On Friday the market for free agents officially opens when teams can begin making offers to players other than those who finished the season with other clubs. The Brewers and Dodgers got the ball rolling at this past week's general managers meetings in Dana Point, California, with the Brewers offering left-hander CC Sabathia five years and $100 million to stay in Milwaukee, and the Dodgers offering two years and $50 million in an effort to keep left fielder Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles.

Considering those were only starting points, it's hard to imagine how high the dollar figures will eventually go. With that in mind, let's take a look at the top 25 free agents, listing their WARP3 for the 2008 season, and making educated guesses about where they might land:

CC Sabathia (11.1): The big left-hander is 28 years old, has never had surgery, and figures to be a workhorse for many years to come. He's the biggest prize on this year's market, and while the Brewers came out of the gate aggressively, Sabathia figures to see bigger numbers from the Yankees. The Cubs, Angels, and Giants will also make a play, with the Dodgers as the wild card. In the end, the Yankees will throw so much money at Sabathia that he won't be able to say no.

Manny Ramirez (10.8): The left fielder had an amazing two months with the Dodgers, playing so well that agent Scott Boras actually believes he'll be offered a six-year contract. That might be a reach; the slugger is 37 years old, and there aren't as many teams interested as one would suspect. The Yankees are concentrating more on adding pitching, and the Angels would prefer to keep Mark Teixeira, while the Nationals and Blue Jays seemingly don't have enough money to get a deal done. Look for the Dodgers to re-sign Ramirez after doubling their initial two-year, $50 million offer to four years and $100 million.

Mark Teixeira (10.8): The switch-hitting first baseman turned down an eight-year, $140 million offer from the Rangers in 2007, so they traded him to the Braves, who in turn dealt him to the Angels this past season. Teixeira would be the most logical fit for the Angels and the Red Sox, and the Yankees also have at least some degree of interest. The one team that seems ready to blow Teixeira out of the water is the Nationals, who could go as high as 10 years and $200 million after a season in which they lost 102 games and had poor attendance in their new Nationals Park. Teixeira grew up in Maryland, and the gut feeling is that he won't say no to a big-money offer from DC.

That is just a ton of money. I don't know if I would accept that if I were him really. I'm sure he could get something around that number perhaps and not have to play for the Nationals. It's really a tough choice.

The only thing that would prevent me from signing the dotted line is that I would have to play for Nationals.

Man get out of here, I surely hope you are joking

For 200 million I would sign a lifetime contract with the Nationals.. regardless, he could prolly get similar money from a better team but still, 200 million to play a game for 6 months out of the year is nice no matter where you are playing.

Man get out of here, I surely hope you are joking

For 200 million I would sign a lifetime contract with the Nationals.. regardless, he could prolly get similar money from a better team but still, 200 million to play a game for 6 months out of the year is nice no matter where you are playing.

Man get out of here, I surely hope you are joking

For 200 million I would sign a lifetime contract with the Nationals.. regardless, he could prolly get similar money from a better team but still, 200 million to play a game for 6 months out of the year is nice no matter where you are playing.

Some things are more important than money, one of them is not playing for an organization like the Nats.

Why are we thinking that Boras wouldn't get an opt-out clause? JD Drew got one. Manny created one. ARod got one. Burnett got one. I'll bet there are other guys that get them who we never hear about them because they suck so badly (Zito).

Well, if it was me, I wouldn't even have Boras as my agent. I'd be my own agent.

Well, if it was me, I wouldn't even have Boras as my agent. I'd be my own agent.

CC Sabathia (11.1): The big left-hander is 28 years old, has never had surgery, and figures to be a workhorse for many years to come. He's the biggest prize on this year's market, and while the Brewers came out of the gate aggressively, Sabathia figures to see bigger numbers from the Yankees.

Does anyone else not think Teixeira is worth this at all?

Not to Washington. He isn't going to help them win anything next year. He's a nice player, but he won't but butts in the seats IMO.

There are talks about him signing a 10 year, 200 million dollar deal. I'm pretty sure the Nats aren't just looking at next year.

I'm not convinced he would help them win within the next 10 years. Nationals are low budget. They are gonna give 20 mil to Tex. That would be half their payroll or near it.

Does anyone else not think Teixeira is worth this at all?

He's a very good defensive first baseman who won't even hit 35 homeruns a year or hit for anything resembling a great average. There's nothing about Mark Teixeira that calls for even a hundred million dollar contract.

When does free agency officially begin?

He's a very good defensive first baseman who won't even hit 35 homeruns a year or hit for anything resembling a great average. There's nothing about Mark Teixeira that calls for even a hundred million dollar contract.

So he plays in Washington two or three years before forcing a trade to a team he really wanted to go to in the first place?

Reading the entire article

The Nats don't have money to make a play for Manny, but are front runners for Teixeira?

If Boras would represent me, I'd hire him in a minute. Hello Grad School with a $100,000 guarantee and no TA load

One player doesn't work on a small or medium payroll, this isn't basketball. No matter if he's "worth" $20 mil per year or not.

I think Tex is a nice poster and all but I would never give him 20 million a year let alone for 10 years. Id offer more around the 14-16 million range especially if Im going to give him that 10 year security blanket.

incidentally, Pujols is on pace to be a much greater player than Gehrig, when all's said and done -- deserve all that money.

Pujols will never be greater than Gehrig until he averages 140-150 RBI a season for 8 straight seasons.

Yep and just as soon as you get him in the middle of a lineup with 5 other Hall of Famers (1 of them being Babe Ruth) on a team with a .380 OBP he'll do just that.

It amazes me that a lot of people don't see him as the best player in baseball still.

With a new ballpark and potentially a solid-looking fanbase there in D.C. (I think lobbyists will survive the economic downturn quite well), they probably have a decent amount of money to spend if they want to.

Some things are more important than money, one of them is not playing for an organization like the Nats.

Let's not pretend that Pujols isn't on HGH.