To the tune of...hell, you'll figure it out.

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Why does Type A free agency exist? Who does it benefit? Who does it hurt? Can it be fixed? Discussions of these questions and how they affect the Quest For Relief below.

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[Editor's Note: Promoted from the FanPosts, in case anyone missed its insight.  Keep the good stuff coming, if you'd like to contribute.  I'd love to put more on the front page.]

There has been some talk about the "handcuffs" of Type A/B free agency, so I decided to poke around a bit more. It's part of why we're reluctant to talk to Juan Cruz. It's why Pudge and Jason Varitek may not have jobs next year. Details, thoughts and possible loopholes after the jump.

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Seems crazy, right?

I was trying to really see what the problem is, so I headed over to Baseball Reference for some objective analysis.

In the AL, we're fourth in runs scored/game, dead-freaking-last in runs allowed. This is strangely comforting, as the pitching looks to be improving. The batting, as frustrating as it is, with runners left on base, is still scoring runs.

Also, looking at individual pitchers, most of them are well off their historic peripherals. Verlander has as many walks as strikeouts right now. That will likely not continue. Same with Bondo. Same with Rogers.

(Verlander also leads the AL in hit batsmen, which is kind of hilarious. That likely will continue...he did it last year, too.)

Also, we appear (based on Range Factors) to be getting above league-average defense at every position except first base. Cabrera, Guillen? A-HEM, fellas.

Speaking of Cabrera, he was actually only (again, based on range factor) slightly worse than Inge, and considerably better than league average at third. But his fielding average was 0.900, courtesy of 5 errors. That's almost certainly fluky--if he was actually that bad of a third baseman, he would not have made it to the majors as a third baseman. I wonder how many of his "troubles at third" were mostly him getting used to the new field? Maybe they cut the grass shorter at Comerica, or the ground is harder.

If I could get Dave D's ear right now, this is what I'd say: don't do anything crazy. They're underperforming, not bad. They're due to go on a tear. For the last two years, they've been amazing out of the box, then settled down. Maybe this is the year there's a middle or late hot streak.

I may eat these words, but I think that things are likely to to improve, and not just in a "how could they get any worse" sense.