Straight Cash Homey: FA's Winners

Editor's Note: Thanks to Randy Moss for inspiring this blog series.

Free agency is just three days old, but a number Let's take a look at who has landed where and for how much. These are in no particular order.

Chicago Black Stockings: Always an aggressive player on the open market, tsteve locked up hard-hitting CF Willie Campos and all-star closer Miguel Tavarez to deals. He also signed on Chief Webster. Total bill: $40.3 million.

Texas Texans: We got a little happy on the market this year, signing five players. We reclaimed last year's closer Ryan Witt, who turned down a mutual option, as well as two-time all-star Benny Pujols, Tomas Ayala, Yoo-Nah Kim, and Allan Palmer. Total bill: $51.3m.

Vancouver Gulls: bradheld had three nice signings here, picking up Max Durocher to play center field, Mikey Hall, and defensive catcher Steven Wilkerson. Total bill: $34.9m.

Arizona Amberwoods: I also like the signings that took place in the desert. All-star backstop Mark Yamamoto comes over, as does Vic Brock, , Hector Vega, Rick Hernandez, and Al Ward. A lot of end-of-career guys signed to one-year deals, which could bring some reliable bats and makeup to a contender. The total bill is $16.3m.

Burlington Pitch Factory: So much for small markets. Drunk of the latest Magic Hat seasonal, the Factory printed up enough cash to lock down Augie Carpenter to the largest free agent deal of the off-season -- five years, $56.3m. He also signed Cameron McNamara. Total bill: $67.1m.

Charlotte Webs: Two resignings here. Pat Saunders and Mel Petersen were offered contracts they could retire on. Total bill: $27.2m.

Minnesota North Stars: shy broke my heart by signing Richard Takada. In the end, it came down to the money and the deal. I didn't offer the fourth year. Nor did I offer $30.8 million. Ross Paige also heads North. Total bill: $36m.

Jacksonville Panhandlers: KPMclave looks like he'll be at the end of the off-ramp with his cardboard sign to cover the damages of his shopping spree. First, he signed 2B Vladimir Martinez to a $37.5m with a $5m bonus. Then he locked up former Cy Young winner Dustin Keagle to a two-year, $14m deal with a $5m bonus. Then, there was the reliever -- Joey King. And, an excellent defensive catcher in Howie Maurer. Total bill: $57.625m

Washington D.C. Senators: It's not the most impressive of signings, but I like to follow around the WO's version of Jose Canseco -- Nerio Turner. andy gave the juicer a two-year deal for $8.8m.

The Rumor Mill Churns

What we're hearing from around the league:

• Memphis will say goodbye to Billy Anderson in the off-season. The Gold Glove first baseman tops almost every offensive team record list, but stands in the way of the team's decision to go young.

• The Memphis In The Meantime wants to take its payroll budget down to the $55-58m range in S.5.

• The Kansas City era ended when ronzabill moved Benny Pujols and Al Mendoza prior to the season. Don't be surprised if Ugueth Neruda is traded in the offseason. The Royals are looking to rebuild its organization and Neruda might be able to bring the prospects it will take.

• KC is also in the market for a leadoff hitter.

• Contract negotiations between the Philadelphia Flash and Louie Dali have collapsed. Dali wants No. 1 starter and No. 1 respect. Flash management did not appreciate the ultimatum as it weighs an Oprah-sized deal for Willie Rodriguez.

• Donovan Milligan's agent says that his client is demanding "one of those M&M's mixers. He saw it at the M&M's store in Times Square and he really wants one either at his house or in the locker room."

• League sources report that Philadelphia is interested in Augusta farmhand Ernest Jackson.

• D.C. is looking to move players like GM is trying to unload cars. The only difference is that the Nationals might have something worth buying. Gene Collins and Mitch Meyers are on the block in their respective walk years. Les Carroll and Lawrence Fuller are due for salary arbitration and join Manuel Valdes and Jaime Rose on the available list. Most surprisingly is Johnnie Costello who has been dangled in a couple of trade discussions, but a league source says that the conversation for Costello starts with two A-level prospects.

Free Agent Watch: The Pitchers

With the league in transition, we can't do much but wait with baited breath for budget day. But, we can look at free agents that are available. Given the options available for pitching, it looks like someone's going to overpay for a mediocre starter. Anyhow, let's see who's on the market.

J.J. Lambert//Milwaukee
17-11, 3.84 in S.1
Lambert is the most used pitcher on the market, posting 239.1 innings in season one. At 34, health and durability becomes a question. But, he was efficient and effective, allowing only 2.63 BB/9.

