Free-agent madness begins Friday; don't be trampled at the door
Posted
at
5:28 pm
by By Kirby Arnold
Beginning Friday, all of baseball's 171 free agents can negotiate with any team they want instead of the teams they're (likely) leaving behind.
What does that mean to the Mariners? Fans can salivate over such names as Jason Bay and Hank Blalock and Chone Figgins and Rich Aurilia all they want (OK, I threw Aurilia in there just for meanness), but general manager Jack Zduriencik doesn't seem all atwitter (or is it aTweeter?) over the opportunities that will exist as of Friday.
“I don't sit here thinking it's a magical day,” Zduriencik said. “But it is certainly another day in the process and it opens doors for discussions to be a little more profound.”
As for the Mariners' free agents, first baseman Russell Branyan is the most prominent after his 31-homer season and his stated desire to return to the M's in 2010. The Mariners offered him a one-year contract and he rejeced it, and there doesn't seem to be any progress between the two sides.
Reached by phone this afternoon, Branyan was hauling concrete blocks for an entry gate at his new home near Nashville (the bad back must be feeling good) and not thinking a lot about a contract for next year.
“I haven’t heard anything lately,” Branyan said. “I don’t really know what the plan is now. My agent is handling all that and I don’t know exactly what they’ve been working through. I’ve been keeping my mind on my kids here and getting some things done around the house.”
Branyan’s agent, Danny Lozano, didn’t return a call.
Who's Zduriencik going after? Like he's going to tell us?
The Mariners have openings at third base, first and left field, plus catcher Kenji Johjima's vacancy to plug.
It wouldn't hurt to find another starter who can fall in behind Felix Hernandez near the top of the rotation. And, we nearly forgot that little matter of improving an offense that finished last in the American League in runs.
If we can use Zduriencik's moves the past year as a gauge for what this offseason will bring, it's that pitching and defense rule. However, the need for offense may be so great that he'll be willing to give a little on the defensive end.
“You kind of have to weigh everything based on your ballclub and based on the talent available out there,” he said. “I don't set limitations or guidelines. I try to leave it wide open. I'm not boxing it in so that if you're not a great defensive player you're not going to play here. If you can get a 40 home-run guy and give up a little on defense, you might have to do that. It depends on the talent pool out there.
“Would I like to have a 40 home-run guy who's a plus on defense, though.”
Feel like stepping into Zduriencik's shoes for a while? Here's the list of free agents. See what you can do to build a team.
Atlanta Braves
Anderson, Garret OF
Gonzalez, Mike RP
LaRoche, Adam 1B
Norton, Greg 1B/OF
Soriano, Rafael RP
Arizona Diamondbacks
Davis, Doug SP
Schoeneweis, Scott D. RP
Tracy, Chad 1B
Baltimore Orioles
Baez, Danys RP
Hendrickson, Mark SP/RP
Moeller, Chad E. C
Mora, Melvin 3B
Boston Red Sox
Baldelli, Rocco OF
Bay, Jay OF
Byrd, Paul SP
Gonzalez, Alex SS
Wagner, Billy RP
Woodward, Chris 3B
Chicago Cubs
Fox, Chad D. RP
