Kuzul

You can never have too much pitching. Pitching wins championships. Momentum is only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher. General managers, broadcasters and baseball columnists tell us as much each and every year, and each and every year these beliefs are reinforced when the biggest Free Agent starter on the market is signed to a massive contract that takes him into his late 30s.

No player on the field can have more impact on a game than a dominant starting pitcher. It’s no surprise then that over the past 35 years, pitchers have consistently ranked as some of the most highly paid players in the game.

This offseason, former Ranger Cliff Lee, perhaps the second best pitcher in the game, is a free agent. The Rangers want Lee back and are willing to pay. The Yankees, a team Lee helped knock out of the playoffs, also want his services and a mystery team has supposedly stepped up with a seven-year offer for $20-$25 million a year.

We all know about Lee. He’s undeniably one of the best free agent pitchers in the history of baseball, but his situation is far from unique. Let’s take a trip back in time, starting in 1975, to look at a time-line of the most coveted free agent pitchers ever.

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MLB rumors are starting to heat up about some of the league’s biggest stars.

And with the winter meetings just a week away, there is sure to be a lot of wheeling and dealing.

Between the 2011 free agency class, the one to follow a year later, and the changes to a few managers/front offices (Mets, Cubs, Toronto, Atlanta) the makeup of several teams is likely to change over the next few weeks.

Inside we’ll take a look at the top 50 players who could be on their way to be in a new locker room next spring.

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Free agency is a fickle beast in that money doesn’t always constitute the quality level of any given player. More often than not, teams fork over hefty coin simply based on a player’s prior experience and what the agent “sells” the buying team into thinking.

Take, for example, starting pitcher Cliff Lee. His track record over the past two years arguably suggests he is worth over $100 million—arguably! But what about all those players who are better buys than Lee. Isn’t that where the true value rests?

It may be a trite question to ask but I thought it a great topic to discuss, so let’s take a look at who I have come up with. I will take a look at pitchers as well as some position players to widen the gamut.

So sit back and enjoy and please be sure to leave your nominee below in the comment section.

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Small-market stars are few and far between in today’s modern MLB. Sure there are plenty of players who come up with the league’s have-nots: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Milwaukee.

But they don’t seem to stay there for very long. Do we really expect Prince Fielder to stay in Milwaukee forever? Or Zack Grienke in Kansas City? We just saw Dan Uggla shipped to Atlanta for very little in return, partly because the Marlins didn’t want to pay him a huge, long-term deal.

It hasn’t always been like that. Plenty of great, future Hall of Famers spent the bulk (if not all) of their careers with a team outside of the “big markets.” And they make the top of this list.

But first, a loose definition of “small market.”

Obviously, the big cities, like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston don’t count. St. Louis and San Francisco have to be on the list too.

So do certain franchises, no matter how large or small, that broke the bank to win a championship. Oakland may be “small market,” but when Charlie Finley was running the club in the early 1970s, they shouldn’t be lumped in with today’s Pittsburgh Pirates as “small market.”

The same goes for the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks or 1997 Florida Marlins who were not shy about spending tens of millions of dollars to secure a pennant.

And since there were only eight teams in each league before 1961, it’s hard to say that any of those clubs were “small market”, to be on this list, you have to have played the bulk of your career AFTER the majors started expanding and markets became more watered down.

Let the debate begin…

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Victor Martinez is officially off the free agent market as the Detroit Tigers signed him to a four year $50 million contract, and Detroit is sure to benefit from the offensive strength he brings to the team.

But is this catcher’s batting power worth $50 million when his defense behind the plate leaves quite a bit to be desired?

And could his age pose problems for the Tigers?

Some would say that Victor Martinez is being paid far too much, but he isn’t the first player in the MLB to sign a contract larger than his actual talent.

Here is a list of the 10 Most Overpaid MLB Stars of the Last Decade.

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Cliff Lee is undoubtedly the biggest free agent name on the market this offseason, and with good reason. The 32-year old hits almost every key point on the checklist for a must-have pitcher: He’s a dominant, left-handed starting pitcher, who’s capable of striking guys out or getting players to ground out and is in the midst of his prime.

Reports are coming in that Lee has been offered a six-year, $140 million contract by the New York Yankees, who covet his services to an almost obsessive degree.

Lee’s a great pitcher, to be sure; but is he, or any pitcher for that matter, worth a contract of that magnitude? We’re taking a look at both sides of the argument, giving you five reasons why no one is worth that kind of money, and five reasons why Lee is the exception to the rule.

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If you’re a baseball fan, you know your team could land key acquisitions and great role players.

Free agency is underway, and there are stars available like Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee and Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford. No one denies their talent and they would be a huge prize for any team.

But what about the busts?

Players who looked like they could be great additions have signed huge contracts and turned out to do absolutely nothing. One of the greatest examples of this came when Texas Rangers’ Tom Hicks, then-team owner, signed pitcher Chan Ho Park to a $65 million contract.

It may not be at that level, but the pattern of poor decisions has kept repeating itself.

Here’s a look at 10 free agents who could wind up being major busts this off-season:

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After decades as the majority among the Baseball Writers Association of America, the traditionalist voters were finally overtaken by something that has eluded the Cy Young voting since its inception: Baseball logic. 

