I was going through the list of the first crop of minor league free agents at MLB Trade Rumors tonight when I came across the name Wilson Betemit. Betemit is not a player who I followed particularly closely this season, but reading that name immediately reminded me of the trade that sent Nick Swisher to the New York Yankees.

At the time of the trade, I loved the move for the Yankees. Swisher was coming off a miserable performance--he hit just .219/.332/.410 in 2008--during his lone stint with the Chicago White Sox. His .251 batting average on balls in play indicated that he was the victim of some plain old bad luck, though, as his 20.9% line drive rate was actually the best of his career. Bad luck or not, it was a great buy-low opportunity for New York, which also gained a bit of leverage in negotiations with free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. Swisher was an attractive for a few other reasons, also: his ability to play multiple positions, on-base acumen and patience, skills the Yankees covet, and power.

Buying low is generally an effective strategy in baseball, and, for the price of Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez, that is exactly what the Yankees were able to do. Considering what Swisher cost Chicago in the previous offseason, Brian Cashman picked up a player for pennies on the dollar. If Swisher never rebounded, the team could simply cut its losses and live with the fact that they did not offer up any high-ceiling prospects. Plus, the White Sox also sent along a decent relief pitching prospect in Kanekoa Texeira.

Looking back on it now, Cashman clearly did the right thing. Swisher had a fine bounce back during the regular season, batting .249/.371/.498 with 29 home runs and a 126 OPS+. As usual, he produced a stellar walk rate (16.3 %) but struck out a ton, going down on strikes in 25.5% of his plate appearances. His line drive rate actually regressed down to 16.3%, but the difference was a .26-point spike in BABIP.

While Swisher will never hit for a high batting average, it was more than anybody could have reasonably expected. With a .379 Weighted On-Base Average, he produced 24.2 runs above an average offensive performer On top of that, he was pretty much a league-average defender at three different positions--primarily in right field (-1.6 UZR). When factoring in batting, fielding and positional considerations, he was worth 3.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR); that production translates to .5-M.

I, for one, feel that intangibles and being a positive influence in the clubhouse--if a player sucks but means that much as a role model to younger players, why not just make him a coach?--are overrated. Swisher, however, quickly became one of the most well-liked players in the New York locker room and deflected away attention from certain players/stories by acting as a constant spokesperson to the media. It is hard to believe that so many within the Chicago organization hated him as a person, or at least enough to simply throw him away so easily.

Swisher alone was worth more than any player sent to the White Sox, but the Yankees also received a nice campaign from Texeira. The 23-year-old right-hander logged 101.1 innings pitched over 41 appearances at Double-A, posting a 2.84 ERA and 3.69 FIP. He struck out 88 and registered rates of 7.82 K/9, 3.82 BB/9 and 0.62 HR/9. He should contribute at the highest level in the near future, pitching low-leverage situations at the least. For a throw-in, he was quite a coup; stocking up on cheap, young relievers and hoping a few work out is much more effective than paying big dollars for them.

For Chicago, the only two benefits appear to be cutting payroll (they would have been on the hook for -M, but, seeing what they did with Jake Peavy and Alex Rios, that is not all that great) and parting ways with a player who did not seem to fit in. The players in the return were all mostly disappointments.

Betemit gave Chicago nothing, posting a line of .200/.280/.311 with a 53 OPS+. He did not contribute a single home run and drove in three runs in 20 games. As a sub-optimal defender (he has been worth -24.5 runs below average during his career) in the infield, his value was essentially non-existent. Upon a demotion to the minors, he managed a putrid .734 OPS at Triple-A. Not surprisingly, he is now just another name on the minor league free agent list.

There was a lot of talk about how Marquez would become the next failed pitching prospect--the Sosnick-Cobbe client is perhaps the stereotypical over-hyped Yankee prospect--to be traded to the Windy City, develop a cutter and become an asset. Not so much.

Marquez posted a 9.85 ERA and 7.01 FIP in 45.2 innings pitched after making only 11 Triple-A starts. His peripherals--5.32 K/9, 4.34 BB/9, 2.36 HR/9--leave a lot to be desired. He is still young and has a live arm, but the centerpiece of the deal turned out to be an afterthought in year one.

