The Best Offseason Acquisitions of 2009

There wasn't as much free agent movement as in years past, but the bulky and lavish contracts of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira more than made up for it. As of now, premier veterans like Manny Ramirez and Ben Sheets are still un-signed. The Yankees and the Nationals cleaned house, signing the best of the free agent pool, while the Red Sox added some depth at catcher, the Mets bulked up their rotation and the Dodgers strengthened a shaky middle-infield.

1. C.C. Sabathia, New York Yankees (A)- Sabathia was the primary target of the Yankees going into the off season with Teixeira, Lowe and Sheets being consolation prizes. Sabathia is an innings-eating horse who dragged the lifeless Brewers to the playoffs in 2008 after being traded form Cleveland. Over the past two seasons, Sabathia leads the MLB with 494 innings pitched, and has posted 36 wins, 460 strikeouts and ERA a shade under 3.00. The Yankees know what they're getting in Sabathia, and he'll be the staff's ace. 250 innings is a little much to ask, but 220 of 3.30 ERA ball is definitely possible.

2. Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals (B+)- No team needed an offensive upgrade more than the Nationals. Their young outfield is finally developing into a formidable force, with Milledge, Dukes, Willingham, Pena, Kearns and now Dunn. Dunn was rated by Money Magazine as the most undervalued outfielder in the game. He is extremely consistent, hitting 40 homeruns per year over the past four years and posting a nice .381 career OBP. His fielding is piss-poor in left, so he'll be playing most of his games at first base.

3. Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees (A-)- The added bonus of the Yankees' signing of Teixeira is the fact that they won't have to face him playing in a Red Sox uniform. Teixeira is an extremely well built power hitter and according the Mens Health is the most dedicated player in the weightroom--sans steroids--in baseball. He's a gold glove first basemen and he doesn't strike out all that much for a guy that hits 35 homers a year. He'll be Arod's frontman, batting third.

4. Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves, (B+)- The Braves need an innings eater with the young Reyes, Jurjens and Hanson ready to take the lead. Campillo, Vasquez and Lowe are the veterans of the rotation and each can consistently pitch 200 innings. Pelfrey, Pedro and Santana can't be expected to pitch 200 innings yearly but Lowe, Vasquez, Jurjens and now Campillo can. Lowe, in his four years with the Dodgers, never pitched less than 199 innings and posted 211 over more three times over that span. His ERA is usually Andy Pettitte-solid around 3.80-4.00. All of sudden the Braves have a top 10 rotation with Lowe, Hanson/Reyes, Campillo, Jurjens, Vasquez and, at some point, Tim Hudson

5. Orlando Hudson, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers, (B)- Black Dewitt was absolutely fine at 2B last year for the Dodgers, but Hudson gives them a nice upgrade both offensively and defensively. His defense is the best at his position, aleady securing three gold gloves in his young career. He never slugged less than .441 and never hit less than .287 with Arizona, ultimately hitting .305 in over 400 at bats in 2008. He won't have as much power now that's he's leaving the super-dry air of Arizona, but about 10 homers, 5-10 stolen bases, 30 doubles and a .290 batting average is a reasonable projection. At such a thin position the Dodgers made a good move securing Hudson, and they still have DeWitt is he goes down.

6. A.J. Burnett, SP, New York Yankees, (B)- Burnett is a strikeout-machine, and led the AL in strikeouts in 2008 with 231. His 4.07 era was all that dominant but he did pitch very well in the second half. His track record suggests he'l lose significant time to injury while with the Yanks, but his 3.81 era and his 87 career wins are still pretty nice to have at your third starter. If he can keep it together he could rack up wins as the number two or number three starters with the Yankees--simply put, no other team has as good a number three, or even number two (except the D'Backs).

7. Francisco Rodriguez, New York Mets, (A-)- Rodriguez broke Thigpen's single season save record in 2008, saving 62 in 28 ip in 2008. He's still only 26, something that people tend to forget after looking at the his career statline of 451 ip and 208 saves. Fantastic Franky has very good stuff, a 95 mph fastball and an unmathable 2-8 slider. He's struck out a whopping 587 in his 451 innings pitched, adn now that he's left the AL for the friendlier Citifield/NL, his numbers will be even better...

8. Ramon Hernandez, C, Cincinnati Reds, (B-)- The Reds' Hanigan isn't quite ready to take over the starting job, but with his awesome defense, he will soon. Hernandez is a nice stop gap and is an underrated producer at catcher. He's a career .412 slugger and hit 15 homeruns in '08 and 23 in 2006. He gives up too many past balls of late, but that's also a function of catching Daniel Cabrera's lack of control. His arm is solid and he calls a good game, so he's an all-around good signing.