Pat Rizzo//Arizona-Las Vegas
15-9, 4.86 in S.1
Rizzo has similar numbers to Lambert, down to his age. The negative to Rizzo is the .284 opponent batting average.

Erubiel Rosado//Washington
15-8, 4.53
The 35-year-old starter pitched 214.1 innings last season with a 6.89 K/9 average.

Cory Redding//Memphis
12-12, 4.79
A solid innings eating No. 5 who was looking for four years when I tried to resign him.

Dennis Meng//Richmond
12-10, 4.77
Andre Newman//Richmond
10-16, 5.98
Richmond is obviously looking to rebuild its rotation, letting go of this duo. Neither Meng, the lefty finesse pitcher, or Newman, the strikeout specialist, were particularly dominating. Each lost double-digit games and gave up too many hits.

Vlad Hernandez//Charlotte
12-13, 4.10
Everyone's favorite journeyman starter, Hernandez posted solid numbers for Charlotte and could be one of the better arms available this off-season.

Fausto Kames//Charlotte
5-6, 3.49
A decent setup guy who walked too many batters but held hitters to a .225 OAV. 29 years old and coming off a season-ending shoulder aneurysm. Eek.

Edwin Bottenfield//ATL
7-7, 3.98
Kind of crapped out during his stint with Atlanta. Had a much better first half of the season. When he's on, he's on, but he gave up nearly as many hits and walks for Atlanta as he did for Santa Fe, but in less innings pitched.

Nash Kendall//Santa Fe
15-2, 3.52 in S.1
The top setup guy available, the 39-year-old posted impressive numbers, including a 2.5:1 K/BB ration. He's certainly durable, pitching in 69 games last season.

Filling The Holes: NL South

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.
This final episode of Filling the Holes is brought to you by the one and only John Holmes. No one could fill a hole quite like John Holmes.

Atlanta (95-67, division champs): Atlanta, while outhit and outscored by Austin, edged out Austin for the division pennant thanks to their half-run better team ERA. It seems unfair to criticize a team who is deeper in the playoffs than I was, but this team NEEDS: One more hitter to provide greater separation between the two clubs.

Austin (89-73, wild card designee): On the flip side, Austin NEEDS: To figure out a better solution for the back end of their rotation.

Santa Fe (89-73): What’s the difference between Austin and Santa Fe? An additional half-run on their ERA. NEEDS: The same. Seriously.

San Juan (68-94): It’s the pitching here too. The 5.86 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and what could be the closest K-BB margin of all the teams I’ve seen: 1,069 Ks and 746 BB. NEEDS: Pitching. Starters, closers and the kind in between.

Filling The Holes: AL West

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.

This episode of Filling The Holes is brought to you by Stephen Curry. Did anyone fill the hole better this month than Stephen Curry?

KC (114-48, division champ): This is as close as you are going to get to being a perfect team. NEEDS: Keep it together.

Colorado (90-72, 2nd place, wild card): You got to feel a little bit bad for Colorado. It's a great offensive team. If Buck Johnson is your weakest link at .275-21-103, then wow. Five players drove in 100+ runs. Most of the team is batting over .300. The gap between first and second is 24 games and, from my perspective, some of that could be tackled with better pitching. 18-game winner Matt Damon highlights the rotation and with a 1.52 WHIP, that doesn't say a lot. The team has a 5.89 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. They have a great closer in Ryan Witt, but they need to get to him. NEEDS: Bus tickets for the four stinkers who cloud the rotation.

Seattle (86-76, 3rd place): Seattle hung around and could have made the wild card. Another could team that could compete in any other division. Not to say that they are the same team, but where Colorado has a better offense, Seattle has the better pitching staff. NEEDS: A bat or two at the back end of the lineup that can be taken seriously.

Vegas (74-88, 4th place): It's not a particularly bad team, but one that underachieved. For instance, Benito Cervantes. How does someone who hit 41 home runs have an OPS of .817? This team scored too many runs (845) to not have challenged Seattle more. It's not the pitching staff. Hell, the pitching is statistically better than Colorado's. NEEDS: Some bats who hit for average that can set up the run producers.

Filling The Holes: NL North

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.

This episode of Filling The Holes is brought to you by cement. Doesn't get better than cement.

Cincinnati (90-72, division champs): You see, I thought Cincinnati was the best team in the national. They get on base (.348 OBP), they score runs (916), they hit (.281), and they pitch the hell out of the ball. If they get Mac Nelson to pitch to his potential, that rotation would be lethal. NEEDS: A real closer. Maybe another run producer to provide cover. To dump Dummy Reagan. You can't have a man named Dummy on your team...