Grabow, John RP
Gregg, Kevin RP
Harden, Rich SP
Johnson, Reed OF
Wells, Kip SP
Cleveland Indians
Carroll, Jamey 2B/3B/0F
Ohka, Tomokazu SP/RP
Colorado Rockies
Beimel, Joe RP
Betancourt, Rafael RP
Contreras, Jose SP
Embree, Alan RP
Fogg, Josh SP/RP
Giambi, Jason 1B
Herges, Matt RP
Marquis, Jason SP
Rincon, Juan RP
Torrealba, Yorvit C
Chicago White Sox
Castro, Ramon Abraham C
Dotel, Octavio E. RP
Dye, Jermaine OF
Podsednik, Scott OF
Everett, Adam SS
Detroit Tigers
Huff, Aubrey 1B/3B
Lyon, Brandon RP
Polanco, Placido 2B
Rodney, Fernando RP
Washburn, Jarrod SP
Floirida Marlins
Calero, Kiko RP
Donnelly, Brendan RP
Gload, Ross 1B/OF
Johnson, Nick 1B
Houston Astros
Boone, Aaron J. 1B/3B
Brocail, Doug RP
Erstad, Darin 1B/OF
Hampton, Mike SP
Hawkins, LaTroy RP
Michaels, Jason OF
Tejada, Miguel O. SS
Valverde, Jose RP
Kansas City Royals
Chen, Bruce SP/RP
Crisp, Coco OF
Olivo, Miguel C
Wright, Jamey RP
Los Angeles Angels
Escobar, Kelvim J. SP
Figgins, Chone 3B
Guerrero, Vladimir OF/DH
Lackey, John SP
Oliver, Darren RP
Quinlan, Robb 1B/3B/OF
Los Angeles Dodgers
Ausmus, Brad C
Belliard, Ron 2B
Castro, Juan G. 2B/SS
Garland, Jon SP
Hudson, Orlando 2B
Loretta, Mark D. 1B/2B/3B
Mientkiewicz, Doug A. 1B
Milton, Eric R. SP
Mota, Guillermo RP
Ohman, Will RP
Padilla, Vicente SP
Schmidt, Jason SP
Thome, Jim DH/1B
Weaver, Jeff C. SP
Wolf, Randy SP
Milwaukee Brewers
Cameron, Michael OF
Catalanotto, Frank OF
Counsell, Craig J. 2B/3B/SS
Kendall, Jason C
Looper, Braden L. RP
Lopez, Felipe 2B/3B/SS/OF
Patterson, Corey OF
Vargas, Claudio SP/RP
Weathers, Dave RP
Minnesota Twins
Cabrera, Orlando L. SS
Crede, Joe 3B
Mahay, Ron RP
Pavano, Carl SP
Redmond, Mike P. C
New York Mets
Cora, Alex 2B/SS
Delgado, Carlos 1B
Dessens, Elmer RP
Martinez, Ramon E. 2B/SS
Putz, J.J. RP
Schneider, Brian C
Sheffield, Gary OF
Tatis, Fernando 1B/3B/OF
New York Yankees
Damon, Johnny OF
Hairston Jr, Jerry 2B/3B/SS/OF
Hinske, Eric 1B/OF
Matsui, Hideki OF
Molina, Jose C
Nady, Xavier OF
Pettitte, Andy SP
Oakland A's
Crosby, Bobby SS
Duchscherer, Justin SP
Garciaparra, Nomar 1B
Kennedy, Adam 2B
Tomko, Brett D. SP
Philadelphia Phillies
Bako, Paul C PH
Cairo, Miguel J. IF
Eyre, Scott RP
Feliz, Pedro 3B
Martinez, Pedro SP
Myers, Brett SP
Park, Chan Ho SP
Stairs, Matt OF
San Diego Padres
Blanco, Henry C
Giles, Brian S. OF
Seattle Mariners
Batista, Miguel SP/RP
Bedard, Erik SP
Beltre, Adrian 3B
Branyan, Russ 1B
Chavez, Endy OF
Sweeney, Mike 1B/DH
San Francisco Giants
Aurilia, Rich 1B/3B
Howry, Bob RP
Johnson, Randy SP
Molina, Bengie C
Penny, Brad SP
Uribe, Juan 2B/3B/SS
Winn, Randy OF
St. Louis Cardinals
Ankiel, Rick OF
De Rosa, Mark 3B
Glaus, Troy 3B
Greene, Khalil SS/3B
Holliday, Matt OF
LaRue, Jason C
Pineiro, Joel SP
Smoltz, John SP
Wellemeyer, Todd SP
Tampa Bay Rays
Bradford, Chad RP
Isringhausen, Jason RP
Percival, Troy RP
Shouse, Brian RP
Springer, Russ RP
Zaun, Gregg C
Texas Rangers
Benoit, Joaquin RP
Blalock, Hank 3B
Byrd, Marlon OF
Guardado, Eddie A. RP
Jones, Andruw OF
Rodriguez, Ivan T. C
Vizquel, Omar SS
Toronto Blue Jays
Barajas, Rod C
McDonald, John 3B/SS
Millar, Kevin OF
Scutaro, Marco 2B/SS
Washington Nationals
Bard, Josh C
Hernandez, Livan SP
Kearns, Austin OF
Villone, Ron RP
Young, Dmitri 1B
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