While everyone is debating Tim Lincecum winning the NL Cy Young Award over Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter and Joe Mauer winning the AL MVP Award over Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, it’s time for us fantasy baseball heads to concentrate on more pressing issues — most importantly, the 2010 MLB free agent class and how each player’s signing will affect their fantasy value in the upcoming season. Looking at past season’s numbers is extremely important, but when situations change for a player, i.e. switching leagues, new stadiums, different protection in a lineup, etc., each circumstance must be examined to see how it can affect a player’s production.
Taveras was one of the bigger free agents busts last season
For example, when Willy Taveras, after swiping 68 bags in 2008 for the Colorado Rockies signed with the Cincinnati Reds for the ’09 season, fantasy owners should have been on alert to his potential decrease in speed numbers. The Rockies, under Clint Hurdle, had been moving away from their power hitting ways and implemented a much more aggressive base-running style allowing Taveras greater opportunity to steal. The Reds, on the other hand have been managed by Dusty Baker who is much more reluctant to give the green light to his baserunners. In fact, since 2000, only one team managed by Baker (2006 Chicago Cubs) broke the 100 SB barrier for the season, and that was because he had a proven, still in his prime Juan Pierre. I’m sure those that drafted/protected Taveras would have loved to have that info going into 2009.
Mark Teixera's free agent departure busted the door wide open for Morales
Similarly, but looking at a free agent signing from a different angle, Mark Teixeira’s signing with the New York Yankees had an enormous fantasy impact. We all knew that Tex would continue his hot hitting in the monstrous New York lineup, but what it did, more importantly, is open the door for Kendry Morales. With Teixeira gone, the Los Angeles Angels handed over the first baseman’s job to Morales who, in his first full season, exploded with 34 HR, 108 RBI and a rock solid .304 average.
While most fantasy baseball folks are still locked into their fantasy football seasons, it is important for you to spend this off-season studying the player movement. Fantays baseball is a lot more intricate than fantasy football, so the earlier you start the process, the better your results should be in the end. Below, I’ve listed all of the 2010 MLB free agents along with their age at the start of the 2010 season, and for some, their option situation. I’ve also broken it down by position and have linked each name to their “splits” (stats breakdown) page on ESPN.com so you can see who starts off hot, who finishes cold, and who hits/pitches well in a particular park.
You’ll also notice that some of the members of the 2010 MLB free agent class have already signed off-season deal or had their options picked up. I’ve color coded my thoughts on the move — green if I think the move will increase their fantasy value, red if it will hurt it and blue if I think it’s a lateral move.
It’s not the sexiest list of available free agents we’ve seen, but there are still quite a number of guys out there that will help your fantasy team reach the top of the standings. We’ll be tracking those that will have fantasy relevance in 2010, so keep reading and I’ll see you all in the money next year!
Catchers
Eliezer Alfonzo (30)
Brad Ausmus (41)
Paul Bako (38)
Rod Barajas (34)
Josh Bard (32)
Michael Barrett (33) – club option
Henry Blanco (38)
Ramon Castro (34)
Sal Fasano (38)
Toby Hall (34)
Ramon Hernandez (34) – signed 1 year deal with Reds
Jason Kendall (36)
Jason LaRue (36)
Victor Martinez (31) – Red Sox exercised 2010 option
Bengie Molina (35)
Jose Molina (35)
Miguel Olivo (31) – Royals declined option
Mike Redmond (39)
Ivan Rodriguez (38)
Brian Schneider (33)
Yorvit Torrealba (31) – Rockies declined option
Javier Valentin (34)
Jason Varitek (38) – exercised player option with Red Sox
Vance Wilson (37)
Gregg Zaun (39) – Rays decline option
First Basemen
Rich Aurilia (38)
Kevin Barker (34)
Russell Branyan (34)
Miguel Cairo (36)
Frank Catalanotto (36) – $5MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Tony Clark (38)
Carlos Delgado (38)
Nomar Garciaparra (36)
Ross Gload (34) – Marlins declined option
Eric Hinske (32)
Nick Johnson (31)
Adam LaRoche (30)
Doug Mientkiewicz (36)
Kevin Millar (38)
Chad Tracy (30) – Diamondbacks declined option
Daryle Ward (35)
Dmitri Young (36) -$6MM option vests with 500 PAs in ’09
Second Basemen
Ronnie Belliard (35)
Jamey Carroll (36)
Alex Cora (34)
Craig Counsell (39)
Mark DeRosa (35)
David Eckstein (35)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (34)
Orlando Hudson (32)
Akinori Iwamura (31) – $4.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Adam Kennedy (34)
Felipe Lopez (30)
Mark Loretta (38)
Pablo Ozuna (35)
Placido Polanco (34)
