Opinion

Jayson Werth will hit the open market next winter as one of the premier free agent outfielders. All we know right now is that he'll be asking for a pretty hefty raise from the Philadelphia Phillies, or he'll pack his bags for someone who's willing to give him the top dollar.

There is a very comparable situation happening right now in the baseball universe as Jason Bay has allowed his agent to price himself out of a good situation in Boston and into a situation that will not be very promising in terms of competing for a World Series.

So, let me get this straight.

Your team's spark-club and legitimate stolen-base threat—gone.

Arguably, the club's best starting pitcher and Game Seven starter in 2002—gone.

The club's most consistent reliever and great clubhouse guy—gone.

The team's most feared hitter and former league MVP—gone.

The sole additions being two 35-year-olds with weak knees?

What exactly is going on over in the the offices in Anaheim of Los Angeles?

This time of year there are two types of teams—spenders and savers. 

New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman intends to add a starting pitcher before the new year, according to the New York Post.

As the Post reports, if he and Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry can find common ground, that pitcher may be Cubs right-hander Carlos Zambrano.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has the most unique job in professional sports. He possesses the ability to spend as much money as he wants without consequence.

The Yankees continue to trot out the most expensive team in baseball. Last year, their payroll was nearly $60 million more than its nearest competitor. Oakland, San Diego, Florida and Pittsburgh started the year with sub $60 million teams.

Why on earth do the New York Yankees want Nick Johnson? Being frustrated at talks with outfielder Johnny Damon is not a legitimate reason to sign an overpaid injury-plagued journeyman.

Johnson started his big league career with the Yankees in 2001, when he tipped the scales higher than his batting average of .194.

Late Saturday night, the Athletics and Coco Crisp came to terms on a one year pact worth $4.5-$5 million dollars . The deal set off some heated discussion in the blogosphere, namely, what in the world is Billy Beane doing? For one, ESPN's Rob Neyer is not a fan of the signing:

Six months ago, no one ever thought there would be a time in the near future where anyone but Roy Halladay would be starting on Opening Day.

Unfortunately, the Blue Jays will find themselves in that predicament on April 6 of next year when they decide who their Opening Day starter will be, and essentially who will be the new ace of the starting rotation.

So who will it be? As far as I'm concerned, the proverbial torch has been passed on to Shaun Marcum to steer this pitching staff in the right direction.

Even though Chone Figgins, Placido Polanco, and Pedro Feliz have been signed to play third base, the market is far from depleted. Free agents from Adrian Beltre to Troy Glaus are still teamless, which would be more surprising but for last year’s Type-A debacle, where players like Orlando Hudson and Juan Cruz remained on the market long after the winter meetings.

This just in, San Francisco Giants General Manager Brian Sabean is gun-shy. Over a year ago, the Giants GM signed shortstop Edgar Renteria to a two-year 18 million dollar deal before the free-agent market fully developed.

Numerous other quality free-agents were left unsigned deep into January and even February. Players like Bobby Abreu and Orlando Hudson had excellent seasons despite signing after the new year.

Unfortunately for Sabean and the Giants, Renteria performed at a rate where he didn't even deserve half of his contract. 

I think Billy Beane is an excellent GM, and I agree with most of his moves.

But it's been reported that the A's are close to a 1-year deal with free agent outfielder Coco Crisp, and while I think Crisp is a fine player, such a move leaves me scratching my head as to what Beane is doing.

Presumably, the A's will go into 2010 with Rajai Davis in center field and Ryan Sweeney in right field. Crisp would slot into left field.

Crisp is a career .271/.331/.407 hitter, which is shy of acceptable for a left fielder.