Baseball Free Agent Season is upon us

I wish Maddux the best, but it was time for him to move on... actually I wouldn't mid seeing the Braves letting the currest roster "big dollar" players move on and building through youth. They're LOADED at the monir league level right now, and those guys deserve a shot. If I sign a free agent for BIG money its gonna be a YOUNG guy that will hopefully be around a few years.

 

This just in someone must stop the Yankees

ESPN.com news services
The New York Yankees have begun the rebuilding of their starting rotation after the Montreal Expos agreed Thursday to trade right-hander Javier Vazquez, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports.


The Yankees reportedly will send first baseman Nick Johnson, outfielder Juan Rivera, and a third player to Montreal, The Associated Press reports. The player to be named is believed to be left-handed reliever Randy Choate.


Montreal scheduled a news conference Thursday afternoon for "a major baseball announcement."


The Yankees would like to negotiate an extension for Vazquez, who is eligible for free agency after next season. Montreal, which is owned by Major League Baseball's 29 teams, is faced with payrolls limits and Vazquez, eligible for salary arbitration, will likely get a raise from the $4,775,000 he made in 2003 after losing his hearing.


Vazquez fills one of the holes in the Yankees' starting rotation. He went 13-12 with a 3.24 ERA for the Expos last season, and is three years younger than Bartolo Colon, who is a free agent. The Yankees also were interested in signing the right-hander.


New York's rotation, the backbone of its run to four World Series titles and six AL pennants since 1995, needs retooling with Roger Clemens retired, and Andy Pettitte and David Wells free agents. Wells had back surgery Tuesday.


The Yankees' rotation has Vazquez, Mike Mussina, Jose Contreras, Jeff Weaver and Jon Lieber, who hasn't pitched in the major leagues since reconstructive elbow surgery in August 2002 but hopes to be ready for the start of the season. The Yankees have talked to the Dodgers about acquiring Kevin Brown for Weaver.


Johnson, 25, played first base for much of last season because of Jason Giambi's knee injury, and started the season as the regular designated hitter. While he's regarded as a top hitter -- he batted .284 with 14 homers, 47 RBI and a .422 on-base percentage -- he has been injury prone throughout his career.


Rivera, 25, hit .266 with seven homers and 26 RBI in 173 at-bats and has a strong throwing arm.


Johnson is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time while Rivera isn't yet eligible. New York will have to find another backup first baseman to spell Giambi, who had knee surgery after the season.


Meanwhile, the Yankees are pushing ahead on the Gary Sheffield front.


Sheffield met Monday and Tuesday with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., and worked out Wednesday at the Yankees' minor league complex. The free-agent outfielder appears likely to sign on his agreed-to three-year offer from the Yankees -- he might have a physical Thursday, a sign that a deal is approaching.


In other news Wednesday, left-handed reliever Felix Heredia agreed to a $3.8 million, two-year contract to stay with the Yankees. Heredia was 0-1 with a 1.20 ERA in 12 appearances with the Yankees, who claimed him off waivers from Cincinnati on Aug. 25.


Heredia had a $1.7 million player option for 2004, which he declined. His new deal calls for $1.8 million salaries in each of the next two seasons and gives the Yankees a $2.5 million option for 2006 with a $200,000 buyout.


New York also is trying to re-sign Gabe White, another left-handed reliever. Chris Hammond, signed last offseason as a left-handed setup man, may be traded.


The Yankees also are close to a $6 million, two-year agreement with right-hander Paul Quantrill, who played for the Dodgers last season. Backup catcher John Flaherty has agreed to a $775,000, one-year contract, but must pass a physical for the deal to be finalized.


Information from The Associated Press was used in this report

 

Rumor has it the only thing holding up the trade of Manny Ramirez for Arod is a deal on the table that will either send Nomar to either the Dodgers for Kevin Brown of to Angels for Troy Glaus

 

Gammons said the Sox got Foulke.
3 years 21 mil

 

Kevin Brown is now a Yankee and Sheffield blinked and accepted the Yankees offer.Sheffield was holding out trying to get 3 million more from the Yankees,but the Yankees would not increase the amount from the handshake agreement they had with Sheffield.Sheffield finally agreed to the deal.

 

Tejada is now a Orioles

ESPN.com news services
NEW ORLEANS -- Former American League MVP Miguel Tejada agreed Sunday night to a six-year, $72 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles, leaving the Oakland Athletics for a team trying to rebuild.


Tejada must pass a physical to finalize the contract.


Fantasy Focus
With four consecutive 100-RBI seasons under his belt, it is fair to call Miguel Tejada one of fantasy's top five shortstops heading into the '04 season. That isn't likely to change now that he heads to Baltimore. If his value does change, it will probably be for the better. For the past three seasons, Tejada has hit nearly 40 points worse at Network Associates Coliseum than on the road. Oakland is generally considered to have one of the worst hitter's parks in the league. A move to a more offensive-friendly Camden Yards should give Tejada's bat a boost -- he's hit .319 there since '01. Tejada generally hit third or fourth for the A's last season and should be in the middle of an Orioles lineup that could also include free agents Vladimir Guerrero, Ivan Rodriguez and/or Javy Lopez. It would be fair for fantasy owners to expect at least a .290, 30 HR, 100 RBI season out of Tejada. Draft accordingly.
-- Brandon Funston

"Miguel continues the tradition of great Orioles shortstops. The cornerstone of the Orioles through the years has been our shortstops, and he certainly fits in that mold," vice president Mike Flanagan said.


Tejada receives a $12 million signing bonus, with $4 million payable in 2004 and $2 million each in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011.


He receives yearly salaries of $3 million in 2004, $9 million in 2005, $10 million in 2006, $12 million in 2007, $13 million in 2008 and $13 million in 2009.


Tejada made $5 million last season and $3.65 million in 2002.


"We have other players that are big players that we want to add to the club," executive vice president Jim Beattie said. "This is a signal -- one of the things we can do to show players that the Orioles are ready to contend, hopefully quickly."


The deal was the longest and richest of this offseason, though the Orioles still have more money to spend. Free agents Vladimir Guerrero, Ivan Rodriguez and Javy Lopez also have drawn Baltimore's attention.


Tejada, 27, hit .308 with 34 home runs and 131 RBI in 2002 to help the A's win 103 games and the AL West. After the season, he won the MVP honor.


Last year he slumped to a .278 average with 27 homers and 106 RBI, striking out 65 times and drawing 53 walks.


The Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers also had expressed interest.


"How many chances do you get to add an MVP-caliber player to your club who wants to be there for a long time?" new Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said.


Baltimore saw him as a key to improving its lot in the AL East, where it has finished next-to-last for six consecutive years, trailing the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.


Boston and New York have each made major moves this winter, and the Blue Jays have made several smaller moves to improve their pitching.


"You can't play dumb to the surroundings of what's going on around you," Mazzilli said. "But we have to think about our team."


The Orioles finished with just 71 wins in 2003 and were 30 games behind the AL East Division champion New York Yankees and 24 games in back of the wild-card winning Boston Red Sox. With Tampa Bay also addressing key needs this offseason, Baltimore was in danger of falling to the bottom of baseball's deepest division.


Information from SportsTicker and the Associated Press was used in this report.