It's been a relatively slow year in the Free Agent market.  That's not a total shock, given the relative dearth of impact names combined with the financial instability of many clubs moving into 2010.

The Diamondbacks appear to either be done with their Free Agent signings or almost done (there's still a chance we could see a mid to lower tier 1B (Garko perchance?) get signed by the club).  The only real way to judge the club's signings is on comparative worth, so let's go round the leaue and rate the signings thus far.

After the jump we'll look at those signings and then reflect on them and compare the to the Diamondbacks' moves thus far. 

A few reflections on the signings thus far:

1) Despite the glut of aging MIs, they all seem to have been paid more than their worth.

2) The usual suspects (Houston, Washington, Kansas City, etc) did as per usual and paid big money for mediocre talent.  It's not hard to look at some of these clubs and realize why they never compete.  Why some of us continue rooting for them is another question entirely.

3) Teams steered clear of any injury risks.  The real bargain on the market this year wasn't found at a particular position, but rather with those players with injury risks (Harden, Johnson, Glaus, Duchscherer).

How about how the DBacks did?  I think the DBacks held up really well when you look at the signings overall.  They basically got two upper third talents (for their respective positions) at middle to lower third costs.  That's what you hope for. 

You can also analyze the DBack trade with this in hand.  You can see how Byrnes would have viewed the value of Kennedy compared to the marginal (and overpaid) #4s on the market.  One can also understand that with one starter on his staff with significant health question marks, he would have wanted to avoid adding another starter with health issues.  That said, I still think the value of Harden and Duchscherer is undeniable and would have been worth the risk.