Nunez, who will turn 25 in November, had a decent debut in the White Sox organization. He had success in the higher minors before earning a promotion to the show, where he made seven appearances. He is kind of a dime of dozen, though, and has limited upside as a reliever.

Clearly, Cashman was on the better end here. The Yankees are on fire right now, and, if they do go on to stay hot and win a title, a lot of attention will be centered on how Cashman was able to bring in A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and the other Teixeira. Clearly, those three players played more of a role in the Yankees' success than Swisher. However, it did not take any creativity or thought to sign those players. Most people in that situation, with that money, would have done the same exact thing. Cashman earned his keep with this particular trade, though, and the Yankees are better off for his ability to make it happen.

Anyone who has read this site in the past year knows how much I love doing awards columns. And, as I sit here and watch the end of this epic one-game playoff between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins to decide the American League Central, it dawned on me that the end of the season yet again provides me another opportunity to partake in my favorite baseball activity: handing out hardware.

Three stud players made the picking fairly easy, and obvious, this year, which takes some of the fun out of it. Indeed, Zack Greinke, Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols left little room for debate in their respective categories. Without further adieu, though, here are my final--for those scoring at home, I did four different awards-related articles this year--awards for the 2009 MLB season.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

I was really hoping that I could give this award to Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays. Zobrist was sensational for the Rays, hitting .297/.405/.543 with 27 home runs and 91 RBIs while providing fine defense at multiple positions. Perhaps in any other year, Zorilla would garner more serious consideration, but the race for A.L. MVP is a one-man show.

To anyone looking at this objectively, Twins catcher Joe Mauer is the only reasonable choice for this award. Mauer is a once-in-a-generation catcher who put together one of the finest seasons of all time, not just for a backstop. The stats are not official since game 163 is not finished yet, but he is a lock to win the sabermetric Triple Crown, leading the junior circuit in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Dude put up a line of .364/.442/.586 with a league-best park-adjusted OPS+ of 176. Arguing for someone else as M.V.P. is the equivalent in craziness as arguing that Craig Sager, he of the purple suits, has a good sense of style. Indeed, if he does not win, it is the writers who should be required to partake in mandatory drug testing, because one would have to be high to not pick Mauer as M.V.P.

Not only was Mauer the best hitter in the league, he also plays a premium defensive position. And he does so well above average. It is difficult to find a league-average hitter who can catch, let alone the guy who leads the league in OPS. I know he missed a month, but there is no way the Twins sniff the playoffs without him.

Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals: I wrote about Greinke's case two weeks ago. He, too, is a no-brainer. Greinke to no fault of his own pitched for a team with an embarr****ingly constructed roster, featuring the likes of Yuniesky Betancourt and Mike Jacobs, and still managed to go 16-8. Hopefully that will satisfy the writers who pretend that we are still living in the stone ages and feel that wins remain the most valuable way to evaluate pitcher effectiveness.

The truth lies in the numbers.

Greinke posted sick rates of 9.50 K/9, 2.00 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9, ranking second in the league with 242 punchouts. He paced the league in ERA (2.16), WHIP (1.07), was also second in complete games (six) and fifth in innings pitched (229.1). As well, the 25-year-old ace also led the majors with a 2.33 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) mark and posted an excellent 2.75 tRA.

Rookie of the Year: Brett Anderson, Oakland Athletics

This was supposed to be a race between David Price and super stud catcher Matt Wieters. Ironically, the Rays did have a rookie pitcher who is in the conversation here in Jeff Niemann. Niemann, one of the famous Rice trio of first-rounders, finally established himself at the major league level. The big right-hander went 13-6 with a 116 ERA+. His 6.23 strikeout rate left a bit to be desired, but he threw some important innings for Tampa Bay and should be a factor down there for the next few years.

Anderson gets the vote here because he simply blew away the rest of the field in Wins Above Replacement, producing 3.8 WAR. His 11-11 record and just above league-average 102 ERA+ will hurt him with the voters, but he produced solid rates of 7.70 K/9, 2.31 BB/9 and 1.03 HR/9. He was hurt by a 67.0 strand rate that will regress up, but his 3.69 FIP was good for eighth in the AL. The kid has a bright future.

