There’s been a lot of talk about Johnny Damon potentially inking a deal with the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, or Chicago White Sox the past couple days. Even though Damon is by far the best unsigned free agent available of the 2010 MLB class, there are still a few decent players that could fill out rosters and potentially have some fantasy value. Below you’ll find a list of player rankings for most of the remaining available free agents.
Overall
1. Johnny Damon, OF
2. Felipe Lopez, 2B, SS, OF
3. Jarrod Washburn, SP
4. Pedro Martinez, SP
5. John Smoltz, P
6. Hank Blalock, 1B
7. Jermaine Dye, OF
8. Russell Branyan, 1B
9. Kiko Calero, RP
10. Carlos Delgado, 1B
Lopez would be an extremely valuable utility man on most any team and could still end up starting if he lands on the right team. I have not seen Lopez linked to the Astros, but he would provide a clear upgrade over Tommy Manzella at short stop. Tommy who? Exactly, that’s my point. A team like Cincinnati with question marks in their outfield and weak infield depth could also use a player with Lopez’s versatility. Washburn, Smoltz, and Martinez could all easily retire, but they are clearly the best pitchers left on the market and could provide a team with plenty of rotation depth.
Catchers
1. Rod Barajas
2. Michael Barrett
3. Javier Valentin
4. Jose Molina
5. Paul Bako
The catchers left available are pretty slim pickins. Barajas figures to catch on somewhere soon or in the spring, while the others may need an injury to ink a deal.
Infielders
1. Felipe Lopez, 2B, SS, OF
2. Hank Blalock, 1B
3. Russell Branyan, 1B
4. Carlos Delgado, 1B
5. Joe Crede, 3B
6. Ryan Freel 2B, 3B, OF
7. Nomar Garciaparra, 1B, 3B
8. Dmitri Young, 1B
9. Aaron Boone, 1B, 3B
10. Tony Clark, 1B
11. Rich Aurilia, 1B, 3B
12. Darin Erstad 1B, OF
13. Greg Norton 1B, OF
14. Daryle Ward, 1B, OF
15. Pablo Ozuna 2B, 3B
16. Chris Gomez 2B, 3B, SS
There are a lot of valuable pieces left on this list. Most of the players are platoon quality or bench players, but very useful. Blalock seems to have gone overlooked on most accounts, but I really like his consistency and potential upside better than Branyan’s chances of repeating his career year efforts and the aging Delgado returning to form. Lopez and Freel should catch on somewhere soon based on their versatility alone.
Outfielders
1. Johnny Damon
2. Felipe Lopez, 2B, SS, OF
3. Jermaine Dye (considering retirement)
4. Willy Taveras
5. Garret Anderson
6. Jonny Gomes
7. Rocco Baldelli
8. Wily Mo Pena
9. Gary Sheffield
10. Ryan Freel 2B, 3B, OF
11. Endy Chavez
12. Geoff Jenkins
13. Emil Brown
14. Cliff Floyd
15. David Dellucci
16. Darin Erstad 1B, OF
17. Greg Norton 1B, OF
18. Marlon Anderson
19. Daryle Ward 1B, OF
Dye can still hit a ton, but his horrendous defense has kept him from landing a job. He’s even been reported as recently considering retirement. Taveras was recently released from Oakland, but could provide solid depth for a team in need of defense and a fourth outfielder. With the exceptions of Taveras, Chavez, and Freel the rest of these players lack the speed to play center and belong at the corner outfield spots.
Starting pitchers
1. Jarrod Washburn
2. Pedro Martinez
3. John Smoltz
4. Chien-Ming Wang
5. Mark Mulder
6. Kris Benson
7. Bartolo Colon
8. Noah Lowry
9. Mark Prior
10. Dustin Moseley
11. Eric Milton
12. Braden Looper
13. Brett Tomko
14. Brandon Backe
15. Paul Byrd
16. Livan Hernandez
17. Odalis Perez
18. Jason Jennings
19. Adam Eaton
20. Jason Schmidt (may retire)
21. Tomo Ohka
22. Cha Seung Baek
23. Jason Johnson
24. Sidney Ponson
25. Mike Hampton (may miss season)
The good news is that there is a ton of starting pitchers left. The bad news is they are all old, washed up, or were not very good major league pitchers to begin with. Washburn, Smoltz, and Martinez figure to be the only ones that should be above a fifth starting spot in a rotation. Prior still has some hope to be an effective pitcher again at age 29, but it seems like it was 20 years ago that threw a pitcher in the majors (it was actually 2006). Don’t expect anyone outside the top 5 to ink a major league deal, but several of these guys could be signed to minor league contracts as we enter spring training.
Relief Pitchers
1. John Smoltz
2. Kiko Calero
3. Chad Bradford
4. Eric Gagne
5. Joe Beimel
6. Chan Ho Park
7. Jorge Julio
8. Jason Isringhausen
9. Tom Gordon
10. Troy Percival
11. Jamie Walker
12. Rudy Seanez
13. Ron Villone
14. David Weathers
15. Mike MacDougal
16. Julian Tavarez
17. Joaquin Benoit
18. Edgar Gonzalez
19. Glendon Rusch
20. Duaner Sanchez
21. Luis Vizcaino
22. Ron Mahay
23. John Bale
24. Alan Embree
25. Russ Springer
The forgotten relievers may actually be the deepest commodities left on the market. Most of these guys could find a home and be very productive as specialists. Keep an eye on where some of these guys land. Relievers like Calero and Bradford could end up in premier setup roles and become reliable sources of holds and even pick up a couple of saves over the course of the season.
- Jason Aufderhaar - RotoKingdom Staff Writer
The founder of RotoKingdom.net has almost 20 years of fantasy sports experience. Jason is a two time winner of RotoKingdom's 20 Team Die Hard I baseball league, winning in 2002 and 2005. In 2006, Jason won RotoKingdom's 20 Team Die Hard I basketball league. That year he was also the individual champion of a 20 team website challenge baseball league versus competitors in the industry. Jason has written NBA, NFL, and NHL articles for OPEN Sports (FOX) and Fanball.