Baseball Teams Wasting No Time Prepping for 2011

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-Digger's Daily-

San Francisco Giants became World Series Champs last week. This week, teams and players set their sights on 2011.

Clubs have tough re-negotiation sessions coming up highlighted by New York's soon to be publicized discussions with captain Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The Steinbrenner kids fired the first shot warning it's business first time. It's unlikely either will have any difficulty re-signing. No one wants to rock the boat. However, it's doubtful multi-year deals will be offered.

Cliff Lee has been the most publicized of free agents. Texas is interested in resigning their star hurler. It remains to be seen how this team, recovering from bankruptcy, proceeds. Did New York fans ruin Yankees chances of signing Lee? Reports claim New Yorker's at their worst displayed pathetic behavior from beer tossing to name calling.

Starting pitchers will be the most coveted free agent prizes. To date, the list is thin. Lee is the top dog. Jon Garland, Carl Pavano, Hiroki Kuroda and Adam Harang represent the second tier.

Top of the class position players feature Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Adam Dunn, Vlad Guerrero, Paul Konerko, Derek Lee, Benji Molina, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Pena. Plenty of other big names and solid reserves awaiting suitors (Jim Thome, Ty Wigginton, Miguel Tejada, Johnny Peralta).

How quickly teams begin chasing free agents is anyone's guess. Remember last year's free agent class took a long time receiving offers largely due to U.S. economic concerns. Those concerns are greater these days. However, with such a thin crop of pitchers expect teams to get busy early. Lee can write his own ticket. Where he lands is the question. Texas? New York? Boston? Atlanta? Tampa Bay? Time will tell.

Sandy Alderson is in as New York Mets new GM. He has much work to do after Omar Minaya's turbulent leadership and notorious reputation for poor signings. Which direction will New York go? Job number one is signing a new manager. This club needs a leader in the dugout. Mets haven't had an effective decision maker in years. The Carl Crawfords of the baseball world represent the type of players New York needs to chase. Power hitters will fail in CitiField. Double and triple speedsters will shine. Reyes and Crawford? Go hard after Orlando Hudson and this team sets up a great top 3 for cleanup hitter Wright. Pitching and speed is the only formula for the Mets. Anything else is a waste of time and energy.

A serious synopsis soon to follow with team by team needs and player recommendations within the coming days.

R.I.P. One of baseball's top managers passed away this week. Sparky Anderson. My all time favorite manager guided one of the most celebrated teams nicknamed "The Big Red Machine." 1970's Cincinnati Reds baseball featured Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, George Foster and Pete Rose. 1975-76 teams were considered one of the best of all time. Anderson also won the World Series guiding the 1984 Detroit Tigers. Sparky completed his 26 year career having managed 4030 games, recording 2194 wins, 1834 losses (.545) and 3 World Series titles.

(www.allworldallsports.com)

Big NFL Names Finding New Teams

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by Digger

NFL teams made headlines this weekend. Big trades and big stars are heading to new teams. Not much of an economic slowdown just yet for owners as clubs have been busy addressing needs.

(NFL.com Free Agent Tracker)

One of the most sought after Free Agents, DT Albert Haynesworth, was signed by Washington for nearly $100M! NY Giants fans must be a bit disappointed as many hoped the games premier DT would land in the Meadowlands. After missing on the Haynesworth sweepstakes, NY got busy signing former Dallas DE Chris Canty, former Seattle DT Rocky Bernard & ex-Atlanta LB Mike Boley. Hopefully, NY will now focus on WR's to make the Giants one of the NFL's most potent teams.

Kansas City made the trade of the year. New Coach & new GM are quickly rebuilding this once proud franchise. KC managed to finagle two New England Patriot stars. QB Matt Cassel & LB Mike Vrabel for a 2nd round draft pick. Cassel's arrival is an instant upgrade for the Chiefs offense. It'll be interesting to see which way the front office goes next. KC needs depth at most positions and is in line to sign a few more key players before draft day.

