The 2009-2010 free agent market is still some while away from making winter headlines. But those glancing towards the 2009 winter for big names can look forward to some big stars.
On the offensive side of things there are studs such as Matt Holliday, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Jason Bay. And on the mound there will be big impact names such as John Lackey, Josh Beckett, Brandon Webb, Rich Haden, Cliff Lee, Brett Myers and Erik Bedard.
Below is a list of free agents - broken down by position - available (as of January 3, 2009) with contracts expiring following the 2009 season.
Catchers
Brian Schneider has really helped the Mets' pitching staff while Bengie Molina was a real offensive weapon for the Giants while catching the 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. And then there is Victor Martinez.
Rod Barajas
Josh Bard
Michael Barrett
Henry Blanco
Kevin Cash
Ramon Castro
Ramon Hernandez
Jason Kendall
Victor Martinez
Bengie Molina
Jose Molina
Miguel Olivo
Mike Redmond
Brian Schneider
Yorvit Torrealba
First Basemen
The main name on this list is Carlos Delgado. But an interesting one could be Nick Johnson depending on how he rebounds from his injured 2008 season.
Russell Branyan
Frank Catalanotto
Tony Clark
Carlos Delgado
Ross Gload
Aubrey Huff
Nick Johnson
Adam LaRoche
Robb Quinlan
Matt Stairs
Dmitri Young
Second Basemen
Obviously the top name at this position is Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles. But the speedy 2B with some pop may have a long-term deal after a trade before the 2009 season even starts.
Ron Belliard
Jamey Carroll
Akinori Iwamura
Adam Kennedy
Felipe Lopez
Mark Loretta
Omar Infante
Placido Polanco
Brian Roberts
Freddy Sanchez
Shortstops
Khalil Greene is a power hitting shortstop who will get plenty of chance to hit in St. Louis. And learning from Albert Pujols will undoubtedly improve his stock as well.
Bobby Crosby
Adam Everett
Alex Gonzalez
Khalil Greene
John McDonald
Marco Scutaro
Miguel Tejada
Jack Wilson
Third Basemen
There are some pretty big names in this group, topped by Chipper Jones, who has shown he can still rake when healthy. Adrian Beltre will be coming off surgery in 2009 but knows he's playing for a contraact. And Chone Figgins may pick up his stolen base total to show he's still very valuable.
Adrian Beltre
Hank Blalock
Aaron Boone
Geoff Blum
Pedro Feliz
Chone Figgins
Chipper Jones
Mike Lamb
Melvin Mora
Chad Tracy
Outfielders
The leader of this bunch is clearly Matt Holliday, who the Oakland A's may have already traded away before the 2009 off-season. Also out there will be Vladimir Guerrero's veteran bat as well as Jason Bay, if the Red Sox don't extend his deal during the 2009 season. A couple of other interesting names will be Magglio Ordonez, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui and Carl Crawford.
Marlon Anderson
Rick Ankiel
Jason Bay
Marlon Byrd
Mike Cameron
Frank Catalanotto
Endy Chavez
Coco Crisp
Carl Crawford
Johnny Damon
David Dellucci
Jermaine Dye
Darin Erstad
Ryan Freel
Brian Giles
Vladimir Guerrero
Matt Holliday
Geoff Jenkins
Reed Johnson
Andruw Jones
Austin Kearns
Hideki Matusi
Jason Michaels
Xavier Nady
Greg Norton
Magglio Ordonez
Wily Mo Pena
Dave Roberts
Gary Sheffield
Fernando Tatis
Jason Werth
Randy Winn
Starting Pitchers
The class of this group will be John Lackey, who may get an extension during the 2009 campaign. But there is still other strong pitchers out there, including Josh Beckett, Brandon Webb, Rich Haden, Cliff Lee, Brett Myers and Erik Bedard.
Brandon Backe
Miguel Batista
Josh Beckett
Erik Bedard
Jose Contreras
Doug Davis
Justin Duchscherer
Adam Eaton
Kelvim Escobar
Mike Hampton
Rich Harden
Tim Hudson
John Lackey
Cliff Lee
Jason Marquis
Kevin Millwood
Brett Myers
Vicente Padilla
Brad Penny
Joel Pineiro
Jason Schmidt
Jarrod Washburn
Brandon Webb
Todd Wellemeyer
Relief Pitchers
The closer market will also be interesting as Jose Valverde is available as will be Billy Wagner. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano from the Atlanta Braves will be out there as will former closer Kevin Gregg.
Danys Baez
Joaquin Benoit
Rafael Betancourt
Chad Bradford
Doug Brocail
Kiko Calero
Randy Choate
Octavio Dotel
Gary Glover
Mike Gonzalez
Tom Gordon
John Grabow
Kevin Gregg
Matt Herges
Masahide Kobayashi
Ryan Madson
Ron Mahay
Hideki Okajima
J.J. Putz
Fernando Rodney
Duaner Sanchez
Scott Schoeneweis
Rafael Soriano
Mike Stanton
Matt Thornton
Jose Valverde
Oscar Villarreal
Luis Vizcaino
Billy Wagner
Jamie Walker
