Holding Pattern—Who's Getting Left Out of the Free Agent Roulette Table?

MLB seems to be quiet at the moment.  Seems like execs are in a holding pattern to see who's going to sign the next of the last few big names before pouncing on the bargain bin buys...

HITTING
Seems to me shocking that still no one seems to be talking about Bobby Abreu (who I consider to be one of the underrated players of his generation.)  He might never hit 25 HRs again, but he's still a doubles machine, walk machine, RBI machine.  So what if he doesn't play an Eric Byrnes-type outfield.  At least he's always healthy as a result...

Maybe teams are just waiting to see where the Manny chips'll fall before going after him, Dunn, or anyone else.  I almost think the Giants  HAVE to steal him from the Dodgers, otherwise they're doomed to another less-than-600-runs-scored 2009. And who else are they really paying anything substantial to besides that albatross of a Barry Zito contract. Bengie Molina?

No one is interested in paying Orlando Hudson because defensively-brilliant second baseman aren't worth anything to a front office GM, especially in this market. There's even rumors that he'll go to Washington because they may be the ONLY team interested in paying him even close to what he wants and sacrificing their draft picks.

Ditto for Dunn (who I think would make sense for the Rangers and a couple of other teams like the Royals as a DH).

PITCHING
On the pitching front, it seems like no one is going to bow to Oliver Perez' requests for more money (more than three years, $30 mil), and he probably has to know at this point the Mets would be fine signing someone for less if he keeps insisting on holding out—names like Garland, Wolf, etc. 

If the White Sox don't mind throwing $1 million at Bartolo Colon, you have to think they'd go even further for Freddy Garcia.

Lowe got his money from the Braves, and he only would have gotten that much per year and four years from them because they were desperate.   No Smoltz, no Glavine, no Hudson, no Hampton (ha! just kidding).  So they trade for Vazquez, sign Lowe, sign Kawakami, have Jair Jurrjens.  All of a sudden their rotation is adequate and they could still get Hudson back at the end of the year...now if they could only get a couple of bullpen arms maybe the Phillies and Mets would be nervous...

Seriously,  NO ONE is interested in Ben Sheets.   I've got an idea:  WHY DON'T THE CUBS AT LEAST MAKE HIM AN OFFER!

I mean, all this talk about Peavy (who sure, is phenomenal at home, but only better than average on the road if you look at his splits the last three years), you'd have to give up players for him, inherit another monster contract, etc.    

But with Sheets, you could offer him a 1-year, $10-mil contract to prove to everyone that he really is capable of staying healthy and he and Rich Harden could take their chances on the free-agent market again next winter. Sure, the ownership situation is in flux, but if they're willing to throw $10 million/year at switch-hitting outfielders with bad knees after his career year (22 HRs, 72 RBIs), why not roll the dice on your division rival's former ace?

Speaking of Harden, I think he's going to end up a closer someday soon.  I mean, which team is going to give him ace-like money knowing that they're getting anywhere from 10 to 20-something starts a year out of him, but never 30 or more? And anyway, he could be the league's next Smoltz/Gagne/Joe Nathan absolutely DOMINANT closer.

Another winter where a bunch of over-the-hill hall-of-famers might be out of a job.

I mean, does anyone have any interest in Ken Griffey, Jr.,  Frank Thomas, or Omar Vizquel at this point?  I heard a rumor that Luis Gonzalez told a GM he'd throw in free batboy services if he could just get 100 ABs this year.