After last week's announcements of players that had been nontendered by their clubs, several players have gotten a lot of interest from several clubs. Hell, Geovany Soto already re-signed with the Rangers for $3 million after they nontendered him. There are other players who I think will get a lot of interest, and here are a few.
Ian Stewart. In this third base market, Stewart looks like a great buy-low option. He'll be 28 in April, just entering his prime, and while he's dealt with injuries over the past two seasons, he's a perfectly acceptable player while healthy. A lot of teams would probably be interested in Stewart as a bench option, and an extremely desperate team might be willing to give him their starting job at third.
Ben Francisco. He can play all three outfield positions, he's got good pop, and until 2012, had solid plate discipline as well. Francisco is the perfect fourth outfielder, and he wasn't as bad in 2012 as his -0.3 fWAR might indicate.
Ryan Sweeney. Sweeney was a four win player with the A's in 2009 before seeing his health sap his playing time in three straight seasons. He'll be just 28 in February, can play all three outfield positions, and is a great all-around defender. I don't thinkhe could start, but he could definitely fill a Reed Johnson-like role for a team in 2013.
Jack Hannahan. Surprise surprise, another undervalued defender. Hannahan's bat really isn't good enough to play on an every day basis, but for one start a week and coming into games late as a defensive replacement, Hannahan would be more than suitable at third base for a team. This is becoming a common trend in the league nowadays: the offensive bar at third base is falling lower and lower, allowing players like Hannahan to continue to have a role in the league because of their gloves.
Nate Schierholtz. Are you starting to sense a trend here? Schierholtz falls into the same fourth outfielder category as Francisco and Sweeney, but is more limited in the fact that he can really only play right field. He's a former top Giants prospect that never lived up to the hype surrounding him, and might only be worth a minor league deal to see if he can actually bring anything to the table…but again, cheap fourth outfielders are in vogue right now.
Manny Parra. This is a guy who has had a whopping one full season as a full-time reliever (2012), and he didn't perform bad at all, striking out 61 batters in 58 2/3 innings. While Parra's control has always been a mess, his 2012 ERA of 5.06 was nearly a run and a half higher than his 3.62 FIP. Parra throws hard, and I'd rather take a flyer on him than some of the more "veteran" free agent relief options that either have mileage on their arms or are demanding too much money in the wake of the Brandon League and Jonathan Broxton signings.
