Remaining Free Agents

Since news seems to be a little slow this time of year, though most of us aren't bothered by that due to the massive amounts of football over the next few days, I thought we'd cover some of the ones still unsigned.

Mike Cameron - This is the most surprising to me at this point. I thought for sure he would have been taken off the market long ago. Looks like his suspension is weighing more on teams that even he expected. The teams that were interested, the Rangers and Phillies, have gone in different directions. The Rangers made a trade with the Reds for center fielder Josh Hamilton and the Phillies have signed both So Taguchi and Geoff Jenkins. Will he have to take a 1-year deal somewhere or is there a team out there that will give him a 2 or 3-year deal?

Pedro Feliz - Apparently, he's looking for a 3-year deal, but there's not a team out there that's going to give a suspect defensive 3rd baseman that many years. There isn't much talk about him with a lot of teams, so he may have to return to the Giants on a 1-year deal, that is, if the Giants even want to bring him back.

Eddie Guardado - The former Mariners and Reds closer is reportedly close to a deal with the Texas Rangers to be their closer. The deal is expected to be finalized sometime after New Years.

Kenny Lofton - The Milwaukee Brewers seem to be most serious about bringing in the veteran outfielder, but they need to decide if they're going to move Bill Hall to 3rd, which will allow them to move 2007 Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun to left field. Doing that would open up their center field position for Lofton, who turns 41 in May but still brings a lot to the table, as he showed with the Indians in the 2007 playoff series against the Yankees.

Kyle Lohse - The New York Post had reported that the Mets had interest in the left-hander, but there hasn't been anything come of that just yet. The Phillies have backed out of the race after learning Lohse and his agent were looking for a 5-year deal...I'm not sure the Mets will give him that either.

Akinori Otsuka - The former Rangers reliever was non-tendered by the team and is currently a free agent. The Rangers, apparently, don't think his pitching elbow will hold up and fear he could be a candidate for Tommy John surgery. His other former team, the San Diego Padres, may have interest in bringing him back on a 1-year deal, but may also be scared off by that possibility....but they brought in Mark Prior, go figure.

Tony Clark - In my opinion, one of the top free agents available right now. He's a good defensive 3rd baseman and can still launch the ball. Clark and his agent tried to negotiate a new 2-year deal with Arizona but could not come to an agreement, so they parted ways. Both the Giants and Dodgers have expressed interest and he's someone that would fit in well with both ballclubs.

Jason Jennings - Jennings has had interest from the Nationals as well as the Rockies and possibly Astros. He's coming off shoulder surgery, so teams could be scared off by his medical records and possibility of his shoulder not being completely healed.

Although there are a few more on the free agent list remaining, these are just a few that teams are talking about at this point. After the New Year holiday, you should see things pick up again. I don't think we'll see any HUGE signings or blockbuster trades, but I think you'll see a few of the above players sign with their new teams, or former teams, who knows.