MLB Free Agency: 8 Teams That Will Make Boneheaded Moves

Inevitably, in any free-agent period in any sport in this country, and possibly the world, sports teams will make a signing that ends up being a huge failure.

Major League Baseball's free agency period is one of those times.

With teams having a disappointing finish last year, desperation can set in and make rational baseball executives, irrational.

Other teams are on the rise and are looking to make a big splash which will no doubt force their hand on a move that sets back the evolution of human reason.

Here are some of those bonehead moves that will happen this offseason.

Boston Red Sox

All the elements of a boneheaded move are brewing in the Boston Red Sox front office.

Ben Cherington is the new man in charge at Fenway Park, and it will be his job to take over for Theo Epstein and make the right moves that turn Boston from a disappointment to a world champion.

That could spell disaster for the Red Sox Nation as no doubt he will look to make a big splash, turning off logic in the process.

My guess? I think C.J. Wilson or Yu Darvish will be the targets. The Red Sox just lost John Lackey for the entire season next year and need to improve their rotation which failed them in September of 2011.

Make no mistake about it, because of a weak pitchers market, teams will be involved in a bidding war for these two pitchers, causing Boston to overpay to sign them. You know, because they had to do to it.

We know what can happen to Japanese pitchers trying to adjust to a new and better league. And C.J. Wilson's numbers in the regular season have been good, but in Boston, postseason success counts most and in that department, he is lacking.

The Sox are setup for failure on this one.

Miami Marlins

A new name and a new manager in a new stadium and the Miami Marlins are primed to make a huge mistake.

They are already on the verge of making that mistake in negotiating with Jose Reyes to bring him to South Beach.

Reyes will be courted by several teams no doubt and his price will only rise with every new inquiry.

The problem with Reyes is that he is injury prone and at the price he will probably be asking, the risk is not worth the reward. The Marlins might find themselves cash-strapped in the future when a ton of salary space is occupied by the oft-injured and never contributing, Jose Reyes

The Marlins may be desperate to have a new face, and a big one at that, headlining their first season in Miami.

Not to mention, I'm sure promises were made to Ozzie Guillen that the team would be active in trying to make a winner out of the Marlins. The pressure is on to do something drastic.

Chicago Cubs

Forget the curse and the over 100 years of misery for the Chicago Cubs, there is a new man in charge who just got done breaking another team's curse.

That's Theo Epstein.

It was huge news when Epstein made the jump to Chicago off the sinking ship that became the Red Sox. He will look to do what he did in Boston and that is erase a curse and end years of failure.

Epstein will bring in a new manager and certainly new pieces to help complete the mission at hand. The pressure to do so could force his hand.

The Cubs would ultimately love to bring in Albert Pujols. He would be the perfect anchor for their offense for years to come and they would greatly weaken their division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals.

In order to bring Pujols to Chicago, the Cubs might be willing to give him the money no team could dream of, including St. Louis.

That price could be 10 years, $300 million, which would be a record deal.

Problem is, Pujols' numbers have been down the past few years, and being signed until he's 42 could be a risky proposition that could hand cuff the Cubs if it doesn't work out.

Either way, the pressure to make the Cubs a winner could make Epstein try and force a move that won't work.

Philadelphia Phillies

Thanks to Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in panic mode.

The NLDS exit was the least expected scenario in baseball, and it seemed the Phillies were a lock to win a World Series. At the very least, make it out of the first round.

But that didn't happen. The unbeatable team is beaten, and fans are disgusted.

We've already seen the Phillies make boneheaded moves, signing Jim Thome to a deal. I like Thome and I would certainly like to have his bat on my team but as a DH.

The Phillies, being a National League team, don't have a DH. So Thome's action will be limited to when the Phils sit their best power hitter, Ryan Howard, who also can't play a position other than first base.

It's a move that's puzzling to say the least and is a sign of things to come for Philadelphia.

Sometimes, there isn't much more you can do to improve a team other than to re-sign guys that are already there. The Phillies are very close to that situation and don't need to force anything.

