Free agency free-for-all

BY JAY GOLDKLAN

We baseball fans are rather spoiled. Just as the most exciting World Series of the last 10 years drew to a dramatic close, we entered an off-season filled with free-agent signing possibilities and trade proposals that should shift the balance of power among contending teams next year. The 2002 season may well be won over the next few weeks, and the perennial playoff teams are the ones who take this seriously each December. In light of his savvy free-agent signings of the past and present—though as a diehard Mets fan, it hurts to admit this—we know that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner can fend for himself. So how do the owners and general managers of the Mets, Athletics, and Cardinals bring their teams toward Yankee-like domination?

The Yankees and Mets will forever be grouped together as big-market teams, but the beginning of this year's free-agent signing period has demonstrated the important distinction between each team's spending habits. The Yankees made clear throughout the 2001 season that they would pursue Jason Giambi, and the rest of the baseball world resigned itself to the fact that Giambi would be the newest superstar to don Yankee pinstripes and add a staggering number of zeroes to his bank-account balance. Reliable team sources also expect the Yankees pursuing Moises Alou for three years at $12 million apiece and to enter negotiations with several other stars.

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The Mets, with their meager .249 team batting average and last-place National League finish, have made no concrete trade proposals or contract offers to obtain Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Burnitz, or the other players who could single-handedly give them one of baseball's most feared lineups. How can a team in such a large market and with so many obvious offensive problems neglect to pursue a guy like Ivan Gonzalez, who hit .325 with 35 homers and 140 RBI? So far, the Mets have made excellent roster moves by signing Satoru Komiyama, whom the media has labeled the "Japanese Greg Maddux" for his tremendous control. The Mets have also re-signed Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Joe McEwing, two clutch hitters and versatile defensive players who played vital roles in the Mets' strong September showing. Still, the team will not improve significantly until it allows for the spending necessary to develop a Piazza-Gonzalez one-two punch in the middle of their lineup.

Fresh off tough 3-2 Division Series defeats, the Athletics and Cardinals are hoping to fill holes in their rosters. The loss of Giambi will undoubtedly prove difficult for the A's, but adding Tino Martinez and his 34 HR, 113 RBI production during 2001 would be no small feat. The A's cannot let Martinez go anywhere else if they hope to improve upon their 2001 showing. He is a force at the plate, he fields better than Giambi does, and, perhaps most importantly, he will be a clubhouse leader who can show the young Athletics squad how to dominate the postseason. They will, of course, have to outbid the Cardinals, who have used NL Rookie of the Year Albert Pujols and Kerry Robinson at first base, but would prefer to add Martinez to improve upon their existing roster and address the consequences of Mark McGwire's retirement.

If the A's sign Martinez, the Cardinals must both avenge this loss and acquire the closer they need by inking Jason Isringhausen, Oakland's closer last year, to a long-term deal. A stronger bullpen might have allowed the Cards to overtake the Diamondbacks in this year's playoffs, so they should be directing all available money toward Isringhausen and Jeff Shaw.

Regardless of this year's World Series outcome, the Yankees are the team to beat in 2002. Steinbrenner simply had to have Giambi and threw obscene amounts of money at him to achieve his goal. However, if the Mets, Athletics, and Cardinals develop Steinbrenner's killer instinct and pursue quality players, the Yankees and Diamondbacks could soon find themselves struggling against a trio of strong, newly well-rounded teams.

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