Miklasz: Big signings no guarantee of success

As we get ready for the latest round of free-agent lunacy, here’s my question: which owner(s) will lose all self control and wildly overpay?

Led by Hamilton and Greinke, the free-agent class also includes Hunter, B.J. Upton, Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher; Adam LaRoche, Kyle Lohse and Rafael Soriano.

With franchises signing more of their own players to generous contract extensions to prevent them from entering the open market, the supply of free agents is limited. Accordingly, this is a relatively weak group, and the red-flag warnings are popping up everywhere.

That doesn’t matter. The recent history of embarrassing flops by big payroll teams will be ignored. There’s another Moreno out there, lurking with checkbook in hand, waiting to delight grateful and awestruck free agents by becoming baseball’s Secret Santa.

The industry is changing, and the intelligent teams understand this. These owners and GMs don’t care about winning the offseason. They’re focused on building a more cost-efficient future through the draft and player development and will largely avoid this costly excursion through baseball’s winter wonderland.

Thanks to Butch.