<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>1. Aramis Ramirez - Age: 28 - Third Base - Bats: R - Status: Signed with Chicago CubsThe best all-around position player on the free agent market this winter, Ramirez provides defensive value that none of the other major bats can, because he's an average defender at a skill position. Ramirez's true value is in his bat, of course. He has plus-plus power, particularly to the opposite field; he can get into trouble when he tries to pull everything and gets out of his swing. He's also an above-average hitter; he keeps his bat in the zone long enough to make solid contact, and he has outstanding plate coverage. He could walk a bit more, but that's a minor quibble given how much he produces offensively.Defensively, Ramirez has a good arm, but his hands and range are both a tick below average. He can stay at third base, however, which puts him ahead of the other big free agent bats, who are either stuck in left field (Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano) or at DH (Frank Thomas).Ramirez is the youngest major league free agent on the market this winter; he'll play the 2007 season at age 29, compared to 31 for both Soriano and Lee. This means that his new club will get three or four of his peak years, perhaps more, without too much concern about buying into his decline. 2. Alfonso Soriano - Age: 31 - Left Field - Bats: R - Status: Signed by Chicago CubsSoriano started 2006 by throwing an ill-advised tantrum when the Nationals asked him to move to left field, but proceeded to defy all expectations of his performance by moving from a hitters' park to a pitchers' park and setting career highs in homers and slugging percentage.Soriano has a lightning-quick bat and ridiculous plate coverage; he's on par with Vlad Guerrero in his ability to make solid contact with balls out of the strike zone. Of course, he swings and misses at his share of balls out of the strike zone as well, and takes an attempt to walk him as a personal affront; his 51 unintentional walks in 2006 were 20 more than his previous career high. Soriano's troubles in the infield were largely a function of his hands, although the fact that he can barely jump didn't help matters.In the outfield, hard hands aren't as much of a problem, and he's quick enough that he can overcome his inexperience in reading fly balls off hitters' bats. His effective range is above-average, and his arm is also plus. Soriano will turn 31 in January, so he's close to the end of his peak offensive years, and it's hard to ignore his .316 OBP in the previous two seasons. But given his performance in 2006 and his athletic ability, he's the second-best hitter on this market. 3. Carlos Lee - Age: 30 - Left Field - Bats: R - Status: UnsignedLee is the third member of the troika of power hitters on the market this winter, but there are some substantial differences between him, Ramirez and Soriano. On the positive side, Lee has plus-plus power with good extension in his swing, very good bat speed, and a selective approach at the plate that produces a lot of contact. For teams looking for a legitimate power threat to hit fourth or fifth, Lee is a solid fit.On the negative side, he's not fond of the base on balls, he's limited to left field or DH (although he's passable in left), and he's a bad-body guy who's likely to decline faster than the more athletic Ramirez and Soriano will. He's already 31, meaning that he's reaching the end of his peak offensive years, and a hypothetical five-year deal would take him up to age 36, at which point he's likely to be a DH-only guy with a slider-speed bat. 4. J.D. Drew - Age: 30 - Right Field - Bats: L - Status: UnsignedI doubt that there's a better harbinger of a bull market for player salaries than Drew's decision to forgo a guaranteed $33 million for three years to become a free agent. (It may also be a sign that Drew's agent, Scott Boras, already has something lined up for Drew, since Boras is not one to make such a decision without a good idea of his alternatives.) Drew is an extremely passive hitter at the plate with plus pull and opposite-field power, and he has posted a .400 OBP or better in four of his last seven seasons, falling just short in 2006 at .393. He has good bat speed but also makes very solid contact within the zone, and when he deigns to swing at a pitch on the outer part of the plate, he can drive it well other way. On the flip side, he's a low-energy player who takes a lot of hittable pitches, and he's been brittle throughout his career, reaching 500 plate appearances just twice; I doubt the Dodgers would say in hindsight that they had a good return on their $22 million investment in Drew, given how much time he missed over the last two seasons. He has excellent range in right field, albeit a fringe-average arm; he can play an average center field, but it's not clear that he can stay healthy if he's asked to do so every day. In some winters, the negatives here would overwhelm the positives, but Drew is easily one of the top five bats available this offseason.5. Julio Lugo - Age: 30 - Short Stop - Bats: R - Status: UnsignedThe best pure middle infielder in the class, Lugo has changed his approach from his time with Houston, when he had a longer swing and was trying to hit for power, to a shorter approach designed to put more balls in play at the cost of some extra bases. Given Lugo's slight build and his speed, it's a worthwhile tradeoff, especially if he can improve his walk rate slightly and become more of a true leadoff candidate.In the field, Lugo has very good range in both directions at shortstop, but doesn't have great hands, leading to high error totals that will turn off a number of teams; although a couple of teams are considering him as a second