Burlington (76-86): The 14-game difference between first and second is in the offense. They scored 130 less runs, had a batting average 30 points lower and gave 435 at-bats to a .237-.310-.336 hitter (Domingo Gonzalez). NEEDS: An upgrade at catcher from Gonzalez.

Columbus (72-90): The offense is on par with Burlington, but the pitching is the big difference. Their closer is great, when they can get to him. Their setup guys are really good. They have two solid starters, two who could be good starters and Corey Daly. NEEDS: To fill out the back end of the rotation. At first glance, Hipolito Mondesi and Michael Stein could do it. But, Corey Daly is a dog.

Chicago (67-95): Chicago hit better, reached base better and scored more runs than Burlington. They also posted a team ERA of 5.96. Frank Patterson is a No. 4-5 starter on any other team. Here, he's the ace. NEEDS: Some gauze to stop the bleeding from the hill.

Filling The Holes: AL South

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.

This episode of Filling The Holes is brought to you by the Shocker. Nothing gets it done quite like the Shocker does. If you don't know what the shocker is, I turn to my friends at Wikipedia. I'm leaving the image not available sign up because well, we're talking an NSFW situation here.

NASHVILLE (92-70, division champs): tecwrg already hates me because I picked against him in the playoffs and I tend to bag on the Saints a little. And far be it from me to offer him suggestions on how to make it work. But, in the interest of fairness, I have two suggestions. Look for some speed on the basepaths. Get a couple of better starting pitchers to upgrade Kirk Sierra and Weldon Stanley.

MEMPHIS (81-81, 2nd place): I had every intention of spending the farm to sign Mikey Hall until Milwaukee locked him up. I'm stuck on a decision to make. I have a chance to shed some salary and vets and go young for a year or two. But, I think that this current group has a year or two to make it work, so I'm also thinking about locking up a bat or two to make it work. Anyhow, my two biggest issues come at the leadoff slot and on the left side of the infield. I'm all but certain that Stubby Simon will lead off next season, which means I need to decide whether Slash Wilkins' 70 SB are worth $3.9m. And, I have P.J. Berra, who has all the stamina of my 92-year-old grandfather, and a glove made out of a cinder block. So, I guess that as for NEEDS: A functional third baseman. Probably another starter.

RICHMOND (78-84, 3rd place): Richmond actually scored 60 more runs than I did this season. But, there is an enormous dropoff from staff ace Gordon DiSarcina to the rest of the jokers in the rotation. Terrence Wolf and Dennis Meng chew up innings, but give up too many hits. NEEDS: About 10 pounds of C-4 to blow up their rotation with.

MONTERREY (72-90, DFL): Another team that posted more runs than I did this season. And another team with one good starter, one okay starter and three shitty starters. And, as an added bonus, check the line on closer Brian Uchida: 1-4, 19/27 SVO, 6.68 ERA, .341 OBA, 1.027 opp. OPS. NEEDS: To see if Richmond is willing to go halvsies on that explosive.

Filling The Holes: NL West

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.

This episode of Filling The Holes is brought to you by Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. One of the top runstuffers in the NFL and just a beast.

Colorado Springs (97-65, division champ): A good team that is balanced offensively. They reach base efficiently, they hit the ball pretty well, but they don't do a great job when they get on base, which is to say, they don't score runs. (that was an enormous run on) 866 crossed the plate and no one drove in more than 100 runs. The pitching is set. NEEDS: To push this team over the top, they need a real run producer in this lineup. William Comer doesn't count.

Los Angeles (89-73, 2nd place): This lineup is pretty good. Their pitching isn't bad either. So, how did they land eight games back in their division? Well, they scored close to 80 runs less than the River Otters. NEEDS: Run production.

San Francisco (53-109, 3rd place): We knew mark was going for the rebuilding route. The $34.6m payroll signals that the youth movement is in full order. There's no run production. The pitching is sketchy. Let's see where the kids get them. NEEDS: A trip to BJ's/Sam's Club/Costco for some bulk-sized skills at reasonable prices.

Portland (46-116, 4th place): Taking a cue from mark, rbedwell opted to go with youth and a $39.7m payroll. It really didn't work in season one -- .236 batting average, 547 runs scored, 6.18 ERA. We'll see what happens in season two. NEEDS: A ride from mark to the warehouse club.

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Filling the Holes: AL North

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.

This episode of Filling The Holes is brought to you by spackle. Nothing fills a hole quite like spackle.

