We've seen from Jim some of the reasons why Carlos Delgado could well be back with the Jays in 2005, but it's far from certain at this point. Let's take a look at the teams he might end up with.

First, lets divide the teams up by their needs:

"We Already Got One, It's Very Nice" - (15) Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Minneasota Twins, Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, St.Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers

Some of these teams wouldn't be in a position to sign a top free agent anyway, but all of them have starters at first they're not likely to upgrade. It's safe to eliminate these teams from contention.

Longshots - (5) Florida Marlins, Washinton DC-hopefully-not-the-Senators, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona is a team in severe rebuilding mode, its cash flow is constrained by back payments to retired players, and they'd be more likely to re-sign Richie Sexson anyway. So no chance.

Florida has a hole at first base but their payroll is always tight and I don't see Delgado ending up here.

Detroit has money to spend, their main problem has been finding someone to take it. They made a surprising improvement over their awful 2003 season, mainly by replacing Brandon Inge and Ramon Santiago with Ivan Rodruigez and Carlos Guillen, who both turned in great seasons. They may have soured on Carlos Pena, and if they're really encouraged by last year, they may try the same thing at first. I think they'd be better off improving more than one roster spot, so unless they get desperate this is an unlikely choice for Delgado also.

The New York Mets have been throwing free agents into their hole of sucking since the turn of the millenium. Their payroll is littered with overpriced free agents signed without any sort of plan to contend. If only the Yankees would be so kind to their league... Teams like this are exactly the ones to come in with an offer that's two years longer and $24 million more than anybody else, so if they decide to hose down Carlos with that kinsd of cash, it would be tough for other teams to match. On the other hand, Carlos gets an earful from New York fans because he does not support the war in Iraq. He also seems to like playing a bit out of the spotlight, so I'm guessing the Mets are out.

The Washinton franchise already has Nick Johnson, who is a fine hitter, but with the move into town they'll probably want to make a splash, and might go after a guy like Delgado. The longest of longshots but with a new city you never know.

They'd Have To Make Room For Him, But... - (6) Chicago White Sox, New York Yankess, Boston Red Sox, Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants

All of these teams have first basemen but would have the means to acquire Delgado if they tried. I'll start with the least likely and move up

Delgado is a longshot for the Yankees, who are already comitted to Jason Giambi, but Giambi's health and Steinbrenner's money (note the lack of a bad rhyme) mean a move like this is always possible. Giambi would pretty much have to reitre to make room for Delgado, as the Yankees have a lot of aging guys they may have to give DH at-bats to.

The Texas Rangers have an excellent first baseman in Mark Teixeira and, despite recent trade rumours, they're very unlikely to trade him. He has played in the outfield in the past without embarrasing himself, and the Rangers don't have a lot of strong outfielders. A move like this might be in the cards, although the Rangers seem to be obsessed with trading Chan Ho Park, so their offseason is pretty much spoken for. This task will keep them plenty busy.

The White Sox have Paul Konerko at first and Frank Thomas at DH, but Konerko has been rumoured in a few trades, notably with Arizona for Randy Johnson. If the Sox pull this off they'll have one superstar's salary to spend (Johnson - Konerko and Ordonez) and one first basemen to find. This would be tough for the Sox to pull off but if they do, whoa boy.

The San Francisco Giants have taken the greatest hitter of our time and surrounded him with the most mediocre lineup of our time. They'd have to find a use for Pedro Feliz but Delgado would make teams think twice about walking Bonds all the time. Barry's not getting any younger so their time to go for broke is now.

Boston has more positional flexibility than most teams, as Kevin Millar can play in right field and not embarras himself. They could make room for Carlos, although they've got a whole lot of their own free agents to sort through, and historically World Series Champions don't tend to make a lot of radical changes after they win (the '93 Jays are an exception - I haven't mentioned the Jays yet so I'd better get them in here). Money would be an issue with all the contracts they'll have to pay for.

The Anaheim Angels are perhaps the most likely of this group to sign Carlos. They have a Gold Glove first baseman in Darin Erstad, although the main reason Erstad is a Gold Glove first baseman is that he is actually a Gold Glove centre fielder in disguise. As a centre fielder his bat is half-decent but as a first baseman he is among the weakest hitters at his position. I'm not the first to suggest they'd get more out of him if they moved him but given his injury history the Angels have been reluctant to do so. If they did, Carlos would fit into the Angels' lineup very nicely. He could bat behind righty Vlad Guerrero and improve the Angels at both 1B and CF. He would be valuable to a playoff team that looks to fight it out with Oakland again, and Angels' owner Arte Moreno has shown himself willing to spend money on his team, and spend it well.

A Hole To Fill - (4) Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves

Baltimore is widely rumoured to have interest in Delgado, even though the've re-signed Rafael Palmeiro. Delgado would mean the O's could rid themselves of Blue Jay castoffs Marty Cordova and David Segui. The O's have a couple of reasons to spend lots of money as fast as they can - I mean - build agressively for next season. They'll face competition from the DC franchise for fan interest so they'll have to look interested in fielding a winner. Owner Peter Angelos seems to be tired of losing the spotlight to the Red Sox and Yankess, and buoyed by the teams' modest improvements this year, he'll likely want to make a splash. Like the Tigers, the O's have the money to spend. Definitely one of the favourites to get Delgado in the end.

Seattle is coming off a disaster of a season where they loaded up on expensive mediocrities like Raul Ibanez and Scott Spezio and dumped quality players like Carlos Guillen (see Detroit above). They also got suprised when Edgar Martinez and John Olerud got all old and stuff. Several season-ending injuries to their pitchers later they found themselves having to rebuild. They also have some money to spend (although according to www.ussmariner.com, they are also pretty stingy - great site by the way). Rumour has them going after Richie Sexson but they've got money, a place to play him, and a terrible offense to improve so Delgado could end up here.

The Atlanta Braves have managed to stave off the reaper, and continued their amazing run of success in 2004. First baseman Julio Franco has been staving off the reaper as well, and had a productive season at age 46 (!!!) but the Braves can't be counting too much on him doing that again. Delgado would fit quite nicely into this team, although I can't help but think that the anti-war thing would hurt deep in Republican land.

As for the Jays, its already been said here. Please check it out.