Let’s face it, the offseason might just be the most wonderful time of the entire year, and it’s never too early to look ahead.  For some, it’s their favorite part of the baseball “season.”  It’s a great time for rumors, trades, and of course, HUGE free agent signings!  And thus, it’s probably the greatest time of year to hand out nice, warm fleeces to unsuspecting GM’s.  Below, you can find the major players who will/could be free agents after the upcoming 2008 season, broken down into two tiers.  It’s a perfect time for your favorite team to make a splash in free agency, and make a push toward contention for the 2009 year. Happy Fleecing! 

Tier 1

1B: Mark Teixeira (27); Jason Giambi (36) - Team option worth $22M in ‘09, or $5M buyout; Carlos Delgado (35) - Mutual option worth $16M in ‘09, or $4M buyout

2B: Orlando Hudson (30); Jeff Kent (39) - likely to retire

SS: Rafael Furcal (30); Orlando Cabrera (33)

3B: Chipper Jones (35) - Team option worth $8-11M in ‘09 depending on ‘08 performance

C: Pudge Rodriguez (36); Jason Varitek (35)

CF: Ken Griffey, Jr. (38) - Team option in ‘09, or a $4M buyout

LF: Manny Ramirez (35) - Team option worth $20M in ‘09; Adam Dunn (28)

RF: Vlad Guerrero (31) - Option worth $15M in ‘09, or a $3M buyout; Bobby Abreu (33)

DH: Jim Thome (37) - Team option worth $13M in ‘09, or a $3M buyout; Frank Thomas (39) - Team option worth $10M in ‘09

SP: C.C. Sabathia (27); John Smoltz (40) - Vesting option worth $12M in ‘09 that becomes guaranteed with 200 IP in ‘08; John Lackey (29) - Team option worth $9M in ‘09, or a $500k buyout; Curt Schilling (41) - likely to retire; Ben Sheets (29); Pedro Martinez (36); Brad Penny (29) - Team option worth $9.25M in ‘09, or a $2M buyout; Andy Pettitte (35)

CL: Francisco Rodriguez (25); Trevor Hoffman (40) ; Eric Gagne (31); Brad Lidge (31)

RP: Brian Fuentes (32); Kerry Wood (30); Kyle Farnsworth (31); Brandon Lyon (28)

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Tier 2

1B: Richie Sexson (33); Nomar Garciaparra (34); Tony Clark (35)

2B: Ray Durham (36); Tadahito Iguchi (33); Mark Ellis (30); Mark Grudzielanek (37); Mark Loretta (36); Aaron Miles (31)

3B: Joe Crede (29); Hank Blalock (27) - Team option worth $6.2M for ‘09, or a $250K buyout; Casey Blake (34); Morgan Ensberg (32)

SS: Edgar Renteria (32) - Team option worth $11M for ‘09, or a $3M buyout; David Eckstein (32); Omar Vizquel (40) - Team option worth $5.2M for ‘09, or a $300k buyout; Felipe Lopez (27); Adam Everett (30)

C: Michael Barrett (31); Paul Lo Duca (35); David Ross (30) - Team option worth $3.5M for ‘09, or a $375k buyout;  Johnny Estrada (31); Jason Kendell (33) - Vesting option worth $4.25M for ‘09 which becomes guaranteed with 110 games played in ‘08; Gregg Zaun - Vesting option worth $3.75M for ‘09 based on games caught; Javy Lopez (37); Rod Barajas (32)

CF: Mike Cameron (35) - Team option worth $10M for ‘09, or a $750k buyout; Jim Edmonds (37); Mark Kotsay (32); Corey Patterson (28)

LF: Pat Burrell (31); Moises Alou (41); Cliff Floyd (35) - Team option worth $3M for ‘09, or a $250K buyout; Raul Ibanez (35); Garret Anderson (35) - Team option worth $14M for ‘09, or a $3M buyout; Brad Wilkerson (30)

RF: Rocco Baldelli (26); Milton Bradley (29); Brian Giles (36) - Team option worth $9M for ‘09, or a $3M buyout; Juan Rivera (29); Jacque Jones (32); Wily Mo Pena (25) - Team option worth $5M or Player option worth $2M for ‘09

DH: Jose Vidro (33) - Vesting option for ‘09

SP: A.J. Burnett (30) - can opt-out of current 5-year/$55M deal after the ‘08 season; Derek Lowe (34); Randy Wolf (31); Jon Garland (28); Mike Mussina (39); Mark Prior (27); Mark Mulder (30) - Team option worth $11M for ‘09, or a $1.5M buyout; Oliver Perez (26); Matt Morris (33) - Team option worth $9M for ‘09, or a $1M buyout; Orlando Hernandez (38?); Greg Maddux (41); Matt Clement (33) - Team option worth $8.75M for ‘09, or a $250k buyout (option could increase to as high as $10M if he reaches 200 IP); Jon Lieber (37); Josh Fogg (31); Randy Johnson (44) - likely to retire; Tom Glavine (41) - likely to retire; Jamie Moyer (45) - likely to retire; Kenny Rogers (43) - likely to retire

CL: Jason Isringhausen (35); Tom Gordon (40) - Team option worth $4.5M for ‘09, or a $1M buyout; Todd Jones (39); Ryan Dempster (30); Joe Borowski (36); Al Reyes (37)

RP: LaTroy Hawkins (35); David Weathers (38); Matt Herges (37) - Team option for ‘09; Bob Howry (34); Jeremy Affeldt (28); Alan Embree (37) - Team option worth $3M for ‘09; Aaron Fultz (34) Guillermo Mota (34); Juan Rincon (28); Keith Foulke (35); Mike Timlin (41) - likely to retire; Salomon Torres (35) - Team option worth $3.75M for ‘09, or a $300k buyout; Dan Wheeler (30); Scott Eyre (35); Will Ohman (30) Matt Wise (32); Luis Ayala (29); Joe Beimel (30); Juan Cruz (29); Eddie Guardado (37)