This article is posted on MLBTR and is Fangraph's ranking of the top 10 FA infielders of the upcoming offseason:

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/09/top-free-agent-infielders.html

 

Not knowing about this article, I was busy coming up with the players on the MLBTR FA list that I thought were the best.

Here is my list; # in parenthesis is age, and 3 #'s are BA, OBP, and OPS. These players are in no specific order of goodness.

 

Catchers-Chris Ianetta (30)-.246 BA, .340 OBP, .773 OPS

Gerald Laird (33)-.268 BA, .331 OBP, .704 OPS

A.J. Pierzynski (36)-.283 BA, .327 OBP, .850 OPS

David Ross (35)-.266 BA, .344 OBP, .805 OPS

Carlos Ruiz (33)-.340 BA, .406 OBP, .968 OPS

First Basemen- Adam LaRoche (33)-.269 BA, .342 OBP, .847 OPS

2^nd Basemen- Robinson Cano (29)-.301 BA, .370 OBP, .907 OPS

Adam Kennedy (36) - .262 BA, .345 OBP, .702 OPS

Jeff Keppinger (32) - .327 BA, .374 OBP, .811 OPS

Shortstop- Ronny Cedeno (29) - .276 BA, .351 OBP, .786 OPS

Jhonny Peralta (30) -.252 BA, .313 OBP, .716 OPS

Marco Scutaro (36) -.290 BA, .333 OBP, .720 OPS

3rd Basemen- Eric Chavez (34) -.282 BA, .341 OBP, .820 OPS

David Wright (29) -.312 BA, .400 OBP, .895 OPS

 

After looking at the stats of the FA 1st basemen's market, if the Twins do put Morneau up for sale, they should be able to get a large, if not HUGE return for him, as I can really only see one kinda-good 1B on the market, and I think Morneau's numbers are outpacing LaRoche's. (In fact, Morneau is doing better than LaRoche (.269 BA, .342 OBP, and .847 OPS) with a .280 average, .339 OBP, and .813 OPS after the anemic, hits worse than Drew Butera on a good day start he had)

Morneau is very enticing for the Red Sox, obviously. Two top 10 BoSox prospects and taking on all or the good majority of Morneau's $14 million salary.

Morneau is very enticing for the Red Sox, obviously. Two top 10 BoSox prospects and taking on all or the good majority of Morneau's $14 million salary.

 

The problem with the Red Sox is the same now as it was during the Mauer kerfuffle; Boston needs pitching too. That was what they got in return in the Dodgers deal. I have a hard time believing they would turn around and trade that pitching away for a $14M Morneau on a 1 year contract. I also have a hard time seeing MN move Morneau for anything other than pitching. I guess perhaps a SS. Anybody have a read on the RS SS situation?

Laird and Kennedy? They are both below average players.

Surely the options for Ruiz, Cano and Wright will be picked up. With the lack of SS options, I'm sure the Tigers will pick up Perralta's option too.