Late Innings

So much stuff happened today, and I’ll briefly touch on all of it. This is so far a very-exciting week at the Bellagio.

• The morning opened with a big bang: the Yankees got C.C. Sabathia under wraps for a whopping 161MM over seven years. Judging by the fact that Sabathia threw over 500 innings the last two years, I wonder when he’ll break down…
• Speaking of other big contracts, the Orioles offered Mark Teixeira a seven year deal, while the Nationals one-upped this with an eight year offer of their own (averaging 22.5MM a year.) As an O’s fan I’m excited, especially since Andy MacPhail is ready to increase this offer and be competitive for Tex’s services.
• More on the Orioles, they agreed to a two year, 6MM deal with shortstop Cesar Izturis. I like this move, since Izturis brings affordable speed and defense.
• The Orioles also need a catcher now with Ramon Hernandez being traded. They’ve kicked tires on Michael Barrett and Greg Zaun, however cannot now acquire Pirates’ backup Ronny Paulino, who was acquired this evening by the Phillies.
• The Orioles, after giving up on Jon Garland, are now interested in starting pitcher Braden Looper. Looper was a Type B who was not offered arbitration by his club, and the Cardinals will not receive draft compensation after he leaves.
• The Tigers swapped Matt Joyce for the Rays’ Edwin Jackson. This trade will help both clubs in my opinion.
• The Mets are also expected to get more relief help, and are deep in a three-way trade talk for Mariners’ closer J.J. Putz.
• The Cubs are now starting to take a firmer stance in the Jake Peavy trade talks, knowing that they’re the only party that’s interested in the Padres ace.
• The Yankees have extended their offer to A.J. Burnett for five years, at approximately 17MM per. Derek Lowe could potentially follow as well.
• Baseball America has a list of players available for all thirty teams for the big end of week Rule V draft.
• Four internet writers were introduced into the Baseball Writers Association of America. Congrats to all four, they’re all outstanding writers.
• Scott Boras gave the keynote address this afternoon.
• The Royals brought back Horacio Ramirez. He should provide bullpen depth given the fact that Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez were dealt earlier in November.
• Aubrey Huff broke David Ortiz’s six year streak of being the top DH in the American League.
• And lastly, things would get back for the Brewers if the Yankees also sign Ben Sheets. He was also a Type A and also rejected the team’s arbitration offer. The Yankees can’t give the Brewers two first-round compensation picks.