I admit I don't know what I've been looking forward to more today: the President's speech on Afghanistan or the decisions by each major league team on free-agent arbitration. Sources close to the White House have drained a lot of the suspense from the former by leaking details of the President's plan for days. Wait...this just in...CNN's Wolf Blitzer is reporting that Bengie Molina's agent is in close contact with Mullah Omar...no, sorry, that's Minaya Omar...
As I type this, there's no word yet from the Giants. They'd be foolish not to offer arbitration to Molina, as he's highly unlikely to come back for one year as a potential backup when other offers that guarantee him a starting role will no doubt be in hand. The others: Brad Penny, Juan Uribe, Randy Winn, Randy Johnson, Bobby Howry, and Rich Aurilia. Uribe and Penny will be interesting decisions, but I think the others are almost assuredly no-offers.
About half the teams have made their calls, and a few are significant for the Giants. For example, Florida didn't offer arbitration to Nick Johnson, which means signing him doesn't require the surrender of a draft pick, which also means more competition for his services. MLB Trade Rumors has a running list of offer/no-offer players here.
Speaking of the President, I'm actually in D.C., staying in a hotel a couple blocks from the White House. I think Marine One flew over my cab as we crossed the Potomac on the way into town. Hmm, I wonder if Hamid Karzai is Type A, Type B or neither? I'm off to dinner but will check back in later to comment on the Giants' arb decisions. I'm here 'til Friday, so if you know the town, feel free to leave restaurant recommendations in the comments.
