The Sporty Blogger

Alright, Hot Stove is officially up and running. The start to free agency in baseball always starts at baseball’s winter meetings. Guess what, that is today. I am only going to stick to the top 3 free agents today, but promise to update as Free Agency picks up. There are 3 top free agents on the market this year with 2 of the 3having at least 6-9 good years left while the other is only around 2-3.



First up is the Overweight Lover, CC Sabathia. The lefty who started off dreadfully slow last year finished the season with a 2.70ERA, 1.11 WHIP, a record of 17-10, 251 K’s and single handedly got the Brewers to the playoffs. From all indications he wants to go-to the West Coast, with the Angels, Dodgers and Giants all vying for his services. There is one other team the Yankees that are involved but only to get the price up so those other teams have to compete with the Yanks money. The Brewers want him back but come on, let’s get serious. The Fantasy impact on him going to any of those west coast teams is good. The Angels are good offensively and always have a great bullpen and are in a division with two pitchers parks in Seattle and Oakland. Dodgers Stadium has been historically a good pitchers park, just ask Chan Ho Park, he swindled 75 million out of them because of the good years he had there. Last but not least is the San Francisco Giants. Also a great place for pitchers with the water by the bay killing HR balls. Look for him in the third round of the upcoming fantasy baseball drafts. Anything below that will be a steal. 18-7 with a 2.59 ERA is easily attainable. He should have a great year.



Next up is the most Conceded Guy in the World, Mark Teixeira. This guy is so arrogant but you can’t really knock him for it. He backs it all up with his play on the field. He is also one of the few guys whose body is rock solid but has a double chin, I cant figure that on out. His defense is great and so is his offense. His only knock is that he doesn’t start playing until after the all-star break. His stats back that up with him hitting .268 and .287 in May and June, then hitting .307, .386 and .333 in July, August and September. He finished last year over .300 with 33 HR and 121 RBI. No matter where he goes expect more of the same. The Angels want him back but hate dealing with The Baseball Anti-Christ Scott Boras. The Red Sox are interested in him and so are his hometown team the Orioles. If he could get his first half stats up to his second half stats he would be a top 5 pick year in and year out for your fantasy team but chances are he wont so take him late second, early third.



Last but not least is Manny Ramirez. When he isn’t Manny being Manny he is the best hitter is baseball. He hit .332 with 37 HR and 121 RBI last year while doing most of that in a pitchers ballpark. His defense is a huge liability but in standard fantasy leagues defense doesn’t matter. He is getting up there in age and he is looking for one last big contract. He might have 3 good years left and 2 average ones after that. If you are in a keeper, wait on him and take him in the 4th, but if you are playing year to year there is no reason to think he wont put up big numbers again. I would mind spending a late 2nd round pick on him. As long as the team lets him be Manny then he will produce.

Those are some of the big free agents, there are a lot more out there that you will need to win, I will try to get to those sometime next week.