Birmingham, Ala. — Now that Major League Baseball has crowned a World Series Champion, attention turns to the hot stove as free agency begins. This week on Baseball Digest Daily Live, a distinguished panel comes together to predict, ponder and compare the players available. Three guests join in an hour long podcast dedicated to this year’s baseball classifieds, so join host Eric SanInocencio for another edition of BDD Live this Saturday at high noon eastern time.

With over 200 players and pitchers on the market, three noted baseball minds will attempt to make sense of how this year’s contracts will be doled out. First off is BDD writer Rob McQuown, who’ll discuss the Jake Peavy market and whether the former Cy Young winner’s actual value matches what he’s perceived. The former STATS, Inc. programmer steps in studio in the first segment.

The biggest player in this year’s market will likely be the New York Yankees, and Bronx Banter’s Cliff Corcoran will attempt to shed light on the Bombers plans. Bronx Banter is now apart of the SNY.tv blog network, and has been long heralded for its great opinion on Yankee baseball. Corcoran will update us on NY’s pitching situation, and whether or not Brian Cashman will delve into the trade market.

With all the speculation behind us, Baseball Prospectus writer Christina Kahrl will shed some light on the first actual trade of the offseason. The Kansas Royals and Florida Marlins made a swap, with KC adding first baseman Mike Jacobs to the roster. Kahrl will analyze the transaction and debate whether Jacobs power is enough to offset his deficiencies.

As always, your calls are welcome, so feel free to join in the action. Call 646-716-7728 to enter the discussion.

So join us on Saturday at 12:00 PM Eastern Time at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/baseballdigestdaily to listen to the live broadcast. You can also download the show or listen to the recording upon completion. Or, to download this and all other podcast archives via iTunes, just do the following:
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Eric SanInocencio
Host — Baseball Digest Daily Live
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/baseballdigestdaily

…The New York Yankees have declined pitcher Damaso Marte’s $6 million option on Thursday with a $250,000 buy out. Marte came over to the Yankees with Xavier Nady in a trade for Ross Olendorf, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen and Jose Tabata from the Pirates.[Yahoo]

…According to Baseball America a total of 561 minor league players are free agents. They even break down the numbers. 56.7% of the players are Triple A players, while Double A players make up 25.5%, Single A players report in with a 11.6% while Short Season A is the lowest with a 6.2%. [Baseball America]

…The Boston Red Sox will be adding about 560 seats to the almost 100 year-old Fenway Park. That would bring seating capacity to more than 37,000. This is the eighth year of a nine year improvement plan, they’re also making a move for the All-Star game to highlight Fenway’s 100 year anniversary. [USA Today]

…The Denver Post’s Troy Renck is reporting that Phillies and Cardinals are the leaders for the Matt Holliday sweepstakes. [Denver Post]

…Major League Baseball is drafting a proposal for general managers that would eliminate “coin flips”, and instead use head to head records when determining sites for tiebreakers for division and wildcard’s. [CBS]

…The Arizona Diamondbacks have found a new sponsor for their pool beyond center field. RideNow Powersports is the newest sponsor in a long line of sponsors for the pool at Chase Field. It replaces Riviera Pools who just recently filed for bankrupcy protection. [CBS]

…According to the Houston Chronicle the Astros are going to announce they’ve signed relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins to a 1 year deal worth around $3.75 million dollar. Hawkins split time between the Yankees and the Astros in 2008. [Houston Chronicle]