Thanks to ESPN’s Free Agent Tracker, you can easily follow this winter’s signings. So far, 14 players have signed. Here are the average numbers of the 12 whose contract amount is listed:

Hitters (5)
  contract/age
 Yrs $M/yr  Age
2.60  3.01 33.8

            2004 stats
 AB   H 2B 3B HR BB SO   BA  OBP  SLG
454 123 28  2 11 33 64 .272 .323 .418

Pitchers (7)
  contract/age
 Yrs $M/yr  Age
1.71  4.09 34.0

              2004 stats
 IP  ERA  WHIP  H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
103 4.16 1.314 9.04 0.85 2.79 6.23

The hitters’ line includes what Vinny Castilla did last year with the Rockies. He is the only hitter who had a slugging percentage over .390 in 2004. Omar Vizquel had the only on base percentage higher than .340. Ages are as of July 1, 2005. Qualitative stats may not match quantitative due to rounding.

The pitchers with the two worst ERAs last year (Kris Benson and Cory Lidle) account for 59% of the total amount doled out so far. Troy Percival and Rudy Seanez were the most effective relievers in 2004, while Glendon Rusch was the best starter. Rusch, Seanez, and Doug Brocail are the cheapest:

   contract/age
   Yrs    $M  Age
DB   1  1.00   38
TP   2 12.00   35
GR   2  4.00   30
RS   1  0.55   36

               2004 stats
      IP  ERA  WHIP  H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
DB  52.1 4.13 1.414 9.29 0.34 3.44 7.39
TP  49.2 2.90 1.248 7.79 1.27 3.44 5.98
GR 129.2 3.47 1.234 8.81 0.69 2.29 6.25
RS  46.0 3.33 1.261 7.63 0.59 3.72 9.00

Can you guess which of the above notched 33 saves last year?