SI.com's Jon Heyman has obtained the 2008 Elias Rankings and reports that Bobby Abreu, Damaso Marte, Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte are all Type A free agents while Ivan Rodriguez is a Type B. The rankings are based on statistics from the last seasons. To sign a Type A free agent away from his current team, you must surrender your top pick in the upcoming MLB draft (unless you were one of the 15 worst teams in the game, in which case it would be your second round choice). The former team also receives a supplemental pick. When a Type B player is lost, no draft pick is surrended, but the losing team still receives a supplemental pick.

To be eligible for compensatory picks, though, the player must have been offered arbitration and declined it - or must be signed by another team before December 1, the deadline for an arbitration offer. Joseph wrote a good primer.