A Closer Look at the AL Cy Young Award

For decades the Baseball Writers Association of America has been handing out the Cy Young award to the best pitcher in each league. And for decades the most heavily weighed factor has been a pitcher's win total. It was long considered an atrocity if a pitcher with less than 20 wins was given the award. In fact, that has only happened a combined 24 times in the AL and NL since the award has been given (not counting RP winners.) Last year's winner, Zack Greinke tied the all-time low in wins for an AL Cy Young winner with 16.

Recent trends and developments in statistics and saber metrics (insert nerd joke here) have become wide spread enough that some writers are beginning to consider them more heavily when voting for the winner. (See Greinke, Zack K.C. Royals 2009) No longer, does the award get decided by archaic statistics like Wins, Losses, ERA and BAA (batting average against). We now have things like BABIP (batting average per balls in play) and WAR (a measurement of a player's contributions to a win compared to a replacement player...Wins Against Replacement). Basically, some nerds who jerk off to baseball games came up with some pretty sweet statistics to try and more accurately measure a player's performance by removing factors out of his control.

The AL Cy Young award is, by most accounts a race between two pitchers. C.C. Sabatthia of the Yankees and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, although some might include David Price and Clay Buchloz of the Rays and Red Sox, respectively. A few fools might even try to throw Trevor Cahill in the mix, although without 200 IP he's not in my consideration. For the sake, of brevity and simplicity we'll keep this comparison between the top two in my consideration, C.C. and King Felix.

The Argument for C.C. Sabatthia

C.C. knows how to win. Or so Yankees fans and other ignoramouses will try and tell you. However, that is an outdated way of looking at things. C.C. greatly benefits from playing for the Yankees, arguably the best offense in baseball. This is not to say, he's not great and isn't deserving of being in the conversation. He is, in fact near the top of many advanced statistics. WHIP, Percentage of runners left on base, and Wins Against Replacement (WAR) are just a few categories in which he excels (but doesn't lead).

The Argument for Felix Hernandez

King Felix should be one guy who is very glad that an army of basement nerds have come up with the statistics I referenced above. Without them, people might look at his 13-12 record and think he has no chance at winning the Cy Young award. However, a close look reveals that King Felix has been by most measurements the most dominant hurler in the league. He is the leader in Quality Starts (6 IP or more and 3 ER or less) and Innings Pitched. He also has 6 complete games, 4 more than C.C.

Side by Side

Basically, Felix leads Sabatthia in every category that is not dependent on his team, ie. Wins and Losses.

Runs Allowed
C.C. - 92
Felix - 80

Strikeouts
C.C. - 197
Felix - 232

Wins When Team Scores 4 runs or Less (4 is about league average)
C.C. - 6
Felix - 8

When Team Scores 3 runs or less
C.C. - 1
Felix - 2

WAR (Wins Against Replacement)
C.C. - 5.4
Felix - 6.0

If those stats aren't enough to convince you take a look at some of this anecdotal evidence.

In 7 of Hernandez's last 13 starts the Mariners have scored ZERO RUNS! What?!

He has pitched into the 7th inning or better in 24 consecutive starts.

If you give him 4 runs or more, he doesn't lose. He hasn't lost once in that scenario all year long.

He has given up 17 Unearned runs this season. Meaning that those 80 R mentioned earlier is really 63 ER. In almost 250 IP!

You can't hold the failings of his teammates against him. King Felix reigns supreme on the mound. The Mariners are the worst run scoring team in the league, barely cracking 500 runs to this point. The Yankees on the other hand are the league leader in runs with over 830 scored so far.

The AL Cy Young should definitely go to King Felix. Let's hope the crusty old writers are all reading fangraph.com!


*NL Cy Young Award debate later this week.

I Hate the Yankees And CC But.....

As a man involved in a Scotch Club and who takes his scotch very seriously, you have to appreciate the hefty pitcher buying every single teammate a bottle of Blue Label Johnny Walker. This is what CC said about it:

“This has been an unbelievable year for me, playing alongside some of the best players in the league for one of the most historic franchises in sports. Winning the world series is a rare moment and I wanted to do something special to celebrate our incredible win, so I gave each of my teammates a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label engraved with their names.”

That's pretty awesome if you ask me. Maybe he just moved up to my favorite Yankee.

