12:01 PM has come and gone and Major League Baseball’s version of Black Friday is upon us. There are a few marquee names available this winter but overall the theme of this free agent class is value shopping. Let’s take a look into our crystal ball and see where these guys will end up and how their new addresses will affect your fantasy livelihood.

Matt Holliday OF
Destination: St. Louis Cardinals
There is less of a market for Holliday than it would appear. The Red Sox will probably stick with Jason Bay and the Mets are not the draw they once were for big money free agents. St. Louis needs Holliday and Holliday thrived there. In the end I think they will get a deal done.
Fantasy Spin: .353/.419/.604 as a Cardinal…what’s not to like? Hitting anywhere close to Pujols puts Holliday in the elite outfield class.

John Lackey SP
Destination: New York Mets
The Mets need to make a splash and their park in built for pitching. They will overpay for John Lackey (more than A. J. Burnett got last year) and frankly their options after Johan Santana are so bad that it will make sense to bring in Lackey at any cost. Joel Pineiro is not going to sell season tickets. The Mets need a real #2 starter in the worst way and Lackey is their only realistic option.
Fantasy Spin: The move to the NL will actually be a huge boost for Lackey in the second half of his career. Consider Lackey a 1A starter in fantasy leagues if he becomes a Met.

Bengie Molina C
Destination: New York Mets
The only thing worse than the Mets’ rotation, is their catching situation. Molina brings the veteran leadership they lack and some added pop they will need when they miss out on Holliday and Bay
Fantasy Spin: San Francisco is a tough park to hit in so expect Molina to be a valuable catcher option in 2010 wherever he ends up; maybe a slight bump in stats with a better lineup around him in New York.

Russell Branyan 1B
Destination: Seattle Mariners
Branyan finally got his shot and he was a big reason Seattle was competitive last year. He will never hit for a high average, but the power is real. They are a good fit for each other and he should re-sign sooner than later.
Fantasy Spin: Don’t expect a repeat of 2009. He is a useful bench player but not much more.

J.J. Putz RP
Destination: New York Yankees
The Mets should resign Putz on an incentive laden deal, but they won’t. The Yanks on the other hand know that Putz can handle New York and he does not want to move his family twice in two years. If they really plan on Phil Hughes and Joba being in the rotation, then Putz would be a perfect 8th inning candidate and the Yanks always have expendable cash.
Fantasy Spin: As a Yankee he would get holds and strikeouts if healthy. His health makes him still too risky to draft. He is a free agent/waiver wire player to watch.

PART 2 Coming Soon…

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 11:29 am and is filed under Most Recommended, News Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.