It's that time of year. The time of year where all but those fortunate few (and even they are preparing) are looking forward to the upcoming off-season. With that, eyes will be focused on free agents hitting the market -- who might possibly fill needs that a club may not be able to get through player development or trades.

Unless matters change, the word through the grapevine is that the market values will once again be extremely high. Yes, we all know that Alex Rodriguez is going to be a hot property should he decide to opt out of his contract with the Yankees, but there are going to be other deals that will hit just after the World Series that are going to get the "Whoa!!!!" factor. Watch some big markets... that's our one clue.

The MLBPA has started the annual process of listing which players may potentially be available as free agents. Below is the first notification of the year. 

POTENTIAL 2007 XX B FREE AGENTS                                            
[as of 10/04/07]

[* player potentially eligible for free agency per contract terms]
                                              
Arizona:
Cirillo, Jeff (3B); Clark, Tony (1B); Hernandez, Livan (SP); Wickman, Bob (RP)

Atlanta:
Dotel, Octavio E. * (RP); Franco, Julio (1B); Jones, Andruw (OF); Mahay, Ron (RP); Woodward, Chris (SS)

Baltimore:
Bako, Paul (C); Benson, Kris* (SP); Patterson, Corey (OF); Wright, Jaret        (SP)

Boston:
Clayton, Royce S. (SS); Clement, Matt (SP); Gagne, Eric (RP); Hinske, Eric (1B/OF); Kielty, Bobby        (OF); Lowell, Mike A. (3B); Mirabelli, Doug (C); Schilling, Curt (SP); Tavarez, Julian* (SP); Timlin, Mike (RP); Wakefield, Tim*         (SP)

Chicago Cubs
Eyre, Scott* (RP); Floyd, Cliff* (OF);  Kendall, Jason (C); Trachsel, Steve* (SP);  Ward, Daryle* (1B); Wood, Kerry L. (RP)

Chicago White Sox
Erstad, Darin*(OF); Myers, Mike* (RP); Uribe, Juan* (SS)

Cincinnati
Dunn, Adam* (OF); Belhorn, Mark (2B); Guardado, Eddie A.* (RP); Hatteberg, Scott* (1B); Milton, Eric R. (SP); Valentin, Javier* (C)

Cleveland
Borowski, Joe T.* (RP); Byrd, Paul* (SP); Fultz, Aaron* (RP); Gomez, Chris* (INF); Lofton, Kenny         (OF); Nixon, Trot (OF)

Colorado
Affeldt, Jeremy (RP); Dessens, Elmer (P); Fogg, Josh (SP); Hawkins, LaTroy* (RP); Herges, Matt (RP); Julio, Jorge (RP); Lopez, Rodrigo (SP); Matsui, Kaz* (2B); Ortiz, Ramon (P); Redman, Mark A. (SP); Torrealba, Yorvit (C)

Detroit Tigers
Casey, Sean T.         (1B); Jones, Todd (RP); Perez, Neifi (SS); Rodriguez, Ivan T.* (C); Rogers, Kenny (SP)

Florida
Benitez, Armando (RP); Boone, Aaron J. (3B); Kim, Byung-Hyun        (P)

Houston
Ausmus, Brad        (C); Biggio, Craig (2B); Jennings, Jason (SP); Lamb, Mike (3B); Loretta, Mark D. (INF); Miller, Trever D. (RP); Moehler, Brian (RP); Palmeiro, Orlando (OF)

Kansas City
LaRue, Jason (C); Perez, Odalis A.* (SP); Riske, David* (RP); Sanders, Reggie (OF); Sweeney, Mike (DH); Thomson, John C. (SP)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Colon, Bartolo (SP)

Los Angeles Dodgers
Gonzalez, Luis E. (OF); Hernandez, Roberto (RP); Hillenbrand, Shea M. (1B/3B); Lieberthal, Mike* (C); Martinez, Ramon E.*         (2B); Saenz, Olmedo (1B); Seanez, Rudy C. (RP); Sweeney, Mark        (1B); Wells, David (SP); Wolf, Randy* (SP)

Milwaukee
Cordero, Francisco (RP); Graffanino, Tony (INF); Jenkins, Geoffrey S.* (OF); King, Ray (RP); Koskie, Corey L.* (3B); Linebrink, Scott (RP); Miller, Damian (C)

Minnesota
Hunter, Torii K. (OF); Nathan, Joe* (RP); Silva, Carlos (SP); White, Rondell* (OF)

NY Mets
Alomar, Sandy (C); Alou, Moises* (OF); Anderson, Marlon (OF); Castillo, Luis A. (2B);  Castro, Ramon Abraham (C); Conine, Jeff (1B); DiFelice, Michael (C); Easley, Damion (INF); Glavine, Tom*        (SP); Green, Shawn (OF); Lawrence, Brian* (P); LoDuca, Paul (C); Sele, Aaron H. (RP); Valentin, Jose* (2B)

