Top 2014 Free Agents

As you can probably tell by the dearth of posts here throughout the playoffs, I've been taking the latest in a long line of A's losses to the Tigers pretty hard. It's not just that my favorite team is out of the playoffs in a year where I thought they could have made a long run, but it's the fact that the decisive Game 4 loss came almost entirely at the hands of admitted cheater Jhonny Peralta. When the Oakland brass chose to go with the rookie Sonny Gray instead of already-punished juicer Bartolo Colon in the final game, I thought they were setting up a battle of Clean vs. Dirty. But Justin Verlander's gem insured that there is no justice in the baseball world.

So while there are still a couple of rather exciting Championship Series going on, I've checked myself out and plunged headlong into my yearly self-appointed task of compiling a detailed database of all the players who reached the major leagues in 2013. This task is now completed, which means I can now sort through the data and create lists based on certain criteria. The first is a starting lineup consisting of players who are due to become free agents when the World Series ends.

Starting with the top player, both in terms of 2013 fantasy points and pre-2013 rankings, Robinson Cano promises to make the biggest splash of this off-season by far. He just recently fired the legendary Scott Boras to sign with rookie sports agent Jay-Z, and the Yankees show no signs of wanting to reward the 30-year-old with the 10-year contract he so richly desires. ESPN predicts he's most likely to end up with any of these nine teams, and while I'm sure they've already started doing their due diligence on the matter, we'll have to wait until a new champion is named before seeing how this plays out.

On the subject of a new championship, ten of the remaining top free agents to be have a chance to be on the team that eventually wins the World Series. The Red Sox have the most, with four of their starting nine set to hit the open market. Jacoby Ellsbury has played out his option, with a number of injury-plagued seasons evidently causing the Sox to balk at offering their dynamic leadoff hitter a long-term extension. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is likewise in his third and final arbitration year, but I expect him to stick around in Boston, especially given his dramatic game-winning hit last night. Another slugger who may very well get re-signed is Mike Napoli, who was originally signed to a three-year deal before his physical revealed a degenerative disease in both hips. He renegotiated to one year, but the switch to 1B full time has helped him maintain both his health and his career average power output, so I can't imagine the why Red Sox wouldn't want their best beard back in town. The final Sox player on this list is shortstop Stephen Drew who was signed mainly as a stopgap for top prospect Xander Bogaerts. At least he drove up his stock by proving he can stay on the field for more than 120 games for the first time in three years.

What happens to Cardinals star Carlos Beltran likely depends on how deep their October run continues. He's one of the top post-season producers and if he wins his first World Series ring with the redbirds, I have to imagine they'll make a push to re-sign him. If they fall short, however, I'd guess he finds himself a new home. His teammate Edward Mujica both earned and lost the closer's role this season, which could make some buyers eager for relief help feel squeamish about his ninth-inning abilities - but those 37 saves aren't going away. The two Dodgers on this list both arrived via trade: Michael Young from the Phillies (his second trade in eight months) and Ricky Nolasco from the Marlins. Neither are likely to draw huge interest, as Young's bat has slowed significantly at age 36 and Nolasco hasn't yet pitched in the postseason, despite being named LA's #4 starter. I have Omar Infante on this list just because I felt I needed an infielder on the bench, but I doubt if he is going to light up any general manager's wish list this winter.

Bartolo Colon is listed as the same height as Prince Fielder and 10 lbs. lighter, but I'm not sure I buy it. Maybe he just looks bigger because I'm sure a lot more of Fielder's weight is muscle while Colon's is all in his gut. But you can't argue with 66 points per game, and while he's convinced he can last another three years in the bigs, he's probably going to have to be content with going a year at a time. Another pitcher who's sure to seek a one-year deal, as he has since hitting free agency for the first time, is Hiroki Kuroda, who emerged as the Yankees' most consistent pitcher. He's drawn comparisons to A.J. Burnett, even though it's not clear whether the 36-year-old Pirates ace will play next year. Ervin Santana put up big numbers for the resurgent Royals, but I'm not sure it's much more than a smoke and mirrors act in a contract year.

Speaking of smoke and mirrors, boy was Fernando Rodney exposed after an improbably dominant 2012: we're talking a drop of 727 points last year, or the fantasy equivalent of more than 24 saves. Sure he's got a fiery personality and he did lead his native Dominican Republic team to a WBC championship this past off-season, but in this situation the fantasy adage that you must never overpay for saves has to apply in real life. Another fiery reliever will hit the open market this year in Grant Balfour. While he fits very well into a niche of A's closers who will give their fans a heart attack every time out (see also: Jason Isringhausen, Billy Koch, Huston Street), history would seem to point towards the A's letting him go in favor of young blood at the back end of the bullpen.

For those of you still engrossed in the playoffs, by all means, watch the games and care about who wins. Fans of the remaining 26 teams can tune in here for more detailed and interesting lists regarding potential off-season developments.