I'm a sucker for a good laugh

Thanks to Rumors and Rants for linking to the DePo interview and also for giving me a good laugh with this picture.

Another vote for Lincecum

No new news here, but just another vote for Tim Lincecum as the NL Cy Young winner. Without getting overly stats-happy, here are a few things:

• Lincecum has 16 wins to Webb's 19, not a material difference
• Linceum has the NL leading ERA at 2.54
• Lincecum leads the NL in strikeouts

And besides, he's just 5'10" and a ton of fun to watch pitch. So take that!

Pujols to go under the knife

Seems that his elbow will finally be zippered open, but not until after the season.

Slugger Albert Pujols told a local television station on Monday that he may be leaning toward undergoing Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery on his right elbow after the season ends. The procedure typically sidelines a hitter for approximately six months.

As a big Pujols fan, I hope he can make a quick recovery to consider playing come early next season. He's played all year with the partially torn ligament and has been typically majestic.

IIATMS Exclusive: Paul DePodesta

I've been lucky enough to be able to get a few minutes of San Diego Padres Assistant General Manager Paul DePodesta's time. I had emailed Paul before I visited San Diego and while he was busy at the time (with things like trading Greg Maddux!), he was generous enough to take some questions from me. As you've seen with some of my other interviews (click here for: Sosnick, Rasner), I've tried to dig into the day-to-day of a senior front office staff. Paul could not answer every question I sent over, but he answered enough for a good round of "20 Questions for Paul DePodesta".

Briefly about Paul:

• Born 12/16/72
• Graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1995
• In 1996, he got his first baseball job with the Cleveland Indians, where he spent three seasons. He served as an advance scout for two years and, in his final month with the club, he was appointed special assistant to General Manager John Hart.
• In 1999, he joined the Oakland Athletics organization as an assistant to general manager Billy Beane. DePodesta was a key figure in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball:
  The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.
• At the age of 31, he was named general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 16, 2004, making him the fourth-youngest person to be named general manager in baseball history.
• On June 30, 2006, DePodesta was hired as the special assistant for baseball operations for the San Diego Padres.

With that as background, here's the interview:

It's About The Money, Stupid: You’ve had the good fortune to work under an impressive lineage of unconventional thinkers (Alderson/Beane). What are the biggest differences working from the original source of sabermetrically-informed executives as opposed to his most famous protégé?

Paul DePodesta: I’ve been ridiculously lucky in terms of bosses and colleagues throughout my career. In my first job in Cleveland, I was surrounded by the likes of John Hart, Dan O’Dowd, Mark Shapiro, Josh Byrnes, and later Neal Huntington. I’ve tried to learn something from everyone along the way.

IIATMS: With the increased reliance on data/statistics and the success of proponents of this approach (Epstein, Beane, yourself, etc.), many college grads are clamoring to enter the front office ranks. What advice would you give kids entering college regarding a course of study to prepare them to enter the business of baseball? For those leaving college? For those already working (not in baseball) but looking to leverage other experiences?

PD: My advice would be to look for another line of work. I say that jokingly, but with a hint of seriousness. These jobs are incredibly demanding not only for the individual but also for friends and family. It can be difficult to find any semblance of balance or perspective. As far as an area of study, I would recommend as wide an array of subjects as possible. What’s most important is an inquisitive and thirsty mind.

IIATMS: What is the hardest part about your current job? The best part?

PD: The hardest part is losing, and the best part is winning. We get a pass/fail grade 162 times a year, and no matter how good the team is we will fail a lot. The losing can really take its toll when you dedicate so much time and effort to the cause. On the other hand, the triumph of high achievement that accompanies winning is special.

IIATMS: What would you say was your best deal, signing, call up? What is the move that you are most proud of?

PD: More so than any player move, I think I’m most proud of the people I’ve had a hand in hiring throughout the years like Ben Cherington, Chris Antonetti, David Forst, and Dan Feinstein.

IIATMS: What does draft day look like for a front office? How does the vetting process work?

PD: I’ve said this before but to me it’s like Christmas morning. The anticipation is thick, and everyone is excited. Draft day itself, though, is really the culmination of months of grueling work by our scouts. By the time draft day rolls around, we have a very good idea of which players have a good chance to be Padres.

IIATMS: Can you share what the anatomy of a trade looks like? How does the give-and-take look? (I know a Greg Maddux trade works differently than a deal to get Kevin Kouzmanoff or Chris Young, for example. But is there a consistent flow to a deal? How is it initiated, discussed, vetted?)

