Opinion

Free agency. It is what consumes GMs, owners, players and fans during baseball’s offseason.

This free agent market looks to rival that of 2008-09, when the New York Yankees went on a shopping spree scooping up CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, AJ Burnett and Nick Swisher.

I know everyone has been on the edge of their seats anxiously awaiting to see who would be so lucky to be honored by achieving my year-end Pirates awards.

On a team that lost 105 games, awards aren't likely for many of these guys. Or deserved for that matter. What fun would that be though?

Let's dive right in and see who receives the dubious honors to conclude the 2010 season.

Feel free to comment and add your own opinions on each award.

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For all the discussion about how Cliff Lee could decide the American League Championship Series in a potential Game 7, it turned out the 

As the Texas Rangers embark upon their inaugural trip to the World Series, many have become familiar with household names like Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Vladimir Guerrero, Michael Young, and who can forget Cliff Lee. It was truly a team effort, and while the aforementioned "stars" of the team played a pivotal role in slaying the mighty Yankees, one needs to look deeper to understand how the Rangers pulled off what many have termed an upset.

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The Yankees 2010 season is now officially over.

There will be no ticket-tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes in November. There will be no celebrating the 28th World Series Championship at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

After the Rangers defeated the Yankees 6-1 in Game Six of the ALCS, all the Yankees have in the winter is a bitter defeat by a team that outplayed them in the series and a lot of questions surrounding their team.

There will much discussion in the coming days concerning the New York Yankees' failing to reach their mission statement of defending their World Series title.

Their mission was no secret; it was even on their manager's back. Title No. 28. If the Yankees had obtained the World Series victory, then and only then would their season have been considered a success.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, their season is now deemed a failure.

It's been three years since the Joe Girardi era began in New York. Three seasons and one World Series ring later, I still hate the guy.

The New York Yankees faced elimination last night in Texas as "Mr. MVP" Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers were staring their first World Series appearance in the face. The Rangers finished the job, they beat not just one, but two of the best teams in baseball. They are going to the World Series.

The 2010 ALCS taught us a very important lesson: Homegrown talent wins championships. The Texas Rangers are finally seeing the maximum performance expected by many of their young players when they were drafted.

Homegrown players do not even need to play for your team for a long time to have a lasting impact on your franchise's success. General managers can trade top homegrown talent for superstars at the trade deadline; that can make the difference in the post season.

Just a day removed from the Yankees elimination, it isn’t hard to find a disappointed New Yorker. The beloved Yankees are done for the year, and their dreams of a second consecutive world championship are diminished.

As many love to do, we can sit here and talk about what could have happened and what should have happened. We can talk about the mistakes the Yankees made; we can talk about the Yankees lack of luck; we can talk, and talk and talk.

Ichiro Suzuki recently proved he is the greatest hitter in Major League Baseball history. He had his 200th hit for the 10th straight year in the United States. This is a feat no hitter has ever achieved.

Pete Rose is the only other player who had 200 hits in 10 years, which took him 15 years to accomplish. All other great hitters line up behind Suzuki, including Ty Cobb, whose AL record Suzuki shared until this year.