Post by Erbes on Dec 7, 2013 15:37:05 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Where Should They End Up??[/glow]
With little more than a month and half left in the regular season now may be a good time to look at the upcoming free agency class. Extensions may wreak havoc with these predictions, but what can I do? I also want to clarify that this article is more of a narrative of which team I think SHOULD sign these players, not who DEFINITELY will. Also, for the sake of fun I'm not going to predict any re-signings. New teams for everyone!
Starting Pitchers
These aren't in any sort of order. Wouldn't make too much sense to rank them anyways since everyone has different needs. Also ignored anyone above 35. Those guys should really only be considered fodder at this point, regardless of what they've done this past season.
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Kris Tetz
RHP, 25 years
2004 Season: 2-15, 5.89 ERA, 16.7% QS
2005 Team: Boston Red Sox
Tetz was a huge prospect coming up before he went to the pitcher wasteland that is Minnesota. He's been nothing but below average during his time with the Twins. So why is he being considered a 'top' free agent? His age. At only 25 I think Boston could find some value here during their rebuild. He should come cheap and maybe break gets lucky with a nice PD.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/3946.jpg)
Vladimir Nunez
RHP, 29 years
2004 Season: 1-0, 1.00 ERA, No starts
2005 Team: New York Mets
Raise your hand if you know Nunez has starters duration. He does. Granted it's E duration which isn't ideal, but it's not a killer. E duration guys need a strong bullpen behind them in case they can't make it through 5 or 6 innings. James has a solid bunch of relievers that should allow Nunez to slot in nicely as a #5 guy in his rotation.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/3325.jpg)
Brian Barber
RHP, 31 years
2004 Season: 2-5, 5.54 ERA, 33.3% QS
2005 Team: Cincinnati Reds
Barber has never gotten a fair shake as a starter. He has decent ratings and here's the kicker: he's never been camped. At only 31 he's still eligible for all camps. I think he goes back to a team that takes advantage of that fact. Regardless of the crazy moves Stutter makes, I think this would be a good fit for him.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/4122.jpg)
Tomo Ohka
RHP, 28 years
2004 Season: 4-5, 3.54 ERA, 50% QS
2005 Team: San Francisco Giants
Doesn't this dude just scream Spencer? Yeah the homers suck, but Spence will somehow turn him into a total stud and flip him for spects and cash at some point I'm sure. Doesn't hurt that he'd get to play in one of the biggest parks in the league to keep those fly balls from turning into dingers...
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/3327.jpg)
Bob Wolcott
RHP, 30 years
2004 Season: 1-0, 6.42 ERA, No starts
2005 Team: Detroit Tigers
Bob-o has been miscast as a reliever this year. Can't blame Nanz since his rotation is pretty ridiculous, but Wolcott should definitely be starting somewhere. How about the Tigers? If Dave loses Rogers he'll need a replacement and Bob could be a cheaper and younger option. Again, no camps for this guy.
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Brian Stephenson
RHP, 31 years
2004 Season: 7-12, 5.28 ERA, 33.3% QS
2005 Team: Montreal Expos
Stephenson used to play third fiddle in Chicago to Wood and Santana, and now he plays no fiddle in Atlanta. In my opinion, this is a guy playing down to the talent of the players around him. Get him in a good situation and I think he bounces back. That's why I picked the Expos. They could expand to a 5 man rotation to hide some of Zito's deficiencies and let Stephenson pick up some of the slack.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/6084.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false)
Heath Bell
RHP, 26 years
2004 Season: 7-6, 2.96 ERA, 54.2% QS
2005 Team: Colorado Rockies
Man, Steve better get on his horse and re-sign Bell. He'll most likely hit the market as the best player available. Only 26 and super studly. This is a must sign for Shale. How often do these kind of pitchers hit the market? This might be the first time. Bell has great homers ratings and he might actually pitch well in Coors. Shale should try his hardest clear salary to make room for this $20M addition.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/3573.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false)
Livan Hernandez
RHP, 29 years
2004 Season: 0-3, 4.22 ERA, No starts
2005 Team: Colorado Rockies
Can't stress enough to Shale that these are the type of pitchers you overspend on. Good in homers, brilliant in walks, and a TIA left to help his hits. Right side of 30 (for now) and has A duration. Please stop wasting your time on 35 year old fodder pitchers and make a commitment to winning. Probably resigns with Pads though lol.
