Where do I start?  This offseason has been the craziest that I can remember since the 2000-01 offseason, one that included ridiculous contracts signed by Darren Dreifort, Mike Hampton and Alex Rodriguez.  The only thing we can take from looking back at such historically ludicrous signing binges is that they usually don't last from year to year.  In other words, B.J. Ryan signing a five-year, $47 million dollar deal shouldn't affect what the top closer signs for next year.  In fact, don't be surprised if the Blue Jays are looking to dump Ryan's salary within a year or two, a trend we see more and more often in baseball today.

With Ryan's name we'll start with the short relief purge that has taken place on the free agent market.  Ryan's contract was the most ridiculous.  While he was coming off of a very good year for the Orioles, he is hardly proven enough to warrant such a pay-day.  However, as they say, it only takes one team to really like a player, although it should be noted that the Indians were also thought to be pursuing Ryan very hard.

Billy Wagner, a much more proven and dynamic closer, signed a four-year contract with the New York Mets worth $43 million.  The Phillies picked up set-up man Tom Gordon to assume the role as their new closer for a three-year, $18 million dollar deal.  The Yankees filled Gordon's spot by inking Kyle Farnsworth (three-years, $17 million).  The Giants nabbed Tim Worrell (2 years, $4 million), the Tigers picked up Todd Jones (two years, $11 million), and Cubs bolstered their bullpen by signing two effective set-men in Bobby Howry (three-years, $12 million) and Scott Eyre (3 years, $11 million).  Eyre and Howry were the first free agents to sign, and I thought the Cubs were crazy to sign them to the deals they did.  However, they just got significantly crazier from there.

Amidst the insanity among the short-relievers and closers, the most proven free agent closer of them all, Trevor Hoffman, remained in San Diego after nearly departing for Cleveland, signing a two-year, $13.5 million dollar deal with an option for a third year.  And after the Indians got shot down, twice, they re-signed Bob Wickman.

The run on relievers reminds me of a run on certain positional players in the NFL draft.  The rest of the market was slower to materialize, but it picked up considerably with the annual Winter Meetings that started on December 5^th.  A.J. Burnett gave the Blue Jays two notable free agent acquisitions, signing a five-year deal worth $55 million, very similar to the deal his former teammate, Carl Pavano, signed a year ago with the New York Yankees.  Paul Byrd signed up with the Indians (two years, $14.5 million) with Esteban Loiaza heading to Oakland (three years, $21 million).  Jamie Moyer re-signed with the Seattle Mariners for one-year ($5.5 million).  Kenny Rogers joined the Detroit Tigers for two years ($16 million).

Rafael Furcal's three-year, $39 million dollar deal with the Dodgers turned more than just a few heads, especially when most had him pegged to sign with the Cubs.  Furcal is a very good shortstop, and being able to lead off is a big, added value.  But is he worth $13 million dollars per year?  No, especially considering Miguel Tejada's current contract averages less than $13 million/year.

Brian Giles, like Trevor Hoffman, spurned several teams to stay in San Diego for a relatively modest three-year, $30 million dollar deal.  Paul Konerko, the biggest free agent commodity, also remained with his 2005 employer, the Chicago White Sox, for a five-year, $60 million dollar deal.  Ramon Hernandez decided to join the Orioles with a four-year, $27.5 million dollar deal, which likely means Javier Lopez will either be moved to first base or moved altogether.  Fellow catcher Kenji Johjima is the only other notable positional prospect to sign.  The Japanese import signed with the Mariners for a three-year $16.5 million dollar deal.  If Johjima turns out as many expect him to, this could easily be the biggest bargain of the year.

Ok, maybe I'm focusing on money too much.  After all, living in the country we do everyone has the right to make as much money as they can as long as no one is hurt in the process.  However, that's what the game is all about these days, right?  Winning championships almost seems like an afterthought to what can certain teams do on a limited payroll.  For that, we have the trade market, which has been just as busy.

