Free Agent Update For Baseball’s Winter 2010

As baseball fans patiently await the beginning of a new season, we’re still in a position where we’ve witnessed some notable free agent signings since the conclusion of the previous year of baseball. Cards have been shuffled and some teams have new and improved rosters as a result.

What a team decides to do in between seasons can largely shape their success during the year to come. A perfect example of this would be the remarkable surge the Yankees made in 2009. A team that missed out on the playoffs the previous year was suddenly the best in all of the sport.

The team looked nothing like its former self after adding Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher to its batting lineup and CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to its pitching rotation. This gave the Yanks a powerhouse roster that no team could compete with.

Many are wondering if any team will pull off what New York was able to accomplish last year. After looking at some of the major free agent transactions we’ve witnessed thus far, we’ll probably have a better idea.

The Red Sox made a Yankee-like move this winter, signing perhaps the biggest pitching name in free agency. John Lackey is a big name pitcher with big game experience, having logged dozens of games for the Angels in the post season during his career.

While he experiences an occasional injury, all in all he’s one of the best there is. Few pitchers have been as consistent has Lackey during the course of the last five seasons.

In another big move, Hideki Matsui packed his bags out of the Bronx and headed for Los Angeles to join the Angels. Matsui was the most valuable player in the 2009 world series, making absolutely huge contributions to the Yankees during their final series.

He’s also an extremely reliable outfielder through the course of any season, making great offensive contributions. While he’s 35 years old, he hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down, so the Angels should expect some solid contributions next season. Matsui’s presence will definitely be felt in Los Angeles.

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