land of the free

The market for free agent Mississippians — and there are a bunch of them — has not been very active. Jonathan Holder signed a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Chuckie Robinson re-upped as a minor league signee with Cincinnati. Anthony Alford, who started last season in Pittsburgh and ended it in Korea, re-signed with his KBO team, the KT Wiz. There has been scant news on possible destinations for major league free agents Corey Dickerson, Adam Frazier and Billy Hamilton. Frazier, in particular, should be attractive. He’s a lefty hitter who can play multiple positions. An All-Star in 2021, the Mississippi State alum scuffled at his last two stops — San Diego and Seattle — but at age 31 he can certainly rebound. McComb native Dickerson is 33 and a career .281 hitter; he’ll land somewhere. Taylorsville’s Hamilton, 32 and limited to pinch-running and defensive-sub duties of late, might have run out of opportunities. Minor league free agents with state ties include Ti’Quan Forbes, Trent Giambrone, Wyatt Short, Delvin Zinn, Zac Houston, Dalton Moats, Cody Reed, Jack Kruger and Demarcus Evans. Also out there are Mike Mayers, Bobby Bradley and Chris Ellis, each of whom spent time in the majors in 2022. Spring training isn’t that far away.