Spring training camps open in less than 10 days, and there still are several free agents who could make significant contributions in 2010. Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com has assembled an “unsigned all-star team,” which contains a number of players who, with the skills they possess today, might have been paid a pretty penny as recently as two years ago. And they probably wouldn’t have waited until February to sign.

Starting lineup:
Catcher: Rod Barajas
First base: Russell Branyan
Second base: Felipe Lopez
Shortstop: Nomar Garciaparra
Third base: Joe Crede
Left field: Johnny Damon
Center field: Endy Chavez
Right field: Jermaine Dye
Designated hitter: Carlos Delgado

Rotation:
Pedro Martinez
Chien-Ming Wang
Jarrod Washburn
John Smoltz
Braden Looper

Bullpen:
Closer: Kiko Calero
Right-handed relief: Chan Ho Park
Left-handed relief: Will Ohman

It’s doubtful Johnny Damon would be looking for work, though the case could be made that his agent, Scott Boras, has probably priced him out of every market he has considered. The veteran outfielder has turned down a few offers that might look pretty attractive right now. In Damon’s case, overpaying for his services might have proved costly. The numbers were good in 2009, but he displayed most of his power at the game’s newest launching pad, the new Yankee Stadium.

Dierkes’ roster of unsigned players contains two other Boras clients, Jarrod Washburn and Felipe Lopez, and he suggests that the agent may have failed them and Damon. Although Boras clients Matt Holliday, Adrian Beltre and others fared well this winter, the offseason hasn’t been anything like last year’s, when Boras negotiated deals totaling $341 million for the likes of Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez and Derek Lowe.

Negotiating a deal worth a guaranteed $5 million appears to be a long shot for either Lopez or Washburn, a Wisconsin native who reportedly turned down a Twins offer for that figure in January. The southpaw is also interested in the Brewers, who gave Doug Davis a $5.25 million contract and aren’t likely to offer that much to sign Washburn. Only Damon has much chance of passing the $5 million mark, but he was asking for far more than that early in the offseason.

The Yankees have signed Randy Winn and Marcus Thames in recent days, and Damon may be forced to take a low-dollar deal from Atlanta or Detroit to stay in the game. That’s not something Jermaine Dye seems inclined to do, after reportedly turning down the $3.3 million the Cubs ended up giving Xavier Nady. The Padres also haven’t met the personal minimum that Dye will accept to return, and Damon faces that same decision.

Both are 36 years old, but Damon seems to enjoy playing too much to leave the game after a solid season. If that’s the case, a Scott Boras client could prove to be one of the bigger bargains of the winter.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 1:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Neither Nashville’s Pekka Rinne nor Ilya Bryzgalov of the Coyotes allowed a goal in 65 minutes of NHL action Tuesday night, and they carried their stingy ways into a shootout that lasted 10 rounds. The game eventually was decided by Adrian Aucoin’s high wrist shot beyond Rinne’s glove.

The defenseman’s goal gave Bryzgalov and the Coyotes the 1-0 win -- in the 15th shootout in NHL history to go at least 10 rounds. It was the 17th all-time shootout to decide a scoreless tie.

In allowing just one shootout attempt to cross the goal line, Bryzgalov showed why he has been one of the best this season when it’s one-on-one in a shootout.

Save Percentage Leaders in Shootouts, 2009-10
(minimum 15 shootout attempts faced)

Goalie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GA . . . . Att. . . . . .Pct
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pit . . . . . .1 . . . . . 15. . . . . .93.3
Alex Auld, Dal. . . . . . . . . . . .2. . . . . . 15. . . . . .86.7
Semyon Varlamov, Was . . . . . 3. . . . . . 20. . . . . .85.0
Ilya Bryzgalov, Pho. . . . . . . . 8. . . . . . .34. . . . . .76.5
Johan Hedberg, Atl. . . . . . . .5. . . . . . .21. . . . . .76.2

No one who has faced more than 20 shootout attempts can top Bryzgalov’s save percentage. And his save rate would be that much better if not for the four goals allowed in eight shootout attempts in a Dec. 10 loss to the Los Angeles Kings—a game that tied the NHL record for most shootout goals scored (7). Take away that loss, and Bryzgalov is 22-for-26 in shootout saves (84.6 percent).

In Tuesday night’s win, Bryzgalov executed a pair of nifty poke-checks to thwart shootout attempts before a shot was made. Twice more a poke-check failed, but the Russian veteran made strong pad saves with lightning-fast V-drops that kept the puck out of the net.

When Nashville’s Shea Weber rifled the last shot of the game wide of the net, the Coyotes had won for the eighth time in their last 10 games. They had improved to 6-4 in shootout action this season.

Bryzgalov’s shootout record is 5-3. One of those losses was to the Kings on Dec. 10. In the other two shootout defeats -- in both ends of a home-and-home series with San Jose to close out December -- the Coyotes failed to score a shootout goal in nine attempts against the Sharks’ Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Greiss.

The Predators’ Rinne wasn’t too bad himself on Tuesday night, allowing only two shootout goals in 10 attempts. He improved to 15-for-21 in shootout saves, good for a 71.4 save percentage.

The chart leader is Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, and it’s no accident that the Penguins, at 7-0, are the only undefeated team in shootouts this season. Fleury has secured five of those victories, stopping all but one shootout attempt. The Penguins have made quick work of opponents in those five games, scoring on nine of 14 shootout attempts.

Posted by Thom Henninger at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)