LOL

<font color=goldenrod>Since I'm bored, here's a quick look at some of the big signings/trades I think will ultimately happen, in no particular order:

1. Teixeira - Angels: I just can't see the Angels letting Tex get away. Local teams like the Orioles and Nationals are apparently craving Tex but I'd think he would prefer to sign with a team that actually has a chance of competing.

2. Peavy - Cubs: Rumor has it the Orioles are gonna be the 3rd team in a deal, so I can see this happening. Cubs will have an awesome rotation.

3. CC - Dodgers: They have two rotation spots opening up, CC wants to be on the West Coast, and presumably play in the NL. I doubt the Dodgers will offer as much as the Yanks will, but I think CC will agree to take a couple million less to settle somewhere he wants to be.

4. Burnett - Braves: No explanation needed here really, this is close to getting done.

5. K-Rod - Mets: The Mets need a closer and they have a ton of options available to them in both free agency and trading. However, I think they really want K-Rod and will sign him, as well as trading for a guy like Huston Street to set up and give K-Rod a day off now and then.

6. Manny - Giants: Don't think I've seen this one mentioned anywhere. But anyway, the Giants are rumored to be willing to spend a fuckload to get Sabathia, so that shows they do have money to spend. If CC goes to the Giants, I think they'll invest their money at trying to fix their offense. Manny doesn't seem to care where he goes as long as the money is right.

7. Lowe - Yankees: With Sabathia and Burnett gone, I see no way the Yanks let Lowe get away as well. He's concerned more about dollar amount than years, so that should be no problem for the Yanks.

8. Fuentes - Brewers: Brewers seem to be the Mets' only competition at the two main FA closers, so I can see them settling for Fuentes when the Mets outbid them for K-Rod.

9. Wood - Tigers: Tigers seem to have interest in Wood and I can just see it being a fit. Probably a 2 year, incentive laden deal.

10. Oliver Perez and Ben Sheets: I can see both of these guys either staying with their old teams or essentially swapping teams. Sheets could be a nice #2 for the Mets if he can stay healthy, which is a big if.</font>

CC to the Giants is what I'm hearing more so than the Dodgers.

AN ALEX STORY...



A-Rod desperately seeking himself



Alex Rodriguez is a walking identity crisis. He is perpetually looking for something new because he never has found himself. He is the Howard Hughes of baseball, rich and famous beyond belief and still searching, seeking, yearning.

Right now, he is dabbling in a new religion, dating 50-year-old Madonna after divorcing his wife and trying to reaffirm his status as the best baseball player in the world instead of a $300 million nightmare. And now, in the latest chapter of his early midlife autopsy, Rodriguez is planning on dissecting his heritage.

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday that Rodriguez plans to play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Rodriguez played for the United States last time around, though the decision, as is de rigueur with A-Rod, came with all sorts of consternation.

Before the inaugural WBC in 2006, he first leaned toward playing for the Dominican. Then he wouldn’t dare choose between his native country (the United States) and his family’s homeland (the Dominican). Eventually, he bowed to the wishes of Major League Baseball, which needed his star power for the U.S. team.

Whatever the current motive of Rodriguez’s decision – to honor his family, to win the tournament or to rehabilitate an image tarnished like dull silver – it reeks of calculation, as do many of his actions. However brilliant Rodriguez looks on the field – and at his best, he is without peer – he continuously sports a dunce cap with his other antics. He gets caught by cameras with a stripper fling, disses Derek Jeter, apologizes and says he misses having sleepovers with the Yankees captain, opts out of his richest-ever contract during the World Series so he can get one even more lucrative, spends his money on apartment complexes that The New York Times exposes him running like a slumlord and, if that wasn’t enough, dumps his wife for the world’s biggest tabloid magnet and finds himself strewn in the pages of glossy magazines here and across the pond.

Rodriguez needs, like, a prayer. Because the confusion that consumes him isn’t all self-induced.

He joined Seattle as an 18-year-old, thrust into the life of a ballplayer that is so different from reality. Adoration was a birthright, attention a drug, and it took a place like New York, where a person’s true self is always exposed, to show that Rodriguez’s actions weren’t guided by narcissism or stupidity as much as immaturity and the indecision that accompanies it.