Yankees-Twins Game 1

Something I was thinking about while waiting for the game to start: The last two times the Twins reached the playoffs (2004, 2006), Game 1 was so important to them because they couldn’t lose Johan Santana’s start or the series was considered over. That’s how much he meant to that team. Now, they have no pressure going into the opening game. Brian freakin’ Duensing is on the mound! What do they have to lose? You think Johan is watching in Queens? Kind of funny.

One last pregame thought: I really wish Justin Morneau was healthy for this series. The Twins wouldn’t be even close to topping the Bronx Bombers but, aside from CC Sabathia, there aren’t many pitchers on the Yankee staff who could get Morneau out.

Innings 1-2
A leadoff double from Denard Span gave the Twins some hope of a spark but the Twins went down scoreless. The first two innings have been scoreless and Duensing has kept the ball down to this point while letting his defense help him. He retired 6 batters in a row after Jeter’s leadoff single but you have to wonder if his smoke-and-mirrors approach will last past the fifth inning. Sabathia hasn’t looked great but he doesn’t have to as he’s facing this tired, albeit resilient, Twins team.

Top 3
Sabathia almost out of the inning but allows opposite field singles to Orlando Cabrera, Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer. Out of the three hits, only Mauer’s was a quality pitch.
Passed ball by Jorge Posada. Had to have been a mixed up signal seeing as it was a fastball. Let the Posada Molina arguments ensue….
TWINS 2, YANKEES 0

Bottom 3
Important inning, obviously, for Brian Duensing. He’s had the Yankees off balance and after getting Nick Swisher to line to left his wild pitch put Melky Cabrera on second base before…

Duensing hung an inside slider to Derek Jeter and Jeter knocks it many rows back into the left field seats. Easily the worst pitch of the evening. A guy like Duensing has such a small margin for error and he got burned on a bad breaking ball.
After a Damon single to left, Cabrera, surprisingly, gave the Yanks more life in this inning as his throw to Nick Punto was low and the Twins missed out on a double-play opportunity on a Mark Teixeira grounder. Ron Gardenhire has to be taking TUMs as he watches a team that can’t afford those kinds of mistakes miss out on a DP.

Arod struck out to end the threat, a truly shocking development.

I’m not the first to psycho-analyze Arod but…You have to think at this point Arod needs to do well his first game of the postseason or he will slide into his usual funk by trying to make up for what he didn’t do his last at bat.
TWINS 2, YANKEES 2

Top 4
Delmon Young leads off and has two awful swings to go 0-2 and the third pitch was even worse, more than a foot outside as he went down swinging on 3 strikes. Can the Twins dump him and bring in Dimitri?

Sabathia’s changeup is looking fantastic right now, which is good because it seems like he’s unable to locate his fastball as well as he wants to.

Bottom 4
Matsui rolls over on the first pitch and grounds out, big out for Duensing
Posada loves his bloop hits, doesn’t he? Why did I say that? Man…I guess I still do have some scar tissue from 2003.

With two outs and Cano on first after a fielder’s choice, Swisher rips another flat slider down the left field line. Cano may not have scored if Young had hit Cabrera on the fly with his relay.

Hmmm….he can’t hit (clearly) and can’t field. Why is he playing again?
Duensing is finally aggressive and gets an inside fastball (a roaring 91 mph) past Melky Cabrera.
YANKEES 3, TWINS 2

Top 5
After two quick outs, Cabrera singles to left to extend the inning and, more importantly, puts a runner on for Joe Mauer. I might try to run here to get a RISP. We’ll see how aggressive Gardenhire is here.

Cabrera steals second, I’m glad coach heard me.

If you’re thinking “Why don’t the Yanks walk Mauer, he’s Super Man" and you have first base open, check out Cuddyer’s stats in September. He had 8 HR and 24 RBI in that month alone and 32 bombs on the year. Don’t worry, I didn’t notice, either.
Anyway, Mauer grounds to second to end the inning. I know it’s early but Mauer not coming up with a hit while having a runner in RISP has to be a bit deflating for the Twinkies.

Bottom 5
Leadoff walk to Jeter. No good. Looking like it might be curtains soon for Duensing.
Duensing is extremely lucky the rocket off Damon’s bat wound up in Cuddyer’s glove and after Teixeria’s pop out, Arod once again is up with a man on second.
Maybe Arod will give himself a chance to come out of the postseason funk now. His single to left center drove home Jeter and he obviously knew he only had 1 RBI in his past 16 playoff games. It’ll be interesting to see how he hits now that he finally had a big hit with a RISP.

