DeRosa classified as Type-A Free Agent

The Elias Sports Bureau's recent FA projections have Mark DeRosa listed as a Type-A free agent at the end of the season if he continues his current pace. What this means is that if the Cardinals offer him arbitration and he declines and is signed by another team, the Cardinals get two first-round picks from that team. Matt Holliday will be a Type-A after the season as well, so the Cardinals could get as many as five first-round draft picks for next year.

The general consensus is that DeRosa would accept arbitration from the Cardinals if he remains a Type-A free agent because teams won't want to give up draft picks for a 35-year-old who might have wrist surgery in the offseason. This would mean that the Cardinals would have him for another year at a reasonable price before he becomes a free agent.

Looks like a win-win situation for the Cardinals there. If he declines arbitration and is signed, we restock the farm system from what we lost to obtain him. If he accepts arbitration, we have him in our lineup next season.