Here’s a link to some options:

http://baseballdeworld.com/2008/08/28/2009-japanese-league-free-agents/

I’d also be for trading for Harang…

Nice analysis on the article.

-Harang scares me for the exact reasons you mention. I think i’d rather see us chase Lowe and Dempster in free agency, but that’s a personal opinion.
-I know nothing about the Asian market but it seems as if we’re not hearing the kind of rumblings we heard last year or the year before with Dice K and others. Maybe that will change come the offseason.
-If the article is right and Glavine/Smoltz would take incentive packed deals why would we not bring them back. Smoltz has comeback from worse and Glavine, even at his age, is liable to put up better numbers than Morton/Reyes at this point. Worse case scenario they could provide depth.
-I’m going out on a limb and will guess Boras blows it again this year and Tex will end up signing a one year deal with someone just before spring training (longshot I know, but nothing will make me happier).

Shoulda taken the 8 years 140M from Texas. How many players even get 20M a year on average? I know some players will get 20+ cause of the way the contract is structured, but how many people get 20M on average? A-Rod, Manny, Johan… Who else? It’s a short list. Look at some of the recent big contracts from last year:

Miguel Cabrera: $152M over 8
Johan Santana: $137M over 6
A-Rod: $275M over 10 (incentives to bring it to 30M a year)

The A-Rod contract is pretty crazy. Does anyone think Teixeira is more valuable than these guys?

Here’s a good comparison to Teix: Helton signed $141.5M over 9 years (23M option) starting at age 29. Adjusted for 2003 to 2008 inflation and that’s about $162.5M Helton could hit for average, OBP, and slugged. Four 160 OPS+ years. Very good defensive 1B. Similar to Teix, but better. You can point at Coors, but Helton was still .950 – 1.000 OPS on the road during his 160 OPS+ seasons.

Look at Helton now. The power declined with age and now injuries, and he had a better injury history than Teix. 3 more years on the Helton contract. And really, compared to a lot of long term contracts, the Helton one isn’t that bad. Anyone really want to give Teixeira something like $162.5M over 9 years?

I guess Teixiera has faith in Boras. After all, Tex has the highest draft pick signing bonus ever at $10M.

Sabathia – 6/$150M with the Yanks
Tex – 7/$140M with the Yanks
Sheets – 4/$70M with the Astros
Dempster – 4/$60M with the Cubs
Lowe – 3/$40M with the Braves

I agree the Braves will go with someone like Harang/Lowe/ Dempster. Who was the last big free agent we signed? Maddux? We have the depth in the farm system to trade for some big pieces, so I’d like to see Frank Wren pull some shrew deals in the offseason (i don’t think he has done as poorly as some have made out simply because there wasn’t much he could do in the situations he was put in this year).

I’d take Dempster over Lowe, but Dempster might cost more. He’s younger. Dempster is a very good pitcher when he’s not giving up HRs and walks, which explains his success this year.

I don’t think Arroyo is very good anymore and Cinci will probably ask for too much like last time. I heard they turned down Yunel + Jo-Jo for Arroyo last year.

Harang is just risky. He’s been a good pitcher who’s eaten a ton of innings, but it looks like the workload has gotten to him. His contract is pretty cheap, but the injury (even if he didn’t miss too much time), a slight loss of control, a big HR spike combined with general ineffectiveness are worrisome.

I like Derek Lowe and think he could pitch well for the Braves. Dempster just isn’t going to happen. I think there would a chance we could land CC if it weren’t for the Yankees willing to over pay for every player.

I’d be interested in looking at the asian market and see if the Braves could sign a quality player that is still young or in their prime. But if that requires paying top dollar for that player, then I’m not sure the risk is worth it.

harang is damaged goods. i do NOT want aaron.

I’m actually a fan of bringing Jon Garland over to the NL if we can sign him reasonably. I’m not that high on Derek Lowe simply because he’s 35 years old, and while I’d most like to sign Dempster, its not likely to happen due to said goodwill between him and the Cubs.

First and foremost I’d like to sign either Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn, and then look for a youngish pitcher on the trade market (Greinke? Lowry? One of the Twins youngesters?)

A question: in the hypothetical situation that Roy Halladay becomes available, would you be willing to give up a package centered around Heyward for him? (Lets say, spitballing, Heyward, Flowers, Rohrbourgh, and Medlen?)

I’m just glad you guys aren’t the GM. Are you kidding me about giving all that for Harang??? We should not trade Hanson, Heyward, Freeman for anyone!!! Those are untouchable prospects. I wouldn’t even trade Schafer. He’s a stud CF regardless. We should keep our prospects and maybe sign a Burrell to a 3 or 4 year deal because we need a right handed bat in the outfield. We should not sign Dunn because our lineup is already too left-handed. We need to dump Francoeur and maybe play Anderson or Blanco in right if we can’t get another bat. I would like to keep KJ and see if he bounces back with a big season. Our infield should be set next year.

He’s 33-34 years old, but the Red Sox took a 36-year old Hideki Okajima with decent results, as did the Dodgers with Takashi Saito.

Uehara has some filthy stuff – I’ve seen him pitch on international television, and he was the guy on the mound in the WBC when Japan finally solved South Korea. Dirty when he’s on.

I look at his numbers, and it appears a few sub-par seasons has forced him into the bullpen, where he seemed to make a Smoltz-like renaissance, and currently has 32 saves…

But the numbers - 8 seasons, 106-57, 1,304 Ks, a 2.96 career ERA, and a K/BB rate of almost 6:1, with a 16:1 ratio serving as the closer.

But if we’re going to go international, I’d rather make some noise with a starter – who knows, maybe Uehara will be unhappy with the bullpen role, get posted, and get picked up by an MLB squad this off-season, to be a starting pitcher again. I liked him more than Matsuzaka in the WBC, because he’s more of a finesse pitcher, and definitely a smarter pitcher than Dice-K. But even if he’s only got a few years left, I’m willing to bet that he’d be far, far, far more effective than a schlub like Kei Igawa.

While on the subject of Asian pitchers, South Korea’s got one of the best closers in the continent; I’ve brought up his name a few times, but I’d love to see him make the jump: Seung-Hwan Oh, of the Samsung Lions in Korea. Holds the Asian single-season saves record with 47, and is still only 26. He’s getting at least a strikeout an inning his whole career, closing in on 300 saves at the age of 26, and has a 1.42 lifetime ERA. Korea isn’t much of a challenge to him anymore, but he seems to do well internationally (small samples – Olympics 1.2 IP, 1-0, 1 sv, 0 H, WBC – 3.0 IP, 1 sv, 3 K).

I’d love to see both of these guys make the jump, regardless of if it’s us that gets them or not; but the question is if anyone would want them. The Braves don’t really do imports; the only Asian players I can remember in the organization were Jung Bong, and Sung Ki Jung has kind of disappeared in Myrtle Beach, so I question whether or not anything will come to fruition. Afterall, all we got was some cash for Chris Resop, who knows if any actual players will come out of our so-called relationship with the Hanshin Tigers?

Harang and Halladay will cost more than they’re worth for different reasons. Aaron is signed cheaply and has a long history of dominance prior to 2008. Roy is a franchise icon, signed cheaply and is still pitching as well as ever. Let’s set aside the potential for Harang’s decline to be due to an injury, I wouldn’t want to give up top prospect value for those guys. Maybe something for Halladay that included any of our pitching prospects, any of our corner infield prospects (Flowers included) and any of our middle infield prospects. I might be convinced to give up one more non-elite spec as well, but that’s about it. I’m still not sure Roy would be worth it.