Free agent signings and trades always have ripple effects in fantasy baseball. Whether someone gains a starting job with his new team or his absence from his old one opens new opportunites with his old one, something occurs. Here is a quick breakdown of the AL effects of the changes to date.
NYY: With the Pettitte signing and the Igawa post, $39.95MM man Carl Pvano is out of a job.
BOS: J.D Drew's $70MM signature has OF Wily Mo Pena praying for the continued fragility of Drew.
BAL: No effects yet despite $40+MM spent on middle relievers.Update [2006-12-9 8:38:27 by Eric Hz]: For my take on the Payton signing, visit Camden Chat
TOR: Adam Lind is the big loser after the Jays gave $20+MM to Frank Thomas to DH, and signed Matt Stairs to grab all the remaining lefty ABs.
TB: None yet, but I love the possibilities.
CLE: There's a new closer in town, and his name is Joe Borowski. Backing him up is TBD. Dave Dellucci sends LF Jason Michael back to the Dollar Store.
CHX: Brandon McCarthey moves into the starting rotation and should be good for 13-15 Ws. The exuberant market made LF Scott Podsednick a bargain at $3MM, and he'll keep his precious SBs in the AL for a $20+ draft salary.
DET: Gary Sheffield takes 600 ABs from someone named either Monroe or Thames.
MIN: Who needs to change with the combined digit-HR power of Punto/Bartlett and Castillo?
KC: Bye bye Ambiorix. Hello Octavio. Gil Meche is getting a lot of money, but he's still the $1 pitcher he was in Seattle. Maybe.
OAK: 2006: Unwanted DH $500K. 2007: Unwanted DH $8MM. Is Joe Kennedy in the rotation an example of going to the well once too often?
SEA: Who is the back-up closer to JJ Putz? Jose Guillen's signing signals the end of the Jeremy Reed experiment in CF. Why isn't he a Marlin yet in exchange for the new back-up closer?
ANA: $50MM man Gary Mathews in CF ends Chone Figgins ABs there. Howie Kendrick ends his ABs at 2B. Do the Angels put him at 3B or trade him?
TEX: Despite $34MM on Vincente Padilla, the team still needs another solid SP before patching the back of the rotation. The loss of Mark DeRosa opens some OF ABs. Will Nelson Cruz step-up or does Marlon Byrd get a TBiA boost and suppress Cruz's opportunities?