Who Will Be the First 10-Million Man? : Baseball: Cal Ripken, Barry Bonds, Kirby Puckett, Ruben Sierra, Wade Boggs and Doug Drabek are among those eligible for free agency after the World Series.

Now that Ryne Sandberg has reached the $7 million mark, baseball’s first $10 million man is on deck.

So who will it be?

Maybe the lucky player will come from the next crop of free agents because the potential list is simply sensational. Cal Ripken, Barry Bonds, Kirby Puckett, Ruben Sierra, Wade Boggs and Doug Drabek are among those eligible to file after the World Series, and some of them surely will be available.

“Cal Ripken is positioned as well as a player possibly could be with free agency staring the Orioles in the face,” ventured agent Jeff Moorad, who represents Will Clark, Gregg Olson and others.

Eric Davis, Mark McGwire, David Cone, John Smiley and Randy Myers also might be on the move, although there’s still time for teams to work out new contracts with their stars.

There’s also time for the players to work on driving up their worth. A good season in a player’s final year before free agency can send his price zooming, as Danny Tartabull did in earning a $25 million, five-year deal from the New York Yankees.

Ripken is off to a slow start following his MVP season. He says his main focus is hitting and catching the ball, not catching Sandberg and hitting the $10 million mark. No matter what, he’ll do a lot better than his current deal, which averages barely $2 million per season.

“I don’t want to get involved in contracts, numbers and that kind of stuff,” Ripken said. “I’m signed through the end of this year.”

It is a common feeling among baseball people that many players automatically do better in their salary drive seasons, and several stars have done it.

Last year, Bobby Bonilla and Wally Joyner hit for career highs, Dave Winfield enjoyed his best power season since 1983, Mike Morgan was over .500 for the first time ever and Jack Morris became the World Series MVP, all leading to rich, free-agent contracts.

But, that’s not to say anyone can simply turn it on in a drive for dollars. Frank Viola went from being a 20-game winner to a loser last season, Tom Candiotti was merely a break-even pitcher and Eddie Murray dipped, and they all did well in the free-agent market. Before them, Terry Pendleton, Ted Higuera and Kirk Gibson also did not distinguish themselves in their set-up seasons.

Still, it’s a lot easier to remember the players who boosted their value, guys like Darryl Strawberry, Bob Welch and Franklin Stubbs in the previous free-agent crop, and Nick Esasky, Mark Davis and Mark Langston before them.

Problem is, that tends to lead to an simple conclusion, as in it’s easy for a player to turn it on for one season. Instead, it’s more likely that a potential free agent, someone who’s been in the majors for at least six years and is around age 28, is in the prime of his career and probably getting better.

Just how much money teams will be willing to spend next fall is in doubt. With the average salary for major leaguers more than $1 million for the first time, there is talk that the spiral may not continue, at least not so rapidly. Besides, there could be plenty of top players available.

“The market always corrects itself,” San Francisco general manager Al Rosen said. “It’s supply and demand, and supply is going to outstrip demand.”

One more thought on a free-agent theory held by many, that as soon as a player signs a long-term contract, his production declines: wrong.

Studies show that in the first year of a new contract, free agents usually do slightly better than in the previous season. But it is true that those free agents are likely to play slightly fewer games -- whether that’s because of the extra security, or just older age, is for debate.