Side note: Francisco Liriano is now warming in the bullpen. It almost makes me sad to see him in that role. He and Kerry Wood had the two best sliders I’ve seen in the past 15 years before getting hurt.

Liriano in, Hideki Matsui bomb out into the night. Not a terrible pitch from Liriano but the wind didn’t help as Matsui’s fly ball kept carrying.
YANKEES 6, TWINS 2

Top 6
Um…..what happened that inning? I got up to grab a drink and it was over. Did Sabathia really retire three in a row after getting another 3 runs? Do they need to play the rest of this game?

Seriously, though, the Twins not scoring in the fifth pretty much sealed this game for the Yankees. You can see the Twins are running on fumes.

Bottom 6
Nice play from Nick Punto at second might be the highlight of the remainder of the evening for Minnesota.

Top 7
I was wrong, the Twinkies have life! Matt Tolbert’s HBP put him at first and Nick Punto’s grounder off Sabathia put runners on for Denard Span with 2 outs.
I couldn’t imagine trying to hit Sabathia’s slider as a left-handed hitter. The difference with his slider is that late break. He’s worth every penny he makes.

Posada can’t find the baseball on a low pitch to move the runners over with 1 out. Span’s fly ball to right can’t bring Tolbert home and Sabathia night is over.
Enter Phil Hughes. Cabrera’s job is clear: get on base somehow (there are 7 ways, remember) and get the soon-to-be MVP up. He’s doing a nice job of fouling off pitches on the outer half of the plate and brought it to a full count. Hughes throws a seed on the outside corner and strikes Cabrera out.

Bottom 7
A Jeter walk, Teixeira double play ball, and ANOTHER Arod RBI has the Yankees up 7-2 going into the top of the eighth.
YANKEES 7, TWINS 2

Top 8
I feel like this is a waste of a Joe Mauer at bat since he’s leading off the eighth inning of a game in which his team is down 7-2.

Mauer unleashes that beautiful swing and lines a single to center. Not unexpectedly, three straight outs are recorded to end the inning as Phil Coke and Joba Chamberlain come in to get an out each.

Bottom 8
Ron Mahay is still kicking around, huh? Seems like over 10 years since he was in a Sox uniform. Oh, wait…it has! Ahhhh, the joys of being a lefty.
Three up and three down. Could this game be close to coming to an end?

Top 9
Mariano Rivera into the game with a 5 run lead. I don’t like the Twins chances here.
Despite a pair of hits with 2 outs, the end of the game was never “interesting” and Rivera induced a groundout from Cabrera to end it.

FINAL: YANKEES 7, TWINS 2

There is very little doubt in my mind the Yankees sweep this series.

I like the Cardinals both tonight and in the series to beat the Dodgers. I don’t see it going more than 4 games.

Check back tomorrow for a Sox-Angels preview.

DP's Half Assed Cy Young Assessment

Basically this is a two person race but to appease the stupid Yankees fans I'll throw CC in.

Let's see you have Greinke, King Felix and CC.

Zach Grienke is 15-8 with a 2.08 and 229 Ks

Felix Hernandez is 17-5 with a 2.49 era and 207 Ks

CC Sabathia is 18-7 with a 3.31 era and 186 Ks

The only way I'd give the award is to Zack Greinke is if his era somehow dips below 2. But in my world where I wear Felix Hernandez sunglasses, I think Felix should and will win it. Felix not only has pitched phenomenally he has shut out the Yankees, Angels, and Red Sox ALL at home. That's pretty unbelievable. Also, even though his era is slightly higher than Zack, he has more wins, less losses and just all around way cooler of a person. CC is fat and doesn't deserve anything.

Yankees 8 Red Sox 4

So much for a pitcher's duel. The Yankees lit up Josh Beckett for 8 runs over 8 innings, including 5 home runs which is a career high for Beckett. The Yankees jumped out fast, as Jeter went deep before the lineups were ever announced (first pitch). Matsui followed going deep on the 1st pitch of the 2nd innings. Beckett was having trouble keeping his fastball down in the zone, and the Yankees just have too much power to leave balls up.

Beckett eventually settled down, but not until he had already let up 7 runs. After pitching a scoreless 6th and 7th inning, Beckett let up his last bomb of the night to Matsui (his 2nd of the game). Boston had their chances to put some runs on the board, as they had 9 hits in the game, but 8 runs is just too much to overcome.