PD: Every deal is different, and the actual process continues to change with the technology. When I first started in Cleveland, a lot of deals started with face-to-face meetings at the GM’s meetings or events like the All-Star Game. Cell phones weren’t even widely used at the time. Nowadays the communication between GM’s is more routine, so trades can start in person, on the phone, or via text.

IIATMS: How often are you in the lockerroom? Do you seek to develop relationships with players or keep it strictly professional (arm’s length)?

PD: It’s really changed throughout the years depending on my role. I probably spend more time in the clubhouse than most, at least during games, but my relationship with players has always been professional. I’d like to think that I’ve had a good relationship with players, but I’m not going out with them after a game. I had to establish that line when I first became the Assistant GM in Oakland and was younger than a number of the players.

IIATMS: You seem to prefer the West Coast. Are you looking to remain on the West Coast? Would entertain opportunities elsewhere or are you staying in San Diego (or the West Coast) for a longer term?

PD: I think I’ve moved around enough and when you land in a place like San Diego there isn’t much incentive to leave. The reality is that I came here for a number of reasons, both professional (the people who work here) and personal (my wife’s family), so unless those things change I would like to stay here as long as they’ll have me.

IIATMS: Do you think people make too big a deal about “park effects”?

PD: I think it might be a little overdone. Park effects are definitely important when evaluating an individual player’s performance, but on any given night our collective mission is to beat the other team and we’re both playing in the same park. In short, I think there’s a fine line. You can’t ignore the nuances of your own park since you’ll play there 81 times a year, but you can’t be myopic either.

IIATMS: The Padres organization has been very successful in finding middle relievers at a time where a premium is being placed on this role. What, specifically, are you looking at when evaluating these less-heralded players?

PD: I can’t tell you that! Seriously, Kevin Towers is the one who has really done a terrific job over the years in building bullpens without the biggest names.

IIATMS: You are one of the first, if not the first, front office executive with a blog that shares real information. How’d that come about and how did the organization react to your idea?

PD: Lack of sleep. Honestly, I had been talking about it internally for a while and had started an internal blog during the winter primarily for our people in the business operation at the Padres. I decided to take it public late one night when the Major League team was really struggling. I figured our fans both needed and deserved some answers from us. Though there are certainly pitfalls (and I keep finding them), it seemed to me that we should be willing to endure those evils in order to be able to have a direct conversation with our stakeholders, our fans.

IIATMS: In your blog, you question how difficult the trade/rumor mill process must be for the players. How do you deal with players during this time? Do you actively seek them out to keep them in the loop? Do they call you? Are you able to share info with them?

PD: It depends on the situation. There are times when I’ve kept a player in the loop about his situation when I thought it was appropriate. Other times it’s more difficult because trades are tenuous, and you don’t want to burden a player unnecessarily.

IIATMS: Which agents do you most enjoy working with?

PD: I’ll decline to start naming names, because I’m sure I’ll leave some out. There are quite a few who do a good job and genuinely care for their clients.

IIATMS: Which of the other GM’s do you have the strongest relationship with?

PD: I think there are six sitting GM’s and at least that many Assistant GM’s outside of the Padres whom I worked with or for at different times. I also played college football with Mike Hill (well, I spent more time watching and Mike spent more time playing), and Thad Levine’s dad coached my basketball team in 2nd grade. No joke.

IIATMS: Who in the industry do you admire the most and why?

PD: I admire a number of people in this industry for different reasons. Many of them know who they are, so again I’ll decline to name names. That being said, the run that the Atlanta Braves put together for 15 consecutive years still astounds me. John Schuerholz, Bobby Cox, Paul Snyder and many others were responsible, but that collective achievement hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. It’s simply stunning.

IIATMS: There’s been a recent trend of locking up rookies (and 2nd year players) with longer term contracts to buy out their arbitration years. Do you believe in this approach? How do you decide which are worth the risk?

PD: It all comes down to the individual player. I’ve worked in organizations that have been pretty aggressive when it comes to signing young players to long-term deals. In the right situation it can make sense for both the Club and the player.

IIATMS: What changes to the entry draft would you change, if any?

PD: I would prefer a hard slotting system so that the Clubs, players, and agents would not expend so much time, energy, and emotion on the negotiations. I don’t think anybody really wins in the current setup, and it can lead to animosity at the beginning of a partnership.

