Pricing the free agents

With Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder finding new homes this winter with Los Angeles and Detroit respectively, the offseason has proven bountiful when many experts thought the market would be lean for them.

I served as a general manager for 15 years, and committing big dollars to a free agent is always a gamble. You have to try to balance age, injury history, tools, performance and makeup before making an offer.

I decided to put myself back in the GM's chair to evaluate this free-agent class. The following is my estimate of what I would pay the top 50 free agents if I were a GM of a club that had the budget and need for that kind of player. The players are ranked by their estimated average annual value (A.A.V). I use A.A.V. because that is what the MLB Players Association is most concerned with when evaluating contracts. When the A.A.V. is equal, tie goes to the contract with greater overall value. To get a better feel for the market, I also talked to agents, scouts and execs who will be heavily involved with this offseason's bidding.

You'll notice Japanese phenom Yu Darvish is not included, and that's because there was some uncertainty regarding whether his team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, would post him and thereby make him available to major league clubs. However, he was posted and signed with the Texas Rangers for $60 million for six years.

Albert Pujols

1B

31

9

$243M

$27M

For a full breakdown of how much former MLB GM Jim Bowden would pay for the top free agents, become an ESPN Insider.

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Jim Bowden

Baseball, Insider

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• Senior baseball analyst for ESPN Insider
• Former GM of the Reds and Nationals
• Author of "The GM's Office" blog