NY Yankees
Abreu, Bob* (OF); Clemens, Roger (SP); Mientkiewicz, Doug A. (1B); Molina, Jose (C);  Pettitte, Andy* (SP); Posada, Jorge* (C); Rivera, Mariano (RP); Rodriguez, Alex * (3B);  Villone, Ron (RP); Vizcaino, Luis (RP)

Oakland
DaVanon, Jeff         (OF); Piazza, Mike (C/DH); Stewart, Shannon H. (OF)

Philadelphia
Alfonseca, Antonio (RP); Barajas, Rod* (C); Garcia, Freddy Antonio (SP); Lieber, Jon (SP); Lohse, Kyle (SP); Mesa, Jose (RP); Nunez, Abraham O.*  (3B); Romero, J.C. (RP); Rowand, Aaron (OF)

Pittsburgh
Armas Jr., Tony* (SP); Chacon, Shawn (P); Izturis, Cesar* (SS)

St. Louis
Bennett, Gary D.* (C); Branyan, Russ (3B); Cairo, Miguel J. (INF); Eckstein, David (SS); Isringhausen, Jason* (RP); Percival, Troy (RP); Pineiro, Joel* (P); Springer, Russ (RP); Stinnett, Kelly (C); Wells, Kip (SP); Wilson, Preston (OF)

San Diego
Barrett, Michael P. (C); Blum, Geoff (2B); Bradley, Milton (OF); Brocail, Doug (RP);  Cameron, Michael (OF); Clark, Brady (OF); Giles, Marcus (2B); Mackowiak, Rob* (OF); Maddux, Greg*         (SP); Tomko, Brett (SP)

San Francisco
Bonds, Barry (OF); Feliz, Pedro (3B); Klesko, Ryan (1B); Matheny, Mike* (C); Ortiz, Russ (SP); Vizquel, Omar (SS)

Seattle
Guillen, Jose*        (OF); Reitsma, Chris* (RP); Rhodes, Arthur (RP); Weaver, Jeff C. (SP)

Tampa Bay
Casanova, Raul (C); Norton, Greg* (DH); Paul, Josh (C); Reyes, Al* (RP); Witasick, Jay (RP)

Toronto
Fasano, Sal (C); Kennedy, Joe (P); Stairs, Matt (OF); Zambrano, Victor (SP)

Texas
Hairston Jr, Jerry (2B/OF); Sosa, Sammy (OF); Wilkerson, Brad (OF); Wright, Jamey (P)

Washington
Batista, Tony (Leo.) (3B); Fick, Robert (1B); Jimenez, D'Angelo (2B)

(Source: MLB Players Association) 

Maury Brown is the founder and president of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football and The Biz of Basketball (The Biz of Hockey will be launching shortly). He is also a contributor to Baseball Prospectus contributed to the 2007 Pro Football Prospectus and is an available freelance writer.

He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted here

Like a rite of spring, you can count on contract talk in Spring Training. Cases in point, Ichiro Suzuki and Curt Schilling.

Schilling had made mention on Jan. 29th  that he was not going to be retiring when his contract ends at the end of ’07 and was looking for an extension with the Red Sox before the end of Spring Training. While it is not out of the question that Schilling would wind up in a Red Sox uniform in ’08, the leveraging has already commenced. As reported by the AP:

Curt Schilling said Thursday he would file for free agency once the season is over after being told by Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein that the team would not offer him a contract extension in spring training.

"Theo and I talked yesterday and Theo was upfront and honest," the Boston right-hander said on WEEI-AM radio. "It was a very quick meeting. It was easy."

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said the refusal to offer a contract during spring training didn't mean they were ready to part with Schilling.

Jumping across to the West Coast where Ichiro is in the last year of his $44 million, four-year contract with the Mariners, the six-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder (he is moving from right field to center field this season) is leveraging as well. He has never been a free agent in his career, and is not opposed to the notion. As reported by the AP:

"I've played 15 years of professional baseball and I have never filed for free agency. I have never had the choice, to choose for myself which road I want to take," Suzuki said through interpreter Ken Barron during a 25-minute session with English-language media, after a lengthy session with Japanese reporters.

"So if you ask me is it possible that I will go to free agency, yes, it is possible."

"But if you ask me what are my feelings toward it, at this point I cannot express it. I am not even sure myself. But what I can say is my mind is full of having the best season possible."

The 84 remaining free agents:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BALTIMORE (4) -- Bruce Chen, lhp; Russ Ortiz, rhp; Fernando Tatis, 3b; Chris Widger, c.

BOSTON (4) -- Keith Foulke, rhp; Gabe Kapler, of; Mark Loretta, 3b; Trot Nixon, of.

CHICAGO (3) -- Sandy Alomar Jr., c; Dustin Hermanson, rhp; Jeff Nelson, rhp.

CLEVELAND (2) -- Aaron Boone, 3b; Lou Merloni, 2b.

