Top Free Agents Available

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training in just a few weeks I thought it'd be a good idea to highlight some of the free agents that are shockingly still available:

1. Orlando Hudson: I'm really surprised he is still available. Granted the O-Dog was lost playing time at the end of last season, but he was still productive with an OPS of .774. He is probably overvaluing himself right now which is why some teams aren't eager to sign him because he is 33. I still think he could be productive and unfortunately I see his destination being Washington.

2. Johnny Damon: Damon hit a career high 24 home runs and had a career high .854 OPS last season, so on the surface it's hard to see why he doesn't have a job yet. But when you look a little deeper, the question has to be asked how much help did Damon receive from the new Yankee Stadium being a launching pad for home runs? Is he worth his desired $13 million? No, but he definitely deserves a pretty good pay day because he isn't showing signs of breaking down and being unproductive. I see Damon and the Yankees striking a deal in the near future.

3. Jermaine Dye: Jermaine Dye doesn't want to DH full time yet, but his defense is declining so he's put in a tough situation. The Cubs have called and seem interested in him as a 4th outfielder, I don't see Dye taking that unless there are no other options. I think he's better suited to be a DH/4th Outfielder type, a logical choice would be the White Sox, but I don't see it happening.  I don't really have a clue where he could wind up, but I'll just guess that it's the White Sox or the Cubs.

4. Erik Bedard: If you're like me, you'll notice that you probably haven't seen much on Bedard this offseason since he had surgery in August and won't be ready for the the first half of the season it looks like. When healthy, Bedard is a very good starter and could have a Pedro Martinez like impact this season for the club that signs him. I have nothing to suggest this will happen but my guess is that Bedard ends up in St. Louis, he just seems like a Cardinals like signing to sure up the back of the rotation down the stretch.

5. Ben Sheets: Sheets has been throwing for clubs recently and looks to be close to signing somewhere with a lot of interest. Sheets is a lot like Bedard in that he can be filthy when healthy, he's just never healthy. The Mariners have been touted as the winner of the off-season and I think they really think they can win it all and will look at Sheets to fill the rotation out after King Felix and Cliff Lee. The Mariners are my guess but the Dodgers or Mets might not be far behind.