Tim Lincecum stays with Giants for 2 years, $35 million

Hopefully he can resurrect his career because he was pretty dominate from 2008-2011.

Tampa Bay's MO has been to trade these guys before they become free agents. I think Price will be part of a big trade this year.

The Yankees have many more holes now than they had in 2008. Too many key players on the roster are in their decline.

True but I don't believe the Yankees will have the same injuries that they had last year. We'll see if Sabathia and Teixera can bounce back (not sure what to expect from Jeter). They're main offseason acquisition should be to resign Robinson Cano. If they don't resign him, they're in trouble! Also, at this time I'm comfortable having David Robertson take over for Mariano Rivera. He just needs to throw more strikes and stop walking so many. As for pitching, depending on who they sign they could be alright. This is what it could look like if they sign Masahiro Tanaka from Japan:

1) Sabathia
2) Nova
3) Tanaka
4) Pineda
5) Phelps/Nuno/Warren

And their bullpen has always been a strength for them but they will definitely lose something with Mo now retired.

I know this sounds crazy but they could bring back Phil Hughes and stick him in the bullpen to help elevate Mo's retirement and Boone Logan's possible departure via free agency.

The spending spree after missing the playoffs allowed them to win another ring. But the signings were terrible, looking back on it.

CC, Tex, and AJ were all considered overpaid, in hindsight. AJ was only able to be traded because the Yanks ate a chunk of his salary. CC was given a silly opt out clause, which he utilized for another year. Tex has become brittle. There is no legitimate trade market for those two and ARod.

The key to future signings is keeping the contract length short. The best thing the Yanks can do is learn from the Prince, Pujols, and ARod contracts and let another dumb owner overpay for Cano.

I don't think all 3 signings in 2008 were bad. Sure AJ was overpaid and a bust but CC and Tex's weren't bad. CC's numbers during the 2009 playoffs (when he had been HORRIBLE his previous 3 times pitching in October) were:

5 games, 36.1 innings, 28 hits, 8 ER, 4 HR, 9 BB, 32 SO, 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA.

During his time in New York, he's been a work horse. Pitching at least 200 innings in all 5 seasons with the Yankees with an ERA as high as 3.38 prior to the 2013 season. Now sure, this season he took a step back but let's not hit the panic button just yet. And they had to add that opt-out clause as a way to entice him to come to New York. I remember when he hit the free agent market, everyone was predicting him to go to a California team since that's his home state. The Yankees had to throw that clause and money at him to get him to come to New York and in my opinion, it's worked out.

As for Teixeira, I don't consider him brittle. Here are the number of games he's played during each of his 5 seasons with the Yankees: 2009 (156), 2010 (158), 2011 (156), 2012 (123), 2013 (15). So again, take away 2013 and he's averaging 148 games his previous 4 years. And, what a lot of people seem to undervalue or forget about is his defense. Not only is he a switch hitter who usually puts up 30 HR and 100 RBIs but he's won 3 Gold Gloves as the Yankees first baseman.

I agree, the smart move for the Yankees would be to sign future talents to short term contracts that pay a lot (like Josh Hamilton's 5 year, $125 million contract with the Angels). The only problem is, they're competing against other owners who'll give them those extra years and if they want that talent bad enough, they've got to meet or exceed that contract. Otherwise, they won't get them. But the 10-year deals are dumb for ANY team to hand out. The Yankees did it with A-Rod, the Angels did it with Pujols, the Dodgers are thinking of doing it with Kershaw. Heck, I'd still say it'd be a somewhat stupid move if the Angels did it with Trout because that's so many guaranteed years and who's to say what will happen 4 or 5 years down the road?

Good points. We'll see soon enough on Tex and CC. Sure, they played well at first. But they both would be impossible to trade right now (without eating a chunk of the contract), and if there was an interested party, I believe the Yanks would jump on it.

That's because there are concerns over CC's arm, and the front office is doubtful if Tex can both stay healthy and return to his 2009 production level. If 2013 turns out to be the norm moving ahead, then all 3 signings would have been a bust.