IIATMS: What sort of things do you and your team read? Asked differently, do you guys dive down into bowels of the internet/blogosphere for ideas, insight, opinion? Do you consider the public’s reaction?

PD: I try to read everything I can, but I probably don’t read as much about baseball as you might think. During the workday I’m interested in the latest studies and insight, but away from work I’d much rather be reading about other subjects.

IIATMS: Did you ever feel pressure to make a deal because a competitor of yours made a deal?

PD: Not really. I’ve always thought you shouldn’t spend too much energy worrying about the things you can’t control. Our mission is to build the best team possible, regardless of what anyone else is doing.

IIATMS: Tell us one thing about yourself that the general public doesn't know and would be surprised to know.

PD: I’m a goofy foot surfer.

Again, a huge thank you to Paul for taking time out of his schedule to provide us with some insight into the life of a senior front office executive. And if you haven't yet bookmarked his blog or signed up for an RSS feed, go visit It Might Be Dangerous... and do it!

Yankee Stadium tour

For those of you who have never been to the Stadium, and even for those of you who have, the Tour of the Stadium was pretty darn cool. Monument Park, walking along the warning track, into the dugout, into the locker room (no pix allowed!), then up to the press box. The kids had a great time and so did I. Thankfully the storm held off long enough for us to get the full tour.

Here are some of the pictures (you can click on any of them to see a larger version):

Stark on Instant Replay

This is no slippery slope we're pleading for, friends. This is called progress.
-Jayson Stark

Jayson Stark from ESPN is a pretty out-of-the-box kinda guy. He loves triviality, wacky stuff. The "y" in his name shows him mom probably knew that from birth.

His article yesterday, in addition to the usual "around the league rumblings" about potential free agents and stuff, had his list of ways to EXPAND the use of IR. I know many of you (yes, looking squarely at you, Ron!) already find the use of IR as anathema. So cover your eyes if you already hate IR:

So what other ways could replay (or other technological gizmos) be applied? Here's our list:
1. Fair or foul.
2. Trap or catch.
3. Correctly positioning runners after fan interference or an overturned call, and …
4. Sorry to be sacrilegious, but (gasp) even for selected out-safe calls on the bases.

To be fair, he suggests the use of one "challenge" on a safe/out calls per game. He notes that the managers would likely not waste those challenges early in games, only late when the game's on the line. I'm not in favor of this idea, but I will reserve the right to keep an open mind.

To conclude, Stark noted Selig's thoughts on the subject, relayed via an unnamed "official" (emphasis mine):

But will they view it that way? Not likely. So convincing the commish and the umpires to point the cameras at those out-safe calls is going to take time. We know that.

"Bud is not there yet," said an official of one club who has spoken with Selig. "But most clubs think this is just the beginning. Bud's feeling is, 'Let's go slow and start from there. We can't ask the umpires to accept it all too fast.' But I bet, in the next bargaining agreement [with the umpires], this will be a big issue."

Reader mailbag: Turkey dinner

Got a bit of a laugh from one of the readers, Mark, who was sent by another reader, Chris, to mock Yanks fans. But Mark was good enough to produce this:

Yeah, Ponson's a big fat turkey who's clearly DONE! Nice work, Mark!

Buzz Bissinger feels for Bonds

Blogger-friendly Buzz Bissinger hates Barry Bonds. Expect now he feels bad for him:

But last week’s news trickling out of the endless investigation of Barry Bonds has caused me to feel something for him I never thought possible: sympathy. And beyond just sympathy, outrage over what has turned from a prosecution into a venomous persecution of someone who, no offense to the pastime purists, is just a baseball player. And I am beginning to think that federal authorities in charge of the pending criminal case against him for perjury have exactly the same attitude many sports fans do — we don’t like Barry Bonds, and since we don’t like him, let’s teach him a lesson he won’t forget. Let’s ruin him, which the federal government is fond of doing in all too many instances.

This is so absurdly silly. Simply because time has passed is not a reason to let a crime go unpunished. HE LIED TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. UNDER OATH. True, Bonds is due a speedy trial and this has been far from that. But just because we've allowed the grass to grow around that truck up on blocks, we should let Bonds off the hook? Screw the statutes of limitations and all that legal mumbo-jumbo!

Buzz goes on to say this:

...In fact some of those named, such as Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, are still playing.

But the major difference is that Pettitte and Giambi (to some extent) are likeable fellows, whereas Bonds is downright loathsome.