Sabathia may not have dazzled, but he just pounds the strike zone, and has been everything the Yankees have needed. Sabathia is 20-2 in August since 2005, which is just fucking silly.

Anyways, with the loss the Sox are now only 1 game up in the the Wild Card race.

CC Sabathia Injury Update

"New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia left the game against the Florida Marlins in the second inning with tightness in his left bicep. A team trainer went out to look at Sabathia while he was warming up for the inning. He gave up a one-out double to Brett Carroll, then Yankees manager Joe Girardi and a team trainer went out to check on the left-hander again before taking him out of the game. The team said Sabathia is day to day and that no tests are planned (Sportsline)."

This all sounds like it was just precautionary, but Girardi seems to be losing control of his team. Girardi has gone out of his way to challenge A-Rod. It isn't working, and A-Rod is not a guy who likes to be challenged. CC came out and said that he pleaded with Girardi to let him stay in the game. I agree with Girardi that at this point in the season you have to play it safe. It just seems like the Yankees are getting ready to throw this guy out on the street. I never thought the Yankees should have got rid of Torre. I don't understand how you can let someone like him walk, but now it seems like they are paying the price, and if CC goes down the Yankees season is over...

Yankees 3 Red Sox 4

8-0

Yea that is the Red Sox record against the Yankees this year. The Sox have beat them in every conceivable way. They have blown them out, hung on, out pitched, out hit, and just play smarter baseball then the Yankees.

Last night the Sox 5th starter beat the Yankees #1, who was supposed to turn around this franchise. Penny gave the Sox 6 scoreless innings. It was the first time we really got to see what Penny can do. He left it all on the field, and threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Yankees. In prior games Penny was all about pounding the strike zone with his fast ball. Last night he threw everything he had and worked the counts to keep the Yankees off balance. If this is one of the last starts for Penny in a Red Sox uniform he gave one hell of an audition for the rest of the league. He was even touching 97 MPH on the radar gun. I really can't say enough about how well he pitched.

CC Sabathia also had a solid game. He gave the Yankees 7 innings, which was big for them since none of their starters had lasted more then 2 2/3 innings in the other 2 games against the Sox. Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Ortiz hit a solo shot over the Green Monster. Big Papi really looked like the Ortiz from the glory days when he used to be able to hit whatever he wanted to opposite field. The Yankees took the lead in the 7th. It really looked the wheels were coming off for the Sox after Penny left the game. Delcarmen let up 3 runs on 3 hits in the 7th. After a Cervelli RBI doubled to left field, A-Rod followed with an double to center that scored Cervelli and Damon to make the score 3-1. It looked as if A-Rod was finally going to be a hero, but at this point we should all know better.

Boston came up in the 8th and ripped apart the Yankees. Drew, Bay, and Lowell each got an RBI in the inning and the Sox went back on top 4-3. All that was left was Papelbon to close out the 9th inning and the Sox had swept the series and made it 9 in a row (if you go back to September of last season). He got it done in only 9 pitches, and the Sox are now 2 games up on the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East.

There are so many great things about this game. Obviously the fact of winning all 8 games against the Yankees is awesome, but it gets better. Having the Sox 5th starter beat the Yankees star offseason pickup was amazing, then on top of that have their other big acquisition (Teixeira) go 0-5 just makes me want to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. Anyways, this was probably the most exciting game of the year. Hope you all watched it....

Boy, CC's Contract Certainly Buys A Lot Of Burger King

Good luck with the three healthy years from CC Sabathia, Yankees.

Mark-Mark and the Well-Paid Bunch

"%&$#* the Yankees!!!"

"Screw Steinbrenner and all his money!!!"

Sound familiar?

The same curses rampant in New England households yesterday were just as popular back in 2004 when Alex Rodriguez was introduced as a Yankee. We were pissed. I'm just as pissed about the Mark Teixeira deal. I can't wait to boo him next year and buy a clever T-Shirt degrading him because it's my duty as a fan.

My fan-hood aside, after some reflection, I've realized that our boys got beat at a game the Yankees are much better at. This is what they do: outbid teams. Any Red Sox fan who didn't think this could happen had their head in the sand...err ice I mean.

OK. I agree with you. Teixeira signing with the Yankees was worst-case scenario. I was not happy upon hearing about the deal and bemoaned the fact that this was a major opportunity lost. At the same time, if you know baseball and how the Bronx Bombers operate then this wasn't necessarily the most surprising news.

