem with the Astros off-season is that the rotation was by far their biggest weakness and they did nothing to address that. Still, they are a better team today then they were 3 months ago.

4) CINCINNATI REDS
Key Additions – Adam Dunn (option picked up), Francisco Cordero, Jeremy Affeldt, Edinson Volquez, Scott Hatteberg (option picked up), Javier Valentin (option picked up), Andy Phillips
Losses – Josh Hamilton, Mark Bellhorn, Rheal Cormier, Eddie Guardado, Eric Milton, Kirk Saarloos
Analysis –The Reds are primed for a big step up in 2008 and I am now officially proclaiming them my sleeper for this season. They didn't make a lot of big moves, but they didn't need to with the influx of young players they have ready to join the major league roster. Bringing back Adam Dunn was an easy decision and despite what a great story Josh Hamilton was last year, they didn't need him and he was able to land them a piece of their rotation in top prospect Edinson Volquez. Francisco Cordero was clearly the top reliever on the market and he gives the Reds the closer they have been desperately seeking for the last several years. Jeremy Affeldt is also a great addition to work as a setup man for Cordero.

5) LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Key Additions – Andruw Jones, Mike Myers, Chan Ho Park
Losses – Randy Wolf, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Hendrickson, Roberto Hernandez, Shea Hillenbrand, Mike Lieberthal, Rudy Seanez, David Wells
Analysis- The Dodgers didn't do much this off-season, but they few moves they did make were high impact. First they hired Joe Torre to manage the team, which could prove to be huge positive or highly overrated, but if I had to pick right now, I would chose the former. The other big addition was signing Andruw Jones after a career worst year to what could be the best contract of the off-season. The lost quite a few players, but no one of any great significance. In fact the addition of Jones alone should double the contribution of all the lost players combined.

6) MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Key Additions – Mike Cameron, Eric Gagne, David Riske, Salomon Torres, Jason Kendall, Abraham Nunez, Guillermo Mota
Losses – Francisco Cordero, Geoff Jenkins, Scott Linebrink, Kevin Mench, Tony Graffanino, Willie Harris, Ray King, Damian Miller, Johnny Estrada
Analysis - The Brewers as usual didn't make any big moves, but they are still primed to make a strong run at the NL Central crown. Losing Francisco Cordero hurts, especially since Eric Gagne is far from a sure bet as his replacement. Linebrink is also a bad loss, however, the Riske signing was a good one to solidify the bullpen as well as to fill in at closer when Gagne goes down. Salomon Torres can be a nice addition as well. Mike Cameron will miss the first 25 games of the season due to suspension, but was a good signing nonetheless. He will add to their lineup plus gives them the ability to shift Ryan Braun to LF and Bill Hall back to 3B. It's hard to figure how Jason Kendall is an upgrade over Johnny Estrada, but they weren't the only team that felt that way this winter.

7) PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Key Additions – Pedro Feliz, Brad Lidge, Geoff Jenkins, Chad Durbin, So Taguchi, J.C. Romero (re-signed), Eric Bruntlett
Losses – Aaron Rowand, Freddy Garcia, Kyle Lohse, Tadahito Iguchi, Jon Lieber, Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, Antonio Alfonseca, Rod Barajas, Abraham Nunez
Analysis - I know the Phillies won the NL East last year and I know they have a very potent lineup, but I don't see how they are any better going into 2008 than they were in 2007. Pedro Feliz is a nice addition, but they will be very unlikely to get the same production out of a Jayson Werth/Geoff Jenkins platoon that they got out of Rowand last year. And while Freddy Garcia didn't contribute much to the rotation, Kyle Lohse did, and they already have a weak rotation to begin with. Sure the return of Brett Myers to the rotation will help, but that may only be true if Brad Lidge can regain the form that made him a star two years ago. Overall it wasn't a great winter in Philly.