Whoa, whoa, whoaaaaaa Nellie! Giambi TOLD THE TRUTH to the federal grand jury, admitting steroid usage and even getting into graphic descriptions how he'd inject it into his stomach, buttocks. Pettitte also admitted HGH usage, though not under oath. As a result of his being forthright (at least his perception of being forthright), Pettitte was excused from the Clemens debacle.

Buzz makes a flimsy argument about Bonds not being able to tell the truth because it would have ruined him. So Bonds chose to lie.

If he had taken steroids and told the truth, he would have been ruined. By not telling the truth, he would have been ruined. He was in a no-win situation. And when it comes to manning up, or more precisely not manning up, he is once again in very plentiful company. Of the 86 players named in the Mitchell report, how many actually cooperated with the investigation? Precisely one: Jason Giambi.

Giambi had a few years of brutal treatment but he was honest (without really admitting it to the public, I know) and eventually his fans came around to supporting him. After all, he wasn't the only cat in the birdhouse. Bonds could have taken a similar route, admitting his faults, his errors, his mistakes...showing his human side... and it's possible that the public would have forgiven him, or at least understood him better. Instead, he's chosen the defiant route and that has kept him on the wrong side of the public's opinion.

Buzz IS right in that Bonds is loathsome, but the reason Bonds is still being hunted is that the government doesn't particularly like being lied to and made to look the fool. Buzz makes the leap that 1) because Bonds is an unlikable dude and 2) he's still being hunted by the big, bad government, MLB has colluded to keep Bonds off the field this year:

In fact, more than just pariah: it seems pretty clear that he has been blackballed by the league this year despite statistics last season that included 28 home runs, 132 walks and an on-base percentage of .480 in only 340 at-bats. In the stretch-run for the playoffs, there isn’t a team that can use him? Of course there is, but his conspicuous absence smacks of collusion by team owners regardless of denials by Commissioner Selig. The players’ union smells stink, and so do I.

If Buzz has ANY sense of baseball history, he'd realize that the owners couldn't agree on what day it is today and what direction the sun rises from, much less agreeing to keep Bonds unemployed. There's no way Selig to tell every owner to keep Bonds off the field without anyone knowing. And even IF Selig had that magical power, wouldn't he have done it LAST year to keep Aaron atop the career HR list? Selig is a consensus-builder as a management style. He's not the dictatorial type. To suggest, seriously, that Selig could have orchestrated a Bonds-free 2008 season is just patently ridiculous.

Bonds has had the chance, innumerable times, to admit his wrongdoing and rehab his image. He could have done what McGwire failed to do: use his platform and position to help authorities slow the drug development pipeline, help dissuade kids from using steroids, share his story. Yet, he's kept his wall up, his guns pointed back at us, the government. He's tried to make MLB the bad guys for keeping him out of the game. At some point, Bonds needs to look in the mirror and realize that only he, himself, has to blame for his position right now.

A fitting way to close the Stadium

Well, we've missed him all year --minus the taped Jeter intros-- but maybe we'll have him back to do the finale:

Everyone knows the only fitting way to close Yankee Stadium is with Bob Sheppard returning to be the public-address announcer for the final game. His health has kept him from doing a single Yankees game this season - which would have been his 58th - but rest assured he has visions of returning for the finale.

"If I can be there, I shall be there."

There's no truth to the rumor that his voice echoes even when not in the Stadium. We can only hope that he feels well enough. He's been such a remarkable presence for decades, it's only fitting that he's there to turn off the lights. I sure hope so.

Another "only in baseball" injury

Whaddya know, back-to-back "only in baseball" injuries...

This time, the 'stache took one on the chin, errr, eye:

"I would like to have something to tell you, something like a fight or anything else," Giambi said. "But it was nothing like that. I walked into the bathroom door at the hotel and split it open."

The cut resembled a gash a boxer would get during a fight, but didn't keep Giambi out of the lineup.

"There was so much blood the maid probably was wondering where the body was hid," said Giambi...

Awesome.

Yet another great baseball injury

File this one under "injuries that only happen to baseball players":

The Los Angeles Angels right-hander managed to cut the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his pitching hand while pushing himself up off the bench in the visitor's dugout at Detroit's Comerica Park on Tuesday night.
......
As for Weaver: How the heck did he do that?

"I went to push to get up and gripped where the staples in the upholstery come together, and it just got me," Weaver said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "It sliced me pretty good. It felt like a paper cut, but a lot deeper."

