Draft preview: Hey, it must be the money

It's everyone's favorite vice, that all-mighty dollar. And it's the motivator many love to see in their Fantasy players: Those in a walk year.

Heck, last year it had to be the reason Alfonso Soriano debunked thoughts he would struggle in that big pitcher's park in Washington and amid a change of leagues. Sori wound up becoming only the fourth 40-40 man in baseball history -- and a very, very rich man.

Residually, his Fantasy owners, too, perhaps.

Here we break down the top free agents to be and project those that might have a career year because of it. It's perhaps the most anticipated and clamored-for list in the Fantasy industry. People love to know the upcoming free agents, almost as much as they like money ... or air to breathe.

We don't buy into it as much as you all do -- mostly because free agents are usually old. Before being a big-league free agent you have go through three cheapo years and three years of salary arbitration.

Pending free agency motivation is something that could be taken away on a day's notice, too. A Carlos Zambrano could sign a long-term deal like Vernon Wells did this winter in anticipation of free agency for 2008. Now that Wells has made his cash, what is the possibility he could take his foot off the gas pedal?

Motivation is nice and all, but some players just don't control how well they perform -- especially the aging veterans (John Smoltz, Curt Schilling, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera). Those old mares -- albeit still pretty darn good -- just ain't what they used to be.

Heck, we all want to be our best right before an annual performance review, but we're usually most motivated just to get the work done so we can go home or on a vacation.

Further, hating on this favorite strategy, most big-league free agents are being paid for what they have done, instead of what they will do. We likely have already seen the best of them and teams are buying high, a no-no for those dealing with commodities.

And there are some that are serial free agents -- they're on the market every year and never much better because of it. (Yeah, we're talking about you Jeff Weaver).

But enough for the reasons we are skeptical of the FA-to-be breakouts.

There are the rare first-time free agents that make it to the big leagues very, very young and enter the free market after their six years of service. They still can be at or before their prime.

Here our top 10 free agents to be, focusing on players who are most motivated to have a big year to spruce up their resume before contract negotiations next winter:

Free-agent rankings by position

Knowing even the mundane pending free agents can help in those keeper leagues where you are stashing a top prospect in need of a big-league opportunity. With that in mind, here are the top free agents by position. The ones in bold project to have the best chance to outperform their draft position.

Starting pitchers -- Carlos Zambrano , John Smoltz, Curt Schilling, Freddy Garcia , Jake Westbrook , Bartolo Colon , Mark Buehrle , Jason Jennings , Livan Hernandez, Kip Wells , Doug Davis, Jaret Wright, Kenny Rogers, Chan Ho Park , Matt Clement , Carlos Silva, Ramon Ortiz, Joe Kennedy , Jon Lieber, Wade Miller, Kyle Lohse, Rodrigo Lopez, Eric Milton, Shawn Chacon, Byung-Hyun Kim, Josh Fogg, Scott Elarton.

Relief pitchers -- Mariano Rivera, Bob Wickman, Francisco Cordero , Todd Jones, Armando Benitez , Octavio Dotel , Kerry Wood , Scott Linebrink , Jorge Julio , Mike Timlin, Luis Vizcaino , J.C. Romero, Chris Reitsma, Ricardo Rincon and Ron Mahay.

Outfielders -- Ichiro Suzuki , Andruw Jones , Bobby Abreu*, Jermaine Dye, Corey Patterson , Torii Hunter , Eric Byrnes, Milton Bradley, Aaron Rowand , Mike Cameron, Trot Nixon, Brad Wilkerson , Jason Michaels , Luis E. Gonzalez, Reggie Sanders, Kenny Lofton, Shannon Stewart, Bobby Kielty, Brady Clark and Jeff DaVanon

Catchers -- Michael Barrett , Jorge Posada, Paul Lo Duca , Mike Piazza, Jason Kendall, Jason LaRue , Javy Lopez, Brad Ausmus, Ramon Castro, Jose Molina, Damian Miller and Yorvit Torrealba.

First basemen -- Mike Sweeney , Craig Wilson , Ryan Klesko , Sean Casey, Olmedo Saenz, Mark Sweeney, Tony Clark and Doug Mientkiewicz.

Second basemen -- Tadahito Iguchi , Kaz Matsui, Luis Castillo, Todd Walker, Mark Loretta, Marlon Anderson and Tony Graffanino.

Third basemen -- Alex Rodriguez* , Mike Lowell, Pedro Feliz , Eric Hinske , Mike Lamb, Russell Branyan, Aaron Boone and Abraham O. Nunez.

Shortstops -- Carlos Guillen , David Eckstein , Omar Vizquel and Neifi Perez.

* denotes there is the likelihood an option, or in A-Rod's case, an opt-out, will be picked up and make this player a free agent after the season.

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