DETROIT (1) -- Troy Percival, rhp.

KANSAS CITY (2) -- Doug Mientkiewicz, 1b; Mark Redman, lhp.

LOS ANGELES (1) -- Darin Erstad, of-1b.

MINNESOTA (4) -- Phil Nevin, 1b; Brad Radke, rhp; Shannon Stewart, of.

NEW YORK (4) -- Miguel Cairo, 2b; Ron Villone, lhp; Bernie Williams, of; Craig Wilson, of.

OAKLAND (2) -- Steve Karsay, rhp; Barry Zito, lhp.

SEATTLE (1) -- Eduardo Perez, 1b.

TAMPA BAY (2) -- Brian Meadows, rhp; Tomas Perez, ss.

TEXAS (1) -- Eric Young, 2b.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ATLANTA (3) -- Brian Jordan, of; Todd Pratt, c; John Thomson, rhp.

CHICAGO (1) -- John Mabry, 1b.

CINCINNATI (7) -- Ryan Franklin, rhp; Eddie Guardado, lhp; Todd Hollandsworth, of; Jason Johnson, rhp; Kent Mercker, lhp; Scott Schoeneweis, lhp; Paul Wilson, rhp.

COLORADO (2) -- Vinny Castilla, 3b; Mike DeJean, rhp.

FLORIDA (2) -- Matt Herges, rhp; Brian Moehler, rhp.

HOUSTON (3) -- Jeff Bagwell, 1b; Roger Clemens, rhp; Aubrey Huff, 3b.

LOS ANGELES (2) -- J.D. Drew, of; Aaron Sele, rhp.

MILWAUKEE (4) -- David Bell, 3b; Rick Helling, rhp; Dan Kolb, rhp; Tomo Ohka, rhp.

NEW YORK (6) -- Mike DiFelice, c; Cliff Floyd, of; Yusaku Iriki, rhp; Ricky Ledee, of; Steve Trachsel, rhp; Michael Tucker, rf.

PHILADELPHIA (4) -- Alex S. Gonzalez, ss; Jose Hernandez, ss; Arthur Rhodes, lhp; Rick White, rhp.

PITTSBURGH (2) -- Jeromy Burnitz, of; Joe Randa, 3b.

ST. LOUIS (6) -- Ronnie Belliard, 2b; Mark Mulder, lhp; Jeff Suppan, rhp; Jose Vizcaino, ss; Jeff Weaver, rhp; Preston Wilson, of.

SAN DIEGO (5) -- Shawn Estes, lhp; Sterling Hitchcock, lhp; Chan Ho Park, rhp; Rudy Seanez, rhp; David Wells, lhp.

SAN FRANCISCO (5) -- Barry Bonds, lf; Steve Finley, cf; Todd Greene, c; Shea Hillenbrand, 1b; Jamey Wright, rhp.

WASHINGTON (3) -- Tony Armas Jr., rhp; Robert Fick, 1b; Ramon Ortiz, rhp.

Today is the day. Free agency wheeling and dealing gets started today in earnest, on the eve of the Winter Meetings. Already we've seen Jaret Wright dealt to the Orioles for Chris Britton. As part of the deal, the Yankees will pay $4 million of Wright's $7 million salary next year. The Cubs have retained third baseman Aramis Ramirez and pitcher Kerry Woods. As the Chicago Tribune reports :

Ramirez agreed to a 5-year, $73 million deal on Sunday with a mutual option for 2012, ending a months-long saga about his future. Wood agreed to a one-year, $1.75 million deal loaded with incentives that could add another $6 million to his salary.

And...

General manager Jim Hendry said Ramirez left as much as $30 million on the table to return, while Wood also came for less than he could've made on the open market.

"At the end of the day (Ramirez) really did want to be here," Hendry said. "it's not much secret that the figures being bantered around in his situation would've been much higher. I think that as good a deal as this obviously is for any player, I certainly believe there were six-or-seven-year deals out there for him, that certainly would've paid him $20-$30 million more than he got, guaranteed. He was the lucky beneficiary of being a free agent at a time when his services were certainly going to be needed by some quality clubs and some major market clubs.

Other key free agents on the market include (for entire listing of those that have filed, please go to the 2006 Free Agency Filings page here on the Biz of Baseball):

Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito, Barry Bonds, Jason Schmidt, Jeff Bagwell, Tom Glavine, David Wells, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brad Radke, Jeff Suppan, Mark Mulder, Greg Maddux, Woody Williams, Scott Speizio, Carlos Lee, Gary Matthews, Jr., Luis Gonzalez, Nomar Garciaparra, Cliff Floyd, Orlando Hernandez, and Frank Thomas.

The Biz of Baseball will be listing all Free Agency filings this off-season as collected by the MLBPA. Look for updates daily throughout the off-season.

Select the 2006 Free Agency Filings navigation at the top left, or select the link provided here. 

The Staff at the Biz of Baseball