8) CHICAGO CUBS
Key Additions – Kosuke Fukudome, Kerry Wood (re-signed), Jon Lieber, Scott Eyre (picked up option)
Losses – Mark Prior, Jacque Jones, Craig Monroe, Cliff Floyd, Jason Kendall, Steve Trachsel
Analysis –The Cubs were the unquestioned winners of last seasons Hot Stove League, but this year they weren't big players at all. After a decade of false promises it looked like the club was finally going to part ways with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, an though Prior did end up leaving, the club brought Wood back as a potential closer replacement for Ryan Dempster, who is moving into the rotation. Their lone big move was signing Japanese import Fukudome who should bolster an already imposing middle of the order. None of their losses are of much significance but I can't understand how they think Jon Lieber would be an upgrade to the rotation over in-house candidates like Sean Marshall and Jason Marquis.

9) SAN DIEGO PADRES
Key Additions – Mark Prior, Randy Wolf, Jim Edmonds, Tadahito Iguchi, Greg Maddux (re-signed), Michael Barrett (re-signed), Robert Fick
Losses – Mike Cameron, Jack Cassel, Morgan Ensberg, Brady Clark, Geoff Blum, Milton Bradley, Doug Brocail, Marcus Giles, Rob Mackowiak, Brett Tomko
Analysis - The Padres are another team that went the route of low cost, high upside players, filling in their roster with name players who have struggled in recent years. The problem for them is that most of these players are much more likely to be on the DL in 2008 rather than contributing to the club. Mark Prior could be a bargain if he is healthy and help to make up the leagues best rotation, but that is a big if. Same goes for Randy Wolf. Jim Edmonds showed very little life in his bat last season and seems to be near the end. However, if these players can turn back the clock on their skills the Padres will look like geniuses.

10) FLORIDA MARLINS
Key Additions – Luis Gonzalez, Dallas McPherson, Mark Hendrickson, Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Mike Rabelo, Jorge Cantu
Losses – Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Armando Benitez, Byung-hyun Kim, Miguel Olivo, Aaron Boone
Analysis – The Marlins finally traded away Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, and shockingly they did it in the same deal. However, regardless of what you think about that decision, at least they did get a very good package in return. Two of the players are absolute studs and at least three of the six players they got figure to help them right away, including above mentioned studs Miller and Maybin. Luis Gonzalez and Dallas McPherson were worth the flyers, but I don't get why they thought Mark Hendrickson was a better option than some of the other starters still available, even taking money into account.

11) ATLANTA BRAVES
Key Additions – Tom Glavine, Mark Kotsay, Jair Jurrjens, Gorkys Hernandez, Josh Anderson
Losses – Andruw Jones, Edgar Renteria, Lance Cormier, Octavio Dotel, Julio Franco, Ron Mahay, Oscar Villareal, Joey Devine
Analysis – The only significant addition, other than the prospects, is the ageless Tommy Glavine…..who is finally not so ageless anymore. He goes to back to the Braves to end his Hall of Fame career where it began and flourished, but its clear from the end of last season that he is no longer a top of the rotation starter. Jurrjens may contribute right away and Anderson and Hernandez may help at some point, but heading into the season the only position player that they added to replace the departed Andruw Jones and Edgar Renteria is Mark Kotsay. In case that wasn't clear, let me spell it out…that's not good news.

12) WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Key Additions Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, Paul LoDuca, Johnny Estrada, Rob Mackowiak, Aaron Boone, Ray King,
Losses – Ryan Church, Brian Schneider, Hector Carrasco, Robert Fick, Nook Logan, D'Angelo Jimenez, Jason Simontacchi
Analysis – One year ago I though the Nationals off-season, and team for that matter, were a complete joke and ranked them dead last. This year, well not much has changed. They are not dead last anymore, and they did make some great deals for young talents like Milledge and Dukes, but still, come on. They are moving into a new ballpark in a great baseball town and they still didn't open up the checkbook at all. Maybe next year they will, but for now the off-season was nothing more than ho-hum.

13) ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Key Additions – Matt Clement, Troy Glaus, Joel Pineiro (re-signed), Aaron Miles (re-signed), Cesar Izturis, Jason LaRue, John Wasdin, D'Angelo Jimenez
Losses – Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, David Eckstein, Gary Bennett, Russ Branyan, Miguel Cairo, Kelly Stinnett, So Taguchi, Kip Wells
Analysis –OOF, after a decade of being at or near the top of the NL Central, Cards fans may be in trouble this year. The Cardinals did little to improve their club and in will trot out one of the worst lineups in the league in '08. The Matt Clement signing is actually a good one and its worth the gamble that he can once again become a top of the rotation pitcher. I also think they won the Glaus/Rolen trade and despite all he did for the franchise, Jim Edmonds is no longer a star player. With that being said, the Cardinals needed to do a lot more this winter to make their team competitive this season, so in that respect the off-season was not a good one.

14) SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Key Additions – Aaron Rowand, Omar Vizquel (re-signed)
Losses – Barry Bonds, Pedro Feliz, Ryan Klesko, Russ Ortiz
Analysis- Through the majority of last years Hot Stove League it looked like the Giants were finally going to let the Bonds ear go and were going to go in a rebuilding mode. Then they finally agreed to bring Barry back for the money involved in the home run chase and filled in the rest of the roster with reliable veterans. Well now the Bonds era is officially over and so is any chance the Giants have of winning in 2008. They have strong starting pitching, but their lineup is the worst in baseball. Aaron Rowand was a decent signing, but it's like adding a five dollar bill to a bunch of ones, at the end of the day all you have still is about fifteen bucks.

15) COLORADO ROCKIES
Key Additions – Marcus Giles, Kip Wells, Josh Towers, Yorvit Torrealba (re-signed), Matt Herges (re-signed), Mark Redman (re-signed)
Losses – Kaz Matsui, Jeremy Affeldt, Elmer Dessens, Josh Fogg, LaTroy Hawkins, Jorge Julio, Rodrigo Lopez, Jamey Carroll
Analysis - Coming off a surprise World Series appearance, the Rockies chose to do what teams in their shoes almost always do, stand pat. I guess the thinking is that you were so close that you are afraid to tinker with things too much. The fact is that generally you fell short because you were a player or two short and a few moves need to be made. The Tigers found that out in a similar situation last year and came back with a vengeance this off-season. The Rockies didn't really lose anyone who helped them reach the series other than Matsui and Fogg, but they certainly didn't add anyone who will help them be better in '08.

16) PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Key Additions – Jaret Wright, Elmer Dessens, Chris Gomez, Casey Fossum, Hector Carrasco
Losses – Tony Armas, Salomon Torres, Shawn Chacon, Cesar Izturis, Humberto Cota, John Wasdin
Analysis – It was another boring, loser of a winter in Pittsburgh. I am trying, but I honestly have nothing else to add here. The above names say it all.


That will do it for the off-season review, I hope you enjoyed it. If you disagreed with any of the rankings, and I am sure most of you did, then shoot me an e-mail and let me know where I went wrong. If you agreed with the rankings, I'd still love to hear from you, so get those e-mails in. Now let's move on…..



CLEANING UP

Continuing the theme of the off-season, this week in "The Greatest" we will review the top 15 free agents who remain un-signed. As I said earlier, it's somewhat staggering to me how many "big name" players remain available. And even more shocking is the fact that most of them are barely even mentioned at all. I find it hard to believe that the names on this list wouldn't be able to help at least a few clubs going into the 2008 season, at least in some capacity. I am sure they will be signed eventually, but who knows when or where the will sign, so for now, let's just look at the list………………..

(Note: I am not included Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens on this list because its doubtful Bonds will be able to play with the perjury investigation and Clemens is clearly a washed up has-been that couldn't help a Triple-A team at this point)

"The 10 Greatest"………………..Free Agents Still Available

1) Kyle Lohse (despite all that I said about him earlier, I am quite shocked that he hasn't been signed yet)
2) Shawn Green
3) Mike Piazza
4) Livan Hernandez
5) Bartolo Colon
6) Sammy Sosa
7) Mike Sweeney
8) Freddy Garcia
9) Corey Patterson
10) Kris Benson
11) Shannon Stewart
12) Josh Fogg
13) Kenny Lofton
14) Reggie Sanders
15) David Wells


That will do it for the return column. Once again I am so glad to be back here at 411 mania and I look forward to the weeks and months ahead. Be sure to come back next week as we present the 2008 Spring Training Preview column. Until then………



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