"REALITY"

I know, I know...what about BARB. Every now and then, though, I like to mention 'reality' to provide a little context. For example, there are currently 50 starters in MLB with more than 98 IP and an ERA under 3.72. Among them, there are eight hurlers not drafted in BARB:

Jaime Garcia, St. Louis (9-4, 2.21)
Wade LeBlanc, San Diego (5-8, 3.35)
Shawn Marcum, Toronto (5-4, 3.36)
Colby Lewis, Texas (9-6, 3.52)
Jonathan Niese, New York NL (6-4, 3.54)
Doug Fister, Seattle (3-6, 3.56)
Kris Medlen, Atlanta (6-2, 3.57)
Mike Leake, Cincinnati (7-2, 3.57)

An additional trio of former BARB starters (Livan Hernandez, Brett Myers and Carl Pavano) have languished, as unsigned minor-league free agents.....

Astute observers may recall that your Commish openly wondered on Draft Day why no one drafted Garcia, and the consensus was that his AAA and spring training numbers had been so dreadful, no one thought he would amount to anything. But in fairness, it's a crap shoot and I must confess I only had four of these guys on my radar myself (Garcia, LeBlanc, Marcum and Leake). Nor do I think this is going to continue indefinitely. Some of these guys are lucky, and you can tell this by either by a high WHIP (greater than 1.3) or by the relative low number of innings compared with the population.

What happens, though, if we take out all the pitchers who have a WHIP higher than 1.3, or who are averaging less than 6 IP per start? LeBlanc, Leake, Medlen and Niese fall out...but so do Jonathan Sanchez, Hiroki Kuroda, Ricky Romero, Clayton Richard, Anibal Sanchez and Jon Garland. The remaining 32, statistically, are the starting pitchers (barring injury) who will have the most second-half value. I shall list them by BARB franchise, for all to ponder.

ARIZONA: Yovanni Gallardo, Mat Latos (2)
BLACK MESA: Barry Zito, Ervin Santana (2)
BROOKLYN: Ubaldo Jiminez, Jon Lester (2)
CASSELTON: Johann Santana, John Danks (2)
DARWIN: Josh Johnson, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke (3)
FROSTBITE FALLS: Felix Hernandez, Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels (3)
LOS ANGELES: Tim Hudson, Trevor Cahill (2)
MADTOWN: Jeff Niemann, C.J. Wilson, Jered Weaver (3)
OAKLAND: Andy Pettite (1)
POTTSYLVANIA: Cliff Lee, Chris Carpenter (2)
ST. FRANCIS: Jason Vargas, Roy Oswalt, Fausto Carmona (3)
WORCESTER: Adam Wainwright, Johnny Cueto, Ryan Dempster (3)
YUMA: Roy Halladay, C.C. Sabathia, Matt Cain, David Price (4)

(Just missing the cut, with a sub-1.3 WHIP but a high ERA....Justin Verlander, Brett Cecil, Philip Hughes, Ted Lilly, Ian Kennedy, Bronson Arroyo....the proverbial one bad outing guys whose ERA can be expected to drop)

MORE FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

The defending world champion Yuma Firebirds added some organizational depth to their bench by signing free agents 1B Nick Johnson, 2B Luis Castillo and C David Ross. GM Chris Melkonian also added RHP Rafael Betancourt and former LHP prospect Dan Meyer as two arms who might provide insurance for this season. Yuma lost longtime DH Travis Hafner to sibling rival Arizona, and has traded away last year's starting 1B (Lance Berkman), but for the most part returns the same core lineup and staff that took it all in 2009.


In other signing news:

The Casselton franchise set their sights on some big names, but missed out. They did succeed, however, in adding some decent arms who don't have big names but are likely to contribute to the parent club right away: LHP John Lannan, RHP Dustin Nippert and RHP Nick Blackburn.

Faced with the loss of the inconsistent Rick Ankiel, the Pottsylvania Creepers assured themselves of some left-handed firepower in the lineup by signing Hideki Matsui to a $3.25 guaranteed major-league contract. This year's Series runner-up also signed a healthy assortment of Type B free agents: SS Yuniesky Betancourt, IF Aki Iwarmura, OF Alexi Rios, and right-handed relievers Grant Balfour, Boof Bonser and Tony Pena.

Conservative Darwin added just one big-name talent, signing IF Miguel Tejada to a guaranteed, $3.25 million major-league contract. The Finches, with three post-season berths (including a World Series in 2008) in their last four contests, are mulling a possible move out of the Southern Hemisphere, and a new team identity as well.

The high-powered (and expensive) Worcester lineup spent much of their cap in the draft, but did ink some fairly mild-rep talents to split contracts, providing organizational depth: OF Delmon Young, IF Ty Wigginton, 2B Emilio Bonifacio, IF Alex Cintron and 2B Chris Burke offer speed and flexibility that previous Eliminator benches lacked. Much will depend upon whether Worcester can turn the corner with some of their young pitching.

Finally, the proudest of BARB franchises, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels. GM Andrew Haynes once again tabbed LHP Scott Elbert as someone to watch, and for the second year in a row 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff signs with an Eastern Division club to supply some minor-league insurance. Also added: 1B Conor Jackson, OF Jeremy Hermida and RHP Aaron Heilman.

More free agent signing news to come.....

* Players shown bolded in red have been assigned to the major-league roster and count immediately against a club's cap

** Players shown bolded in blue have initially been signed to a minor-league contract that does not count against cap.

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS: MOABS MAKE WAVES

Continuing their surge in organizational strength, last year's Eastern Division champion (the Brooklyn Moabs) made the biggest splash in the free-agent signing period that began at midnight on Thursday. Moabs GM Eric Caskey's cost-cutting measures left him with the hard cash to pursue and sign established stars like OF Mike Cameron and LHP Billy Wagner to major-league contracts. These deals, amounting to more than $5 million guaranteed, will ensure that Cameron and Wagner will be on the Moabs major-league roster, if healthy*

Brooklyn also bolstered their organizational depth by signing RHP J.J. Putz, RHP Jeremy Accardo, 3B Brandon Inge, OF Melky Cabrera and C Dioner Navarro to split contracts. Initially, such players are assigned to the minor-leagues and not held against cap. Once activated, they count against the club's cap but they can be shuttled back-and-forth between the minors and the parent club.**

In other signing news:

The Los Angeles PF Flyers have added RHP Tim Hudson, LHP Scott Downs, and reliever LHP Rafael Perez.

In a surprising (and irritating) move, the Arizona Thunder dumped OF Alfonso Soriano's big contract to cleap cap room, and used it so sign well-known unprotected malcontent Manny Ramirez to the biggest free agent contract of all, a one-year deal guaranteeing nearly seven million a season. Also added as insurance: RHP Mark Lowe, DH Travis Hafner, RHP Leo Nunez, C Jason Kendall, 2B Mark Ellis, 1B Casey Kotchman

The Madtown Murlocs picked up some reclamation projects for their pitching staff: RHP Jon Garland, LHP Manny Parra, RHP Matt Lindstrom

The St. Francis Friars struck pay dirt, picking up two starters on the comeback trail (RHP Chris Young and RHP Fausto Carmona), two relievers (LHP Pedro Feliciano and RHP Joel Zumaya) and AAA insurance policies: C Rod Barajas, 1B Adam LaRoche, OF/P Micah Owings

The former Fresno and newly-rechristened Oakland United signed 42-year-years-young RHP Trevor Hoffman to a guaranteed one-year deal, while adding some extras to their system in the form of: RHP Manny Corpas, OF Andruw Jones, RHP Kyle Loshe, RHP Brad Penny, RHP Tim Wakefield

Meanwhile, the other Guerra-operated BARB franchise, the Black Mesa ballclub, guaranteed over $3 million to former Worcester 3B Adrian Beltre, LHP Barry Zito and SS Jack Wilson. LHP Eric Bedard and RHP Kerry Wood were (at least initially) assigned to AAA as insurance while both attempt to rehab nagging injuries.

More free agent signing news to come.....

* Players shown bolded in red have been assigned to the major-league roster and count immediately against a club's cap

** Players shown bolded in blue have initially been signed to a minor-league contract that does not count against cap.

FREE AGENT PERIOD (URGENT!)

I HAVE SENT ALL OWNERS AN EMAIL WITH AN ATTACHED SPREADSHEET LISTING ALL FREE AGENTS.

All such free agents are drafted at your own risk. It is the GM's responsibility to review likely salaries.

Underlined players in this list must be assigned to the parent club or (if injured) to the DL, but in any case their listed salaries count immediately against the cap. In other words, to sign these players, you must have cap room.

Free agents are signed to one-year contracts with a discount of 50-75 percent, set by the Commissioner. Unless and until that contract is assigned to the parent club, it does not count against your salary cap. If and when you call these players up, you must have cap room to handle their contract.

The minimum salary for all free agents is 0.40.

Players shown bolded in red with an asterisk are not presently eligible for assignment to the parent roster. They may become eligible later during the year. If so, you may use them, or not. But, in any case, any player that you fail to assign to your parent roster sometime during the 2010 season automatically becomes a free agent after the season is over and can not be protected from future drafts. Thus, choose wisely when going after such players, because there is no guarantee that you would be able to either retain the player or receive compensation for losing them in the draft.

Caveat emptor!

NOW....what to do with this list. Simple. Submit an email with the heading 'FREE AGENT BIDS.' List all the players you are interested in bidding on in the order you value them, with as detailed instructions as you like for their selection. When all owners have had a reasonable chance to submit offers, bidding will be closed. The emails will be opened by the Commissioner in this year's draft order. Players will be signed accordingly, a maximum of seven for each team.

Players left unprotected from previous year's drafts not signed in this off-season will be eliminated from the free agent pool. Players left unprotected after this year's draft who are unsigned will remain in the free agent pool for 2011.

