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Fantasy baseball managers believe they could make good MLB general managers and sometimes I think they'd make better GMs. Nothing against Brian Cashman because signing Randy Johnson to an extension was George Steinbrenner's mandate, but would you pay Randy Johnson $16 million a year over the next three years? Yes, he's a great pitcher, but he has a degenerative knee and he will be 44 at the end of that contract. Would you do it?



It's funny, the weekend that the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Russ Ortiz to a four-year, $33 million contract, I was in an experts draft where Ortiz went undrafted through 23 rounds. 276 players were selected and this $33 million player wasn't one of them. Go figure.



Let's get some talk going about the free agent signings and your opinions about the winners and losers (players and teams) during this off-season. There's no reason we can't share our unbiased (and biased) views of our favorite teams and players during this off-season. Let's hear 'em.

The RED SOX upgrading at short with renteria,who had a bit of a fantasy letdown last year. Look at his 2003 numbers 330 bavg and 100 rbi . I love matt clement, huge upside. 18 wins 200 k's and a era under 3.50 . Wade Miller when healthy is a top 15 pitcher. Nobody did better.

I cannot believe the Tribe is about to give Millwood $7 mil for 1 year!!!

It will never happen but Terry Francona has got to go.

(1)He can't manage a pitching staff. (Dave McCarty pitched in relief the second day of the season.) He burnt out Timlin and Embree early, Pedro came and went as he pleased, Schilling decided when and if he came out. Terry-- did you ever hear about the "4 man rotation idea" to start the season. It allows you to keep the 1-4 starters on or near a rythum until the weather lets up and you can get on a regular schedule. You fill in when you have to with your fifth guy or someone who can spot start.

(2) He doesn't hit and run (The players go when they want--witness David Ortiz in the ALCS.)

(3) The Clubhouse situation with Nomar weighed the entire team down and it was sinking until Epstein took action.(The WS winning move.)

(4) When he let Pedro go home for the Allstar break early Manny sulked and said his Hammy hurt,(Manny hasn't played on the Sunday prior to the break in three years) Tito's feelings were hurt so he kept Manny on the pine for about a week. GREAT!! The best hitter in the league riding the Bench!!.

(5) Foget about Pedro--- GOOD Riddance. When he didn't go to New York with the team in the ALCS-- That was the end for me. Francona allowed it.

(6)He insisted his third base coach get runners mowed down at the plate or let it continue.

(7) His let the players run amuck attitude doesn't work often. Man he got lucky. Wonder what all the errors in games 5 and 6 of the ALCS was about. Millar brought in a jug of wiskey and the boys "Braced" themselves against the cold before the game and kicked the pill around until they sobered up. DRINKING IN THE CLUBHOUSE!! Come on Terry!!

(8) Now the team wants Mientkiewicz to give back the ball that ended the WS that ended the Curse. The Renteria to Foulke to Mientkiewicz ball is probably priceless and went from Dougs glove to his wife's purse, back to Fenway the following day, (So MLB could authenticate it) and then to a safe deposit box with his Olympic Gold Medal. The Red Sox say it belongs to them, that it's the club's property. Bad Karma!!! Ball players have been keeping personal souviners forever. Is Emmit Smith still keeping every ball he carries into the endzone for six??? and does he have to give back the ones he has??

(9) Red Sox Nation has no idea How LUCKY!! they got to win the thing. They're caught up in the euphoria of the win. They won, that's for sure but it won't happen again with "Terry the Meek" at the helm.

Oh Yea. Love the off season moves by Epstein. He's great (Fantastic Really). But Francona will find a way to screw it up.

I am a diehard Orioles fan and once again the waiting game is on. Looks to be late January before the O's will act on anyone, Delgado, Ordonez, Sosa. Offense was above average last year, but pitching was horrific and once again nothing done to fix the obvious. But really wanted to comment on the Mets, Pedro signed with no MRI, what are they thinking, he might not even get out of spring training without having season ending surgery and Beltran, does not hit for average and does not walk, no one hitting around him, what are we to expect. Maybe 260/100/25/80/30 is this worth $119 million for 7 years to the Mets fans. Believe me being an O's fan, I know about bad long term contracts (i.e Albert Belle)

Well Bobby J I don't know if I would agree he does not hit for average, he is .284 lifetime and that is not too shabby, it is not .330 but still pretty darn good considering his other attributes. Carlos can play on my team any day. Granted the Mets are a bad team but he will help them if the press doesn't butcher him first.

Okay, I'll try a different angle with this question: If you were Carlos Beltran, would you take $119 million over seven years to be the perceived savior of the Mets? Does Scott Boras even care where this kid plays, as long as it's for the most money possible? I just have this feeling Beltran could go from a quiet superstar in Kansas City and Houston to another free agent who gets buried under the pressure of not leading the Mets past the Yankees on the sports pages. I still like Beltran a lot, but I liked him a lot more in Houston than in New York.



Just my two cents.

I think a lot depends on what else the Mets do. As it stands now, it looks like Beltran could get sucked up into the NY media machine. Mets could sign or trade for a Delgado, Sosa..someone to take the heat and media off Beltran, he should be fine. Fantasy-wise, you have to think Beltran's numbers aren't going to be what they could have been in Hust, dropping him a few bucks, or spots in a draft. Still a premier player though.

greg, you asked about good moves this offseason....i like what my cards have done. they've added eckstein and grudz in place of renteria and womack for a fraction of the cost. i bet they get close to the same production out of them. and they've added a proven guy like mulder, although i hated giving up haren. we should be able to make it to the final four again -- anything beyond that is just luck anyway. it seems the past several world series champs were just the teams that got hot at the right time. maybe this can be the cardinals year...

85, How can you compare Eckstein to Renteria?

It's funny how people brag or complain about how their team got this guy or how they blew money on this guy. It seems that if you don’t go get 2-3 big priced players your team has no shot. Getting the best free agents will not always make your team better. That is why I’m glad that I’m a small market fan. The Twins the team that I go for is a key example of why I love the small market team. This year they loss two key players in Koskie and Guzman. They were able to sign Radke their top free-agent but by doing so they didn’t have the money to spend on Koskie and Guzman. Granted the Twins are not like NY or Boston where they can go get a guy like Beltre or Renteria or even middle of the road guys like Castilla or Valentin. But what they did do is get some cheap guys that will play better than Castilla and Valentin for a lot less. Granted Jaun Castro and Cuddyer will not wow anyone but that is why the Twins are able to win 90 games each year with a fifth of the Yankees salary. I would rather see them pay a guy under a mil, than see them spend 7 mil on a #3 starter.

Hey Snord, what are you going to pay for Santana? When he leaves town, you could be back to being the Royals. Small market teams can have two or three year run, but they just can replace some of their star players.