This 2009 Off-Season is not a lively one

I hope that you’re a football fan. Because if you’re not, you’re bored as shit waiting for baseball to come back around.

Look at the names being kicked around right now in free agency:

• Despite preliminary talks, Olney finds a Padres extension for Adrian Gonzalez to be “very, very unlikely.”
• The Dodgers “are in the chase” for free agent starter Joel Pineiro, with the Angels and Mets other suitors. The Dodgers were first linked to Pineiro by MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick on December 8th. With a chunk of the Juan Pierre savings already spent on Jamey Carroll, Pineiro seems out of their price range.
• Olney guesses that Matt Holliday will ultimately sign for five years and $82.5-85MM, with options and/or incentives that could “dress it up as a deal that could be worth over $100MM.”
• The Orioles continue to hunt for a pitcher and corner infielder. I should note that they were initially linked to Pineiro, but maybe the $9MM committed to Kevin Millwood takes them out of the mix. An Erik Bedard reunion could be a possibility.

Look at those names. There are flies circling those names. Jamey Carroll? Juan Pierre? Kevin Millwood? Not to mention the crown jewells (Jason Bay, Matt Holliday) are a couple of soon to decline outfielders on the wrong side of 30 that want paid like they’re the franchise when they’re really more complementary pieces.

It almost makes you happy that you are the fan of a moribund franchise like the Reds who wrestle over breadcrumbs like Chris Burke and Laynce Dicks. Almost.

It’s almost the new year, which means we’ve got only four more months of watching these teams shuffle deck furniture on the Titanic in preperation for the 2010 season. The lack of guys available out there makes for one dull offseason.