2010 Free Agent Analysis

by Steven Prentiss

*A QUALITY PRODUCT* Money Spent: $48 Number of Players: 8 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Fred Lewis (6/8/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Lewis ($23) Comments: A Quality Product spent nearly half of their FAAB money on Fred Lewis, who proved to be your basic replacement level player at best. He did contribute to their 2nd place in the steals category, adding 13 to the total, but added little else. Phil Coke was another adequate replacement level player in the bullpen, adding some wins and even a couple of saves late in the season. The rest of the acquisitions were basically worthless, making this the second year in a row that AQP was unable to make a big splash in free agency. Overall Grade: D-	Fred Lewis
*BALL HOGS* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 11 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Andres Torres (6/1/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Andres Torres ($33) Comments: The Ball Hogs had their third straight season of great production from their free agents. Andres Torres filled the hole left by the season-ending injury to Jacoby Ellsbury. The Hogs also got good production from Melvin Mora, Ryan Kalish and Jack Cust as short term fill-ins. But they saved their most important pickups for the last two weeks of the season. David Murphy provided a late season spark and contributed with a .346 average over the last two weeks, which ended up being worth two points in average. Jake Westbrook had two stellar starts during the last week of the season. Both contributed to the Hogs eking out a victory on the last day of the season Overall Grade: A-	Andres Torres
*BUTT PIRATES* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 11 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Brian Duensing (7/27/2010) Most Expensive Pick: John Axford ($26) Comments: The Butt Pirates had another productive year in the free agent market. Early on, they claimed a slow-starting Lyle Overbay off the scrap heap, right before he heated up. In early June, they picked up speedster Roger Bernadina. And July proved to be a great month for the Pirates, as they picked up closer John Axford, a solid middle reliever in Sergio Romo and a gem in starter Brian Duensing (7 wins and a 3.15 ERA over the last two months of the season), who ended up being the Pirates best pickup of the year. Overall Grade: B+	Brian Duensing
*CHARLESTOWN CHIEFS* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 13 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Juan Uribe (5/4/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Jake Peavy ($9) Comments: The Charlestown Chiefs struck gold with two of their early free agent claims. Juan Uribe proved to be a great replacement for the demoted Scott Sizemore. Brett Cecil (11 wins after May) was huge in light of Max Scherzer’s mid-season trip to AAA. However, Chiefs owner Billy Stouder spent most of the2010 free agent season chasing after injured/disappointing players that could potentially become keepers for 2011, such as Edinson Volquez, Jake Peavy, Rich Harden, Carlos Gomez and Kosuke Fukudome. For the most part, that chase was futile, as none of the players look to be keeper material in 2011. Overall Grade: C	Juan Uribe
*CLUELESS* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 12 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Dexter Fowler (6/8/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Tom Gorzelanny ($19) Comments: After spending a ton on their first free agent pickup (an awful Tom formerly of Pittsburgh), Clueless was much more judicious in their remaining pickups. Jim Thome provided some late season power. Johnny Venters and Clay Hensley solidified the back end of the Clueless bullpen. But their best pickup was Dexter Fowler, who owner Mike Tate picked up after Half Cajun bought out his contract. Fowler got called back up in July and was productive enough to make him a potential keeper in 2011. Overall Grade: C+	Dexter Fowler
*HALF CAJUN* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 17 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Jhoulys Chacin (6/8/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Austin Kearns & Jhoulys Chacin ($9) Comments: Half Cajun was one of the most active franchises in the free agent market in 2011. Picking up Jhoulys Chacin after he had lost bullpen-eligibility turned out to be a great move, as he posted an ERA just above 3.00 over the last four months of the season. The rest of the free agent pickups ranged from mediocre (Peter Bourjos), to bad (Josh Wilson), to wretched putrescence (Emilio Bonifacio, Wilson Betemit & Aaron Cunningham). Bonifacio, Cunningham and Betemit hit a combined 6 for 57 (.105) over the last three weeks of the season costing Half Cajun 2 points in batting average, putting the final nail in the their 2010 season coffin. Overall Grade: D-	Jhoulys Chacin
HGH BOYS Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 12 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Chris Johnson (6/22/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Alfredo Simon ($20) Comments: HGH Boys spent the majority of free agency looking for answers for their three offensive holes – corner infield, 5th outfielder and utility. Both the utility and 5th outfielder slots were a continuous stream of disappointment. Owner Alex Fein was even desperate enough to add Gerardo Parra twice. However, he was able to find a solution to the CI spot in best pick Chris Johnson, who hit .313 with 11 HR and 50 RBI in just 315 at bats on the HGH roster. Their most expensive pick, Alfredo Simon, picked up a few saves before killing his ERA and then allegedly killing a person in the Dominican Republic. Overall Grade: B-	Chris Johnson
HOTEL CALIFORNIA Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 11 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Brennan Boesch (5/25/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Brennan Boesch ($32) Comments: Hotel California did not have its strongest season in the free agent market. They spent the majority of their money on Brennan Boesch, who started off well but faded down the stretch. Hotel owner Randy Mussman also spent much of the season looking for a replacement for the injured Asdrubal Cabrera, but numerous pickups (Jason Donald, Neil Walker, Trevor Crowe, etc) were unsuccessful at filling the void. Overall Grade: D	Brennan Boesch
