Free Agent Compensation

Baseball America provides a nice breakdown of how free agent compensation works and also a list of type A and B free agents for the 2010 season.

"Starting with the 1980-83 Collective Bargaining Agreement, MLB has determined which free agents require compensation by using Elias Sports Bureau calculations based on two years of performance. Players are sorted into position groups by league: catchers; designated hitters, first basemen and outfielders; second basemen, third basemen and shortstops; starting pitchers; and relief pitchers.

All hitters are graded on plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBIs. Fielding percentage and assists also are considered for catchers, and fielding percentage and total chances also matter for second basemen, third basemen and shortstops. The categories for pitchers are starts, innings, wins, winning percentage, ERA and strikeouts for starters; and relief appearances, innings, wins plus saves, ERA, hits per nine innings and strikeout/walk ratio for relievers.

Players who rate in the top 20 percent of their position group are designated as Type A free agents, and those in the 21-40 percent bracket are designated as Type B. To receive compensation for a Type A or B free agent, the player's former club must offer him arbitration.

Type A free agents yield the signing team's first-round choice and a supplemental first-rounder, while Type B free agents produce only the sandwich pick. Clubs that finished in the bottom half of the major league standings have their first-round selections protected from compensation, and consolation picks for failure to sign draftees from the previous year can't change hands either. If a team signs multiple Type A free agents, the club that lost the higher-ranking player gets the better pick.

Below are the potential Type A and B free agents by position, listed in order of Elias ranking. Not all of these players have filed for free agency yet, and some have 2010 options that may be picked up by their current teams."

Potential Type A Free Agents Catchers: Bengie Molina (SF). First Basemen: None. Second Basemen: Orlando Hudson (LAD), Placido Polanco (Det). Third Basemen: Chone Figgins (LAA). Shortstops: Marco Scutaro (Tor), Miguel Tejada (Hou), Orlando Cabrera (Min). Outfielders: Matt Holliday (StL), Jason Bay (Bos), Johnny Damon (NYY), Jermaine Dye (CWS). Starting Pitchers: John Lackey (LAA), Randy Wolf (LAD). Relief Pitchers: Jose Valverde (Hou), Mike Gonzalez (Atl), Rafael Soriano (Atl), Billy Wagner (Bos), LaTroy Hawkins (Hou), Rafael Betancourt (Col), Darren Oliver (LAA), Kevin Gregg (ChC), John Grabow (ChC), Octavio Dotel (CWS).

Potential Type B Free Agents Catchers: Ramon Hernandez (Cin), Jason Varitek (Bos), Ivan Rodriguez (Tex), Jason Kendall (Mil), Rod Barajas (Tor), Yorvit Torrealba (Col), Miguel Olivo (KC), Gregg Zaun (TB). First Basemen: Fernando Tatis (NYM), Carlos Delgado (NYM), Adam LaRoche (Atl), Nick Johnson (Fla). Second Basemen: Felipe Lopez (Mil), Ronnie Belliard (LAD). Third Basemen: Melvin Mora (Bal), Mark DeRosa (StL), Adrian Beltre (Sea), Troy Glaus (StL). Shortstops: None. Outfielders: Marlon Byrd (Tex), Vladimir Guerrero (LAA), Xavier Nady (NYY), Brian Giles (SD), Garret Anderson (Atl), Randy Winn (SF), Mike Cameron (Mil). Starting Pitchers: Rich Harden (ChC), Andy Pettitte (NYY), Vicente Padilla (LAD), Erik Bedard (Sea), Joel Pineiro (StL), Braden Looper (Mil), Jon Garland (LAD), Doug Davis (Ari), Randy Johnson (SF), Jason Marquis (Col), Justin Duchscherer (Oak), Carl Pavano (Min). Relief Pitchers: Scott Eyre (Phi), Brandon Lyon (Det), Kiko Calero (Fla), Guillermo Mota (LAD), Chan Ho Park (Phi), Bob Howry (SF), Joe Beimel (Col), Will Ohman (LAD), Doug Brocail (Hou), David Weathers (Mil), Russ Springer (TB), Fernando Rodney (Det), Brian Shouse (TB).