Nov. 14 -- FREE-AGENT FRENZY

BY SCOTT LAUBER

So, have you started your holiday shopping?

Yeah, I know. You've still got plenty of time. It's not even Thanksgiving, and if you're like me, you wait until the last possible minute anyway. But, for baseball general managers, the holiday shopping begins today. After two weeks of being able to negotiate only with their last team, free agents can start talking dollars and cents (if not sense) with other clubs. So, Pat Burrell, Jamie Moyer and nearly 180 other players are officially on the open market.

OK, before you start to panic, don't worry about Moyer. He may be able to negotiate with other teams, but he doesn't really want to. I'd be surprised if Moyer doesn't stay with the Phillies. In fact, I'd be surprised if they don't have a deal done next week. Ruben Amaro Jr. has been talking to Moyer's agent, Jim Bronner, for the past two weeks, and I think they'll come to an agreement shortly. Burrell is going to take a bit longer, if it happens at all. As we've mentioned in this space and in The Paper, he's bound to get generous offers from American League teams. If Burrell wants a three- or four-year contract, he'll have to go elsewhere. If he's willing to take a one- or two-year deal, he may stay right where he is. That's what the next few weeks will be about.

Here's a list of free agents, updated through Thursday night. Anyone on this list catch your eye?

Starting pitchers: Tony Armas Jr., A.J. Burnett, Paul Byrd, Bartolo Colon, Ryan Dempster, Scott Elarton, Josh Fogg, Casey Fossum, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton, Mark Hendrickson, Livan Hernandez, Orlando Hernandez, Jason Jennings, Randy Johnson, Jon Lieber, Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Jamie Moyer, Mark Mulder, Mike Mussina, Darren Oliver, John Parrish, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny, Odalis Perez, Oliver Perez, Andy Pettitte, Sidney Ponson, Mark Prior, Horacio Ramirez, Kenny Rogers, Glendon Rusch, CC Sabathia, Curt Schilling, Ben Sheets, John Smoltz, Randy Wolf, Jamey Wright.
Relief pitchers: Jeremy Affeldt, Luis Ayala, Joe Beimel, Doug Brocail, Juan Cruz, Elmer Dessens, Brendan Donnelly, Alan Embree, Kyle Farnsworth, Keith Foulke, Chad Fox, Brian Fuentes, Eric Gagne, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado, Matt Herges, Trevor Hoffman, Bobby Howry, Jason Isringhausen, Jason Johnson, Todd Jones, Jorge Julio, Mike Lincoln, Braden Looper, Brandon Lyon, Kent Mercker, Trever Miller, Guillermo Mota, Will Ohman, Chan Ho Park, Dennys Reyes, Arthur Rhodes, Juan Rincon, Ricardo Rincon, Francisco Rodriguez, Rudy Seanez, Brian Shouse, Russ Springer, Julian Tavarez, Mike Timlin, Ron Villone, David Weathers, Matt Wise, Kerry Wood.
Catchers: Brad Ausmus, Paul Bako, Gary Bennett, Henry Blanco, Sal Fasano, Toby Hall, Paul Lo Duca, Adam Melhuse, Chad Moeller, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Javier Valentin, Vance Wilson, Gregg Zaun.
Infielders: Rich Aurilia, Casey Blake, Aaron Boone, Russell Branyan, Orlando Cabrera, Miguel Cairo, Sean Casey, Juan Castro, Alex Cintron, Tony Clark, Alex Cora, Craig Counsell, Joe Crede, Ray Durham, Damion Easley, David Eckstein, Adam Everett, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Chris Gomez, Mark Grudzielanek, Jerry Hairston Jr., Eric Hinske, Orlando Hudson, Cesar Izturis, Jeff Kent, Mike Lamb, Felipe Lopez, Mark Loretta, Ramon Martinez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Kevin Millar, Greg Norton, Pablo Ozuna, Nick Punto, Edgar Renteria, Luis Rivas, Mark Sweeney, Mark Teixeira, Juan Uribe, Ramon Vazquez, Omar Vizquel, Daryle Ward.
Outfielders: Bobby Abreu, Moises Alou, Garret Anderson, Rocco Baldelli, Willie Bloomquist, Milton Bradley, Emil Brown, Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, Jim Edmonds, Juan Encarnacion, Luis Gonzalez, Ken Griffey Jr., Raul Ibanez, Gabe Kapler, Mark Kotsay, Jason Michaels, Trot Nixon, Corey Patterson, Jay Payton, Scott Podsednik, Manny Ramirez, Juan Rivera, David Ross, Brad Wilkerson.
Designated hitters: Cliff Floyd, Frank Thomas.

***
I'm visiting friends in Boston, and the big news up here (aside from the Patriots' loss to the Jets last night) is that the Red Sox have decided not to raise ticket prices for next season. It marks the first time since 1995, my freshman year of college, that the Sox haven't hiked the price of some or all tickets at Fenway. According to team CEO Larry Lucchino, the Sox made the decision because of the poor economy.

That isn't stopping the Phillies, though. Fresh off their 2008 World Series win, the Phils say they'll boost the price of most tickets by $2 or $3 in 2009. The really premium seats, the 100-level infield seats, will cost $6 to $50 more.

***
Got an e-mail from the Baseball Hall of Fame announcing the opening of their annual World Series exhibit on Monday. Included in the display will be Ryan Howard's bat used during Game 4 of the World Series, Carlos Ruiz's batting helmet from his game-winning hit in Game 3, the bat Joe Blanton used to hit his home run in Game 4, and the cap Brad Lidge wore during Game 5.

By the way, if you've never been to Cooperstown, you definitely should plan a trip. I used to live an hour away, and I can tell you, visiting the Hall of Fame never got old.

***
Mike Arbuckle will be a senior advisor with the Kansas City Royals, according to Jerry Crasnick over at ESPN.com. No surprise there. Arbuckle has a long relationship with Royals GM Dayton Moore and lives in Liberty, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City.