Baseball

In short, no.

Cliff Lee is a stud. A rock solid ace who makes batters look foolish and guarantees his team that they have a chance to win every single time out. Missing out on a guy like that is never good.

I have always had one major concern with Shin-Soo Choo and that was his average.  Those concerns came courtesy of a consistently elevated BABIP, but back-to-back 20/20 seasons certainly help to assuage these concerns.  It’s hard not to like an outfielder who posted the following numbers in 2010:

Rejection never feels good.

We've all experienced it before, whether it be at the workplace, playground or singles bar around the corner. Everyone gets their ego bruised from time to time...even the New York Yankees.

After being spurned by Cliff Lee, who will now sign with the Phillies this week, the Yankees need a Plan B.

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman needs a Plan B right now.

They made a couple of small signings today, which included signing catcher Russell Martin to a one-year deal to potentially be the starting catcher for 2011.

The Yankees also signed oft-injured pitcher Mark Prior to a minor league deal worth about $750,000 plus possible incentives.

Dear Bud Selig,

Baseball is America's Pastime.

It earned that title through hustle, tradition, and hard work.

No player embodies those points more than Pete Rose.

Nobody loved the game more than Rose. He played every game like he had been let out of jail for one day.

Baseball was his life.

People say love is a strong word, but in the case of Pete Rose it's not strong enough to describe his feeling toward baseball.

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a head-scratching move by coming to terms with first baseman Lyle Overbay on a one-year, $5 million contract Tuesday afternoon, adding to the pile of mediocrity that currently surrounds first base and right field.

I've stated many times before the dire need to stick to the plan and continue to develop young players.  None of the other three signings truly bother me, and neither does this one, but it just doesn't help much.

A pitching rotation as hellacious as the one the Philadelphia Phillies are currently possessing rarely happens in baseball. Many of us are still wondering how the negotiating process went down. And why Cliff Lee didn't announce his decision on a one-hour special.

Everything about this negotiation suggested that Lee and Braunecker were playing perfectly in terms of maximizing the money. Now it appears money was never really a factor.

The Cardinals made what's likely their last addition of the offseason on Tuesday, adding backup catcher Gerald Laird to the fold with a one-year, $1 million deal. Laird will back up All-Star catcher Yadier Molina.

Laird represents an upgrade over former backup Jason LaRue, who retired during the 2010 season after experiencing post-concussion symptoms after receiving a kick to the head from Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto.

The big news today is that Cliff Lee rejected the Yankees. Red Sox fans have every right and reason to be delighted by this news. However, the Yankees did quietly sign Russell Martin this morning. The ramifications of Martin going to New York are not nearly as intriguing as those of Lee not going to New York, however they are still of particular interest to Red Sox fans.

I certainly didn’t see this coming.

There was no way that the Phillies could sign Cliff Lee.  While a lot of Phillies fans may have had it in the back of their minds as a wonderful fantasy scenario, most of us were sure that it wasn’t going to happen.