The Bosox were very fortunate the Dodgers bailed them out. And I think they learned their lesson. Time will tell if the Yanks learned from their past when they deal with Cano. And with Cano, some team will give him an 8+ year contract.

They did play well at first but most importantly, they produced. They won a World Series title already. I agree that Sabathia would be difficult to move due to his contract but despite his poor 2013 outing, I'm sure there's still teams out there who would take a chance on him. Asking him to produce like he did 4 years ago I think is a little unfair for him. He's thrown A LOT of innings since then. I'd be happy with CC having an ERA anywhere from 3.75-3.99.

As for Teixeira, it was a freak injury. I expect him to bounce back in 2014 now that he'll be 100% going into spring training. His days of 30 HR and 100 RBI may be behind him, but he's still got some pop in his bat to beefen up the lineup. I just wish he would bunt more when the shift is on. He's like Giambi, all he wants to do is hit the ball out into right field. Small ball can work too!

Boston needs to thank their lucky stars that LA took on that kind of salary. I'm more surprised that the Dodgers went as far as they did this year. At the time, it was a salary dump with the only star of the group being Adrian Gonzalez but Carl Crawford had a bounce back year for them.

Cano wants 10 years. He just turned 31 yesterday. I would do a 6-8 year deal, max. I love Robbie, don't get me wrong but he's not 27 anymore.

There'd be some teams that would take a chance on Sabathia, but NY will have to pay the contract.

Agreed. The Yankees would have to eat most of the contract, but teams would still be willing to trade for him. Maybe not top prospects due to last year's downturn but he still has value.

Last night's game was one that the Cardinals were supposed to win. They had a very uncharacteristic game with several misplays in the field.

Congrats to your boys, SC! I'm blown away by how well they are still playing. And can I tell you that I just love Big Papi?? He's amazing.

Irishman, the Yanks signed CC and Tex with the idea that they would be more productive at this stage. If they knew that Tex would be below 30/100, and CC would no longer be a solid ace halfway into their contracts....then they probably would have let another team sign them to long deals.

For CC to be at 14-13, and 4.75 ERA is disappointing, considering his $23,000,000 salary. If CC doesn't bounce back during the remainder of his contract, then he would have had 4 good seasons and 4 disappointing ones. 8 years is too long for a SP.

As far as Tex is concerned, he signed an 8 year deal and had 3 good years, followed by 2 subpar years- considering he's making $23,000,000. He still has 3 years, and will probably be overpaid for them.

I believe the Yankees front office has determined that they shouldn't have given Tex and CC contracts of 8 years, and ARod 10 years. And it's interesting to see where they draw the line with Cano. I hope they let another dumb owner overpay for him.

Thanks, SB.

I wasn't all that impressed by how the Sox played against the Tigers (although the results were good). Lat night's game was fun to watch (even if as klyd said that the Cards played uncharacteristically poorly).

Big Papi is unreal. I'd now list him as the best post-season hitter I've ever seen.

It was if they were really nervous. I couldn't believe the SS dropping the easy toss for the double play. And I couldn't believe the umpire missed (at first) that easy call.

Beltran had a sweet catch in RF, making a very difficult play seem easy.

Sure when the Yankees signed them they expected them to be more productive at this stage but again, you can never predict injuries. They happen, they're a part of the game. Now CC's down year is more concerning for me than Texeira because at least with Tex you can put your finger on it and say his wrist was injured (unless CC had an injury that the public is not aware of).

And I agree, CC's numbers this year were very disappointing. But 1 bad year out of 5 isn't bad. He is human after all, he's not a machine. Plus, the Yankees should have figured that towards the back end of the contract he especially would break down being a starting pitcher and all.

I could see the Yankees going as far as 8 years for Cano but I'd be surprised for anything more than that.