9. Rafael Furcal, SS, (B)- The Dodgers securing Furcal and stealing him away from the Braves' filthy fingers was a good move. Any guy that Billy Beane wants is a good player to have in my opinion. Furcal plays good D', has good range and has an arm that wields a fastball that's been clocked as high as 96 mph. He's a career .286 hitter and steals 25-30 bases annually. He gets on base .350% of the time and can hit 15 homers through a full season. He's been forgotten by most because of his injuries of late, but he's definitely in the top 10 shortstops in the MLB.

10. Ramon Ramirez, SU, Boston Red Sox (A-)- The Red Sox now have the best bullpen in the majors with the aquisition of Ramirez. Papelbon, Okajima, Ramirez, Javier Lopez, Del Carmen and Masterson are all plus-plus pitchers. Ramirez was a dominant reliever with the Royals in 2008 posting a 2.64 ERA, 70 k's through 71 innings pitched. When he was with Colorado, the Rockies liked him but couldn't hold on to him with their glut of rookie players and high-priced veterans. He adds yet another super-duper righty to the bullpen and could be the garnish to Javier Lopez's left-eating slider.

11. Matt Joyce, Tampa Bay Rays, OF (B)- The Rays gave up absolutely nothing in Edwin Jackson to get their hands on Joyce. With Niemann and Hammel out of options and Hellickson, Price and Davis knocking down the door Jackson was expendable. Joyce strikes out too much but he gets on bases and hits homers...even in Tiger's spacious confines. He hit 12 homers in a little more than a third of a season in 2008 and drew 31 walks. He struck out 65 times but showed a good skill set overall. He'll make losing Rocco Baldelli a non-issue.

12. Pat Burrell, Tampa Bay rays, DH (B+)- Burrell will replace Cliff Floyd as the Ray's veteran power hitter. Burrell got a lot of guff for striking out and consistenly hitting .250 in Philly but the guy hasn't hit less than 29 homers since 2004. His walk-strikeout race is pretty nice, walking 216 times in the past two seasons vs. 256 strikeouts. He's a particularly BAD outfielder, so he'll be a DH.

13. Javier Vasquez, Atlanta Braves, SP (B)- Vazquez was the Braves' consolation prize for not securing Lowe. Although his ear and win totals fluctuate, Vasquez has a super consistent-work-horse track record pitching more than 198 innings in every year since 2000. He struck out 200 win 208 ip in 2008 and posted a lackluster 4.67 era, but his ability to stay in a game is invaluable to a team with a young pitching staff.

14. Ty Flower/Brent Lillibridge, C/MI, (B-/C+)- Flowers and Lillibridge are nice aquisitions for the White Sox, considering they were only giving up the agining and inconsistent Javier Vasquez. Flowers is a good catching prospect with a sweet .888 career OPS in the minors through three years. Lillibridge is the newer version of David Eckstein with potential to be a little more. He's a solid middle infielder and he can steal some bases--128 in his minors' career. He hit .287 with Atlanta's AAA club in 2008 and belted 10 homers in a half season as well--nice numbers for a SS. In the Majors, a .270-.290 batting average, 6-10 homers, 15-20 stolen bases ad solid defense.

15. Coco Crisp, CF, Kansas City Royals, (B)- Crisp has the potential to be an A-, but he plain never reached it with the Sox. He plays very good defense in center, getting to balls that few others can grab. He'll move David DeJesus to LF, a much better fit for him, and will add some speed to the top of the order, again displacing DeJesus as the leadoff man. In a little more than a half season in 2008 he proved that he could be a very good leadoff man. He stole 20 bases, walked 35 times, hit 18 doubles and scored 55 times. Through a full season, ,Crisp could steal forty bases and hit 12-15 homeruns.

16. Bobby Abreu, RF, Los Angeles Angels, (B+)- I've never liked Abreu and am glad that he's on the other side of the country now. He's regressing at a pretty obvious rate, but he did spike his power numbers in 2008 order to get a good contract. He's generally a 20-20 guy but looks more like a 15 and 20 guy at this age. His defense is the worst in the MLB at his position--he gets to nothing--and the Yankees are relieved that they'll replace him in right with Nady--a pretty sad statement considering Nady loses the ball too much. He'll displace Guerrero at DH, putting Guerrero's rocket arm and bad back in RF.