*LIGHT BULBS* Money Spent: $2 Number of Players: 1 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Shawn Camp (6/29/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Sean Camp ($2) Comments: When you draft nine prospects on your reserve roster, there’s just no room for free agent pickups. On June 29th, the Light Bulbs, who were in 5th place with 90 points, made their only free agent pickup, acquiring reliever Shawn Camp. In the process they cut future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. From that point on, the team plummeted to a final finish of 10th place. Coincidence? I think not. Overall Grade: F	Shawn Camp
**MASH* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 12 Best Pick (date of acquisition): J.J. Putz (6/22/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Scott Hairston ($13) Comments:** Although most expensive pick Scott Hairston did not work out as MASH owner Neil Arceneaux had hoped, he was able to find some other pieces in the free agent market that did help the hapless franchise. Jeff Keppinger and Ryan Spilborghs both ended up being pretty productive as replacement players. J.J. Putz was excellent as a middle reliever and with his move during the off-season, now figures to be the Diamondbacks closer and a definite keeper. MASH also picked up reliever Francisco Rodriguez in June. Unfortunately, it was the one from Anaheim, not the Mets closer. Overall Grade: C+	J.J. Putz
*PROLONGING THE MAGIC* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 7 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Tyler Colvin (8/3/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Jason Vargas ($25) Comments: Prolonging the Magic spent half of their money on Vargas, who rewarded owner Jeff Romero with a “robust” 5.08 ERA and 1.417 WHIP and just 3 wins over the last three months of the season. The middle relievers the Magic picked up (Darren Oliver and Ryan Webb) were below average, although better than keeper Jim Johnson. The rest of the picks were milquetoast at best, with Tyler Colvin, who never even saw a single at bat on the Magic active roster, being the best of the bunch. Had Romero done a better job, maybe he could have won the league. Overall Grade: F	Tyler Colvin
*ROLL THE BONES* Money Spent: $41 Number of Players: 11 Best Pick (date of acquisition): R.A. Dickey (6/22/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Tommy Hunter ($16) Comments: Roll the Bones was able to mine many pitching gems in free agency. R.A. Dickey was tremendously valuable (2.78 ERA and 1.146 WHIP), even after losing his bullpen eligibility. Tommy Hunter was a great late season addition, garnering 8 wins over the last two months. Relievers Santiago Casilla, Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen and Kevin Jepsen were all spectacular, all posting stellar ERAs and WHIPs. And Kimbrel has an inside track to be the Braves closer in 2011, making him a pretty good keeper. Unfortunately, the Bones weakness was their offense, and they were unable to find anyone on the free agent market to address those needs. Overall Grade: B-	R.A. Dickey
*SUICIDE SQUEEZE* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 9 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Alex Gonzalez (6/8/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Gonzalez ($26) Comments: Suicide Squeeze was the first team to blow through their $50 FAAB, spending more than half of it on Alex Gonzalez, who proved to be pretty productive for a middle infielder. Freddy Sanchez was also a nice little mid-season pickup. But offense was not Suicide Squeeze’s problem in 2010. Their opening day roster included starters the triumvirate of doom - Chien-Ming Wang, John Maine and Kyle Lohse. The starters that owner Kenny Creel added through free agency (Joe Saunders, Jordan Zimmermann, Nick Blackburn and Mitch Talbot) were better that trio, but not much better. Overall Grade: D+	Alex Gonzalez
*TASMANIAN DEVILS* Money Spent: $48 Number of Players: 10 Best Pick (date of acquisition): John Buck (5/25/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Eric Hinske ($17) Comments: Tasmanian Devils owner Crystal Mussman had a stellar reserve draft in 2010. Unfortunately, her trip through free agency in 2010 was lacking. Desperate for offense all year, catcher John Buck was the only player to provide significant production. Eric Hinske cost more than $1 per at bat on the Devils active roster (14 unproductive AB) and Mussman household favorite Alex Gordon was as bad as ever. Maybe the best $1 spent was the buck bid on Kevin Youkilis in mid-September that prevented another team from getting him on the cheap after he would have cleared waivers. Of course, had the Devils not cut him in the first place, the move would have been unnecessary. Overall Grade: D-	John Buck
*TEE TIMERS* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 30 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Travis Wood (7/6/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Aaron Heilman ($21) Comments: For the third year in a row, Tee Timers owner Tony Murphy was the busiest person on the waiver wire in 2010, adding a $21 Aaron Heilman and an amazing TWENTY-NINE other $1 players. The majority of the $1 flyers turned out to be worthless – Kyle Blanks, Nolan Reimold, John McDonald, Luis Durango, Brooks Conrad, Wilson Valdez – the list goes on and on. Craig Kimbrel would have been a great potential keeper for 2011 – had the Tee Timers not released him a week after winning their bid, allowing Roll the Bones to swoop him up. Their best free agent was Travis Wood, who turned out to be the Reds best starter in the 2nd half and looks like a potential keeper in 2011. Overall Grade: D+	Travis Wood
*TIME TO RUN* Money Spent: $50 Number of Players: 22 Best Pick (date of acquisition): Angel Pagan (5/18/2010) Most Expensive Pick: Angel Pagan ($9) Comments: Time to Run owner Bobby Hudgins had a much improved free agency in 2010. TTR found a gem in Angel Pagan, who was by far the best stolen base threat found on waivers all year, and a potential keeper in 2011. TTR also was somewhat successful in churning through two-start pitchers and bullpen starters, finishing 1st in Innings Pitched and tied for 2nd in wins. In addition, a late season bid on Koji Uehara, who now appears to be the Orioles closer, got TTR a potential keeper. Overall Grade: A-	Angel Pagan