Wednesday, March 10, 2010

More FA Day 3 Signings

Gary Goodwin got all the attention on Day 3 of Free Agency, but there were several other significant signings. Other Type A and B players to sign:

Portland signed 3B Jung Cho for 3 years, $18MM. Nothing too exciting here...he's a major leaguer who gets perhaps a little more dough than he deserves. Grade C+

Matt Wallace picks El Paso - 2 years, $10.4. He's always been marginal as an infielder - his range confines him to OF and 1B now, but he can still hit. 350 homers and a .323 lifetime average - HOF candidate? I like these short-term contracts for aging-but-still-good vets by rebuilding teams...helps them compete without tying up $$ forever. And he could always be midseason trade bait. Grade A.

Juan Rivera got a pretty rich deal - 3 years, $20MM - from Fresno. Solid player - like to see more power in RF but that's nitpicking. Grade B.

Burlington stretched out to 3 years and $14.7MM to get Wes Phillips. Originally a member of the Burlington organization, he was traded to Jackson in Season 6 and was a steady power source in many of their pennant drives. His ratings are holding up well so far, but I fear they'll start tumbling by next year. Still, he should help keep the Lake Monsters contenders. Grade B.

So, who's still out there? Among pitchers, Cory Mitchell, Felix Woodward, Hector Martin and Lawrence Simpson are probably the prime names still available. There are still plenty of run-of-the-mill hitters available, but top names have thinned out. 2B Sammy Reyes is probably the top position player still out there.

Why haven't we heard anything from Syracuse and Cincinnati? They're both somewhat budget-constrained, but I was expecting this pair of division winners to be aggressive this preseason. Not so far.

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