Clearing The Bases

Well the 2011 season has successfully come to an end with an unlikely champion, the St. Louis Cardinals.  Who saw that coming?  Manager Tony LaRussa goes out on top as he retired a champion, have to wonder if his retirement will push free agent Albert Pujols towards another team.  That is a perfect segue into our topic for today,  top 10 things to watch for this off-season, in no particular order.

1. Who will buy the Los Angeles Dodgers?  Commissioner Bud Selig finally got his wish Wednesday when it was announced that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt will sell the team after running out of court options.  The Dodgers are one of the most famous franchises in MLB and Selig needs to make sure that they have a strong and powerful owner.  Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to buy a baseball team, but Selig did all he could to make sure Cuban didn’t buy the Texas Rangers, no way he allows him to buy the Dodgers.
2. Where will Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Jose Reyes end up?  They are the top free agents in this year’s class.  Pujols and Fielder will certainly require nine digit contracts which will limit their possible destinations but with the Yankees and Red Sox already having high priced talent at first base, it should be fun to see what teams step up.  I expect Pujols to end up back with St. Louis, but Fielder seems headed to an American League team since his future may be at DH.  Reyes on the other hand probably saw his chance at a nine figure contract go out the window with all of the time he spent on the disabled list once again this season, Florida and San Francisco could be possible landing spots.
3. Who will be the new manager in Boston, St. Louis and Chicago?  The Red Sox would seem to need a task master who can get back control of the clubhouse, problem is they also seem to need someone who will allow upper management to play a much bigger role in day to day operations of the team then most experienced managers would like.  The Cubs on the other hand have already told Ryne Sandberg that he will not be the next skipper.  Cubs look to be in a rebuilding mode so it seems they will need someone who can manage the ups and downs of what could be a team that will need a couple of years before it will contend again.  The Cardinals could look to coach Jose Oquendo if that is what they believe will make Pujols sign with them.
4. Will the Mets trade David Wright?  The Mets are most likely going to lose Jose Reyes so they might go all the way towards a rebuilding project and deal Wright while he can still bring back a heavy package, or they could give Wright another shot at CitiField seeing at though they are going to move the fences in next season.
5. The last question was supposed to be what will happen with CC Sabathia, but the Yanks caught a break when he decided not to opt out of his contract and agreed to a one-year extension for $30 million ($5 million is a buyout).  This now frees the Yanks to pursue other starting pitching needs, but they seem to be lukewarm on CJ Wilson as there are questions about how much he really wants to come to New York and if he could handle the  bright lights and Roy Oswalt is raising all kinds of red flags with his back injury, they have enough assets to make a trade, but there might not be a willing partner.