He is a kid, or at least his actions say he is, and Rodriguez is either acting out or on the path toward an adulthood filled with contentment and peace. If he is self-aware enough to understand that decisions about religion and marriage and ethnicity are not ones made willy-nilly – that all of these things comprise a person and should not be dictated by others – then he’s well on his way to the latter.

Though everything points toward this being another in a long line of A-Rod decisions made for the wrong reason. He was born in New York, lived in Santo Domingo for about four years and moved to Miami as an 8-year-old. Even though the WBC allows a player whose family comes from a country to play for it, that rule exists primarily so teams such as Italy aren’t filled with no-names.

Without A-Rod, the Dominican is loaded. That makes him look like even more of a carpetbagger.

Rehabilitating his public image at this point is like cleaning up the Exxon Valdez, so the best Rodriguez can hope for is little victories. Leading the Dominican to the WBC championship after it struggled as the favorite last time would help. And if he hits for the Dominican like he has for the Yankees in the postseason – well, it’s tough to get beaten up much more than Rodriguez already has.

Before any of the public reconciliation starts, Rodriguez needs to start by figuring out himself. Never will he be Joe DiMaggio, the New York Yankee who handled his tabloid life with the world’s most famous blonde with grace and style. A-Rod hasn’t even officially confirmed he’s dating Madonna and the whole thing is already a disaster.

The best he can hope for is to be Alex Rodriguez, the best baseball player in the world, who after years of looking found his identity and realized he no longer needed to search, seek, yearn.

<font color=goldenrod>Tigers acquire C Gerald Laird from the Rangers for pitching prospects Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo</font>

<font color=goldenrod>The Mets bought K-Rod and his agent a steak dinner...Jeff Wilpon even attended. Wilpon is typically involved in the final stages of Mets negotiations with big players.....so I wouldn't be shocked at all to see the Mets leave the Meetings with K-Rod as their new closer</font> :love:

Hopefully he can do well when asked to get 6 out saves all year

WINTER MEETINGS!

Reports going around saying that Cashman's chat with CC Sabathia was "great".

Sources claim that CC Sabathia wants to be a Dodger. The Dodgers are the perfect fit for CC. It allows him to hit, it's close to his home, and he wants to win. If they offer CC a contract somewhere near the Yankees I guarantee he'll take it. The belief that players are forced to take the highest offer by the Player's Union is a myth. Same goes for the agents pressuring the player. The union and agents will do what the player wants.

Tigers reportedly sign SS Adam Everett to a contract.

Brewers sign RP Todd Coffey.

I'm very happy with what the Tigers have done so far.

All they have to do is sign Wood or Fuentes and I will call this offseason a success

Greg Maddux calls it a career.

Lots of stuff went down over night.

Dodgers sign Mark Loretta.

Andy Pettitte to the Red Sox?

Yankees are prepping an offer to Ben Sheets.

Mets deal for K-Rod is about 3-years $37 mil.

I haven't heard Dodgers signed Mark Loretta. Where did you find this?

I get most of my info from mlbtraderumors.com

Yeah me too, but I still haven't seen the Loretta signing anywhere

Nevermind, I dug deep into the archives and found it. I'm surprised ESPN and Fox Sports didn't pick up the story

It seems like the Peavy to the Cubs rumors are getting serious. The Orioles and Phillies are reportedly in on the deal. Personally I think that pitching isn't the Cubs' problem, it's their strength. They should be spending more time on getting hitters. But I don't blame them for trying to get Peavy, especially for the package they're giving up.

The Vets vote 2B Tom Gordon into the Hall of Fame.

<font color=goldenrod>Listening to Mike Francesa on the radio today made me want to vomit. He was going on and on about how Sabathia is "embarrassing" the Yankees by not taking their contract offer. And a bunch of people were calling in and agreeing, saying he's an idiot for needing to be sold on the Yanks, etc.

It's like they refuse to believe that a professional baseball player doesn't want to sign with the Yankees...AND for less money, no less.</font>

Done deal! K-Rod and the Mets agree to 3-years, $37 million.

Casey Blake is also on his way to the Dodgers.

Unconfrimed right now, but CC Sabathia has declined the Yankees offer. The Giants are supposed to be heavy hitters right now.

Kerry Wood could be on his way to the Indians.

Trade news: Orioles trade catcher Ramon Hernandez to the Reds for Ryan Freel and a prospect.