Who thought he wasn't this hired gun who would take the biggest deal put in front of him? He had no allegiances to the Red Sox and, for good reason, had the show-me-the-money mindset.

Now that the player we were all drooling over for the past month or so is in pin stripes it's time to face the facts, people. The Yankees are the most talented team in the American League as of right now and, on paper, will continue to be for the next 3 or so years. Let's also give credit where credit is due. They had a plan to reload, even if the way they did it was in excess.

This is the first time since they have had top-flight pitchers in their primes since the late '90s. Their rotation of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes is most likely the deepest in baseball. Burnett is the only one who would scare me as a New York fan. He has yet to prove he can win a meaningful game and has a laundry list of injuries. Not hamstring injuries but elbow injuries that could flush the Yanks' investment down the drain. For the record, I'm not saying this because I don't like the Yankees (which is true, of course) but because the Marlins are my second-favorite team and they won a World Series without him in 2003. Not a coincidence.

They've had formerly great pitchers who hadn't been worth their salaries in years such as Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina (until last year) and Jaret Wright. Oops. Just kidding. Jaret Wright never really had a prime, did he?

My point is that not only are the Yankees spending an egregious amount of cash but they are spending it on players who can actually get them to the World Series on a consistent basis. Teixeira is a far better signing than Jason Giambi was after the 2001 season. As I've said before, he has no flaws and will be a great fit anywhere he goes. It was evident a guy like Giambi was a DH in waiting and even back then there were whispers of steroids.

There is another aspect of these signings to think about. I would compare their 2008 off season to the Celtics' of 2007. They are "going for it" and have about a 3 to 4 year window to do so. The difference is the Celtics have the likes of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce signed only for the duration of that championship window. The Yankees are on the books for CC Sabathia and Teixeira for long after that.

Obviously I'd be far more concerned about Sabathia down the road than Teixeira due to his penchant for staying at the dinner table too long but Teixeira won't have the same type of value as a 33-year-old. He is obviously a great player but I think he'll be a 25-homerun, 100 RBI type player by then. The deal is basically what the Braves did with Chipper Jones, who evolved into that kind of player, on steroids. Even as a Sox fan I know the latter half of the deal would've been too much money for a great-turned-good player.

The Yankees did pretty much everything right in terms of personnel this off season. You, nor I, should be complaining about their deep pockets. Notice I haven't conceded the East to the Yanks yet, just that they are the most talented team in the division. The Devil Rays proved last year that the amount of cash spent doesn't always translate to a deep playoff run. The Bombers have spent money in this manner before but on the wrong guys. It seems as though this time they've gotten it right.

I'll be checking back later with a Celtics-Lakers preview.

Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Memories of 2000

November 30, 2000: The New York Yankees sign free agent Mike Mussina to a 5 year, $68 million deal. Which seemed big at the time.

December 19, 2000: Seemingly in response to the Mussina signing (the Sox had made offers, but they fell on deaf ears), the Red Sox sign slugger Manny Ramirez to an 8 year, $160 million deal.

December 10, 2008: The Yankees sign top free agent pitcher CC Sabathia to a 6 year, $160 million deal. But this time, Red Sox Nation laughs at the Yanks for overspending. What a difference two Championships make.

December ?, 2008: the Red Sox overpay to sign Mark Teixeira.

It's going to happen, it's just a question of when and for how much. And I can't help but remember 2000 when we all labeled Dan Duquette a reactionist for signing Manny Ramirez to such a huge contract. We all figured Mussina would extend the Yankee dynasty into the 21st century. Thankfully we were wrong.

But CC Sabathia is not Mike Mussina. We might all laugh at how much extra the Yankees have to pay in order to convince him to come to the Bronx. We might predict he'll break down for some reason. But the Yankees can afford to overpay him. And there's no reason to believe Sabathia will falter physically in the next 6 years.

However, the Yankees just acquired one of the best pitchers in baseball. A pitcher who has proven he can succeed in the AL. A pitcher who has never started fewer than 28 games.

And they're not done spending. They might also acquire former Sox and former Dodgers Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez.

The AL East just became a three horse race. And Mark Teixiera's production replacing Mike Lowell's won't be enough to give the Sox the inside track.

-The Commodore

Rumors

Interesting news, a possible trade between the D-bags, i mean D-backs, and the Sox. Reported Byrnes for Lugo. This would provide needs for both teams being a second base option for the D-bags and a fourth out fielder for the Sox.

