Sox getting picky by Jared Carrabis
Wagner signs with Braves, Sox get first-rounder


The offseason action works in a domino effect.

After the final pitch of the World Series, players can file for free agency, then the arbitration deadline, which fell on Tuesday, then free agent prizes begin to get scooped up. The order in which they go normally depends on talent. The big names will go first, as most teams are looking to improve their club with the best talent available, then the small market teams sign the scraps that the big market teams haven't already eaten up.

On Tuesday, the Red Sox offered arbitration to both Jason Bay and Billy Wagner. Both players qualified as Type A free agents this winter. Back in early November, I called Billy Wagner's bluff that he would accept Boston's arbitration offer should they make one, and just after midnight on the day in which the Red Sox offered him arbitration, FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported that the 38-year-old closer agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves.

Offering Wagner arbitration was a wise move by Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, as he was well aware of the lefty's ambitions to finish his career as a closer, a position that Wagner knew he would not have here in Boston. The one-year deal worth $7 million with the Braves will be completed pending a physical and once Atlanta hands over their first-round, twentieth overall, draft pick to the Red Sox.

Rosenthal also notes that, "their selection from the Braves could drop to a second rounder if Atlanta signs a higher-ranking Type A free agent, but that is unlikely."

Boston will also be handed a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of next year's draft as compensation for losing Wagner via free agency. In recent history, the Red Sox have used compensation draft picks from their Type A free agents signing elsewhere to draft the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz and Jed Lowrie.

Boston has the chance to be given two more draft picks in addition to the two that they have already acquired if left fielder Jason Bay signs with a team other than Boston. If the Red Sox pursue the likes of Matt Holliday this winter, it will cost them a first-round draft pick, and the same goes for free agent pitcher John Lackey. If Boston makes the Bay for Holliday switch and decides to sign another Type A free agent like Lackey, essentially, they would end up with the same number of draft picks that they entered the offseason with.

Which brings me back to the point that I made in my previous column regarding the vacancy at the shortstop position. The Houston Astros decided against offering salary arbitration to Miguel Tejada, who was a Type B free agent, which makes bringing him on board for 2010, and possibly beyond, more attractive to Boston. No surrendering of any draft picks would be required, simply a reach into the pocket for Mr. John Henry.

It should be interesting to see how the rest of the winter develops with every big name free agent still out there, and even more big names available on the trading block. Keep it right here as the Hot Stove season unfolds!

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on December 02, 2009

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