Keith Law’s second annual Top 50 Free Agent list is now available at ESPN.com. I’m not sure what level of it is available for free, but an ESPN subscription is easily worth the annual $40ish fee. Here are a few interesting notes from Law.
- Kosuke Fukudome, Law’s tenth-ranked free agent, is expected to sign a three-year, no-arbitration contract. That means he’ll become a free agent after three years of MLB service time instead of the usual six.
- Law compares Aaron Rowand’s upcoming contract to that of Gary Matthews Jr. He considers Rowand "a good fourth outfielder who’s about to be paid like an above average starter."
- Scott Boras client Brad Wilkerson is surprisingly ranked 18th (he was just an honorable mention for me). Law feels Wilkerson is an upside play and could even be passable in center field.
- Law suggests the team signing another upside play, Bartolo Colon put a weight clause in the contract (it might take a two-year deal). Michael Barrett and Randy Wolf are also considered part of the upside group. I really think teams should see if Barrett could play a league average third base.
- Law seems to believe it’s time for Tom Glavine to retire.
- Another list to check out: Jeff Passan of Yahoo ranks free agents by position.
