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SI's Jon Heyman, an agent, and a GM predicted contracts of the top 24 free agents.

• The agent's predictions seem to run high, except in the cases of Bobby Abreu and Billy Wagner.  I'm guessing the agent isn't Peter Greenberg or Bean Stringfellow.
• On the flip side the GM seems light on several predictions – $80MM over five years for Matt Holliday, and $60MM over four years for John Lackey.  He found Rich Harden too unpredictable to even hazard a guess.
• The agent predicted identical seven-year, $147MM contracts for Jason Bay and Holliday.  The agent thinks Bay will get $21MM a year, but the GM guesses $15MM. 
• I have to disagree with Heyman's three-year, $36MM suggestion for Jarrod Washburn.  The other two suggest $18MM over two years for the Scott Boras client.
• All three see Manny Ramirez picking up his $20MM player option.
• The agent and the GM see one-year deals for Erik Bedard, Brett Myers, Adrian Beltre, and Rick Ankiel.  Could be some nice value there.

Looking to bring in a leadoff hitter and upgrade their outfield defense last offseason, the Royals killed two birds with one stone when they swapped reliever Ramon Ramirez for Coco Crisp in November. After hitting just .228/.336/.378 with 13 steals in 215 plate appearances, Crisp's season came to an end in June after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

In his place, 27-yr old Mitch Maier has done most of the heavy lifting in center. Even though his .251/.334/.365 overall line isn't pretty, Maier has hit an impressive .297/.387/.432 since July 29th. He can't match Coco's studly +15.5 UZR/150, but Maier's defense is solid with a +1.0 UZR/150.

Kansas City holds an $8MM option for Crisp's services next year, or they could opt to buy him out for $500K instead. Maier will bring home just over $400K this year, and he still has five more years of team control left. So tonight's question seems pretty straight forward – what should the Royals do with Crisp? Should they cut bait and use all the money they'd save elsewhere, or should they keep him and try to contend in a winnable AL Central?

Commissioner Bud Selig told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that competitive balance exists even though many of baseball's biggest spenders figure to make the playoffs. Selig points to the recent past when the Rays, Twins and A's have succeeded and suggests that the current system allows small and mid-market teams to compete.

However, Selig says the draft needs to be changed when the current collective bargaining agreement expires after 2011. In fact, the commissioner believes changing the current system is "imperative for the health of the game." Selig suggests, as he has before, that he will push for slotting and a worldwide draft.

Selig doesn't completely rule out a salary cap, but hints that he first plans to explore other ways of maintaining competitive balance.

If you're looking for free agent bang for your buck, you can't go wrong with minor league deals.  Let's take a look at the best of 2009.

• Garrett Jones – At .302/.368/.613 in 261 plate appearances, Jones is in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year.  He didn't show this kind of power playing at Triple A in the Twins' system.  Jones has played first base and the outfield corners for the Pirates.
• Ryan Roberts – The Diamondbacks picked up Roberts after the Rangers cut him loose.  Playing left field, second base, and third base, he has a .285/.381/.427 line in 287 PAs.
• Kevin Correia – The Giants non-tendered Correia last year; an oblique injury may have contributed to his lousy '08.  This year he's been the Padres' best starter with a 4.30 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 169.6 innings.
• Juan Uribe – Uribe's power returned with the Giants in the NL, and he's contributed defensively all around the infield.  Dave Cameron of FanGraphs has more.
• Adam Kennedy – Kennedy gets an asterisk, as he signed his minor league deal with the Rays and was traded to Oakland on May 8th.  He's been solid offensively and a strong defender at second and third base.
• Chad Gaudin – Gaudin signed with the Padres in mid-April after being released by the Cubs (they'd have saved some bucks if they'd non-tendered him earlier).  He racked up 105 Ks in 105.3 innings for the Padres, and the Yankees acquired him in August.
• Scott Podsednik – Playing left and center field for the White Sox after being released by Colorado, Pods surprisingly racked up 504 PAs with a .303/.355/.405 line.
• Kiko Calero – When healthy Calero's been dominant for the Marlins – a 2.09 ERA and 62 Ks in 51.6 innings.
• Brian Sanches – A Nationals castoff, Sanches has a 1.45 ERA with 47 Ks in 49.6 innings for the Marlins.  Couple of cheap, quality bullpen pickups for the Fish.
• Jonny Gomes – We discussed Gomes here; he's been a pleasant surprise for the Reds.
• Laynce Nix – He's been useful in left field for the Reds, slugging .484 in 307 PAs.
• Ronald Belisario – He didn't do much at Double A for the Pirates, but Belisario has a 2.07 ERA and 54 Ks in 61 innings for the Dodgers.
• Mike MacDougal – 14 saves in 15 tries as the Nationals' closer is impressive, but a 25:32 K/BB ratio shows why the White Sox let him go.
• Honorable mentions: Sean White, Livan Hernandez, Omar Vizquel, Matt Palmer, Andruw Jones, Omir Santos, Jeff Weaver, Tyler Walker, and Josh Fogg.  Brad Penny and Vicente Padilla have impressed with their new clubs.  Did we miss anyone?

