Value Shopping
By Mike Silva ~ January 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
With the free agent market deflating daily the stars, much less fringe players, are having trouble striking deals. This type of situation could give the local teams an opportunity at obtaining key players at a bargain price. Here are some players that I would watch:
Rich Aurilia – would make for a perfect complement to Delgado at first, and he is able to play multiple positions. Alex Cora is nice, but the Mets lack some serious pop off the bench. God forbid Fernando Tatis turns into a pumpkin; you might then have the worst power bench in baseball. He also is an alumnus of my high school alma-mata – Xaverian.
Kevin Millar – See Aurilia, but without the versatility. He actually would complement a possibly Alex Cora signing better than Aurilia.
Damion Easley – Wouldn’t he be a nice fit for the Yankees backing up Cano? He can spell him against a tough lefty, and prevents you from having to “roll the dice” on AAA infielders. That’s something that the Yankees had to do, unsuccessfully, in 2008.
David Eckstein – Not sure what he is looking to make, but he is better insurance for Luis Castillo then the light hitting Cora.
Ty Wiggenton – He wants a starting job, but right now the market is bad for stars, much less complementary players like Wiggenton. His grit, toughness, and versatility would do well in Queens or the Bronx.
Rocco Baldelli - if healthy, which is a big question mark, could be the surprise contributor of 2008. Great insurance for the Murphy/Tatis platoon, especially since it looks like Man-Ram is too much for the Wilpon’s to stomach.
Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Pedro Martinez, Mark Mulder, and Mark Prior - Both teams could use depth with their pitching. I believe a combination of young pitchers, and veterans with upside are necessary to navigate a 162 game schedule. Some of the above are better than others, but neither team can be hurt with these low risk/high reward signings.
Chad Cordero, Brendan Donnelly, Keith Foulke, Jon Lieber, Eddie Guardado, Will Ohman, Juan Rincon, and Mike Timlin – each provides depth to the bullpen. Even the Yankees, rich with young bullpen arms, could use some depth. The lefty specialist like Guardado and Ohman are almost a necessity for the Mets.
