Less is Mora? No deal can mean a great deal

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March 15, 2006 Eric Mack Senior Fantasy Writer Tell Eric your opinion FORT LAUDERDALE -- Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo, treading lightly, met with his free-agent to be 3B Melvin Mora on Wednesday to get a feel of where his head his. Because it hasn't been on the ball lately. The skipper heard what he wanted to hear in the meeting and then saw what he wanted to see on the field. Fantasy Draft Preview Senior Fantasy writers Eric Mack and David Gonos help you prepare for your draft with their positional scouting reports. Check out their analysis of third basemen. Launch Video Mora homered for the first time this spring and had three hits, putting a smile on the increasingly tense faces of himself, his manager, his agent and his Fantasy owners. Mora is in a contract year, you see, and had been hitting .259 with just one extra-base hit and RBI in 27 at-bats before Wednesday. Not exactly the production they want out of one of their biggest bats. "He's a great hitter; we knew that coming in," Perlozzo said of his third baseman who is unsigned after this season. "I met with him (Wednesday) and I haven't seen any indication it will be a distraction. He's his usual jovial self." Get your 2006 Owners Manual and Draft Guide! Not that Mora needed a pep talk, but the reassurance might have helped. Adding to his complex spring, Mora had a falling out with his Venezuela countrymen regarding the World Baseball Classic, bitterly opting off the team because he felt he was being disrespected. He was asked to play center field so Miguel Cabrera could play third. Mora, a proud Venezuelan, responded with an emphatic "thanks, but take that job and shove it." He actually publicly said something to the effect of "I will move from third for a real Venezuelan hero like Edgardo Alfonzo, but that's about it." Kevin Millar gives Melvin Mora a rap on the noggin after Mora's first spring homer Wednesday. (AP) Fonzy, eh? The same infielder, now nothing more than a veteran utility man, who flew out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-1 game vs. rival Dominicana on Tuesday to put the nail in Venezuela's WBC coffin. Ironic twist? Apparently Mora was not so fond of having to play second fiddle in his country to the 22-year-old Miggy. Proud veterans are all about getting respect, especially in a walk year and in contract negotiations. Perhaps Venezuela's misfortune or the WBC drama was what prompted the manager's chat Wednesday morning. Maybe it was the disappointing spring numbers. Perhaps the contract situation. Whatever the reason, the chat woke up the bat of the slugging free agent to be. "I asked him if he's going to be around with me the next three or four years," Perlozzo said. "He said, 'Yes.' "I have no reason to think otherwise. Hopefully they're going to get together and get something done." If it takes the uncertainty of the future to keep him popping homers, Mora's team and Fantasy owners might just want that carrot continuously dangling in front of him this summer. It's the human condition called the "Contract Year" and Mora is among our top Fantasy Baseball targets on Draft Day in that predicament. We rank, by how much a contract year will be motivation for them to excel, the top 15 free-agents-to-be among the hitters and top 10 FAs-to-be among the pitchers from what we cobbled together in CBS SportsLine's Fantasy Baseball player updates this spring: (By the way, Nick Johnson was on this list until signing a contract extension last week. There will be more like that before spring training is out.) Top 15 FAs to be -- Hitters Rk Position, player, age, team Three-year Rotisserie averages 1 1B Derrek Lee, 30, CHC .295AVG, 36HR, 99RBI, 100R, 16SB It sure looked like he already played for a contract last year. 2 2B Alfonso Soriano, 30, WAS .280-34-95-98-28 Position/park/league moves scary, but he's as motivated as ever. 3 LF Carlos Lee, 29, MIL .286-31-109-96-14 One of most underrated studs a possible midseason trade candidate. 4 3B Melvin Mora, 34, BAL .313-23-80-88-8 Entering the age of decline, but he's playing for one last contract. 5 3B/1B/OF Aubrey Huff, 29, TB .290-28-101-84-5 So much better than he showed last year. It's a huge year for him. 6 SS Julio Lugo, 30, TB .281-9-62-79-24 Expect another huge year for him before B.J. Upton takes over for good. 7 LF Cliff Floyd, 33, NYM .275-23-76-66-9 Showed what year of health means. Healthy again in that lineup? Wow. 8 RF Trot Nixon, 31, BOS .294-16-59-56-2 Long-time underachiever has a very good reason to break through. 9 RF Gary Sheffield, 37, NYY .303-36-125-116-11 Not a true FA to be, but playing for a big option held by The Boss. 10 LF Barry Bonds, 41, SF .347-32-67-83-4 If healthy, clean and slugging at legends, will pick place and price. 11 2B Jeff Kent, 38, LAD .291-26-102-91-6 How he plays this season will determine whether he even plays again. 12 LF Luis E. Gonzalez, 38, ARI .281-22-77-84-4 Once Carlos Quentin proves ready, Gonzo will be dealt somewhere. 13 2B Kaz Matsui, 30, NYM .265-5-34-48-10 He's still trying to prove worthy of his current hefty contract. 14 C Mike Lieberthal, 34, PHI .283-14-63-58-0 He says offseason knee surgery will have him healthier, but at age 34? 15 DH/1B Phil Nevin, 35, TEX .271-17-69-51-2 At this point, he either shapes up or ships out of the game altogether. Top 10 FAs to be -- Pitchers Rk Position, player, age, team Three-year Rotisserie averages 1 RH CL Joe Nathan, 31, MIN 7-3, 2.44, 89K, 29SV, 1.004WHIP Jesse Crain itching to take over, so Nathan's a trade candidate. 2 LH SP Barry Zito, 27, OAK (13-12)-3.85-160-0-1.257 Have to love his age, but his win pct. on contender not so much. 3 RH SP Jason Schmidt, 33, SF (16-6)-3.26-208-0-1.131 In contract time, the Giants will now admit he's lost heat on fastball. 4 RH CL Eric Gagne, 30, LAD (3-2)-1.82-91-36-0.809 Gagne holds a bad option; he's ready to hit it big or hit the highway. 5 RHP Jose Contreras, 34, CHW (12-6)-4.30-125-0-1.312 Why hawk horse? His next contract and Brandon McCarthy are why. 6 RH SP Kelvim Escobar, 29, LAA (9-8)-3.98-138-2-1.339 Got his last contract on promise. Has to actually earn next one. 7 RH RP Danys Baez, 28, LAD (4-6)-3.38-56-32-1.264 It's him or Gagne in L.A. The other will be a top target next winter. 8 RH SP Jeff Weaver, 29, LAA (11-11)-4.61-134-0-1.338 Jacked about pitching with his brother. Has to earn that chance. 9 RH SP Brad Radke, 33, MIN (11-10)-4.01-127-0-1.204 Talking like he's ready to retire ... not if he proves he worth $$$. 10 LH SP Tom Glavine, 40, NYM (11-14)-3.87-99-0-1.374 Great second half and says 15 wins possible in career hunt for 300. Honorable mentions: RH SP Mike Mussina, 37, NYY (pitching to earn team-held option), RH SP Greg Maddux, 39, CHC (pitching to polish his Hall of Fame resume and prove he's not finished). You can e-mail your potential free agent questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Top free agents in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses or answers to all questions.

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