It's that time again. Actually, it's after that time, but the free agent signing season has dragged out so long, I wasn't ready to put this retarded mess of an article together until now.
In case you haven't noticed (I'm looking at you, Manny Ramirez), the economy is in the toilet, and that certainly appears to be affecting Major League Baseball. Either that, or they're using this as a smokescreen so they can collude and keep prices down, and the Yankees aren't cooperating. I don't know. It's really impossible to know. But we do know this: there were bargains aplenty to be found on the free agent market this year, and many teams took advantage of this.
I know what you're saying. "C'mon, Brisco! Give us your completely unqualified report card on the Major League Baseball offseason! We CRAVE it." Calm down. I'm getting to that.
Ok, ready? Here goes:
1B Mark Teixeira, SP C.C. Sabathia, SP A.J. Burnett: New York Yankees, a bajillion years, infinity dollars.
The Yankees stand alone this offseason as a team willing to actually spend money, and in doing so they landed three of the top four free agents. The fourth of the top four, Manny Ramirez, has yet to be signed, so clearly everything is broken right now. In either case, the Yankees improved their team dramatically by exercising their biggest advantage: sex appeal, er, money. As a result, they appear to be one of the early favorites to win another World Series. It was obviously a perfect storm for the Yankees this offseason. They had a ton of money coming off the books, there was a strong and deep free agent class, and they sucked last season. Furthermore, while they spent a tremendous amount of money, they spent it on elite talent like Teixeira and Sabathia, solidifying the lineup and rotation, respectively. I'm not enamored with a five-year deal for Burnett, but he does have killer stuff, and just not having to face him anymore has to be worth like four wins a year.
Final Grade: B+
OF Pat Burrell, Tampa Bay Rays, two years, $16 million.
The Rays were in great shape this offseason, coming off of a SHOCKING World Series appearance with one real need: LF/DH type power bat. This was a good year to need a LF/DH type power bat, since there were like 40 of them available. Between Burrell, Abreu, Ramirez, Dunn, Bradley, Ibanez, Griffey, etc., Andrew Friedman was able to wait for prices to fall into the area he was willing to spend. Now he has a powerful middle-of-the-order bat to hit behind Carlos Pena on an extremely affordable contract.
Final Grade: A
OF Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals, two years, $20 million
The Nationals got what I consider to be an even bigger steal. You've heard it before, but Dunn is an elite bat-swinger, and he is incredibly underrated. Jim Bowden surprised the hell out of me by biding his time for like a decade and getting Dunn on a super-cheap deal. A 29-year-old with a lifetime .301 EqA, Dunn is the Steal of the Offseason.
Final Grade: A+
OF Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies, three years, $31.5 million.
Unlike Andrew Friedman and Jim Bowden, Ruben Amaro elected not to wait out the market, and instead downgraded from Pat Burrell to Raul Ibanez, and gave Ibanez a deal worth twice as much as what Burrell got from Tampa Bay. I can't tell if he misjudged the market or if he thinks Ibanez' gaudy RBI totals actually make him better than Burrell. Imagine how good the Phillies lineup would look with Adam Dunn in the middle of it (still for less than they're paying Ibanez). In either case, combined with the ridiculous Ryan Howard contract, Amaro should be making Phillies fans wish that Pat Gillick had waited a little longer to retire. Oh, and just for good measure, the Phillies failed to offer arbitration to Burrell, forfeiting a draft pick, and then signed Ibanez, forfeiting another. Is Amaro on his way to Bavasiville? Only time will tell.
Final Grade: F
RP Francisco Rodriguez, New York Mets, three years, $37 million.
Imagine how much K-Rod could have gotten if the market hadn't been saturated with closers and there wasn't a horrible recession. 62 saves are impressive, but more in a "wow, that's crazy" way than a "wow, let's spend $12+ million a year on a guy with a rather pedestrian WHIP and sharply declining K rates" kind of way. It will be interesting to see J.J. Putz, a superior reliever, setting up Rodriguez. Given what Rafael Betancourt has taught us, the Mets may be better off with that alignment. Still, this is too much money for an overrated reliever, even though I though he might get double.
Final Grade: D
OF Milton Bradley, Chicago Cubs, three years, $30 million.
This is an interesting signing for a few reasons. First, the Cubs signed Bradley over several other comparable players, despite the fact that his injury history dictates that he should probably be a DH. Second, it's hard to imagine the, ahem "fiery" Bradley getting along with Lou Piniella. However, Bradley's upside is tremendous. Let us not forget, he was the best hitter in the American League last year. If he can hit in that range for 140 games a year, this will have a massive impact on the Cubs' offense. That being said, I think that Chicago, a team that was awfully close to being the best team in the NL last year, probably should have gone after someone more reliable.
Final Grade: C+
OF Garret Anderson, Atlanta Braves, one year $2.5 million.
Short money on a one-year deal for Garret Anderson may sound fine, but the Braves struck out on acquiring several better players. For an extra $2.5m, they could have signed Bobby Abreu, and he'd actually get on base. Abreu's defense was pretty messy, but he's still a quality hitter, and would almost certainly outperform Anderson. For a team just looking to fill a hole, Anderson is OK, and you could make an argument about Abreu being worth the extra money. However, Atlanta's offense has a lot of question marks, and Abreu could have really given them a boost.
Final Grade: D
SP John Smoltz, SP Brad Penny, OF Rocco Baldelli, one year, $11 million +incentives
The whole purpose of signing reclamation projects, I always thought, was that they come cheap. Brad Penny, a solid pitcher when healthy but who is currently coming off a crippled and hideous season, to a $5m guaranteed deal makes no sense. Relying on him to be healthy enough to pitch makes even less. Maybe they have the depth to take these risks. Maybe they can afford it. But seriously guys, don't bitch about losing out on Mark Teixeira, and then spend more than the difference between your offer and the winning bid on garbage like this. Spending $11 million on a hope and a prayer that people will bounce back from serious issues is a bad move, because that is a significant sum of money, and they're screwed if none of their chess moves work out. Theo Epstein is a talented young executive, but he always seems like he'd rather look smart than actually win.
Final Grade: F
SP Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves, four years $60 million
This move worked to shore up the rotation after the injury to Tim Hudson, and the Braves may have a solid rotation next year. I'm not thrilled with the money, but Lowe has been awfully good for the Dodgers in recent years.
Final Grade: B
SS Edgar Renteria, San Francisco Giants, two years $18.8 million
Renteria is terrible. Brian Sabean is notorious for signing over-the-hill veterans, but this is epic. How does Renteria have this deal while Orlando Cabrera can't get a job? Frankly, it's inexplicable. Renteria should be hoping to find a utility job somewhere, and instead gets a two year deal. I'm not trying to figure this out.
Final Grade: F