Freddy Sanchez (32) – signed 2 year deal with Giants
Juan Uribe (31)
Shortstops
Orlando Cabrera (35)
Bobby Crosby (30)
Adam Everett (33)
Chris Gomez (39)
Alex Gonzalez (32) – Red Sox declined option
Khalil Greene (30)
John McDonald (35)
Luis Rodriguez (29)
Marco Scutaro (34)
Miguel Tejada (36)
Omar Vizquel (43) – signed 1 year deal with White Sox
Jack Wilson (32) – signed 2 year deal with Mariners
Third Basemen
Adrian Beltre (31)
Geoff Blum (37) – signed 1 year deal with Astros
Aaron Boone (37)
Eric Bruntlett (31)
Joe Crede (32)
Pedro Feliz (35) – Phillies declined option
Chone Figgins (32)
Troy Glaus (33)
Mike Lamb (34)
Melvin Mora (38) – Orioles declined option
Left Fielders
Garret Anderson (38)
Marlon Anderson (36)
Jason Bay (31)
Emil Brown (35)
Carl Crawford (28) – Rays exercised option
Johnny Damon (36)
David Dellucci (36)
Cliff Floyd (37)
Freddy Guzman (28)
Matt Holliday (30)
Jacque Jones (35)
Gabe Kapler (34)
Darnell McDonald (31)
Laynce Nix (29)
Greg Norton (37)
Wily Mo Pena (28)
Manny Ramirez (38) – exercised player option
Dave Roberts (38)
Fernando Tatis (35)
Center Fielders
Rick Ankiel (30)
Rocco Baldelli (28)
Marlon Byrd (32)
Mike Cameron (37)
Endy Chavez (32)
Coco Crisp (30) – Royals declined option
Darin Erstad (36)
Ryan Freel (34)
Reed Johnson (33)
Andruw Jones (33)
Mark Kotsay (34) – signed 1 year deal with White Sox
Corey Patterson (30)
Scott Podsednik (34)
DeWayne Wise (31)
Right Fielders
Bobby Abreu (36) – signed 2 year deal with Angels
Jermaine Dye (36) – White Sox declined option
Brian Giles (39)
Vladimir Guerrero (34)
Geoff Jenkins (35) – $7.5MM mutual option with a $1.25MM buyout
Austin Kearns (30) – Nationals declined option
Jason Michaels (34)
Xavier Nady (31)
Magglio Ordonez (36) – $18MM club/vesting option with a $3MM buyout
Randy Winn (36)
Designated Hitters
Hank Blalock (29)
Jason Giambi (39) – $6.5MM club option with a $1.25MM buyout
Ken Griffey Jr. (40) – signed 1 year deal with Mariners
Aubrey Huff (33)
Hideki Matsui (36)
Gary Sheffield (41)
Matt Stairs (42)
Mike Sweeney (36)
Jim Thome (39)
Starting Pitchers
Brandon Backe (32)
Miguel Batista (39)
Josh Beckett (30) – $12MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Erik Bedard (31)
Kris Benson (34)
Daniel Cabrera (29)
Chris Capuano (31)
Bartolo Colon (37)
Jose Contreras (38)
Doug Davis (34)
Justin Duchscherer (32)
Adam Eaton (32)
Shawn Estes (37)
Josh Fogg (33)
Freddy Garcia (34) – White Sox excercised option
Jon Garland (30) – Dodgers declined option
Mike Hampton (37)
Rich Harden (28)
Mark Hendrickson (36)
Livan Hernandez (35)
Tim Hudson (34) – signed 3 year deal with Braves
Jason Jennings (31)
Jason Johnson (36)
Randy Johnson (46)
John Lackey (31)
Cliff Lee (31) – Phillies exercised option
Braden Looper (35) – Brewers declined team option
Rodrigo Lopez (34)
Jason Marquis (31)
Brian Moehler (38) – mutual option
Brett Myers (29)
Vicente Padilla (32) – $12MM club option with a $1.75MM buyout
Chan Ho Park (37)
John Parrish (32)
Carl Pavano (34)
Brad Penny (32)
Odalis Perez (33)
Andy Pettitte (38)
Joel Pineiro (31)
Sidney Ponson (33)
Mark Prior (28)
Horacio Ramirez (30)
Jason Schmidt (37)
John Smoltz (43)
Tim Wakefield (43) – signed 2 year deal with Red Sox
Jarrod Washburn (35)
Brandon Webb (31) – Diamondbacks exercised option
Todd Wellemeyer (31)
Kip Wells (33)
Randy Wolf (33)
Closers
Ryan Franklin (37) – $2.75MM club option with a $250K buyout
Mike Gonzalez (32)
Kevin Gregg (32)
Trevor Hoffman (42) – signed 1 year deal with Brewers
Fernando Rodney (33)
Rafael Soriano (30)
Jose Valverde (30)
Billy Wagner (38) – $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Right-Handed Relievers
Luis Ayala (32)
Danys Baez (32)
Joaquin Benoit (32)
Rafael Betancourt (35) – Rockies declined team option
Chris Bootcheck (31)
Chad Bradford (35)
Doug Brocail (43) – Astros declined option
Chad Cordero (28)
Elmer Dessens (38)
Brendan Donnelly (38)
Octavio Dotel (36)
Kelvim Escobar (33)
Eric Gagne (34)
Tom Gordon (42)
LaTroy Hawkins (37)
Matt Herges (40)
Bob Howry (36)
Jason Isringhausen (37)
Jorge Julio (31)
Masahide Kobayashi (36) – $3.25MM club option with a $250K buyout
Brandon Lyon (30)
Gary Majewski (30)
Guillermo Mota (36)
Joel Peralta (33)
Troy Percival (40)
J.J. Putz (33) – Mets declined option
Juan Rincon (31)
Duaner Sanchez (30)
Rudy Seanez (41)
Russ Springer (41)
Julian Tavarez (37)
Josh Towers (32)
Luis Vizcaino (35) – $4MM club option with a $500K buyout
David Weathers (40)
Jamey Wright (35)
Yasuhiko Yabuta (37) – Royals declined option
Tyler Yates (32)
Left-Handed Relievers
Joe Beimel (32)
Alan Embree (40) – Rockies declined option
Scott Eyre (38)
Casey Fossum (32)
John Grabow (31) – signed 2 year deal with Cubs
Eddie Guardado (39)
Ron Mahay (39)
Trever Miller (37)
Will Ohman (31) – Dodgers declined option
Darren Oliver (39)
Glendon Rusch (35)
Scott Schoeneweis (36)
Brian Shouse (41) – Rays decline option
Ron Villone (40)
Jamie Walker (38)
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