Baseball

New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman intends to add a starting pitcher before the new year, according to the New York Post.

As the Post reports, if he and Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry can find common ground, that pitcher may be Cubs right-hander Carlos Zambrano.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has the most unique job in professional sports. He possesses the ability to spend as much money as he wants without consequence.

The Yankees continue to trot out the most expensive team in baseball. Last year, their payroll was nearly $60 million more than its nearest competitor. Oakland, San Diego, Florida and Pittsburgh started the year with sub $60 million teams.

Why on earth do the New York Yankees want Nick Johnson? Being frustrated at talks with outfielder Johnny Damon is not a legitimate reason to sign an overpaid injury-plagued journeyman.

Johnson started his big league career with the Yankees in 2001, when he tipped the scales higher than his batting average of .194.

The 2010 campaign for the the New York Mets will begin this spring in Port St Lucie, Fla., for Spring Training and many changes are expected from prior years.

Here is my list of things that will be different about the 2010 season:

1)  No WBC this year, last year the Mets sent 16 players to this 21-day tournament in March, and it was a disruption to both the league and the Mets as a team. 

  Am I alone in thinking that Jose Valverde, considered to be one of the best closers on the open market, might wind up signing a contract for less than what Brandon Lyon recieved? We'll see. But for now, Ken Rosenthal outlines the problems facing Valverde's free agency:

Talk about coming full circle: 17 years after Darren Oliver began his career with the Texas Rangers, it looks as though Oliver will be returning to the Rangers.

The Texas Rangers are nearing completion of a one-year deal to add LHP Darren Oliver to the bullpen, two sources said Sunday night.

Oliver, 39, has been used as a reliever for the last four years and has found significant success in that role.

Late Saturday night, the Athletics and Coco Crisp came to terms on a one year pact worth $4.5-$5 million dollars . The deal set off some heated discussion in the blogosphere, namely, what in the world is Billy Beane doing? For one, ESPN's Rob Neyer is not a fan of the signing:

Six months ago, no one ever thought there would be a time in the near future where anyone but Roy Halladay would be starting on Opening Day.

Unfortunately, the Blue Jays will find themselves in that predicament on April 6 of next year when they decide who their Opening Day starter will be, and essentially who will be the new ace of the starting rotation.

So who will it be? As far as I'm concerned, the proverbial torch has been passed on to Shaun Marcum to steer this pitching staff in the right direction.

Continuing my statistical adventures that began when I looked at the 10 best relievers of 2009 (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/312131-heres-a-thought-statistically-...), here are my 10 worst starting pitchers of the past year, as stated by True ERA.

Let's take a look at one leaderboard nobody wants to be on.

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In the early going, Joey Votto has an ADP of 26.39, going late in the second round or early in the third round of fantasy drafts.  That’s before fellow first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, and Justin Morneau.  That’s before any starting pitcher outside of Tim Lincecum.  That’s before Justin Upton.  The question is, should he be targeted that early in drafts?