Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

The All-Bargain Free Agent Rotation

By Tim Dierkes | September 9, 2006 at 2:53pm CDT

A week ago, I assembled a pretty decent squad of free agent position players for about $40MM in 2007.  This week I’ll take a crack at putting together the All-Bargain Rotation, no easy task given the market inflation. Given the nature of free agency, this is going to be a staff of veterans past their prime.

SP1 – Andy Pettitte.  The 34 year-old southpaw has righted the ship since July.  He’s still got good command and gets his Ks.  He also keeps the ball on the ground reasonably well.  Would $16MM over two years do the trick?  And is he interested in any team besides Houston?

SP2 – Randy Wolf.  Wolf has to expect a pay cut from this year’s $9 million salary.  He should be fully recovered from Tommy John surgery by next spring, and there’s a decent chance he returns to his form from a few years ago.  I’d hope to snag him for 2/$12MM, but it could take 3/$21MM.

SP3 – Greg Maddux.  I’ve hopefully got my power lefties in tow, so now it’s time to round the rotation out with some groundballing righthanded vets.  I like Mad Dog for my #3.  Even at 41, he can provide 200-210 innings with an ERA in the low 4s and a good groundball/flyball ratio.  Perhaps not the best fit with my defensively challenged infield, but I can only do so much. 

SP4 – Woody Williams.  Kind of like Greg Maddux but without the grounders.  I don’t mind adding another 40 year-old to my ancient rotation.  Woody is still better than league average.  Tomo Ohka would work in this slot as well if he’d come at a better price.

SP5 – Jeff Weaver/Bruce Chen/Jason Johnson.  I like the idea of taking three retreads and letting them duke it out for the fifth starter spot.  The runner-up can be a long reliever and sixth starter.  Though he’s been consistently awful until this month, I somehow refuse to believe Weaver is toast.  He threw 444 innings of very solid ball for the Dodgers from ’04-05.  Chen has never had much margin for error, but he was doing something right in 2005.  Before this year, Johnson had proven a mid-4 ERA innings muncher with excellent groundball tendencies.  Maybe he can be salvaged.

Here’s the rotation, with projected salary:

Pettitte – $8MM
Wolf – $7MM
Maddux – $5MM
Williams – $4MM
Weaver/Chen/Johnson – $4MM

There’s my motley crew, at around $30MM for the group.  It’s obviously a high-risk rotation, though that risk is spread out among everyone.  For the most part the 1-4 pitchers should at least keep my team in the game. 

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

2007 MLB Free Agents

Chuck James and Rich Hill Examined
Main
2007 MLB Free Agent Market: Middle Relievers
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Cubs, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Ke’Bryan Hayes

    AL Central Notes: Thomas, Ragans, Lynch, Cobb

    Padres To Activate Yu Darvish On Monday

    Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

    Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

    Diamondbacks Place Pavin Smith On IL, Select Tristin English

    Details On Bryan Reynolds’ Limited No-Trade Protection

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version