Offseason Rumblings and Grumblings: Nov 14th

Today's the first day of the free agent frenzy that will become the 2009 Offseason, but teams around the league were already making big moves to acquire pieces to ensure a 2009 playoff run.

The Chicago Cubs picked up closer Kevin Gregg from the Marlins, all but ensuring that Kerry Wood will not return next season.

The Yankees traded away perennial swinger and misser Wilson Betemit to the White Sox in exchange for Nick Swisher. The deal is supposed to be a fall back plan in case the Yankees can't sign Teixeira, but it's already made one fan lose his mind (in a good way).

Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks front office failed to come to terms on a new contract, forcing the Big Unit to file for free agency. Randy is just five wins shy of 300 for his career.

108 Red Stitches: Mailbag

Time to open up the 108 Red Stitches Mailbag. To ask us a question email 108redstitches@gmail.com. Try to keep it baseball related, spammers not welcome, we know where you live and have Italians on our staff, and we're not afraid to use them.


Dear 108 Red Stitches,

I've got a question regarding closers, or the apparent lack of late in fantasy drafts. Looking over my team, I've notice that I'm weak in the saves category, partially because I failed to draft a K-Rod or a Rivera earlier in the draft.
Looking over my waiver wire, I've got three options; Kerry Wood, BJ Ryan, or Eric Gagne. Any thoughts?

- Kris, New York

We're beginning to believe that you can win in mixed leagues (head to head) without relying too heavily on a closer. What's the big deal if you lose out on one stat category, when you can spend higher picks on guys that will produce in three or four different categories? Back to your question regarding which closer to pick. We faced a similar situation in our league, and decided to go with Ryan. In our situation, we were able to grab Bobby Jenks later in the draft, so we can afford to gamble on Ryan. Wood is tricky, because they have two other options for closer if he doesn't work out. Gagne seems to be the most stable with his role, no one threatening to replace him, as in Ryan and Wood's situations.

That being said, Gagne is fat and lazy. Without anything nipping at his heals, he might have the tendency to become complacent. He signed a one year fat contract, nothing incentive laced, and that scares the hell out of us.