Free Agency

It's funny how an athlete seems to do his job to the best of his ability when there are question marks surrounding his future payment. Although, you can't really blame them because we are all guilty of doing it.

If you were given four years of guaranteed money, would you find yourself working harder than you did the previous year to get that money, or just enough to not get fired?

I bet during that fourth year, right before your evaluation, your work would suddenly bumped up on your priority list.

The New York Yankees are going to re-sign Derek Jeter, right? Right? Surely, they'll find some money in their infinite budget to bring back their captain, a guy who has led the team to five World Series Championships.

Though the Yankees will ultimately reach some sort of middle ground with Jeter, keeping him in pinstripes for the rest of his career, they aren't making things easy.

The Yankees' brass has called out Jeter on a couple occasions this offseason, saying his ego is getting in the way and that they won't overpay for a guy who isn't worth as much as he thinks he is.

Baseball's arbitration deadline is tomorrow, and several teams still have decisions to make.

A Type-A free agent who is offered arbitration and signs with a new team nets his former team a first-round draft pick and a supplemental draft pick. A Type-B free agent is worth a second-round draft pick and a supplemental pick. But there's always the risk that a player will accept arbitration and be paid more than his worth to stay with his current team.

The Chicago White Sox General Manager has some tough choices in the coming months.

The White Sox, who currently have a payroll of over $105 million, have nine free agents and four arbitration eligible players on whom decisions will have to be made. Some will return to the fold in 2011, while others will be wished the best and sent off to seek different Major League employment (or start exploring that life after baseball thing).

Life is full of tough choices; let's start making some.

Derek Jeter is one of the classiest guys in the Major Leagues and will go down as one of the best Yankees players in the history of the team.

With manager Joe Girardi's contract figured out after he signed a three-year deal worth around $9 million it is now Jeter who will be the primary focus of the team. Brian Cashman knows he's in for a delicate negotiation, but he needs to be sure Jeter signs on the Yankees' terms.

It’s official.

Joe Girardi will remain the New York Yankees' skipper for three more seasons.

Many Yankees fans have been quick to blame Girardi for the team’s failure to repeat as World Series Champions. Fans were frustrated all season with Girardi, blaming any loss on unnecessary pitching changes or playing it by the book/binder.

Dear Jayson and Ruben,

As you well know, the past few years have been a very special time for the Philadelphia Phillies and their loyal fanbase.  

This year's free-agent class is fairly weak overall. This is true of the available outfielders as well. There is a lot of good talent at the top of the class, but from there, it declines fairly quickly.

With many teams looking to fill a hole in their outfield, you can expect a few bidding wars to occur over some of these players.

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The 2010 season for the New York Mets didn't end the way anyone wanted, least of all the fans. We suffered through another season of disappointment, highlighted by season ending injuries to Jason Bay and Johan Santana. There were some bright spots in the Mets' season. The emergence of Ike Davis and Josh Thole showed the Mets' minor league system isn't as weak as previously thought. R.A. Dickey gave Mets fans something to cheer about down the stretch and David Wright had a great bounce-back season after a disappointing 2009.

The Minnesota Twins once again will be watching the fall classic at home. The good news is that they bought new 3D TV's.

So they have that going for them.