Hot Stove Getting Warmer

Even in the current economy, you can always count on baseball teams to spend like crazed Christmas shoppers this time of year. Despite the fact that baseball is in its offseason, this is when the free agency period and player movement begin. Some of the major trades and deals so far:


Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Slugger Matt Holliday, pictured above, was traded to Oakland from Colorado for relief pitcher Huston Street, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and pitcher Greg Smith. While Holliday is now the main hitter in the A's offense, I don't think he'll be the 35-homer guy that he was with the Rockies. Due to the thin air in Colorado, the balls go higher and farther, whereas Oakland is right next to San Francisco Bay, where the dense marine air takes the flight out of balls. Conversely, the pitchers sent to the Rockies have to hope that they don't get lit up every night. In other words, this deal was a good one for the clubs, but a bad one for the players' individual careers.


Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who previously played for the Cleveland Indians and the Milwaukee Brewers, signed with the New York Yankees for seven years, $161 million. Sabathia is a good starting pitcher, but he's not $161 million good. His yearly salary will be $23 million, the second highest on the team, even more than sure Hall-of-Famer and Yankee icon Derek Jeter ($21 million). Sabathia has a playoff ERA over 5.00 but a 21-8 record against AL East teams excluding the Yankees (Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay). Also, C.C. had reservations about playing in New York and, to paraphrase ESPN.com columnist Buster Olney, only greatness will be expected of him from the New York fans. Even if he fails though, he has an opt-out clause in his contract after the 2011 season.


Image courtesy of the CBC.

The Yankees also signed Toronto pitcher A.J. Burnett to a five-year $82.5 million deal. That's $16.5 million a year for a pitcher who's career average is 3.81, not great but not terrible. He has an injury history, but he was dominant against the Red Sox last year, going 5-0. Getting Burnett from a division rival was a bonus for the Yankees, but he's a high risk-high payoff player.

Book Review: The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty

Despite the ongoing story regarding Kobe, I've been hankering to write a baseball-related entry. So, I'm changing gears for today and presenting the following book review:

I purchased Buster Olney's The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty a couple of years ago and finished re-reading it recently. Yes, re-reading it. It's a great book about the pressure on the New York Yankees to win a World Series every year. The thing that makes the book work is that no one is made to be the villain, but rather people with significant flaws. Each chapter focuses on one person (everybody from pitcher Roger Clemens to centerfielder Bernie Williams to general manager Brian Cashman) while giving snippets of the game that brought the Yankee dynasty to an end: Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the most intriguing aspect of the book is its portrayal of team owner George Steinbrenner. What drives Steinbrenner is an insatiable hunger for World Series championships every year,so much so he is willing and very capable to spend any amount necessary to make his dream of never-ending championships possible. Olney doesn't portray Steinbrenner as bad, just having an unbridled passion and craving for victory with the power and pocketbook to match. Even though I am not a Yankees fan, I strongly recommend this book to anybody that is a baseball fan. This book is available on Amazon.