Bitter? Table for one, your table is ready

This seems rather delayed in it's response, but I found it rather, um, bitter, and therefore fun to read. The columnist, Bill Livingston from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, comes off sounding like an old, jilted divorcee in discussing the full page ad that CC Sabathia took out once he was traded.

I have nothing against people buying newspaper ads. It helps pay my salary. But just as political ads are deconstructed for truth and nuance, why not other ads?

Let the target audience remember Sabathia turned down four years at $18 million annually from the Indians. The idea of athletes leaving money on the table is as hilarious as the idea baseball players care about the viability of teams in the "flyover states."

In view of the poverty statistics, which list Cleveland as the second-poorest city in the country, it was nice of Sabathia to honor the little people who paid the freight for his on-the-job training until he moves on to greener pastures. Maybe $72 million over four years doesn't go as far as it used to, although it would seem to go far enough to test MapQuest.

Outside of the Chicago teams, which of the Central division teams, AL or NL, are big spenders? C'mon, this ain't new. Stop acting like this is a new trend. The greatest population densities are located on each coast. That's where the media and money go, more often than the Midwest. Hate it if you wish, but it's the way it is. And until hell freezes over MLB adopts a hard salary cap, that's the way it will be.

Of course, he uses this as a way to discuss LeBron and his eventual departure to an East or West coast team...

Joba and the YAE

Early into this blog's life (maybe that's the name of a yet-to-be-made movie), I discussed Tom Verducci's Year After Effect and it's relevance for the coming (2008) season. Around the all-star break, I took a look at those Verducci's YAE predicted would struggle and how they were faring.

The reason for the YAE preamble is the discussion that percolated yesterday about Joba returning as a reliever this year and that he will start 2009 also as a closer, before being transitioned to a starter. As a reminder, here's a bit from Verducci on the YAE:

It's like training for a marathon. You need to build stamina incrementally. The unofficial industry standard is that no young pitcher should throw more than 30 more innings than he did the previous season. It's a general rule of thumb, and one I've been tracking for about a decade. When teams violate the incremental safeguard, it's amazing how often they pay for it.

Here's the way I track it: Find major league pitchers 25-and-under who broke the 30-inning rule.

In 2005 and '06 I found 17 pitchers I defined as at-risk of the YAE. None made it through the next year without an injury or a higher ERA. Ten of them broke down, the most seriously hurt being Francisco Liriano, Gustavo Chacin, Adam Loewen, Scott Mathieson and Anibel Sanchez. Eleven of them had worse ERAs, by an average of about a run and a half. Remember, it's a general rule; there are exceptions, the superlative Justin Verlander being one.

Joba's pitched only 90.1 IP this year. Verducci noted in February that Joba's IP ceiling should max out around 149 IP. One hundred forty nine innings is roughly 5 IP per start, assuming 30 starts. Not exactly what you want from a guy who some think is a young Clemens.

So what do the Yanks do if they want to protect Joba? Do they simply ignore the YAE guidelines and just hope he works to condition his shoulder during the off-season and during the Spring Training? Do they just turn him loose? After all, he's 23 and a big strong guy. He's not built like a young Pedro Martinez or Mariano Rivera. And judging by the maturity he showed in Texas by calling out the trainer when something didn't feel right, he seems to have a grasp on the importance of staying healthy.

Or do they keep Joba on a 6 day rotation to keep his appearance count lower?

Or do they do what they did this year, having Joba begin as reliever and then re-transition to starter? Well, I don't think that worked out too well this year.

Personally, I toss him out there as a starter from Day One and do my best to manage the IP and appearance counts, giving him an extra day whenever possible.

Blogger buddy Shyster had a typical well-said about this subject:

What's more, if the whole idea of starting him in the bullpen and then moving him to the rotation didn't work this year, what's to say it would work next year? Chamberlain himself said that he would have preferred to have one role all season for the sake of consistency, so why jerk him around again like this in 2008?I'm not suggesting that the Yankees throw Joba to the wolves.

They should be careful. The should watch his pitch counts. They should rest him the moment he shows any signs of trouble. But for God's sake, let the boy pitch.

00:02:15

00:02:15. Two minutes, fifteen seconds. And a little touch of irony.

That's how long it took the officiating crew to conduct the first instant replay review last night. Fittingly, it was an ARod home run that will be remembered as the first reviewed HR as it was ARod's non-HR that kicked off the IR hubbub so many months ago.

"We all believed it was a home run, but since the technology is in place, we made the decision to use the technology and go look at the replays," Reliford said.