THE BIDDING PERIOD BEGINS IMMEDIATELY. Bidding will be closed on Wednesday evening, at midnight. Bids submitted after that time will be accepted, but only on a first-come, first-served basis. Don't be caught napping!

Free agent signings will be announced on Thursday, April 8th. Owners will be expected to finalized their parent rosters, submit lineups, rotations and managerial cards beginning the following day. Programming the simulation takes time, so we need to get busy NOW. I would like to begin league play no later than Monday, April 19th, two weeks from now.

SEVENTH ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

79. Los Angeles RHP Simon Castro
80. Arizona RHP Jose Valverde $
81. Madtown OF Nate McLouth $
82. St. Francis RHP Randy Wells
83. Fresno LHP C.J. Wilson
84. Black Mesa SS Wilmer Flores
85. Casselton SS Rafael Furcal $
86. Pottsylvania SS Grant Green
87. Worcester RHP Johnny Cueto $
88. Frostbite Falls C Wilson Ramos
89. Brooklyn C Alex Avila
90. Yuma SS Ryan Theriot $
91. Darwin 3B David Freese

FIFTH ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

53. Los Angeles RHP Michael Pineda
54. Arizona SS Jason Bartlett
55. Madtown LHP J.P. Howell $
56. St. Francis IF Todd Frazier
57. Fresno RHP Anthony Renaudo
58. Black Mesa OF Michael Bourn $
59. Casselton RHP Claudio Vargas
60. Pottsylvania C Max Ramirez
61. Worcester SS Jhonny Peralta $
62. Frostbite Falls CASSELTON 3B Josh Bell
63. Brooklyn RHP Julio Teheran
64. Yuma 3B Chone Figgins $
65. Darwin C Miguel Olivo

THIRD ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

27. Los Angeles SS Hak-Ju Li
28. Arizona CASSELTON SS Dee Gordon
29. Madtown LHP Matt Moore
30. St. Francis RHP Shelby Miller
31. Fresno RHP Mike Leake
32. Black Mesa 3B Zach Cox
33. Casselton 1B Chris Carter
34. Pottsylvania OF Brad Hawpe $
35. Worcester OF Nolan Reimold
36. Frostbite Falls 3B Lonnie Chisenhall
37. Brooklyn LHP Francisco Liriano $
38. Yuma LHP Casey Crosby
39. Darwin RHP Ryan Franklin

FIRST ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

1. Los Angeles SS Starlin Castro
2. Arizona LHP Aroldis Chapman
3. Madtown OF Aaron Hicks
4. St. Francis LHP Tyler Matzek
5. Fresno C Derek Norris
6. Black Mesa LHP Drew Pomeranz
7. Casselton OF Garrett Jones
8. Pottsylvania OF Desmond Jennings
9. Worcester 1B Billy Butler $ (Yuma)
10. Frostbite Falls RHP Jacob Turner
11. Brooklyn RHP Casey Kelley
12. Yuma RHP Drew Storen
13. Darwin SS Maizer Izturis

SIXTH ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

66. Darwin RHP Brandon League
67. Yuma RH Jhennry Mejia
68. Brooklyn SS Jose Iglesias
69. Frostbite Falls Nick Masset
70. Worcester RHP Brandon Morrow $
71. Pottsylvania LHP Zach Britton
72. Casselton LHP Darren O'Day
73. Black Mesa SS Cristian Colon
74. Fresno Matt Davidson
75. St. Francis LHP Clayton Richard
76. Madtown C Jarrod Saltalamacchia $
77. Arizona RHP Edward Mujica
78. Los Angeles RHP Jordan Lyles

FOURTH ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

40. Darwin RHP Luke Gregorson
41. Yuma C Will Myers
42. Brooklyn FROSTBITE FALLS LHP Dan Runnzler
43. Frostbite Falls 2B Ricky Weeks $
44. Worcester RHP Joba Chamberlain
45. Pottsylvania RHP Mariano Rivera $
46. Casselton RHP Mike Adams
47. Black Mesa RHP Carlos Villanueva $
48. Fresno OF Donovan Tate
49. St. Francis 2B Brett Lawrie
50. Madtown C Travis D'Arnaud
51. Arizona 2B Martin Prado
52. Los Angeles LHP Rex Brothers

SECOND ROUND, 2010 DRAFT

14. Darwin SS Brendan Ryan
15. Yuma RHP Rafael Soriano $
16. Brooklyn IF Sean Rodriguez
17. Frostbite Falls RHP Jason Frasor $
18. Worcester (YUMA) LHP Matt Thornton $
19. Pottsylvania 2B Skip Schumacher
20. Casselton 3B Casey McGehee
21. Black Mesa RHP Jameson Tallehan
22. Fresno C Tony Sanchez
23. St. Francis LHP Mike Montgomery
24. Madtown SS Jimmy Rollins $
25. Arizona RHP Ricky Nolasco $
26. Los Angeles RHP Ryan Madson $