The trade season was kicked off by the first of many moves by the Florida Marlins, as they dealt Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the Boston Red Sox for several top prospects, including RHP Anibal Sanchez and SS Hanley Ramirez.  Many wondered why the Marlins would give up on 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett, but it's not hard to figure out how happy they were shedding themselves of Mike Lowell's contract.

Carlos Delgado and his big contract were next, being traded to the Mets for another prospect package.  In a separate trade with the Mets, the Marlins also got rid of Paul LoDuca, again, for more prospects.  Luis Castillo was dealt to the Twins for a couple of minor league arms.  Juan Pierre was traded to the Chicago Cubs for, that's right, more prospects.  Pretty much, if you play for the Marlins and you made more than one million dollars and/or your name wasn't Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis or Jeremy Hermida, you were going to be traded.  Attention Ron Villone, that means you're next.

The biggest trade not involving the Florida Marlins had slugging 1B/DH Jim Thome heading to the World Champion Chicago White Sox for centerfielder Aaron Rowand and two minor league pitching prospects.  Since the White Sox also re-signed Paul Konerko as noted above, the addition of Thome gives the White Sox a formidable one-two punch in the middle of the lineup.

Red Sox shortstop Edgar Renteria was moved for Atlanta Braves super-prospect Andy Marte, who is blocked at third base at the big-league level by Chipper Jones.  After acquiring Mike Lowell in the Beckett trade, the Red Sox are likely to trade from their depth at third base to address their new found need at shortstop, with the Devil Rays' Julio Lugo being the most notable target.  Miguel Tejada could also be a target, who has recently expressed his displeasure with the Baltimore Orioles.

While the Marlins were involved in all of the big trades, there were several smaller trades made of significance.  Lyle Overbay was dealt to the Blue Jays for David Bush, Gabe Gross and minor league lefty Zach Jackson.  Mark Loretta of the Padres was traded for the Red Sox' Doug Mirabelli.  The Reds traded Sean Casey to the Pirates for Dave Williams.  The Giants and Orioles swapped relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Steve Kline.  Johnny Estrada went to the Diamondbacks from the Braves for Lance Cormier and Oscar Villarreal.  The Padres and Devil Rays traded once high-touted prospects Sean Burroughs and Dewon Brazelton for one another.  Pirates' lefty Mark Redman was dealt to the Royals for Jonah Bayliss, the Pirates also obtained reliever Damaso Marte from the White Sox for Rob Mackowiak, the Braves swapped Dan Kolb for Wes Obermueller of the Brewers, while the Reds picked up Tony Womack from the Yankees for a package of prospects.

Whew.  You got all that?  This doesn't even include minor signings and trades such as the Cubs picking up John Mabry or the A's trading future considerations for Chad Gaudin.

So, who has made out the best so far?  The Mets are the sexy pick, but they have been throwing money at problems for years with little to show for it.  I will say they went from having the worst production at first base to having one of the most productive sluggers at the position in Delgado.  And as I pointed out during the entire season last year, don't bet against the Braves in the NL East until they finally fall off of the top.

The Blue Jays may have paid the price for their acquisitions, but they got a top of the rotation starter in Burnett to team up with Roy Halladay, a potentially dominant closer in Ryan, and a solid, steady bat in Lyle Overbay.

Don't laugh, but the Marlins have done this before, and acquired a lot of young talent in return during their fire sale, while also picking up some supplemental picks in next year's draft with the departure of free agents A.J. Burnett and Todd Jones.  You can hardly say they did the best of any team, but a few years down the road we may be looking back at how well they did in some of these deals much like we did with their fire sale after the 1997 season.

After not giving much credit to them all of last season, I'm going to give my vote to the Chicago White Sox.  They re-signed the biggest commodity on the open market while retaining their team leader in Paul Konerko, and added another huge bat (Thome) despite giving up Aaron Rowand in the process.  I've always believed that keeping your own is very important, and the White Sox have very good outfield depth to make dealing Rowand possible.

Of course, it's far too early to accurately judge who has had the best offseason, as the only way to gauge the results are by looking at the final results a year from now.