The perils of making a "Top 50" list of free agents are numerous. It could be argued, in fact, that there is no objective way to make such a list, as any one player’s fit with any one specific team can range from potentially integral to completely frivolous. In this ESPN list, Steve Kline is ranked 50th, Esteban Loaiza 32nd. But is there any doubt that a player like Kline is of much higher value to a team like the Yankees than is a player like Loaiza? And even more to the point, isn’t Kline, ranked #50, potentially more important to the Yankees than Carlos Beltran (understandably ranked #1), especially with the lefty-heavy lineup of the Sox? What, then, is the best way to rank these guys? Should we even bother?
Miscellany
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Agreed. A more useful way to rank these guys might be by position, but even then who gets chosen by whom will be determined by the unique calculus of each team (in the context of their needs, their budgets, and the market) rather than some objective assumption about skill. To go along with a ranking by position, then, they could have presented a team-by-team crib of needs (and resources).
While we’re at it, worth noting that ESPN is now 0-1, with Vizquel signing for 3 years with San Francisco; they had Omar heading to the BoSox.