baseman, I don't think that will address his problem with errors, although he'd probably be a very valuable fielder at second because he does make a number of plays. His late-season struggles with the Dodgers may impact his market value, but the dearth of shortstop options is going to do plenty to boost the dollars thrown Lugo's way. 6. Jim Edmonds - Age: 36 - Center Field - Bats: L - Status: Signed with St. Louis CardinalsEdmonds' return from a concussion he suffered after a major collision with an outfield wall produced some dicey moments in late September and throughout October. He seemed at times to be less aggressive in the outfield and even looked disoriented on more than one occasion. However, his return was an enormous part of the Cardinals' three upset victories in the playoffs. He gave them one of their best on-base threats and was their best left-handed hitter, forcing opposing managers to work their bullpens around him.Edmonds can still turn on a mediocre fastball up, but his bat looked slower in the postseason and he seemed uncomfortable against harder stuff in. (This could have been an aftereffect of his concussion or the ensuing time off, although he didn't hit for much power in the first half of the season, either.) He also showed his first signs of a platoon split after years of hitting left-handed pitchers almost as well as he hit righties. There's just a lot of uncertainty around Edmonds due to his injury and the long layoff, something that will make him a tough player to value. 7. Frank Thomas - Age: 38 - Designated Hitter - Bats: R - Status: Signed with Toronto Blue JaysThomas is likely to stay in Oakland, but is still on the market at this writing, and he's one of the top five bats (considering their offensive value only) available. Thomas is an extremely unusual hitter whose approach works for him where it would fail for most guys. He's a front-foot hitter who gets very little power from his back leg, which is up during the heart of his swing. He has a quick bat, lets the ball travel well, and simply overpowers balls that would tie up lesser mortals.On the downside, he's about a 10 runner on the 20-80 scale, so those 81 walks he drew last year weren't quite as valuable as they'd be for most hitters, and he's a huge threat to ground into double plays. The team that invests in him is banking on his staying healthy as he did in 2006, rather than staying on the DL as he did in 2004-05. 8. Barry Bonds - Age: 42 - Left Field - Bats: L - Status: UnsignedLost in the rush to sanctimony over Bonds was the fact that he was still a productive hitter when he was able to stay on the field. He would have finished 13th in the NL in slugging percentage had he qualified, but he fell nine plate appearances short. Bonds' approach at the plate hasn't changed in ages; he's the rare power hitter with a short swing who still has tremendous bat speed and is extremely selective. He's going to have knee trouble for the rest of his career, and even if he can play the field, his range is minimal. Although a return to San Francisco is likely, Bonds could extend his career by a year or two if he would go to the American League and serve as a DH.9. Dave Roberts - Age: 34 - Left Field - Bats: L - Status: UnsignedRoberts is one of the only pure leadoff hitters available on the market; whether that's a good thing (a guy who can get on base and has game-altering ability on the bases) or a bad thing ("pure leadoff hitter" meaning "can't hit anywhere other than first or ninth") is a matter of taste.Roberts is a slap-and-run hitter in the Ichiro mold, swinging very late and trying to maximize his contact rate while hitting the ball to the left side as often as possible. His best skill is his baserunning ability; not only is he a plus runner, he reads pitchers extremely well and can disrupt a game once he reaches first. His approach at the plate doesn't lend itself to a lot of walks, limiting his OBP and thus his running opportunities, and his power is well below-average. He's a borderline defender in center, with his speed making up for inferior instincts, but has plus range in left.Roberts is 34 years old and still plays a young man's game; however, his speed will eventually diminish as he ages, and when that happens, his offensive value will shrink quickly. At this point, there's no sign that this process has started, but you don't want to be the team left holding the bag when it does. 10. Mike Piazza - Age: 38 - Catcher - Bats: R - Status: UnsignedThe Padres' decision to decline Piazza's $8 million option was one of the few surprises of the option season, especially when they don't have a right-handed power bat ready to fill the void. Piazza would be an ideal fit for an American League club that has a capable defensive backup available and can give Piazza time at DH to keep him healthy and keep his bat in the lineup. His approach at the plate is more pull-oriented than it was when he was younger, and his bat is a bit slower, but he still has plus power (slugging .564 away from homer-killing Petco Park) and provides more offense than most teams get out of the catcher spot.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>1. Aramis Ramirez - Age: 28 - Third Base - Bats: R - Status: Signed with Chicago Cubs</div><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>2. Alfonso Soriano - Age: 31 - Left Field - Bats: R - Status: Signed by Chicago Cubs</div><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>3. Carlos Lee - Age: 30 - Left Field - Bats: R - Status: Unsigned</div>Now the Cubs can concentrate on signing Carlos Lee. :whistling:
Ahh, another place that overrates Julio Lugo.League Average Shortstop that is going to get 8 million a year. I feel bad for whoever signs him. :whistling: Also, Dave Roberts 9th? Wow.
