MLB Free Agents 2012: New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox Won't Dictate Market

For the first time in recent memory, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will not dominate the MLB free-agent market.

Well, not entirely, at least.

The Yanks and the Sox will probably spend plenty of time tussling over what few scraps of pitching are to be found, between Rangers ace CJ Wilson, White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle and, potentially, CC Sabathia.

As far as position players are concerned, though, the impact of these two AL East powers will be somewhat muted. Sure, they'll chase after Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and they may even throw a few bucks after second-tier guys like Carlos Beltran and Michael Cuddyer.

But you can be sure that neither will have a dog in the fight over Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, and both may even refrain from chasing after David Ortiz and Aramis Ramirez.

Both of these much-hated franchises are already overstocked with corner infielders and designated hitters. The Yankees have Alex Rodriguez at third, Mark Teixeira at first, and will hand the bulk of the DH duties to rookie Jesus Montero.

And with A-Rod and Derek Jeter no longer the young bucks they once were, it's entirely possible, if not highly likely, that Joe Girardi will pencil those two stars in at DH from time to time.

The Red Sox, on the other hand, may consider adding Ramirez, but only if they let Big Papi go. Boston had too many first base/DH types for its own good in 2011. As productive as Adrian Gonzalez was for the Sox at first base, his presence forced Kevin Youkilis, a terrific player if not an aging one with distinct athletic shortcomings, to play third base.

As a result, Youk's numbers declined significantly, as did his health. As such, adding Ramirez would make sense to shore up the Sox's infield at the hot corner. However, adding a big bopper with slow feet like Pujols, Fielder or Ortiz would re-create the very same redundancy that proved problematic this season.

Above all, though, is the fact that neither of these teams has any trouble hitting. Rather, both organizations need quality pitching to fill out their rotations and bullpens, the sort that doesn't come for cheap and that can't easily be had along with big-time hitters.

There's no point in the Yanks and the Sox locking themselves into bloated, long-term contracts with sluggers either in the midst of or exiting their respective primes when they have much bigger concerns to address; not when they were No. 1 and No. 2 in all of baseball in runs scored this past season.

Then again, these are the Yankees and the Red Sox we're talking about—two teams that have turned needlessly overpaying players into an art form all its own.

With the obscene television and ticket revenue that the two organizations generate year in and year out, and with both front offices potentially in flux, there's no telling what sort of havoc the two richest clubs in baseball will wreak on what's shaping up to be the most wide open free-agent feeding frenzy in years.