Free Agency Live: Mid-Round 1 Recap

Well, with Round 1 of WAU Free Agency winding down, I suppose now would be a good time to recap the action.

Only two players, Baltimore Orioles DH David Ortiz and Cleveland Indians OF Magglio Ordonez, resigned with their 2010 teams without any competition. Both players got one year deals worth more than $10M. Ortiz, who was a Type A free agent, has a team option for 2011.

It took 5 teams and 17 bids, but C Yadier Molina finally has a new home in Texas. The Rangers signed the untyped 28-year old to a 4 year deal worth $17M, with a player option for 2015. Texas has already been blasted around the league for the contract. The Royals had my favorite comment on the subject, calling the bidding war "3 hours of furious one-upmanship. 22 hours of 'WTF were we thinking?'"

Speaking of the 17 bids on Molina, that count still failed to crack the top 10 all-time WAU bidding wars. I compiled that list during last year's FA period, and the only change is John Axford's addition based on 2010 in-season free agency. Regardless, given the track record of most of the signings, it's not a great list to be a part of:

1.) Randy Winn, 34 bids (2009-10)
2.) Jeff Suppan, 27 bids (2006-07)
3.) Yorvit Torrealba, 26 bids (2007-08)
4.) Rondell White, 25 bids (2006-07)
5.) Kip Wells, 24 bids (2006-07)
6.) Kevin Millar, 23 bids (2006-07)
6.) Kerry Wood, 23 bids (2006-07)
8.) Mike Mussina, 22 bids (2007-08)
8.) Ronny Belliard, 22 bids (2009-10)
8.) John Axford, 22 bids (2010)

Of the ongoing free agent battles, the most interesting one is probably for 3B Alex Rodriguez. There's every indication based on the bidding to date that Rodriguez is going to be the rare Type A free agent that doesn't approach his real life contract (and thus doesn't approach the WAU Luxury Tax threshold). That being said, 5 different teams have been in talks with the A-Rod over the past day, with the Dodgers as the apparent current leader. Most teams have offered 2 years with a player option, though the Tigers threw in an offer without the option, but with a considerably higher AAV. He's still relatively cheap, all things considered, so bidding could go on for a while longer before we have a clear destination.

The Tigers, in particular, have had a busy night on Day 2 of Round 1. In addition to their aggressive A-Rod bid, they were also pursuing SP Cliff Lee and 3B/OF Jose Bautista to varying degrees. They also have a leading offer with RP Matt Thornton that would stand to cost them a few hundred thousand in luxury tax.