Another busy team has been the Denver Broncos. BIG moves via free agency addressing team needs. RB's Correll Buckhalter (Philly) & JJ Arrington (Arizona) immediately solidifies Denver's backfield. Safety Brian Dawkins (Philly) & Indy DT Darrell Reid add some punch to their D.
The Houston Texans are really coming around. Their young team is quickly making great strides. They somewhat quietly signed defensive bookends Antonio Smith and Stanley McClover. Houston has emerged as a team on the rise.

Many big names are negotiating with current and potential new teams. Kurt Warner sits atop of the QB Free Agent class. Arizona should act quickly if they want to win another division title. There's plenty of depth left at most other positions. It'll be up to teams to decifer which players best fit plans and cap space.

My personal want list of where players should go is simple:
Jets - LB Ray Lewis, QB Kurt Warner.
Giants - WR's Laveranues Coles (NYJ), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (Cin), Lance Moore (NO). Perhaps an OL via draft or FA.

Players will be changing teams rather quickly in coming days. Salary cap restictions loom large in decision making processes for GM's league wide. A handful of teams sporting new coaches are certain to change drafting philosophies. This will be a great NFL off season as teams prepare for 2009.

Benched? Stars Without Teams - 3 Weeks Until Spring Training!

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by Digger

Has our nations current economic downturn begun to take hold on Major League Baseball?

There's quite a list of solid players still looking for teams as Spring Training 2009 begins in three weeks (ESPN Free Agent Tracker). Check out this list of unsigned players: Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr, Orlando Hudson, Ivan Rodriguez, Kevin Millar, Ben Sheets, Frank Thomas, Jason Varitek, Ty Wigginton and a load of other players who could prove to be valuable pickups.

The Yankees & Phillies were quick to sign a few big names right out of the gate. Manny Ramirez remaining unsigned is quite baffling. Is baseball collusion back in business? The Dodgers are NUTS if they don't sign Manny after what he did for them last season. How about seeing Manny in a Mets, Angels, White Sox or Indians uniform in '09? These four teams have cash and will be challengers this season.

Call me crazy. The best fit for Manny is ......... Oakland Athletics!.

Think about it. A tremendous boost for an already redesigned 2009 lineup. Oakland brought back Jason Giambi and went hard after Matt Holliday. Add Manny and fans will fill a usually empty Oakland ballpark. Add Manny and become an instant AL West contender. Add Manny and become AL West favorite over LAA for the first time in years. Add Manny, and if he wants out, trade him for future draft picks, young talent or all the above. Oakland is the one team in MLB where signing Manny makes most sense for wins, economics, marketing and fans. Add Manny, and his new teammates receive an instant shot in the arm boost knowing Oakland is now a serious Title contender. Add Manny, and watch tv revenue/team exposure soar. No downside here. Manny can be Manny all he wants as an Athletic. Ego's are not an issue with this squad. Bust a move Billy Beane!

Bobby Abreu (career .300 hitter, .405 OBA) without a team is crazy. Who wouldn't want him? Adam Dunn and his 40 homer seasons is suddenly unwanted after being the subject of trade rumors every season. Many remaining free agents have me wondering if how many could sent to the showers for an early, unwanted retirement. Are offers not coming? Or, are players holding out for more gold?

If the rationale behind unsigned players is they're holding out for more money... then someone wake them up to what's going on in the world. Pettitte did, too little to late for his wallet. He had rejected a $10M Yankee offer only to resign a couple of months later (yesterday) for $5.5M with incentives. Holding out doesn't appear to be an issue except for players renegotiating with '08 teams. It's evident, just like millions of others, owners wallets took a big hit which will ultimately trickle down to lower salary offers when negiations begin/resume.

I wonder if the Yankees are having buyers remorse? Sabathia for $161,000,000. Teixeira $180,000,000. Burnett $82,500,000. Timing is everything. Pressure has never been greater on NY to win, on both sides of town, especially with two new over budget ballparks getting ready to debut.

We'll see if countdown to spring training heats up a quiet free agent market. There's too many talented players sitting on the sidelines. Buckle up! The next few weeks could be very telling.