Per Eddie Bajek's latest Elias rankings, the following players are eligible for free agency after the season and are teetering on the borderline of Type A and B status:

• Mark DeRosa
• Octavio Dotel
• Chone Figgins
• Brandon Lyon
• Placido Polanco

Figgins projects as a Type A at the moment, while the other four are currently Bs.  The September performance of these players could push them in either direction.  It's hard to say which will be offered arbitration, though Figgins is a lock.

September is arguably the slowest month of the year when it comes to baseball rumors. The trade deadline has come and passed, the waiver trade deadline has come and passed, and free agency is still more than two months away. Heck, even the draft signing deadline has passed.

Most of the moves that will be made this month are smaller one involving minor leaguers or complementary players, but almost nothing that would impact a playoff race. Let's take a second to look back at the majors stories from last September, which might help give us an idea of what to expect this month…

• The Brewers grabbed reliever Todd Coffey off waivers from the Reds. It was a small and seemingly inconsequential move at the time, but Coffey has been a horse out of the pen for the Brew Crew this year, giving them 71.1 innings of 2.78 ERA ball.
• Kyle Lohse signed a four year, $41MM contract extension with the Cardinals. As ESPN's Jayson Stark noted on Thursday, only two players (David Eckstein and Ryan Franklin) have signed extensions in-season this year.
• Two August waiver trades were completed last September. Cincinnati received pitcher Micah Owings from Arizona as the player to be named later in the Adam Dunn deal, while the Padres took home a pair of minor leaguers from the Dodgers to complete the Greg Maddux swap. We're still waiting for a few PTBNL to actually be named, including the one involved in the David Weathers deal.

Ironically enough, some of the biggest deals of last September didn't involve players at all, but instead front office personnel. The general managers of three big market teams - Brian Cashman of the Yankees, Omar Minaya of the Mets, and Theo Epstein of the Red Sox – all received contract extensions 12 months ago. Considering how this season has gone for the Mets, you'd have to think the Wilpons wish they could redo the Minaya extension considering it doesn't kick in until next year.

Three NL West GMs - Ned Colletti of the Dodgers, Dan O'Dowd of the Rockies, and Brian Sabean of the Giants - are not under contract beyond this season, however Colletti has a mutual option while the Giants have a club option on Sabean for 2010. Could we see one, or perhaps all three of these guys receive extensions this month?

Over the last few days, we've seen reports from SI.com's Jon Heyman and ESPN's Jayson Stark indicating that the Yankees were ready to let star shortstop Derek Jeter play out the rest of his contract before worrying about resigning him. Jeter will make $21MM next season in the final year of the monster ten year, $189MM contract he signed prior to the 2001 season.

Still extremely productive, Jeter has rebounded from a substandard 2008 campaign to hit.330/.396/.474 in just over 600 plate appearances this year. The 35-yr old has even managed to improve his usually poor defense, checking in with a +6.8 UZR this year, good enough for third best among shortstops with at least 900 innings at the position. He's a legitimate MVP candidate after finishing in the top three on the ballot twice before.

Assuming he stays healthy and has a typical Derek Jeter season in 2010 (.317/.387/.459 career batting line), what kind of contract do you think would be appropriate for him heading into his age 37 season? Is three years at say, $15MM per year a good starting point?

The NL Cy Young might be a close race this year.  Tim Lincecum is the leader, but plenty of others merit consideration: Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Matt Cain, and Dan Haren.  Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, Javier Vazquez, Clayton Kershaw, Jair Jurrjens, Joel Pineiro, Randy Wolf, and Wandy Rodriguez are having strong seasons as well.  We've got about a month to go, keep in mind.

The last few NL Cy Young winners: Lincecum, Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, and Carpenter.

Next up in our awards discussion, the AL Cy Young.  The candidates: Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez, C.C. Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Edwin Jackson, and Justin Verlander.  Jon Lester could enter the mix with a huge September.  Mariano Rivera is another name to consider, if you like closers for this award.  Here's the question: can you make a legitimate argument for anyone other than Greinke, without bringing up win totals?

The last few AL Cy Young winners: Cliff Lee, Sabathia, Johan Santana, and Bartolo Colon.

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