Who tops the list of 2007 FA's?

[Half Massed]

HUGE year for FA's.

Lee
Zito
Buerhle
Schmidt
Aram
Sheff
SORANIO
Glavine
Maddux
Clemens
Wood
Bonds
Edmonds
DYE
Huff
Hunter
Pettitte
Smoltz
Thomas

How can you call that slim pickings?

Well, I know for a fact all of those guys won't be free agents. Some of them have options, such as Edmonds and Buehrle. On another note, who do you think on this list is an impact player? Zito and Schmidt are pretty large question marks, and I'm sure both will have pretty large price tags attached to their pitching arms.

What's the big question mark about Zito? He's not going to put up numbers like his Cy Young season, but look at the last five years:
W L IP Hits HRs BB K ERA WHIP

Code: Select all

2001 17   8  214.3  184 18   80  205  3.49 1.232
2002 23   5  229.3  182 24   78  182  2.75 1.134
2003 14  12  231.7  186 19   88  146  3.30 1.183
2004 11  11  213.0  216 28   81  163  4.48 1.394
2005 14  13  228.3  185 26   89  171  3.86 1.200
2006 14   8  183.0  168 22   77   124 3.64 1.34  (so far)

He'll give you over 200 innings with an ERA of 3.5 or a little more. He throws too many pitches, but if he changes leagues where hitters aren't used to his curve, he'll be able to throw less. He had one bad year in 04 and other than that has been money.

[RAmst23]

I don't have too many problems with Zito (Hell, the guy looks like he'd be a blast to hang out with.) If I were another team, I'd worry about the amount of HRs he's given up. 28 in '04, 26 in '05, and 22 this year. Quite a few when you're pitching in that Oakland Stadium. Also, this is the 3rd straight year his K/9 has dropped, which is a little worrying.

Besides that, he's a decent pitcher. A good supplement to a staff, but not an ace or really even a #2 who is going to come in and help you win a playoff series. On top of that, Zito is going to command a pretty heft salary.

Zito is a good pitcher, but not one IMO that is going to be worth his price tag.

[Yoda]

I think Zito will be a very, very good signing for anyone. I hope the A's make an earnest effort to resign him. Hudson was washed up and so was Mulder. Zito's numbers have been declining as well but he is a lot younger than when Mulder and Hudson were let go.

He is durable, eats up a lot of innings and always keeps his team in the game. I do worry about his flakiness but I think he will be good for any contending team.

[The Loveable Losers]

I think Zito will be a very, very good signing for anyone. I hope the A's make an earnest effort to resign him. Hudson was washed up and so was Mulder. Zito's numbers have been declining as well but he is a lot younger than when Mulder and Hudson were let go.

He is durable, eats up a lot of innings and always keeps his team in the game. I do worry about his flakiness but I think he will be good for any contending team.

That's close to the best description I've ever seen of Zito. I'm not a big fan of Zito from a fantasy perspective since his component numbers have been on a constant slide. But Zito is definitely all of those things you mentioned...he's durable, eats up a lot of innings and always keeps him team in the game. Those traits don't help fantasy owners all that much but they're a huge plus for a major league baseball team.

[The Miner Part 2]

That list shrinks a bit when you cosinder the players with team options. Edmonds, Buehrle, Glavine, Smoltz, are just the ones I know off the top of my head.

dye.