Alex Rodriguez

In the middle of the night, while many East Coast baseball fans were sleeping, possibly dreaming of the glorious news that the Yankees had finalized a deal to bring Cliff Lee to the Bronx, the unthinkable occurred: somehow, the Yankees didn't get their man.

Curt Flood was one of the most influential baseball players of all time, and he did it off of the field. 

In 1969, Flood challenged baseball's reserve clause and refused to play after being traded and took his case to the Supreme Court, thus changing baseball's free agency game forever.

Here are a few MLB players who changed baseball's free agency in some way or another.

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Carl Crawford has agreed to a seven-year, $142 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. But what does that mean for Boston's AL East rival, the New York Yankees?

Well if nothing else, we now know the Red Sox have big league money and are willing to spend it.

Just last weekend, Boston traded for San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez. The first baseman is expected to get a deal worth an estimated $154 million over seven-years.

As of this moment, right here, the 2013 Yankees already have in the neighborhood of 109 million dollars spent. That's with arbitration, or new contracts. 109 million...for a season 3 years away.

What is that team going to look like? Is it going to be as old and brittle as some forecast? Well, maybe. Let's take a guess at what the lineup and rotation might look like by then.

In The Field

1B: Mark Teixeira is penned in here for the foreseeable future.

Jayson Werth's 7 year/$126 million contract has done many things to the baseball world—shocked it, confused it, angered it, and mocked it.

These types of contracts usually haven't caused players to live up to the ridiculous amount of money that they are paid.

Here's who has and hasn't lived up to the massive cash.

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To be clear, in no way do I think the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter will part ways. He’s been the face of the franchise for over a decade, free from controversy, and a consistent performer.

The Yankees want and need him back. Only Miguel Tejeda and Orlando Cabrera would be adequate free agent replacements if you ask me. Followed by Jhonny Peralta and Juan Uribe, if they want to get a bit younger at the position.

Over the course of the 2010 MLB season, when the conversation turned to the upcoming free agent market, little attention was paid to Derek Jeter.

The fates of Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee have inspired countless articles and debates, but few writers spilled ink on his pending free agency because it seemed unfathomable that the Yankees captain would ever play anywhere but New York.

There are prospects, and then there are mega-prospects.

When each new baseball season rolls around, teams and fans evaluate the talent that each organization holds. Each organization has its gems, some of whom get compliments as the next Alex Rodriguez or Roger Clemens. 

In recent years, players like Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, the Upton brothers, and Jason Heyward have been the league's biggest attention-getters. Over the course of the last 30 or so years, there has been seemingly more and more attention given the apparent superstars of tomorrow.

The tension between the New York Yankees organization and Derek Jeter is palpable.

The Yankees have offered the 36 year old shortstop a three year deal worth 45 million dollars. This is a significant pay cut from his last contract which paid him 189 million dollars over 10 seasons. At the time Jeter signed the contract he was the second highest paid player in Major League Baseball trailing only Alex Rodriguez.

MLB free agency is here, and every season, teams shell out millions upon millions of dollars in an attempt to bolster their rosters for the upcoming season.

However, many times the players do not pan out, and from time to time, a signing goes so terribly wrong that years later, a simple mention of the players name will no doubt evoke groans from the team's fan base.