Two days after the World Series, and nothing has happened so far to harm or help us.  There is a reason behind this: much of the activity you see at the moment pertains to players with contracts specifying "Club options for 2010".  At the risk of sounding remedial, take the case of Jermaine Dye as an example.  His contract has a club option for 2010 - The White Sox had to decide whether to pick up his option for the pre-determined amount or buy it out for the pre-determined buyout price.  If Dye was still kicking butt, the Sox would automatically give him a 1 year, $12 million deal.  But, since he hit about .150 the last two months of last year, they gave him a million bucks and parted ways with him. 

It is the right thing to do to buy out options at this point in time, so that the player can declare himself a free agent during this short declaration window. 

However, the shrewd businessman Jim Hendry does not seem to deal with options.  None of our players have one due for 2010.  All of our long-term guys have guaranteed money for next year, regardless of how bad they sucked in 2009.  We have five guys, however, who have played out their contracts, and are eligible for arbitration if we so choose.  We can take a bit longer before we decide on them because they don't need to "file" within the window.  If we don't want them, then they automatically fall into the free agent pool.

These five intrepid souls have the last names of Harden, Gregg, Grabow, Johnson and Fox.  Yes, The Chad Fox, he of the right arm that is held together with bent paper clips and pieces of chewed gum.  Certainly they won't offer him arbitration, for his own personal dignity.  Can you imagine THAT hearing?  "Mr. Fox, your arm has completely fallen off of your torso three times, and partially detached from your torso on five other occassions.  Frankly, we have NO comparable cases from which to arbritate, outside of one Dave Dravecky..."

How about the other four guys?  Do you want to keep them at the price an arbitrator would decide upon?

Rich Harden does not lose a lot of games, made a fair amount of starts this year, and strikes out a ton of guys.  He also does not win a lot of games, or pitch a lot of innings.  But an arbitrator is going to look at his K/9 and BAA and his eyes will bulge in childlike wonder, and decide he is probably worth something close to an eight-figure salary this year. 

If you knew NOTHING else about Rich Harden, would you take one year of him for 10 mill? 

Sure, you would.  But there seems to be more there than just a guy with dominating stuff and seemingly improving durability.  If you believe the media and the Braintrust, communicating via the same media, offering arbitration to this man is a gamble.  Of course, he doesn't have to accept it, but if he should, then you're on the hook.  For some reason, the Cubs are extremely hesitant to do so.  I personally believe all the dirt on him, so I would take a pass.  I totally understand, though, if you want to keep him.  One of us is Very Wrong.  I'm not sure who, yet.

How about John Grabow?  He's a fair-to-middling reliever, who happens to throw with his left hand, which automatically raises his value from a 4 (out of 10) to a 6 or 7.  There just isn't that many good lefty relievers.  He is not a LOOGY.  But he never really has been used as one, because most young guys would resist that role, and the Pirates never could truly afford the luxury of having one.  Could he be a LOOGY for us?  We sure could use one.  Or would someone like Joe Biemel be better served in that role?  I like Grabow and want to keep him.  But, I think the so-called latest demands, 2 yrs/8 million seem steep, when we could find similar for less. 

Reed Johnson, White Slice, Soul Patch, Vag Face, he of the highlight reel catches?  Once again, like the guy, would like to keep him.  But since we have Fukudome already, who does pretty much the exact same thing, both with the bat and with the glove...as they say in the UK, White Slice has become "redundant".

Which brings us to the most intriguing of cases, the one of our fallen closer, Short Arm himself, Kevin Gregg.  He made a pretty penny last year, and if he goes to arbitration, stands to make at least the same amount, IF NOT MORE!  Certainly, I'm NOT advocating him to return next year, am I?  Particularly when the man was the closer, lost his spot, and would serve as a living breathing backseat driver to the notoriously jumpy Carlos Marmol?

However, from what I read in the papers, the braintrust have not simply dismissed Gregg.  God, why??

Well, last year he was only one year removed from reconstructive surgery.  He stands to improve next year, ala Ryan Dempster did a few years back.  (Why did we trade for the guy in 2009, and make him closer in the first place? )  He most certainly won't be as bad in 2010 - so do you offer him arb, and on the off-chance he accepts it, install him as a set-up man along with Angel Guzman, and at the same time convince Marmol that Gregg is not there as an insurance policy in case he himself fails?

Does that sound plausible to YOU?

Naaaah, me neither!  Get lost, Shotput Boy.