[Ben E Lou]

2002 FREE AGENCY PERIOD REPORT

Here's the current financial situation in Atlanta:

Cash on Hand: $$3,948,674
Total Payfoll: $35,318,214
Last Year Income: $51,217,976
Available Money: $17,348,436

TRADES
Well, I looked at the free agents and realized I wasn’t going to land a true ace SP, so I looked around to see if I can trade for a solid one. I trade C Barrett, SP prospect Decker, and mediocre 1B prospect Robert Falconer to Kansas City for SP Eric Freeland (7/7/7). Freeland is 29 years old, and has turned in ERA’s of 3.52, 3.48 and 3.36 and started 100 games in the last three seasons. He should help solidify the rotation. Freeland is signed through 2003.

Speaking of trades, I take a look at my player tracker to see how some guys I’ve traded away have done. Here ya go…

SS Ricardo Cazares has turned into an utter superstar for St. Louis. He’s rated 8/10/8, and hit .323 with 29 HR’s and 92 RBI’s last year.
RP Henry Mukai was moved to middle relief by the Cards. He’s had two solid seasons in MR.
2B Rodney Campbell finished the season at .272 with 14 HR’s, and was not re-signed by KC. He could come back via free agency this year!

DESIRES
The trade for Freeland leaves me with $18.97M available for FA’s. I need a second basemen or shortstop, and could also really use another outfielder. There are a few guys out there who might help me put a winner on the field in ’02. Here’s who I end up signing:

RF Ruben Rodriguez (Avg/Brl/Good (5/8/6)—This 27-year-old has 90 homers over the past three seasons. He has “C” range in RF, and bats left-handed. He gets a 4-year deal for $5.5M per year. ( Bryan Heasley can play LF, and will probably get a shot there.)

2B Rodney Campbell (Good/Avg/Avg) (6/5/6)—I bring the 31-year-old Campbell back, this time with a 3-year deal for $8.75M per year. He’s still got “A” range at 2B. Allen “The Hammer” Dye will move over to SS.

Comment: I really like that AI teams will aggressively go after FA’s for more than they’re worth. I NEEDED Campbell, so I was forced to pay dang near double what I would have liked to pay.

POST-FREE AGENCY THOUGHTS
For the first time, I feel like I’m going to put a pretty sound team on the field. As I mentioned earlier, this is definitely the first year that I’m putting “my” team out there. Let’s see how we do!