In a year that was widely renowned as the “Year of the Pitcher, Part II,” Felix Hernandez stood head and shoulders above his American League counterparts.

In years past, the BBWAA voters have been duped by a statistical category that is becoming less meaningful each year: The win-loss record. 

In 2001, Roger Clemens won the AL Cy Young with a 20-3 record—and a 3.51 earned run average. In that same season, another young Mariners pitcher, Freddy Garcia, finished the year with an 18-6 record and a 3.05 ERA—nearly half a run lower than Clemens.

Garcia also tossed 18 innings more than Clemens, giving up six less hits. And these are even in the categories deemed “traditional” by baseball writers and fans alike.

But none of this mattered to the voters; Clemens’ flashy record was enough to earn him 21 first-place votes and his sixth Cy Young. 

This wasn’t the only similar situation in recent years: In 2005, Bartolo Colon won in a year when Johan Santana was clearly the better pitcher. 

But all of that changed with Hernandez’s victory over the competition, namely CC Sabathia, the best pitcher on the league’s most popular team, the New York Yankees.

Hernandez won the award with the fourth-least wins in history (13), ahead of only Willie Hernandez in 1984 (9), Dennis Eckersley in 1992 (7),  and Rollie Fingers in 1981 (6).

But there is one major difference: All three of the other pitchers were closers. 

Beyond wins and losses, King Felix’s statistics were unmatched.

Hernandez was tops in the American League in ERA (2.27), innings pitched (249.2), and quality starts (30).

He was second in strikeouts with 232, just one behind Angel’s starter Jered Weaver, and in WHIP (1.06), behind only Cliff Lee.

Felix also led the league in Wins Above Replacement (6.0). That is, Hernandez earned his team six more wins than they would have had with a replacement pitcher. 

Imagine if Felix played for the Yankees.

First, there would not have even been an argument; Hernandez would have won the award with these statistics simply because he played in the Bronx.

However, if Hernandez had received the average run support of CC Sabathia (a healthy 7.31 runs per game), his win-loss record would have skyrocketed.

Simply put, it is unfair to penalize a pitcher for playing for a terrible team. 

Maybe it’s not the fault of the voters.

After all, the award’s name, Cy Young, has caused confusion similar to that of college football’s Heisman Award; should it be given to the league’s best pitcher, or the league’s most valuable pitcher?

Not even the voter’s know exactly which way to vote.

In college football, the Heisman certainly would not be given to a great player on a mediocre team. But if such a player is the best in the nation (or in this case, the American League), shouldn’t he be given the award? In the past, this has not been the case.

Sure, there have been exceptions, like in 2009 when Zack Greinke won the Cy for the 97-loss Kansas City Royals. But that year, Greinke’s stats were overwhelmingly better than those of any other pitcher.

In fact, it can be argued that the 2009 version of Greinke was much better than the 2010 version of Hernandez.

To give the award to another pitcher on a playoff team would have been tragic.

What if these performances had happened in the same year? Baseball traditionalists would have had a collective heart attack. 

Even so, can’t it be argued that Felix Hernandez was not only the league’s best pitcher, but the league’s most valuable pitcher as well?

Going back to Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Hernandez’s 6.0 was more than half a win better than any other pitcher in the American League. This alone makes an argument for him as the league’s most valuable pitcher.

On a team that gave him the least run support among American League starters, Felix was able to win the Mariners six more games than they would have one with somebody else starting.

To put it in perspective, that is nearly 10 percent of Seattle’s wins this season (61).

No other pitcher came close to a WAR equivalent to 10 percent of his team’s victories. 

And this time, the voters realized all of this.

The Mariners’ right-hander received 21 of the 28 first-place votes.

It is naive to think that all (or even the majority) of voters chose Hernandez because of his league-best Wins Above Replacement.

This statistic, and other sabermetrics categories of its kind, surely have not been universally accepted by the baseball minds, and probably will not ever been seen as important as the traditional statistical categories.

However, the BBWAA voters should be applauded for realizing the importance of the other “traditional” statistical categories beyond wins and losses.

Or, perhaps, they simply started doing their job.

Finally.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Seattle Mariners did not have a picture perfect 2010 season. After a surprise 85-77 campaign in 2009, the Mariners lost 101 games last season, matching their 2008 low.

Ace starter Cliff Lee – their main acquisition a year ago – was traded to a division rival, and the Mariners finished the year with the worst record in the American League for the second time in three years.

As bad as 2010 was, their is hope in Seattle. The Mariners locked up Felix Hernandez early in the season, and their 24 year old top starter won his first Cy Young award with a 2.27 ERA and 232 strikeouts.

At the same time, the Mariners minor league system had a fine season. The Cliff Lee trade netted them three prospects, and the Mariners top minor league arm had a breakout season.

What Mariners prospects might make an impact with the 2011 club? Here’s ten.

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‘Tis the season for MLB trade rumors, and every team out there has needs to fill.

The idea, as always, is not so much to go out and get just any player, but to go out and get the right player. And as always, that’s easier said than done.

But we’re going to go ahead and speculate on the behalf of each general manager in baseball and try to pinpoint one specific player they should go after in a trade.

Naturally, some scenarios are more likely than others. As such, this list progresses from the most outlandish trades to the most likely ones.

Start the slideshow for some made baseball knowledge.

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