Angels pitcher John Lackey, Cardinals
outfielder Matt Holliday and Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay were the highlights
of the 79 players filing for free agency Thursday.
Lackey, Holliday and Bay are expected to be the three marquee free agents on
the market this offseason. Lackey has spent his entire eight-year career with
the Angels, while Holliday and Bay both experienced trades before each hit the
market for the first time.
The 31-year-old Lackey has been in the spotlight since his rookie season in
2002, when he was the winner in Game 7 of the World Series against the Giants.
Since then, he has won at least 10 games in every season, including a 19-9
mark in 2007 that saw him finish third in the AL Cy Young voting.
Lackey made 27 starts this season despite missing the first month and a half
with an injury. The righty went 11-8 with a 3.83 earned run average and boasts
a 102-71 career record with a 3.81 ERA in 234 games -- 233 starts.
Holliday went through two trades in the last year, having been dealt from
Colorado to Oakland to St. Louis. The second-place finisher in the 2007 MVP
voting with the Rockies, the 29-year-old Holliday batted .313 with 24 homers
and 109 runs batted in during the 2009 season with the A's and Cardinals.
In his career, spanning six seasons, Holliday has a .318 batting average with
152 homers and 592 RBI in 854 games.
Bay, 31, came on the scene in 2004, when he won the Rookie of the Year award
with the Pittsburgh Pirates after batting. 282 with 26 homers and 82 RBI. His
production has been largely consistent since, and he was dealt to the Red Sox
at the trade deadline in 2008 in the blockbuster three-team deal that sent
Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.
He continued to produce in Boston, and in his first full season with the Red
Sox in 2009, Bay batted .267 with career-highs in homers (36) and RBI (119).
Bay has totaled 185 homers, 610 RBI and a .280 batting average in 922 career
games with the Padres, Pirates and Red Sox over seven seasons.
At least one player from 26 of the 30 major league teams filed for free agency
on the first day. The two World Series participants, the Yankees and Phillies,
both did not have any filings.
Also filing on Thursday was Cubs pitcher Rich Harden, who went 9-9 with a 4.09
earned run average this season. The oft-injured flamethrower was dealt to the
Cubs from the A's in 2008 and went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA between the two teams
that season, but Harden has made 30 starts in a season only once out of his
seven MLB campaigns.
Colorado's Jason Marquis elected free agency Thursday after a 15-13 season
with a 4.04 ERA in 33 starts.
Other filings include Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson and pitcher Randy
Wolf, Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado, Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre,
Cardinals third baseman Mark DeRosa and Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd.
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