Wow, we resigned Blake, and if we could get CC, it would be amazing

The CC thing is ridiculous. In the past two days I've heard he told the Dodgers he wanted to be with them, that the Giants are "supremely confident" that they will sign CC and then today I heard that the Brewers are the front-runners.

I just hope one of the big free agents signs soon so all the pieces start falling.

If CC goes elsewhere I am actually dreading what Brian Cashman will offer Burnett and Lowe. Glad that they sent an offer to Sheets though. Obviously injured a lot but he will cost a lot less than Burnett and Lowe and if healthy is better than both.

It's not always about the highest dollar. CC couldn't spend 140 million in his or his kid's or his grandkid's life, not could he spend 100 million. After the number gets way up there it becomes, or it should, about fitting into a plan and a lifestyle.
Some people will want to go to the Yankees or Red Sox, but for others that's not going to suit their personality or their lifestyle. If anything, people should applaud a guy like CC that recognizes this and isn't just looking for top dollar.
Maybe he ends up in New York pinstripes in the end anyway.

Very happy we landed K ROD, but it doesn't end there. We have got to build a bridge to get to him. Still a long ways to go.

I'm with you on Sheets, Dragon. I would have thrown a low-risk offer to Sheets just to see how he would stay healthy and sign either one of Sabathia/Lowe/Burnett.

All I know is that Cashman better get the ball rolling, getting kinda nervous right now we're gonna walk out of this with nothing.

37 / 3 = 12.333 million. For a closer. Crazy.

If he has 70 appearances, that's 70 innings (ish), he'd be commanding over $176,000 per inning/appearance. Hard to justify that, IMO

Like it or not, closers have all the leverage on the free agent market. It takes a certain breed of pitcher to spend one inning warming up and then being at your best for one inning a night. Some great starting pitchers can never make the adjustment to the bullpen, and the claim that anyone can be a closer is ridiculous. When has a closer by committee ever worked for a team? Especially when it concerns a team like the Mets who could have had another eight wins this year if it weren't for the bullpen. They can afford to spend the $12 mil a year on a closer.

OT: Which has been a more frustrating rumor so far this week? The CC Sabathia drama or the Jake Peavy is going to the Cubs, I mean not going to the Cubs, I mean certain to go to the Cubs, err no chance of going to the Cubs until the team is sold rumor?

Is a player worth $28.5 Mil per season?

That's what K-Rod is making in a pro-rated season.

But still, teams like the Mets can afford to spend that kind of money on a closer. Closers get paid to do what they do, just like hitters get paid to hit, and starters get paid to pitch at least 6 innings a go around.

And doesn't A-Rod make $28.5 million a year?

3 for 37? I take that anyday of the week! Its better than 5 75 thats for sure

This had to be done, we needed the premier closer on the market and we got it at a discount.

His value dropped or at least no one was buying into his demands. 15 mil a year for 5? that's garbage.

BREAKING NEWS: Reports flying around this morning is that CC Sabathia has agreed to the Yankees' offer.

Rockies agree to a deal with Alan Ambree

Rafael Furcal is still being bounced around.

Cubs and Padres got a long way to go to iron out a Jake Peavy trade.

The Yankees topped the Braves' offer to AJ Burnett but just a few million.

<font color=goldenrod>Shame that after all that, he decided to sign there anyway. Then again its the largest contract ever given to a pitcher. I give Sabathia credit for fully looking at his options first.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>According to ESPN, the Yanks had to guarantee a 7th year. $160 million

And now they are on the verge of signing Lowe for 4 years, $66 million</font>

What I've read, says Cashman went to meet CC, not that he signed him. But it does sound like it's getting close.

Jesus that's a lot of money for a 300 pound man.

<font color=goldenrod>3-way deal supposedly in the works that would see the Mets land J.J. Putz to be their new set up man......they'd be dealing Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, and Mike Carp</font>

So Sabathia gets 7 years with an opt out clause after 3. 3 years is supposedly when all of the California teams will have the money to sign him. Apparently the Brewers would've had to put the same 3 year clause in.

I don't get it, I don't really care, but Sabathia and his agent are geniuses.

Its lookin like were dealing Heilman and Joe Smith now. The idea of Putz and K Rod is very nice, and I would welcome it with open arms, I'm just a big fan of Smith's.