I don't have a rooting interest, but last night's game was fun. The Beltran catch was amazing, even though it meant nothing to the outcome of the game. Anytime a players jumps and takes a HR back is awesome, let alone what would have been a grand slam.

I was also glad to see that the umps reversed the wrong call in the 1st inning. To get the call wrong in the first inning of Game 1 would have been really for the series moving forward.

In regard to SC's comment about Big Papi as the best playoff hitter he has seen, it's an interesting discussion. Certainly he's in the discussion. For my money, it would probably be Reggie Jackson. But debating these kinds of things is what makes sports so great.

That Beltran catch robbed Ortiz of a grand slam.

Iman, we'll see about the free agents. I believe we're both rooting for the same thing. The one silver lining about Tex, is his contract kept the Yanks from bidding on Pujols and Prince. Just a couple of years in, I think the Angels and Tigers are already regretting those deals.

I couldn't agree more on the Pujols and Fielder contracts but remember, Teixeria can still play very solid defense Both Detroit and the Angels screwed themselves. They bid against themselves. I think they could have gotten the players they wanted to at a reduced cost (especially Fielder since it was so late in the offseason).

That's the thing with Tex. He's likable, a good clubhouse guy, and plays good D. So, he gets the benefit of the doubt more than others.

AJ and ARod seem to play up the villain role.

Some are prefer to be good guys and some prefer to be villains

MORE HATING ON THE SOX, the media,photoshopping pics of lester using vasaline? cmon! they looked like the bad news bears in the field,minus the homerun pulling back catch in right! the al east is Superior to nl, and on cold nights the mlb allows pine tar for batters resin bag on mound.

go sox

Like SC and goombah, I love comparing and looking up players' postseason performance. And Jackson and Ortiz have certainly earned their reputations as proficient postseason performers.

It's hard to compare players of different eras as there were no playoffs until 1969, and from 1969 to 1995 there was only one round of playoffs with the championship series changing from best of 5 to 7 in 1985. And from 1995 and extra round of playoffs was inserted.

Some of the top performers, in addition to Ortiz, in postseason that might be overlooked in this most recent era are Marquis Grissom, Troy Glaus (9 homers in 88 abs and a .321 avg.), Lenny Dykstra (10 homers in 136 abs, .321 avg.), David Freese (7 homers .305) and my previously named personal postseason favorite, carlos Beltran (.339 16 HRs 38 rbi in 47 games).

The best postseason starting pitcher of our era has to be Curt Schilling with a record of 11-2 and an era of 2.23 and a WHIP of .996. He's closely followed by John Smoltz, 15-4, 2.67 and 1.114.

How about the other end of things? In a ranking of the worst post season average (single year with a minimum 40 AB's), Robinson Cano's 2012 season ranks as the second worst ever with a .075 BA. (Alex Avila is last; Chone Figgins is third worst.)

Just something the Yanks should remember before bidding against themselves for a ten year contract. They already have one highly paid player that disappears in the post season, even when on PEDs.

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/...stseason-slump/

On consecutive nights we see world series games end on an obstruction call and a pick off, which had never ended a prior world series game since it began in 1903. Next we'll have Game 5 end on a balk, Game 6 end on catcher's interference and Game 7 end on an appeal play after a sac fly.

Only one world series game in history ended on a runner attempting to steal second base, and it was Game 7, which decided the 1926 World Series. Losing 3-2 wit h 2 out in the bottom of the ninth, a Yankee, known for being a bit overaggressive on the base paths drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch. with Bob Meusel, the potential winning run at the plate, the runner took off for second and was thrown out easily by the cardinal catcher. The baserunner was none other than Babe Ruth.

Fuck the Red Sox. New York will be back, mark my words

Congrats Red Sox fan! Dynasty! Dynasty! Dynasty!

They are impressive champions and I tip my cap to them. At the beginning of the year I didn't think they were a playoff team, but they proved me wrong. With the young talent they're developing they should maintain a competitive team for the next few years at least.

Noew that they're world champions, they can shave and bathe.