National League

Most Valuable Player: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

They should change the award name to the Pujols. The man just continues to mash. The Triple Crown talk ended up all for naught, but he still put up another Nintendo-like slash stats line of .327/.443/.658 with a league-best 188 OPS+. His defense was down at first base this year, with his UZR dropping to a five-year low of 1.8 and 1.0 UZR/150. But he was still again a plus with his glove and was worth 8.5 WAR when factoring in batting, fielding and positional factors. That translates to .1-M dollars. So, yeah, the Cards should definitely lock him up regardless of the price, because even with a record-setting deal, he is still a safe bet to be worth every penny.

National League Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

The Cardinals have an excellent chance of having a pitcher take home this award. Chris Carpenter came back from injury to put up another fine season. Carpenter went 17-4 while posting a league-best 2.24 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. New Hampshire's prized son won his second Comeback Player of the Year award and was a major reason why the Cardinals are headed back to the postseason.

And Adam Wainwright was also damn good. Wainwright led the league with 19 wins, paced the circuit with 233.0 innings pitched and struck out 212. Combined, the pair formed one of the best 1-2 duos in the N.L.

However, Carpenter (5.6) and Wainwright (5.7) actually rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in WAR for National League pitchers. Here are the top four:

Lincecum: 8.2
Javier Vazquez (guy gets no run support or love, by the way): 6.6
Dan Haren: 6.0
Ubaldo Jimenez (can't wait to watch this guy in the playoffs): 5.8

Joel Pineiro is actually not too far off the pace in WAR from Carpenter and Wainwright. Another pitcher to improve considerably after switching to the inferior Senior Circuit, Pineiro produced the best ground ball rate in baseball and walked only 1.14 batters per nine innings. True, he does not miss bats (4.42 K/9), but he was excellent on the way to a 4.8-win performance. The trio combined for 16.1 WAR, which is incredible.

While the trio was the league's best, Lincecum, as the numbers show, was the best individual pitcher. WAR is not the end-all be-all stat, by any means, but his lead is just so significant there. The Freak won 15 games on a team that featured one plus hitter in its offense, Pablo Sandoval, and scored about only seven runs a week. Plus, he paced the league with 261 Ks and four complete games and posted the second-lowest ERA (2.48). Only Greinke posted a lower FIP than his 2.34 and his 2.85 tRA was also excellent. He probably will not win his second straight Cy Young, since the voters seem to be centered in on St. Louis. But, before it is all said and done, his Trophy Case will not have a lot of empty shelf space.

Rookie of the Year: Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins

In the spring, many people predicted this award to go to a member of the Marlins. Except the player was not supposed to be Chris Coghlan. Rather, stud outfield prospect Cameron Maybin was the guy whose name showed up in a million pre-season awards columns. But, with his incredible hitting down the stretch, Coghlan thrust himself in the conversation.

Coghlan's first-half line: .245/.342/.335

Coghlan's second-half line: .372/.423/.543

Yeah, the kid mashed after the All-Star break. He only hit nine home runs, not exactly stellar for a left fielder. As well, he takes a hit for his position and below average defense; he was worth -12.8 runs below average, according to UZR.

That said, Coughlan finished sixth in the league in hitting on the way to a line of .321/.390/.460. Not too shabby for a 24-year-old who was not expected to be a major factor for Florida this season.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen is the guy likely to have the best career out of the rookie cl****, and he had fine rookie performance in his own right. McCutchen hit .286/.365/.471, posted an 11.1 BB% and graded out 17.3 runs above average with his stick in 493 plate appearances. The 22-year-old was one of the few bright spots during a rough second half in Pittsburgh, and he offers hope that the streak of 17 consecutive losing seasons will come to an end soon.

Earlier today, I compared second basemen Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia.

While watching the Boston Red Sox versus New York Yankees (a real laugher, by the way) game this afternoon on Fox, though, I began to compare the two rivals' entire infields in my head and was just amazed at how much stronger the New York four is. Clearly, the Yankees have a fine infield, with two of the most recognizable stars in the game, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, making up the left side of a group flanked by Cano and Mark Teixeira. It really does not take a rocket scientist to understand how talented of a group that is.

