Today I will attempt to assemble an All-Star team using only players signed as free agents last winter. Argue away in the comments!
- C: Rod Barajas. Barajas is hitting a surprising .290/.349/.490 in 169 plate appearances, and he’s only making $1.2MM. Jorge Posada is catching up though.
- 1B: Sean Casey. He’s done a nice job in limited duty.
- 2B: Alexei Ramirez. One of the unheralded signings of last winter – Kenny Williams got Ramirez on a four year, $4.75MM deal. That’s less than one year of Luis Castillo or Kaz Matsui, and Ramirez can play shortstop and center field.
- SS: Jerry Hairston Jr. Many of us regarded this as Dusty just helping out one of his guys, but Hairston was excellent prior to a broken thumb.
- 3B: Alex Rodriguez. It’s not a big deal when A-Rod hits .322/.404/.591 – that is expected of him.
- LF: Luis Gonzalez. Not a big offseason for free agent left fielders.
- CF: Aaron Rowand. We’re only 10% into this $60MM investment, but so far so good. Torii Hunter has been solid too.
- RF: Kosuke Fukudome. A .405 OBP and strong defense gets him the nod over Eric Hinske. Jose Guillen is coming on fast.
- DH: Milton Bradley. Even Jon Daniels couldn’t have expected him to be this good.
- Total guaranteed money spent: $397.5MM (69% on A-Rod)
- 2008 salaries, not including signing bonuses: $51.7MM (52% on A-Rod)
- My free agent agent All-Star lineup would score over six runs per game based on their performances this year! Looks like Casey’s batting leadoff (link takes a while to load).
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