• What's next for Wang, Johnson, Capps and more

  • By Keith Law | December 14, 2009 9:35:15 AM PST

Saturday night's non-tender deadline brought a few surprises and swelled the free-agent pool; this may depress prices for some relievers and bench players but could also grease the skids for an increased pace of signings and trades now that the question of who might become available has passed. Here are a few players now on the market who would be worth a look for your favorite team:

Matt Capps, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates: I do understand why the Pirates non-tendered Capps; the arbitration process wildly overvalues saves -- and Capps was headed for a salary that the Pirates felt exceeded his likely value to the team. It does provide a cautionary tale for low-payroll clubs with closers, however: Trade them while their value is high, because one bad season can leave you with nothing. Capps has good-to-plus control of an above-average fastball, but his mediocre changeup has left him vulnerable to left-handed hitters, who torched him in 2009 for a .342/.373/.641 (AVG/OBP/SLG) line, by far the biggest platoon split he's shown; he gave up eight home runs to left-handed hitters, all on fastballs. Because he throws strikes and just had some bad luck on balls in play in 2009, he's worth a flier as a right-handed specialist who has late-game experience, but I wouldn't give him closer money.


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