To determine the exact level of excellence of the New York infield, though, I went over to FanGraphs to take a look at how each player grades out in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). The four infielders, who all rank in the top four in the stat on the Yankees, have combined to amass 14.8 WAR. Which is just incredible.

As I wrote the other day, Jeter is having one of the finest campaigns of his career at age 35. He leads the club with 5.5 WAR, having posted a line of .333/.396/.474 with 15 home runs and a 128 OPS+. He has also played much better defense, grading out 5.6 runs above average at shortstop.

The biggest free agent offensive acquisition of the winter, Teixeira has rebounded from a slow start to post a line of .286/.384/.559 with 31 homers, 92 RBIs and a 144 OPS+. The switch-hitting slugger is second on New York with 4.0 WAR, though his -0.8 UZR could be suffering from some noise in the data. He is not a realistic M.V.P. candidate--as Jeter has been the more valuable player on his own team--but he has been a tremendous addition and a major upgrade over Jason Giambi.

Rodriguez, 33, missed the first six weeks due to injury but has continued to put up incredible statistics since his return. He is batting .263/.398/.505 with 21 home runs, 65 RBIs and a 135 OPS+. Despite the fact that he has played in only 89 games and has provided below-average defense at third base, he has already produced 3.0 WAR.

I touched on Cano earlier, but he is also having a fine rebound performance. He has put up 2.8 WAR, thanks to a .311/.343/.499 line and 118 OPS+. Plate discipline remains an issue for the sweet-swinging left-handed hitter, but he has continued to display plus power for a middle infielder (18 home runs) and has been a major asset for the Yankees.

Certainly, the Steinbrenners spent a ton on the aforementioned players. A-Rod is due to make $32-M, Jeter and Teixeira will each net $20-M and Cano is being paid $9-M for 2009. For those scoring at home, that adds up to $81-M, or more than the entire payrolls for 15 teams in the sport.

Are they all worth it, though?

Jeter has exceeded his salary on a dollars earned/made scale by a considerable amount, as his WAR translates to $24.6-M. Teixeira should get to that point before the season is done, too, as he has already been worth $18.1-M with a little over a month to go. Rodriguez has provided $12.7-M of production, which would be higher had he been healthy all year. Cano has outperformed his paycheck as well, having been worth $11.3-M.

Overall, a group that cost $81-M has been worth $60-M, representing negative value. However, New York, with its financial muscle, is the one team that can afford to over pay that much and still benefit. The Steinbrenner doctrine is to win the World Series at all costs, and, with a talented infield like they run out every night, it could very well end up happening.

Indeed, the cost of those four players was expensive. Those four players are excellent and make up the best infield in the majors, though, and it is not particularly close. Thus, while there is no surplus value, the money was definitely well spent.

I appeared on Sid Rosenberg's show today over at OpenSports.com. Sid, formerly of the WFAN and Imus in the Morning, and I offered some quick analysis of the MLB Draft. It's way too early to really know for sure which teams were winners and losers, but I offered my initial reactions.

Hate him or love him, Scott Boras is quite good at his job. Boras received mixed reviews for his offseason this past winter--seemingly misreading the demand for Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez--but ended up landing several major contracts for his clients in a tough market. From robbing Omar Minaya blind with Oliver Perez to the massive Mark Teixeira signing, the so-called super agent again was indeed on the better end of most negotiations.

While the class is not quite as deep, the Boras Corporation represents several big-name clients eligible for free agency in 2010 as well. There is certainly a lot of baseball left to be played, but here is an update on how Boras' free-agent eligible clients are performing. In the first edition of a two-part series, here is a list of his position player clients. All free agent/client data courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors (stats through Monday night).

Catchers:

Ivan Rodriguez: Rodriguez signed a one-year deal with the Houston Astros in the middle of spring training. After a slow start, the veteran backstop has picked it up as of late. He is currently batting .273/.318/.495 with four home runs, 14 RBIs and a 109 OPS+. His .273 wOBA is hardly anything to write home about, obviously, and his aggressive approach has continued to prove problematic; he has walked in only 5.7 percent of his plate appearances while producing a 22.2% strikeout rate.

