Baseball

The arbitration deadline is midnight, so every team has to decide which players it will offer arbitration to and which it won't. It is an interesting day because it hints at what the team's offseason plans are.

I touched on this back in October but have since changed my mind. I predicted that the Yankees would offer Andy Pettitte arbitration, but not Johnny Damon.

Mandy Housenick of The Morning Call is reporting that Northampton graduate Bran Schneider has signed a two-year free agent contract with the Phillies after passing a physical on Tuesday.

Schneider, who grew up a Phillies fan, hit .218/.292/.335 with three home runs and 24 RBI in 170 at-bats with the New York Mets last season while being slowed down by back, calf and knee injuries.

• Year: 2004
• Record: 72-90
• Win %: .444
• Win % Change: 179
• Run Differential: -17
• Pythagorean Record: 79-83
• AL Finish: 10th of 14
• Manager: Alan Trammell
• Best Transaction: Traded Ramon Santiago and a minor leaguer to Seattle for Carlos Guillen.  Forget that Guillen’s current contract is a total albatross and think back a few years ago to when Carlos was a major piece of the Tigers offense.  Guillen was a league-average shortstop at best during his time in Seattle, which is why the Tigers had to give up very little to ob
  

The Red Sox may no longer need a shortstop.

As December dawns, Major League Baseball holds its collective breath. Next week at the Winter Meetings, rumors will fly, and both players and money will change hands. Trades will come to completion, and free-agent negotiations will advance rapidly.

There are some things in life we know to be true.

The sun rises in the East. Politicians are crooks. Family Guy will never be funnier than The Simpsons was at its peak.

And the Boston Red Sox will sign Marco Scutaro.

With Alex Gonzalez headed for Toronto and J.J. Hardy already traded, we’re told that Scutaro, by far the best shortstop in this year’s free agent class, is as good as signed.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

According to ESPN’s Peter Gammons, the Boston Red Sox have asked 2B Dustin Pedroia if he would be willing to move over to shortstop:

Alex Rodriguez has finally played a significant role in helping his team win the World Series.

Until this season, many in the media fostered the belief that Alex Rodriguez was the major reason the Yankees had not been World Champions since 2000, which is patently false.

Solid Pitching Wins the World Series

The Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series because they had solid pitching.

The New York Yankees have enjoyed their 27th World Series championship for about a month now, so let’s look back on how they did it.

Spending more on payroll in 2009 than the gross domestic product of more than a dozen countries worldwide will give you a fighting chance in most Octobers.

Did the Yankees break the rules or do anything unethical? No.

Are they playing on an uneven playing field that prevents other teams from acquiring the type of talent that the Yankees can accumulate? Yes.

Some things are so right, so true, so meant to be, that there is no conceivable way they can play out other than expected.

Warm chocolate chip cookies go with milk.

Sunflower seeds cater to the word "spit."

City-defining athletes should remain home.