17. Nick Swisher, New York Yankees, 1B (B)- At the time, the Yankees needed a first basement, and giving up Betemit for the former Moneyball wet dream of Bill Beane wasn't so bad. Swisher gets on base and had a .381 OBP in 2007 before seeing it drop to .332 because of his .220 batting average. His numbers fell off the table in 2008, probably because of his dislike for Ozzie Guillen. Even so, he still did hit 24 homers in 100 bats short of a full season. If he can rebound, he's a nice player to have on the bench or in the corner outfield. The guy can even play center in a pinch. But 20-30 homeruns, a .250-.270 batting average and 80-100 walks will be Swisher's line through a full season.

18. Mark DeRosa, Cleveland Indians, LF/3B/2B/1B, (B)- With Andy Marte floundering and Carlos Santana not finished converting his game to third base, DeRosa will take over the hot-corner-duty. He hit 20 bombs in 2008 with the Cubbies and is always good for a .280-.290 batting average and consistent defense. He's a super utilit guy and can really play anywhere on the field, even shortstop in a pinch.

19. Milton Bradley, OF, Chicago Cubs, RF/LF, (B)- Bradley is a nice bat to have on any team, but the Cubs got a boost to their outfield after the miserable failure of Ko-sucky Fuck-a-dome. He's never fully healthy, but when he is he can really hit. He hit .321 and 22 homers through 414 at bats in Arlington's friendly confines. He may not duplicate those numbers, but 20 homers a .280-.300 batting average and a good arm in the outfield is a pretty good line.

20. Orlando Carbrera, Oakland Athletics, SS, (B-)- Cabrera is a very solid guy to have at short-he's consistent and you know what you're going to get year in and year out. The consolation prize to Furcal for the A's, Cabrera may even be the better fit in the end. He's won a GG as recently as 2007, his second, and hit .301 with the Angels in that same year. For as many at bats as he gets, he doesn't strike out much (only 71 times in 661 at bats) and he is good at running the bases (19 stolen bases and 184 for his career). In 2003 he hit 17 homeruns with Montreal but he seems to have leveled off at about 8-10 with good line drive power. He'll hit close to 40 doubles every year, and in the super-pitcher's park that the A's sport, he'll hit even more than that, maybe even matching his career high of 47.

21. Joe Crede, 3B/1B, Minnesota Twins, (B-)- Crede strikes out and doesn't make good contact but he does have power and plays a solid third base. The Twins needed a third basement badly, and now their only weak spot on their offense is Nick Punto who had the lowest VORP of any player in 2007. Punto at least makes it up with slick defense at shortstop. Crede is good for 20 homeruns, even with back problems, and he'll be the AL's version of Pedro Feliz.

22. J.J. Putz, SU, New York Mets, (B+)- Putz was the second super reliever to upgrade the Mets crappy bullpen. Heilman is gone, but in Minaya's defense the guy was never that effective to being with. Putz fits better in a set up role, especially after regressing in 2008. His 1.38 ERA and 37 hits in 71 innings pitched in 2007 was very Joe Nathan-like and was unmatchable by any AL Closer outside of Mariano. He'll set up Franky along with Duaner Sanchez, and maybe even John Niese.

23. Wilson Betemit, INF, Chicago White Sox, INF, (B-)- Betemit was the product of shipping Swisher to the Yankees. The guys never really got a chance at a full time job despite his above-average power for an infielder. He's too slow to play second, but he can play an adequate shortstop, a good 3B and a very good 1B. He hit 14 homeruns in only 240 at bats with the Dodgers in 2007 and 18 in 373 the year before. He may even start depending on what they do with Ramirez, Fields and Lillibridge. If he does, he's a nice guy to have at the corners, and could hit .260-.280 with between 15-25 homers over a full season. He's kind of like a Pedro Feliz.

24. Josh Bard, C, Boston Red Sox, (B-)- Bard had a rough season last year, and he was just plain torn apart with injuries. In 178 at bats he hit only .202, highly uncharacteristic for a guy known to make good contact. In 2007 he hit .285 and in 2006 he hit .333. He's never been a slugger, with a career SLG % of about .395, but he knows how to hit and get on base-walking 50 times in a half season in 2007). He may displace Varitek at starter-- although unlikely--if he starts off well. He needs to learn to catch Wakefield though, something that he absolutely could not d in 2008.

25. Russell Branyan, 3B/1B/RF, Seattle Mariners, (B-)- Branyan hasn't gotten the chance to play everyday since he was with the Indiands. He scares managers' because of his insane strikeout numbers, but his power is unmatchable by anyone in the MLB. When he makes square contact he has hit bombs 450 feet. He was third in the MLB with 15 at bats per homerun in 2008 and he's flexible enough to play the outfield as well as the corners. He's getting old, turning 34 for 2009, but his career .485 slugging percentage and the fact that he hit 12 homers in less than a third of a season with the Brewers last year makes the Mariners look genius for picking him up to supplement Beltre and play some first base.