So Who Hasn't Signed Yet? The Hitters

I mean to get to this yesterday; sorry.  Here are the as-yet-unsigned hitters, and we’re now halfway into spring training.  So they’d better find something soon.

No catchers are unsigned.

Infielders

• David Freese – Of all the guys that haven’t gotten a contract, to me this is the real headscratcher.  He’s the youngest of the position players (32), and he hit a reasonable .257/.323/.420 last year with the Angels.  He’s not going to set the world on fire, but he’s a reasonable option.  I’m guessing the contenders have better choices, and the rebuilding teams are saving their money.  I’m assuming Sandy Alderson, the Mets’ GM, has his agent on speed dial in case/when David Wright gets hurt again. 
• Corey Hart – He may be done.  He’s had a ton of injuries the last couple of years (missed all of 2013, just 57 plate appearances last year with Pittsburgh).  Still, he slugged over .500 three years in a row from 2010-2012, so an American League team in need of a right-handed DH could take a chance on him.
• Justin Morneau – Another guy who may be done, primarily due to concussions.  He stands a good chance of going into management if that’s the case.
• Dan Uggla – Almost definitely done.  He’s 36, he’s been under the Mendoza line the last three years, and the only position he plays is second base (and he doesn’t play that particularly well). 

Outfielders

• Marlon Byrd – Another guy who could be useful as a righty bat/DH/good guy to have around the clubhouse, even though he’s 38.  Hit .247/.290/.453 in 544 plate appearances between the Reds and the Giants last year, so it’s a bit odd he’s not with somebody right now.
• Nate McLouth – Probably done.  He missed all of 2015 after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, and hit .173/.280/.237 in 162 plate appearances with the Nationals in 2014, so I doubt there’s much of a market for him; it would be just as easy to pay a veteran minor leaguer the MLB minimum.
• Alex Rios – his OPS numbers the last four years:  .850, .756, .709, .640.  Apparently no one’s interested in finding out what the next number in that sequence will be.
• Grady Sizemore – He’s only 33, but he missed all of 2012-2013 and most of 2010-2011 due to injury, so he’s probably older in baseball years.  Did hit .257/.318/.429 with the Rays last year after Philadelphia dropped him, but he can really only play left and right field at this point, which hurts his value.

So Who Hasn't Signed Yet?

We’re now about three weeks into spring training, and almost every free agent has been plucked from the vine (Austin Jackson, who had been waiting around for awhile, was signed by the Chicago White Sox Saturday; he’ll help fill in left field and right field for them).  There are still a few guys around who might be worth poking at for teams desperately in need, while others are almost certainly done.  I’ll address the position players tomorrow; here’s what’s going on with the pitchers. 

Starting Pitchers

• Tim Lincecum is the top name in the group and is available, and apparently the Padres have interest in him.  That might be worth watching – Lincecum underwent hip surgery last year, and while the Pads have taken chances on injured pitchers (Josh Johnson), it generally hasn’t worked out (Josh Johnson).
• Chad Billingsley has only pitched 49 innings in the majors in the last three years, and has had surgery twice on his flexor tendon.  I don’t think he’ll be back; almost certainly not this year.
• Aaron Harang is now 38, and if he hadn’t had a decent year in 2014 with Atlanta (sandwiched in between two terrible ones), we probably wouldn’t be talking about him.
• Mark Buehrle is presumed retired, but he did pitch nearly 200 innings last year, so it’s possible someone might pay him enough money to tempt him back for another season.  Roger Clemens occasionally waited until May to sign with a team, and it worked for him.  (However, when Roy Oswalt did the same thing, it didn’t work at all.)
• Josh Johnson underwent Tommy John surgery for the third time late last year, and is presumed out for all of 2016.  He hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2013, so his chances of a successful comeback aren’t very good.
• Cliff Lee is presumed retired.
• Kyle Lohse had an awful year with the Brewers last year, but (unlike Matt Garza, who threw a fit when the Brewers dumped him into the bullpen to look at youngsters), took it pretty well.  I don’t think he’ll be back (he’s now 37), but someone might take a flyer on him.  The only number of his that really jumped last year was home runs allowed, so perhaps switching to more of a pitchers’ park (Miami? San Diego?) would help.
• Alfredo Simon isn’t really a starter – he had one fluky good year with Cincinnati in 2014, and a lousy one last year with Detroit.  It’s possible a team might bring him in as a swing man in the bullpen, but I would think they’d have done that by now – it would take awhile for him to get in shape.  But since the only headlines he’s made since season’s end were for settling a rape lawsuit, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be back.
• Jerome Williams has been on the fence like this before, and will probably start the year in the minors if he wants to continue.
• Randy Wolf is in the same situation as Williams.  I didn’t even realize he was still active until I saw in Baseball Prospectus he went 0-5 with Detroit last year.  Given he hasn’t had an ERA under four in MLB since 2009, he probably isn’t fielding lots of offers.

Relief Pitchers

• Joe Beimel is a LOOGY that started running out of gas last year (5.48 ERA).  He’d probably be willing to sign a minor-league deal; he spent half of 2014 in the minors.
• Randy Choate is also a LOOGY and is now 40, but he did have a pretty decent year last year.  The Astros were supposedly taking a look at him, so there’s a decent chance he’ll latch on with someone.
• Sean Marshall missed much of 2013 and 2014 and all of 2015, but he’s still hoping for another shot.  When he was healthy, he was an important part of the Cubs and Reds bullpens.
• Joe Nathan missed virtually all of 2015 and was none too effective in 2014.  He definitely won’t go back to Detroit.  Someone else might give him a tryout, but it hasn’t happened yet, and given he's now 41, there are no guarantees.