Opinion

Now that Cliff Lee has finally made his decision, spurning superior offers from both the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, we can move on.

Lee has joined a starting rotation that already includes last season's Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

Somewhere, Ron Santo is beaming. Kerry Wood, a longtime Chicago Cub who never looked right in anyone else's uniform, will reportedly come home to the North Side of Chicago.

Multiple sources, including Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan of the Chicago Tribune, report that Wood and the Cubs are finalizing a deal.

If true, this news has to warm the hearts of Cubs fans everywhere. Wood became a fan favorite nonpareil in the post-Ryne Sandberg era, and the team has done its public relations a world of good by reeling in Wood just weeks after cutting ties with Sandberg.

The New York Yankees are in trouble, no denying that. The Boston Red Sox have flown past them this winter, and the Yankees' inability to lure free-agent ace Cliff Lee with a colossal seven-year contract offer leave them hurting badly for starting pitching.

Zack Greinke, the second-best available pitcher and current ace of the Kansas City Royals, seems to be on their radar screen.

Assuming that the Royals do not lessen their sky-high price tag for Greinke, though, the Yankees are hardly in the right position to make a deal.

As Christmas approaches, fans of the New York Yankees have been left with nothing but coal in their stockings.  This isn't by any means meant to be a slight on recently acquired catcher Russell Martin whose signing makes for a decent "stocking stuffer."  It is the big prize though that has so far eluded the Yankees.

The current National League Cy Young Award winner, former American League Cy Young Award winner and three-time 20-game winner. Two-time 20-game winner and a sixth-place finish in the 2010 National League Cy Young Award voting. 2008 National League Championship Series and 2008 World Series MVP. Add to that another former American League Cy Young Award winner with a 20-game win season under his belt, and you've assembled an impressive cast of starting pitchers (and a stocked trophy case.)

That's exactly what the Philadelphia Phillies have done.

He was one of the Nationals’ prized rookies. He didn’t come from a large school but was impressive enough to be selected early in the draft. By the age of 23, he was part of Washington’s rotation and though his statistics weren’t overly impressive, his overall performance was quite good.

Brian Cashman struck out in free agency this winter, something he's rarely done in his brilliant career as the New York Yankees general manager.

Cashman failed to acquire the Yankees' primary offseason target, Cliff Lee, and in doing so, the Yankees were beaten to Carl Crawford by their hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

Ken Rosenthal has recently suggested that the New York Yankees take a run at free agent reliever Rafael Soriano.

After losing out on Cliff Lee, the Yankees have a lot of unused money laying around, and adding Soriano, along with Mariano Rivera would give them the best eighth-ninth inning punch.

What this essentially does for the Yankees is make the games shorter.

As everyone has heard, Cliff Lee returned to Philadelphia.  The Phillies have added another star player to their already great team. 

When news broke, Mets fans' stomachs turned.  As if Mets fans haven't had it hard enough, the pain just keeps coming.  The Phillies have won the NL East Division four years in a row, and it seems like that trend will continue.

The Cubs organization will never use the term in front of Cubs fans for fear of backlash, but the Cubs are in a rebuilding process. 

Sure, if they can win while they do it all the better, which is why we saw Jim Hendry take a flier on a veteran like Carlos Pena instead of moving Tyler Colvin to first base. But since contending in 2011 seems unlikely, I have a suggestion for Hendry: