Back in 1959, when I was first getting hooked on the radio, Tony Fisher, known professionally as Miss Tony Fisher, had a hit record called The Big Hurt. Which is what I always associate with Chicago, Oakland, Toronto, and once again Oakland DH Frank Thomas, for I guess obvious reasons.

Now, based upon his .159-3-11 totals, it could be possible that Thomas has lost it, the Jays recognized it, and cut him loose. But, last year he did whack 26 homers, so maybe figuring the stylish Thomas still has some pop left in his stick.

But, it does make me wonder about Oakland releasing Dan Johnson who hit eight fewer homers than Thomas last year over 48 fewer games and who is nine years younger, when both are first basmen/DH's. Especially since Johnson, momentarily grabbed by the Rays, have now released him meaning he is a free agent for the second time in two weeks.

But, right around the time it was speculated that Oakland would let go of Johnson, I saw a list of available free agents and it really surprised me. At the time the list read (updates in parens):

Mike Piazza. Sammy Sosa. Ryan Klesko. Barry Bonds. Kenny Lofton. Corey KoskieRoger Clemens. Jeff Cirillo. Reggie Sanders. Jeff Weaver. Rondell White. Preston Wilson. David Wells.

Those were some of the names floating around the free agent circuit, and these are only the former stars, although some of them obviously have a cloud following them around. And, since then, Klesko has retired, Weaver signed a deal with the Brewers and is hurling at AAA, and Koskie is probably done thanks to post-concussion syndrome.

But, when teams like Oakland are looking for some veteran help to augment their young squads--and Oakland has Mike Sweeney in addition to Thomas--it does make me wonder what it is about the guys noted above that suggests they have leprosy.

The truth is I think we are witnessing a change in the way teams are looking at players, development, and well, how franchises are reinventing themselves.

And, what I see is that the build a team around solid vets and pepper with prospects seems to be giving way to an inverse. That is, build a team with young players, assuming you will either not have half of them in five years, or that they will be signed well beyond that free agent barometer.

So, teams would truly rather give a chance to Evan Longoria, or survive with Lenny DiNardo, keeping costs down, rather than spend a couple of million dollars on Ryan Klesko as a first base fill-in.

That not only makes sense to me, I think it is good for baseball, and good that as fans we have more opportunities to see up-and-comers, as well as cinderella teams.

But, it also means as fantasy players it is smart to watch the trends on the field because surely a change to that dynamic equates to a change on the roto roster. That is part of the challenge. It is all the fun!