At 37 years old, Rodriguez will never be the same hitter that he was during his prime. He no longer lives up to his defensive reputation, either, and it is hard to overlook the fact that he has not posted an OPS+ above the league-average 100 barometer since 2004, when he hit .334/.383/.510 in a monster performance for the Detroit Tigers. Given that he has been worth just under 2.0 WAR in 2007 and 2008, he still can add some value in the right situation.

Rodriguez is only going to drop off even more offensively, though. Opposing pitchers are exploiting his aggressive approach and declining physical skills, pounding him in with sliders. Even in a better market--and with enhanced numbers from playing in Houston's Minute Maid Park--Boras will have a tough time getting anything more than his current figures.

Jason Varitek: Varitek had a nightmare '08 offensively, batting just .220/.313/.359 with a 73 OPS+. Despite making another All-Star appearance, his lack of production at the plate was damning to any hopes that he had of cashing in on one final long-term contract; according to FanGraphs, he produced -13.7 runs below a replacement-level hitter. Overall, the Boston Red Sox fixture and fan favorite was worth 1.2 WAR, putting him nearly $5-M below his salary on the dollars earned/made bar.

In large part due to his Type A free agent status, there was a minimal demand for Varitek in the offseason. Boras was mocked publicly when he began using Jorge Posada and his deal with the New York Yankees as a benchmark for what he expected for the Captain. After a long winter of negotiations, Varitek ended up in the only place that made sense all along--Boston. The Red Sox refused to part with valuable pitching prospects for any young catching replacements, leaving the club with limited options. Also accounting for his defensive value and ability to handle, and rapport, with Red Sox pitchers, Boston inked the veteran to a one-year contract with a $5-M club option for '10; the player has a $3-M option. As the only organization that would not have had to incur the cost of any draft picks, the thought processes to bring him back were sound.

Varitek is not exactly tearing it up at the dish so far this spring. He has posted a line of .227/.324/.443 with four home runs and a 93 OPS+ in 102 plate appearances. The 37-year-old switch-hitter has been worth -0.6 batting runs, but it is encouraging that his line drive rate is up to 18.3%; he produced line drives in only 13.6% of his plate appearances in '08.

If Varitek continues to struggle at the plate, the intangible police will show up again--with Boras leading the charge--citing stats such as catchers' ERA to prove his value to the Red Sox's pitching staff. Barring a major collapse the rest of the way, though, odds are his option will get picked up.

Second basemen:

Alex Cora: Cora served as a nice utility infielder in Boston after coming over from the Cleveland Indians in a trade back in 2005. Thanks to having good teammates, he even picked up a ring in '07, playing in 83 games for the World Series champions.

Cora is what he is: a versatile defender who can play all three skill infield positions at around an average level. He has never been much of an offensive force, obviously, and most of his value therefore comes from his glove work. His best stat line with the Red Sox came in '08, when he hit .270/.371/.349 in 232 plate appearances. He does not offer much in the power department (career ISO of .103 and .349 slugging percentage), but, in the right role, he can help a team without crippling its offensive attack if he does not receive too many at-bats.

Cora latched on with the New York Mets over the winter, adding depth up the middle in Queens. The 12-year veteran is off to a fine start, hitting a robust .333/.425/.455 in 43 plate appearances while providing his usual defensive services. At 33, his window for being talented enough to merit any type of roster spot is closing fast. He can still play shortstop, which is valuable, but his UZR figures at the position are trending downwards (4.4, 3.1, -1.7 from '06-'08, respectively) as he continues to lose range. Once the shortstop option goes, so will his career.

Boras will find him a job in a short-term scenario if he remains healthy and relatively effective with the glove.

Felipe Lopez: The Arizona Diamondbacks have really struggled to score runs as a team. Lopez, however, does not deserve any of the blame--at least so far. The switch-hitting second baseman is one of only three regulars on the D'Backs with a league-average OPS+ or better, along with Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton. He is leading the team with a .323 batting average to along with a .383 OBP and .496 slugging percentage.