Because of their failure last season, they too may fall victim to desperation.

New York Yankees

This wouldn't be a boneheaded, MLB offseason moves list without the New York Yankees.

The Bombers are accustomed to over paying for players not worth their weight in gold and this year doesn't look any different.

The Yankees' early exit from the playoffs last season means they have got to do something to improve their team. That especially is true considering their pitching staff heavily relied on journeyman Freddy Garcia and miracle man, Bartolo Colon.

The Yankees did nothing much to improve their pitching last year and got lucky with their success.

That can't happen again as Brian Cashman, just signed to a new deal, needs to actually improve his starting rotation behind CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova.

The Yanks realistically need a No. 3 starter as Ivan Nova proved to be a good No. 2 last year and should get better, while Sabathia's contract extension will keep him the ace of the staff.

But New York always shoots for the moon, even if it means bringing in another No. 2 starter like C.J. Wilson or a hype machine like Yu Darvish. Maybe even overpaying for an unproven, No. 3 starter like Edwin Jackson, whose 3.79 ERA in a weak hitting division could balloon to much higher in the AL East.

Either way, the Yankees could stand to spend a ton of money this offseason on risky and unproven commodities because they "needed to do something."

The Yankees problems can't be ignored this offseason, but their hand can't be forced either. They'll be better served signing a lesser free agent like Mark Buehrle and save themselves the money, years and ultimate disappointment of their other options.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers had their best season as a franchise in almost 30 years in 2011. Milwaukee made it to the NLCS and gave their fans a thrill ride like none other.

Many things will change for the Brewers, including losing their best player to free agency in Prince Fielder.

It will be a big blow and could make the Brewers do something they wouldn't normally do. And that would be to overpay for players to try and replace Fielder.

Milwaukee may be interested in signing Jose Reyes and being apart of the high-priced, risky market that is the oft-injured Reyes.

Even best case scenario, the Brewers would be re-signing Fielder for 10 years, and $250 million to $300 million per year, effectively taking any cap space they had left.

Unless they'd be willing to completely break the bank, the Brewers would be forced to replace the several openings on their roster with minor league-ready talent.

The Brewers need to be careful that they don't make any desperate attempts to replace Fielder and keep their head about them when trying to help themselves get back to the NLCS.

The future of their franchise may depend on it.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates had more momentum last season than they've had since Tony La Russa Baseball ruled the Sega Genesis.

That being said, there is a spark of excitement with a manager in Clint Hurdle who clearly got the most out of his players before a late-season skid put a stop to their playoff hopes.

The Pirates were buyers at the trade deadline which tells me there is motivation to win. That may mean making a deal that normally Pittsburgh wouldn't.

I can see that deal possibly bringing in an aging star to help add some credibility to their lineup, much like they did with Derrek Lee.

That could be a Carlos Beltran or a Vladamir Guerrero for example. The Pirates won't be players for Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols, but it's safe to say they'll get caught overpaying a lesser free agent.

In the midst of "saving money" in this market, the Pirates will bring in a player who won't be reliable as far as being on the field for them and end up being a mistake for a few seasons.

The desire is there to win in Pittsburgh, but just how much will that desire hurt the Pirates, if at all.

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians gave up some top prospects to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Ubaldo Jimenez last season.

Jimenez was supposed to be a sign that the Indians were trying to win, being only a game out of the AL Central lead when they made the move.

However, Jimenez could have been the first boneheaded move the Indians made, giving up good prospects for a pitcher who's famous for one good half of a season in his career.

Overall, the Indians were one of the more active teams and now that Grady Sizemore is officially out of Cleveland, the Indians will look to improve on what was a decent season for them last year.

The Indians are another one of those teams that can't compete for the high priced players, so that leaves them with less dependable, second-tier options on the market.

Normally those consist of aging, overpaid stars who you couldn't rely on to lift your suitcase, let alone play 162 games.

The Indians are in that danger zone, close to winning and investing a lot to do it. Cleveland may force improvement on itself to please it's hungry fan base.