Free Agent Signings

It has been a slow process this season as few Type A's have been signed and it is getting late. But here is a run down of the key players involved.

Ubaldo Villa was the first to ink a deal with Richmond. Money wasn't the issue has he signed quick and wasn't a real bother to the purse strings. It might be that it was expected he would be a DH but it looks like Richmond intends to play him at 1B, the reason New Orleans gave up on him.

New Orleans lost another by the name of Alberto Domingo. I am inclined to believe that he was over priced as his proclivity as a closer is not ideal. Montgomery gave up a lot of money to find out if he can do the job.

Durham made off with Russell Koskie from Omaha. He was holding out for more money that didn't come his way. He is a very good lefty starter in my books but may not have the real ability to sustain him. That might account for his up and down seasons.

Montgomery stayed with the pitching game signing Pablo Guillen to a rather large salary considering his age. Hopefully there is an escape clause for the last year. The on-off again pitcher hopes to bring stability to a recent perennial powerhouse.

I never thought I would see the day when a pitcher with less than 50 control would be a Type A, let alone garner what I would call a humpty salary. Charleston seems to be unmoved by it and so should we I think.

I must be missing the boat on this one as Pawtucket must have gotten into a bidding war for Brad D'Amico.  Yes he can play RF and attempt to play a decent 3B. He hits with power but really, is he worth that much with his somewhat low contact?

Scranton made the deal of the week, to me anyway, signing Turner Flores to a measly 3 year deal. I saw him late last night and was about to transfer money to bid on him but waited because I hate losing money transferring. Why I didn't see him earlier is beyond me except I wasn't looking for a 2B/CF. My attitude says he is better than D'Amico any day of the week.

With the remainder of the day to go, I expect several more Type A's to be signed. I did have a problem finding some of them as their starting price tag is usually the dead give away. Now for the Type B's:

Yadier Castillo signed a nice deal with Rochester. He may be much better than a couple of the Type A's if you ask me.

Buffalo wanted a hitting catcher and signed Domingo Francisco cheaply. Not really that great at catching anymore but can still put the ball in play.

Las Vegas wanted a middle reliever and put forth the effort to sign Eric Reynolds. Though it seems he wasn't thoroughly tested as of yet, looks to be a mainstay. So much so that I would have considered a five year deal.

Toledo loses one signs another in Lance Wilson. Not 100% sure on this but we think Toledo came out on top over the situation. I just like Wilson better than Castillo.

Did Dover sign  Al Sanchez to be their closer?  A true ageless veteran that can get the job done.

Fresno sneaks in with the singing of Chun-Lim Sasaki. Hopefully they got him to play 1B as he didn't look comfortable in LF.

William Baek signed on with New Briton. Good hitting, now the question remains is whether he won't look a fool at 1B as he won't get by on looks alone.

Fresno eeks in with  Anthony Bottalico to play either 2B or CF and maybe both. Although great defensively can have trouble with luck at the plate.

Herman Vernon signed with Jackson while everyone else was out trying to get a more high profile player. We think he could be a shut down closer if given the chance.

Diory Tabaka signed a deal with Albuquerque.  Shows to be a decent lefty but we wonder if he is really cut out to be a starter.

While everyone was out trying to find that big power hitter, El Paso finds DaRond Person sitting all alone waiting on a call. Yup, we didn't get him for the backup catcher role, DH will be the place for him. Joining him is Johnny Garcia playing 1B and he didn't even rate a Type B, along with Alex Gomez could make a very cheap fearsome threesome.

Here is one for ya,  Salt Lake signs Greg Menechino for more or less a vast sum of money and he was neither a Type A or B.