Also, the Nationals offered a 160 million offer over 8 years to Tex while the O's have offered a 6 year deal. While the majority of baseball followers see the Sox doing everything possible to obtain Tex, there is the possibility that he does go back home to help turn either franchise around, i dont know if I buy it thought. It is also reported that the Angels have made an offer in the ball park of the Nat's. As a Sox fan I am not optimistic of the signing of the first baseman, even though it would be awesome. However, Ken Rosenthal has reported on Foxsportsnet.com that the Sox are getting close to acquiring him. Saying that "Headway was being made earlier today, A rival general manager whose plans could be affected by the Red Sox's addition of Teixeira also indicated that a deal was getting closer. Teixeira is seeking a 10-year contract for at least $20 million per season. The Red Sox preference would be to sign him to a deal between six and eight years."

Burnett apparently got offered a 5th year from the Yanks who are doing anything and everything buying a new rotation cause they realize that their prospect pitchers are a couple of punk bitches. Damn i bet they are kicking themselves for not trading for Santana.

Lowe and Sheets has been circled around the Yanks too, but if the Yanks get Burnett I see only one of the two being signed. Lowe has been cited as saying that Boston is his primary choice, but is looking for a 3 year deal. Sheets is interesting because of his injury history. The way I see it, which ever signs first with the Yanks the other will be in a Sox uniform to counter their purchasing of a starting rotation.

As we know the Yanks are getting CC. But guess what I think this is a dumb sign for the money considering he has NEVER won 20 games in a season, while they lost Mussina who won 20 last year. Even with this signing, and the possible signing of Burnett, Lowe, and/or Sheets the Yanks still arent that great. They have gotten better, but their offense just isnt that great. A-Rod will have another A-Rod type season, Jeter has been on a decline, but is still consistant in output and leadership, and the only other name that really stands out is Swisher. Swisher might be the steal of the offseason in my opinion. He didnt have a good year last year but the guy flat out has raked previous to being dealt to the White Sox. What Im saying is that he is the typical type player that will be a Frank Catalano type, a Sox killer. But thats just a prediction.

Big trade went down with the Mets, Mariners, and Cleveland. Mets get JJ Putz, Jeremy Reed, and Sean Green. Mariners get Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas and 3 minor leaguers from the Mets along with Franklin Guetirez. The Indians got Joe Smith from the Mets and Luis Valbuena from the Mariners. Pretty good trade all around I guess, only question is how many trades are the Indians going to make for a second baseman?

CC Sabthia To Yankees

CC Sabathia got a deal that he couldn't refuse and he took it. That deal was a seven year deal worth approximately $160MM. Bob's boy CC finally joined the dark side and will be the Ace that leads the staff for many years. I think that this is a great move by the Yankees because they needed to make a big splash, and they did with the best pitcher in the market.

A few questions though.

1. Will CC's arm hold up after being worked over the past couple of years?
2. Wil he be able to handle the pressure in NY, because he has struggled on the big stage before?
3. Sabathia can't be the whole pitching staff so what are the next moves?

Prediction is Lowe, Sheets and Pettite back.

MLB Rumors

"After three straight days of face-to-face meetings between GM Brian Cashman, CC Sabathia has decided to accept the six-year, $140 million offer from the New York Yankees, the New York Post reported. "
Well this is a little surprising to me if it is true. I really thought that CC would go to the west coast where he lives. If he goes to the Yankees, it looks like that snake Boras won again.

and on the Red Sox catching problem..
"The Red Sox, preparing for the possibility that free agent catcher Jason Varitek will not re-sign with the team for next year, talked with the Rangers about either one of their two young tradeable catchers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden, the Boston Herald reported."
For some reason I really want Saltalamacchia. I'm not sure why, but he has a cool name. I would be happy going into this season with Salty if we get him.

CC Sabathia Wants To Be A Dodger

I think it is pretty obvious that CC Sabathia doesn't want to play in the AL and especially not for the Yankees. After that "great" meeting Sabathia had with the Yankees this story broke on ESPN. Apparently, CC wants to be closer to where he grew up in California and if he went to the Dodgers he would get his wish. I think once CC decides to go wherever he wants to go a lot of the free agents will drop like flies. Still, I think the Sox should have made a harder push for CC, as I think he would look good in a Sox uniform.