Lopez also owns a .382 wOBA right now, which ranks sixth among all second basemen in the majors. His .374 batting average on balls in play will regress back to the mean, but he should be able to sustain his 18.9% line drive rate. The former first-round pick is also hitting for power, with 14 extra-base hits and a .173 ISO.

Lopez, an All-Star and National League Silver Slugger award winner with the Cincinnati Reds back in 2005, has frustrated scouts and analysts alike for a long time. After being included in the infamous trade between the Reds and Washington Nationals, in which an injured Gary Majewski was sent west in what appeared to be a fleecing of Wayne Krivsky, his career hit the skids and nearly bottomed out in the nation's Capital. He reached his low point last summer, as a paltry .234/.305/.314 line and 63 OPS+ ran him out of Washington. The processes were solid behind that trade for the Nats, by the way, but the results were not; Lopez put up a .564 OPS in 1,354 plate appearances while Austin Kearns forgot how to hit as well.

Lopez then resurfaced with the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he found his stroke and managed to bat a circuit-best .385/.426/.538 in 169 plate appearances from August 6 on. The sample size is still relatively small, but he has not stopped hitting since. He will regress, but his new home ballpark will help his output a lot. The 29-year-old middle infielder is also a just above-average second baseman and has only dropped in the red in UZR at second base one time in his career.

Lopez, who Arizona added to replace departed second baseman Orlando Hudson, will make $3.5-M in '09. Worth 1.1 WAR already, that type of money will likely represent a major bargain for the Snakes. If the production continues, he will get paid handsomely next winter.

Third basemen:

Adrian Beltre: Beltre got his big pay day back in '04, receiving $64-M over five years to become the starting third baseman for the Seattle Mariners. The then-25-year-old, coming of a breakout campaign, produced an excellent line of .334/.388/.629 during his walk year. He led the league with 48 home runs while posting a career-high 163 OPS+ for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Equally impressive, Beltre ranked as one of the premier defenders at the hot corner in the game, ending with a personal-best 23.1 UZR. When accounting for defense, offense, and positional factors, he produced 10.0 WAR, according to FanGraphs; amazingly, his on-field production was worth a figure north of $30.0-M.

Since arriving to Seattle, however, Beltre has yet to come close to matching that outstanding level of production overall, especially offensively. He has failed to top the 30-home run plateau while playing in cavernous Safeco Field, causing many to label him a free-agent bust. While he has never been the same hitter, though, he has still earned his contract by providing top-notch defense; in fact, he has been seriously undervalued during his M's career, since many casual fans do not understand the full extent of how many runs he chops off with his play at third base.

From 2006-'08, Beltre has averaged 3.9 WAR. He has exceeded his salary, based on the wins that he provides his team over a replacement-level player, on two different occasions as a Mariner. During that time span he has posted OPS+ totals of 105, 112 and 109 from '06-'08, respectively. A lot of the value that he provides, though, comes from his glove. Outside of a -3.3 UZR total back in '07, he has been worth more than eight fielding runs above average since advanced defensive data became available back in 2002.

Beltre will turn 31 in '10, so he is clearly past his peak. He has a lot of baseball left in him, though, and, as front offices continue to come up with better ways to quantify defense, odds are he will be paid what he is worth upon hitting free agency again.

Beltre will have to pick it up with his bat for this to happen. He has gotten off to a rough start, posting a .260 wOBA in his first 32 games; he has produced -7.9 batting runs. For those scoring at home, the only other third baseman in all of baseball with a worse wOBA is Ty Wigginton. He has hit only a single home run while walking just five times (3.8 BB%) in 136 plate appearances; the left side of the M's infield must be allergic to drawing walks or something, with shortstop Yuinesky Betancourt also boasting a sub-4.00 BB%. Boras has to be hoping that the Seattle infielder will be able to improve upon his .234/.265/.328 line and 58 OPS+, as, along with Matt Holliday, two of his prized clients are underperforming and may end up significantly affecting his bank account. Beltre has remained one of the smoothest, premier defenders around (3.0 UZR, 12.6 UZR/150), but the bat must come around if he wishes to prove the walk-year clich