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November 9, 2008

Every Given Sunday

Getting Ink Done

by John Perrotto

On Friday the market for free agents officially opens when teams can begin making offers to players other than those who finished the season with other clubs. The Brewers and Dodgers got the ball rolling at this past week's general managers meetings in Dana Point, California, with the Brewers offering left-hander CC Sabathia five years and $100 million to stay in Milwaukee, and the Dodgers offering two years and $50 million in an effort to keep left fielder Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles.

Considering those were only starting points, it's hard to imagine how high the dollar figures will eventually go. With that in mind, let's take a look at the top 25 free agents, listing their WARP3 for the 2008 season, and making educated guesses about where they might land:

• CC Sabathia (11.1): The big left-hander is 28 years old, has never had surgery, and figures to be a workhorse for many years to come. He's the biggest prize on this year's market, and while the Brewers came out of the gate aggressively, Sabathia figures to see bigger numbers from the Yankees. The Cubs, Angels, and Giants will also make a play, with the Dodgers as the wild card. In the end, the Yankees will throw so much money at Sabathia that he won't be able to say no.

• Manny Ramirez (10.8): The left fielder had an amazing two months with the Dodgers, playing so well that agent Scott Boras actually believes he'll be offered a six-year contract. That might be a reach; the slugger is 37 years old, and there aren't as many teams interested as one would suspect. The Yankees are concentrating more on adding pitching, and the Angels would prefer to keep Mark Teixeira, while the Nationals and Blue Jays seemingly don't have enough money to get a deal done. Look for the Dodgers to re-sign Ramirez after doubling their initial two-year, $50 million offer to four years and $100 million.

• Mark Teixeira (10.8): The switch-hitting first baseman turned down an eight-year, $140 million offer from the Rangers in 2007, so they traded him to the Braves, who in turn dealt him to the Angels this past season. Teixeira would be the most logical fit for the Angels and the Red Sox, and the Yankees also have at least some degree of interest. The one team that seems ready to blow Teixeira out of the water is the Nationals, who could go as high as 10 years and $200 million after a season in which they lost 102 games and had poor attendance in their new Nationals Park. Teixeira grew up in Maryland, and the gut feeling is that he won't say no to a big-money offer from DC.

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