Well, it’s wintertime again, and we all know what that means; another Hot Stove off-season for major league baseball. There are plenty of rumors circulating about baseball players, but here are five “buyer bewares” for baseball free agency.The first player to watch out for is Barry Zito. Yes, he has won a Cy Young award, and he is a lefty. This does not remove the one crucial fact that his agent is Scott Boras. This means to even speak to him, you must have a minimum offer of $20 million a year. No player is worth $20 million. (Prediction: Zito will receive a 5-year $105 million contract with the Texas Rangers.) The next player to be wary of is Cliff Floyd. The reason to not go after Floyd is because the man cannot stay healthy. He has tremendous power and always drives in runs, which makes teams willing to gamble on him. However, in his 12-year career, only five times has he been able to play in over 120 games. Any team to pay him more than $4 million will be over-paying. (Prediction: Floyd will receive a 1-year $2.5 million contract with the Oakland Athletics.)

Another player to watch out for is Gil Meche. We all know he has an electric pitching arm, but so does Kerry Wood. No way is a pitcher like Meche, with a career ERA over 4.50, worth his asking price of $10 million a year. (Prediction: Meche will receive a 5-year $50 million contract with the New York Mets.)

This player might catch some people off-guard, but look out for Dave Roberts. He went from a potential bargain to wanting more than $5 million a year. He is worth $5 million, but a 35-year-old who was never really good until the last few years is not worth any more than that. (Prediction: Roberts will receive a 3-year $19 million contract with the San Diego Padres.)

The No. 1 player to look out for, though, is J.D. Drew. The 31-year-old has had a lot of trouble staying healthy. He played in over 120 games just four times in seven years. He opted out of a contract that would have paid him $11 million a year over three years, which is already over-paying for him. Now this player, who has only hit over 30 home runs once and had 100 RBIs once, is asking for $15 million a year. Sadly, he will probably get it. (Prediction: 5-year $75 million with the Boston Red Sox.)

Those are five players that teams should be wary of this off-season. Hopefully, your team won’t be the one overpaying. An honorable mention is Alfonso Soriano, but I just couldn’t add him because how many four-time 30 home run-30 steal (one of which was a 40-40 season) players are there? In the end, all players are only worth the price teams are willing to pay.

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