MLB

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each week.

I used to always enjoy lists like our own Frankie Piliere's Top 50 Free Agents. Then Milton Bradley happened. Now, as a Cubs fan whose been scorned by the clubhouse-dividing, unaccountable-yet-entitled lunatic, I can't look through the list without being skeptical of many of them. Which one is going to ruin someone else's favorite team like Bradley ruined mine? With this in mind, I present 11 potentially dangerous free agent signings in this year's class.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

About halfway through the 2009 season, the San Diego Padres looked poised to be among the worst teams in baseball. They were 38-62 and being outscored at an alarming rate. All of a sudden, though, they seemed to put some things together. In their last 62 games, they won 37 (a .597 winning percentage). There seems to be a foundation of youth in place, though they aren't yet ready to compete with the Dodgers, Giants or Rockies in the NL West.

The biggest issue is their offense. It's been well-documented it's tough to score runs in their home park because it sucks the power out of anyone. True to form, the Padres were last in the NL in slugging percentage and 13th in home runs. Still, it's not just the ballpark. Their .321 OBP was 12th in the NL, which was a major they scored fewer runs than everyone in the NL except the Pirates.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

After an awful start to 2009, the Rockies fired Clint Hurdle, promoted Jim Tracy and proceeded to play like the best team in the National League for the rest of the regular season. They lost an exciting playoff series to the eventual NL champion Phillies, but there is no reason to think the Rockies are going away with all their young talent.

In fact, the Rockies are in position to make themselves a candidate to be a dynasty. Seriously. They can move forward with a starting lineup of Todd Helton, Clint Barmes and six proven guys who are 27 or younger. The pitching staff and minor-league talent are equally as impressive. Now it's simply a matter of cultivating their young talent while making sure they don't halt any momentum.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Giants made a nice improvement from 72 victories in 2008 to 88 in 2009, achieved pretty much because of an outstanding pitching staff. The Giants aren't likely to pitch better in 2010 than they did in 2009 -- their 3.55 ERA ranked second in the majors -- so if they are to take the next step, they'll have to find a way to score more runs.

The bad news is, outside of Pablo Sandoval, they don't have a single player on their roster who is a safe bet to perform at an above-average level next year. The good news is that means the Giants have a lot of flexibility in where they can put whatever players they find to upgrade. They seem locked in to Freddy Sanchez at second and, because of their contracts, Edgar Renteria at short and Aaron Rowand in center. Sandoval can play first or third. Other than that, the lineup is a blank slate that GM Brian Sabean can spend the winter completing.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Dodgers went to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row, and lost again.

So they now realize -- or at least should -- that they need to retool some to take the next step. And as if that already didn't make this a critical offseason, owner Frank McCourt is divorcing his wife Jamie, leaving everyone to wonder who will control the team and whether it will affect their spending, as happened down the road in San Diego.

The Dodgers did some fixing on the fly over the summer, with Vicente Padilla, Jon Garland and Ronnie Belliard. But all three of those players are now free agents, so the holes are back to be patched.

---

---

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

Since the moment they were swept out of the 2007 NLCS, the Diamondbacks have been waiting. Waiting on their impressive collection of young talent. Waiting on their dynamic rotation duo of Dan Haren and Brandon Webb to deliver a playoff spot. Waiting for everything to come together.

It hasn't happened yet. Arizona was passed by the Dodgers in late 2008 after holding the NL West lead for much of the season. Then, this past year -- one filled with calamity, including a major shoulder injury to Webb that limited him to one start -- saw the Diamondbacks dip all the way to last place.

Arizona is still waiting. There is still promising young talent on hand, including the terrific Justin Upton. There is still hope. It's just tempered by all the work that needs to be done to get the Diamondbacks back in contention.

---

---

The Nationals learned Friday that the knee injury suffered by Stephen Strasburg will not require surgery to repair. It's instead been diagnosed as a dislocated knee cap. As painful as that sounds, there's no ligament damage and the Nats' phenom will only require rest and some rehab to get the knee back up to full strength, though he'll still miss Saturday's Arizona Fall League championship game.

Considering those that witnessed the injury firsthand saw Strasburg crumple while playing long toss on Thursday and reported hearing a popping sound (often a telltale sign of ligament damage), this is obviously great news for the Nats. I can't even fathom following up a 103-loss season with a serious knee injury to the highest-paid draft pick in baseball history.

Fun fact: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has as many wins in November as Giants coach Tom Coughlin, Jets coach Rex Ryan, Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and Nets coach Lawrence Frank combined. His loss total pales in comparison, however, which is probably why the Knicks invited him to Madison Square Garden to be honored during Sunday's loss game against the Celtics.

They're giving him the (quite possibly made up) Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton "City Spirit" Award, ostensibly because he stopped on his way home from winning the World Series to help the victim of a car accident flag down help from the police. It was a kind act, but it's not hard to imagine Knicks brass is desperate to liven up the grim Garden scene these days.

In the six weeks since the Mets' disastrous season has ended, lots of people have opined on how to fix the Mets. One person who'd like to chip in to the conversation is Jason Marquis. The Mets need to add a starter and, well, what do you know! Marquis is a free agent starter! After adding those two together, the Staten Island native has gone ahead and declared himself a "perfect fit" for the Mets.

Marquis had a nice enough year for the Rockies in 2009, notching 15 wins, a 4.04 ERA, and his first career All-Star nod. He's not a bad pitcher. He'd make a nice enough fit for a contender looking for a back-end starter to eat some innings and not embarrass himself. For a team like the Mets that trotted out Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Tim Redding, and Livan Hernandez after Johan Santana, well, I dunno if I'd call him a "perfect fit."

Since Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum won Cy Young awards this week with modest victory totals, there has been much discussion about how baseball writers are finally moving into the 21st century and looking beyond the win column.

Although I'm all for patting baseball writers on the back -- since I am one, and I did vote for Greinke -- I think in the case of the NL Cy Young, my colleagues may have looked past victories, and still picked the wrong guy to make their point.

Let's start with the ol' FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching. FIP is a stat intended to quantify how well a pitcher performed based solely on the things in his control (strikeouts, walks and homers) without regard to the vagaries of the defense behind him.

---

---