Other notables: Kenny Rogers, Pat Hentgen, Hideki Irabu
Relievers
Relievers seem like the most difficult position to predict in OOTP. One year a guy can be a stud and the next he can be AAA filler. I'll do my best to separate the pretenders from the real thing here. Again, I disregarded 35+ year olds.
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Rob Nen
RHP, 34 years
2004 Season: 17 saves, 2.47 ERA, 94.4% SV
2005 Team: Chicago White Sox
Nen has been a mainstay in the league for quite some time. He's been locked in since coming to Baltimore from Atlanta this season. If he does hit free agency I could see him moving north to Chicago to help shore up that spotty bullpen on a medium sized, short term contract.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/3303.jpg)
TJ Mathews
RHP, 34 years
2004 Season: 13 saves, 2.98 ERA, 61.9% SV
2005 Team: Montreal Expos
Kobe's bullpen is in shambles. He asked me for Mathews repeatedly throughout the season so I expect him to make a push during free agency. He'd fit nicely in that bare cupboards bullpen.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/3488.jpg)
Danny Graves
RHP, 31 years
2004 Season: 19 saves, 3.00 ERA, 79.2% SV
2005 Team: Colorado Rockies
Shale the amount of help I'm giving you right now is nuts. This is another guy you should target! Solid homer ratings and with A duration you could make the gamble of turning him into a starter during ST. Plus, he still has his TIA. Lordy Shale.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4634.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false)
Mike MacDougal
RHP, 27 years
2004 Season: 26 saves, 2.55 ERA, 74.3% SV
2005 Season: Pittsburgh Pirates
I don't know if Steve would commit the dollars to MacDougal that it would take to land him, but if Wetteland leaves/ retires he will have a hole at the end of games. Mac Daddy has been uber consistent throughout his career and could stabilize what could be a rocky transition for the Pirates.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/i/headshots/mlb/players/65/3375.jpg)
Billy Wagner
LHP, 33 years
2004 Season: 27 saves, 2.68 ERA, 96.4% SV
2005 Team: Cleveland Indians
If you want to win, you need to be able to close out games. Cleveland hasn't been able to do that with Matt Thornton and his 67% save percentage. An upgrade is needed. Enter Billy Wagner. Billy the Kid ain't no kid no mo', but he's still awesome. He should be instantly worth 3-4 wins for Cleveland next season. I really hope Shale avoids bidding on him.
![](http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/3240.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false)
Mariano Rivera
RHP, 33 years
2004 Season: 27 saves, 3.40 ERA, 84.4% SV
2005 Team: New York Yankees
Yeah, why not? I'll have a need in the bullpen if Mathews leaves and I love Mo. I did really well in trading him (see: Samaniego, Bradley), but I miss him dearly. Even though his stats have seemed to take a step back after the move it doesn't worry me. <3
![](http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/5102.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false)
Brad Lidge
RHP, 27 years
2004 Season: 22 saves, 1.86 ERA, 78.6% SV
2005 Team: Anaheim Angels
Not sure what bosoxi plans on doing with Lidge. He's definitely been up and down during his career. He's still very young and has that 'great' under clutch performance which would lead you to believe he'd be a perfect fit for the 9th inning, but who knows with OOTP. I went with Greg's Angels just because I think he's going to make moves this offseason to compete. Lidge could help his bullpen immensely, and the fact that he's only 27 definitely makes him very attractive.
Other Notables: Todd Jones, Hector Carrasco, Rod Beck, Rich Garces, Jeff Juden, Woody Williams, John Wetteland
So I was fully committed to doing all the FA's in one article, but this thing just took 3 hours to do so I'm going to split it up - pitchers and hitters. There were actually way more pitchers than I thought. Could end up to be a deeper FA class than we are used to, especially with the international guys.