LATEST MLB SIGNINGS: TEAMS CRAZY FOR PITCHING

By Robert Griggs

The agents of top free agent starting pitchers Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt, and Jeff Suppan must have mile wide grins on their faces. With the latest wave of signings, their price tags just took another tick upward.

First, the position signings: Cleveland picks up outfielder Dave Dellucci for 3 years, $11 million. This is a fine signing, as Dellucci has the tools to be a solid everyday outfielder, he just didn't get the opportunity in Philadelphia.

The Blue Jays retain catcher Greg Zaun at what appears to be a bargain, 2 years, $7.25 million. Zaun was solid on both sides of the plate last season, and with the Jays beefing up their lineup, Zaun should continue to have success. He also works well with the Blue Jays pitching staff and coaches...a great signing for both.

The Orioles make two deals for relief pitching. They more recently signed Scott Williamson to a one year deal worth a $900,000 base salary and featuring some incentives. However, they earlier--and inexplicably--signed Danys Baez to a 3 year, $19 million deal. They could've had the far better Justin Speier for this kind of money. Why they would sign a middling pitcher like Baez to set up Chris Ray is beyond me.

Now, we come to two deals for starters that leave me scratching my head. The Dodgers have signed Randy Wolf to a one year, $8 million deal. Wolf was limited to a handful of starts coming off surgery, and while he was 4-0, he obviously had some rust, as he also carried a 5.56 ERA. If they were going to sign Wolf, it would've made more sense to sign him to a 2 or 3 year deal worth $5-6 million per year.

But the most unbelievable deal is the one Adam Eaton got from the Phillies--3 years, $8 million! Eaton also made only a handful of starts, and the control problems that have plagued him somewhat throughout his career were still there in his stint with Texas. Eaton has potential, but has never really been more than a league-average pitcher, and an average of $8 million a year for him seems very steep.

With the Wolf and Eaton deals, obviously the price tags of the top pitchers went up. Any hopes of the Cardinals or anyone else getting Jeff Suppan for $8 million per year just went out the window--with 12 teams interested, I wouldn't be surprised if he were offered $11-12 million a year, given this awful market. Meanwhile, ace-type starters Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt should each command over $14 million per season. The teams that have weak farm systems should be making plans to rebuild. There's no way the average team can afford to fill all its weaknesses with even average players with the deals players are currently getting.

We are constantly scouring the sports tickers, and as all the major deals go down, we will continue to keep you posted at To the Point and Back!

Author Robert Griggs is an avid follower of baseball. He is a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan so you can be sure to see many articles like this one in the future. Mr. Griggs currently writes for the commentary website: http://www.tothepointandback.com. If you would like to check out more of his works, feel free to do so.