CC Sabathia

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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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.

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.

The New York Yankees have once again failed to reach their goal of winning a World Series Championship.  While the team was solid, it won nothing last year but a single playoff series.  Granted, it sounds pretentious to 29 other teams to call a trip to the ALCS a failure, but in Yankee town, that’s all it is.

An important and long overdue message was sent to the baseball world the other day when Felix Hernandez, a 13-game winner, was announced as the winner of the 2010 Cy Young award over CC Sabathia, a 21-game winner.

Courtesy of Yankees 'n More

We all know of the baseball greats, the players whose performances have stood the tests of time. Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Lefty Grove, not to mention the obvious ones. We know of those who are leading the charge in today's game. Josh Hamilton, Tim Lincecum, Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, just to name a few.

As the fantasy baseball season has mercifully drawn to a close, I thought it would be the perfect time to dispense some wisdom and advice for those who are hopelessly hooked on this game.

Call it the Goldilocks Guide, if you will.

Too early for next year, too late for this year.

Just right for those who are wallowing in self pity because they made the playoffs riding Josh Hamilton to that last playoff berth.

Only to watch him break a couple ribs on the eve of the finals.

The New York Yankees teams in the past would spend their money at astronomical proportions during an offseason following an early playoff exit.

One must hope the Yankees of this season will not follow the same model as it has proven to be detrimental over the course of time. The Yankees do not need to spend big on free agents, but instead should look to within and infuse youth into an aging roster.

It’s been a few days since the Bronx Bombers dropped Game 6 of the ALCS in Texas.