The umpires then headed for the third-base dugout where they viewed "several" replays on the monitor according to Reliford.

"And the replays we reviewed were conclusive that the call we made was correct," [Crew chief Charlie] Reliford said. "We had it going right over the pole. All four of us had it going right over the pole on the field. And our views of the replays
confirmed that. It was not inconclusive; it was conclusive that Brian's call was correct."

The crew took two minutes and 15 seconds to make the call.

Ahhh, that wasn't so bad, was it?

Added Reliford: "Everything went exactly like they trained us it would go."

NYC's lost revenues

There's an analysis by a prominent economist (a former number-crunching chief economist for three former city comptrollers) who details what NYC will lose if the Mets and/or Yanks miss the playoffs in terms of lost revenues. It doesn't detail the profit lost, just the revenues, so the numbers look pretty big.

The economist "factored in that Mets fans are primarily based in Brooklyn and Queens, while the Yankees draw from across the region, including Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut", hence the larger number for the Mets than the Yanks, in case you were wondering.

Programming note

Friends, due to a milestone morning (my little one going to kindergarten), I got into work late and need to tackle some work stuff. They pay my salary so they get first dibs, sorry.

I'll try to get to some things shortly, as time permits.

Thanks for coming back. I truly appreciate it.

Adam Dunn's not about the money

We'll see if he puts his money where his mouth is...

"I know that players become free agents and say it isn't only about the money, but now that I've been in this environment I know my priority as a free agent will be to sign with a team that has a chance to win. Money can't buy happiness when you're losing."
--Adam Dunn via Peter Gammons blog 9/1/08

I didn't do what I was supposed to do today

"I didn't do what I was supposed to do today"

--Sidney Ponson, 9/1/08

Actually, yes you did.

You sucked. It's exactly what we expected you to do. Want to do something unexpected? Try lasting 7+ innings and allowing less than 3 runs and less than a runner an inning. That'd be exactly what you weren't supposed to do.

But Yankees starter Sidney Ponson didn't fare much better and couldn't retire a batter in the fourth inning, during which Detroit scored six runs to make it an 11-8 game.

Ponson gave up seven runs -- six earned -- on nine hits in three-plus innings.

"I didn't do what I was supposed to do today," said Ponson, who endured his fourth consecutive subpar outing.

At what point does Girardi call Cashman and tell him he can't, in good conscience, roll Sidney out there one more time? How can Girardi look his veterans in the face and tell them to bust their tail every day from here on out when he pencils in Ponson's name every 5th day? There isn't some kid from AAA who might stand to gain something from the experience of pitching in the bigs? C'mon...

Make our long-standing nightmare come to an end and let Ponson go.

Great moments in presumptiveness

This would be better if it came from Hank, but it comes from Tyler Kepner of the NY Times:

But the Yankees might wish they could tell Brewers Manager Ned Yost to cut back on C.C. Sabathia’s innings – the Yankees don’t want their 2009 opening-day starter to be too tired when he arrives in the Bronx.

You know, just in case.

And yes, Kepner was just playing around, but it just read so funny, so strange.

Itemizing the Yanks shopping list

I was starting to compile the list of likely SP targets for the Yanks, then Tim at MLBTradeRumors.com went and did the work for me, sorting available FA by their K/9 IP rates:

Player K/9
John Smoltz 11.57
A.J. Burnett 9.31
C.C. Sabathia 8.90
Randy Johnson 8.74
Ryan Dempster 8.15
Oliver Perez 8.14
Randy Wolf 7.90
Ben Sheets 7.45
Bartolo Colon 7.09
Pedro Martinez 6.93
Andy Pettitte 6.80
Derek Lowe 6.38
Mike Mussina 6.22
Odalis Perez 6.01
Tim Wakefield 5.81
Jamie Moyer 5.75
Josh Fogg 5.26
Tom Glavine 5.26
Kyle Lohse 5.06
Brad Penny 4.90
Greg Maddux 4.60
Braden Looper 4.37
Kenny Rogers 4.31
Jon Garland 3.96
Paul Byrd 3.89
Mike Hampton 3.83
Sidney Ponson 3.79
Livan Hernandez 3.47

[Shocking, Ponson is at the (near) bottom of the heap. Well, you know.]

You can cross off Smoltz, Glavine, Unit, Pedro, Maddux, Wakefield, Rogers, Livan. It still points to Hank pushing Cashman to sign Burnett (assuming, of course, he opts out of his deal) and CC at any cost.