Cleveland (112-50, division champs): The Wahoos had a great lineup in season one. Seven regulars had averages over .300, four had 1.000+ OPS scores and they scored more than 1,000 runs. Only one player with more than 350 at bats had a batting average less than .280. Xavier Olsen, who rates in the 70s, batted.258 with an ugly .661 OPS. I think you expect more than that from a middle infielder that costs $3.8m+. Luckily, he is in a walk year. NEEDS: A second basemen worthy of playing in this lineup. A good short reliever and a good innings eating reliever.

Milwaukee (91-71, 2nd in the division, wild card): tsteve28 killed my off-season plan by locking up potential free agent Mikey Hall to a five-year, $28m extension. Hall returns to a great 1-2-3 combination that includes Yoo-Nah Kim and J.J. Lambert. Unfortunately, the other two arms in their starting five -- Carlton Sepeda and Pascual Cortes -- were not as impressive. But, the real problem lies in their startling lineup. MVP candidate Len Heiserman is in a walk year. 60-home run hitters Carlos Johnson and Felipe Hernandez and lineup ynchpin Stan Bowie, among others, are walking into arbitration hearings with pretty good cases. NEEDS: A long hard think about which players are worth it, which aren't and where the money comes from. Oh, and a good starting pitcher to anchor the back end of the rotation.

Detroit (83-79, 3rd in the division): zar had his guys in the hunt for a wild card berth until very late in the process. But, their pitching let them down and they went 12-12 in the homestretch. Ruben Otanez (22-5) and Mel Petersen (14-9) provided stability at the top of the rotation, but the seven other pitchers who started went a combined 33-57. Of course, the offense did them no favors. Only four players had double-digit home run figures and only one had a .900+ OPS. I think you expect more from a team with a $93.3m payroll. NEEDS: Starting pitchers and one more serious bat.

Minnesota (68-94, 4th in the division): Another well paid ($92.1m), underachieving club. There's at least $8m on the bottom of that stat sheet (Stan Bieser, Luis Chavez, Matt Parker) that could stand to be reallocated. It's actually a good offensive team, with five .300_ hitters and a pair of 30+ HR hitters. But, where they have in batting, they don't in pitching. Their starters were unimpressive, with only one starter achieving an ERA less than 5.00. Closer Del Holtz blew 10 saves and let batters on base nearly 36 percent of the time. Without looking, I hope that dwrightjr7 has some expiring contracts that can be turned into quality free agents or free up spots for the kids on the farm. NEEDS: Pitching. All kinds.

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Filling the Holes: NL East

Filling the Holes will take a team-by-team look at what each team needs to address in the off-season. We'll look at this by division.

This episode of Filling The Holes is brought to you by a rubber stopper.

PHILADELPHIA (103-59, Division Champion): By know means is Philadelphia a perfect team, but there isn't a lot that they did wrong. Offensively, they have an all-world basestealer in William Saitou, three dominant power hitters. They have great balance in their rotation and a 50-save closer. Their weakness lies in their consistency from the plate. They are consistently inconsistent -- batting averages in their starting lineup range between .253 and .282. Only one Flasher had 160+ hits and they had just one player with an on-base percentage above .375. NEEDS: A reliable, Tony Gwynn-style hit machine. Singles aren't a bad thing when you have the McMasters-Wyatt-Takada-Martin quartet in the middle of the lineup.

BUFFALO (99-63, 2nd place, wild card): At first glance, the thing that stands out is Bernie Furcal. But, while you'd like more from a shortstop, you know that the right thing to do is give him time as he is rated to grow into the 70s. Otherwise, we're taking about a pretty well balanced team. A good core of hitters for average and power, Antonio Gao and his 58 home runs, three players with 30+ steals. The pitching is in good shape too, as it seems that Travis Price will recover from the torn labrum and shape out that rotation. All in all, not bad. NEEDS: I'd like to see them add another legit 40-home run hitter to protect Gao.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (89-73, 3rd place, eliminated from the WC tie): Their are threats all over this lineup, which signals to me that they were either tired out or just couldn't get the hits in a timely fashion. Johnny Costello, Moose Lewis and Manuel Valdes are stars and they have good power throughout. The starters were effective and the bullpen was good, but they both suffered from the same issue -- they gave up too many runs. NEEDS: Lights out starter. Lights out closer.

CHARLOTTE (77-85, 4th place): The pitching is solid. Yes, closer Howard Perry gave up too many runs and blew too many saves (6). But, for a sub-.500 team, the pitching is good. So what's the problem? A lineup that seems to be all style and no substance. They have average to good individual stats, but as a team it doesn't add up -- batting .264, a team OPS of .721 and only 699 runs scored. NEEDS: Devote some salary room to one, if not two, high-priced, hard-hitting vets. Firepower could be the difference between a playoff berth and last place in this division.

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