With Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings wrapping up over in Sin City, the biggest story of baseball’s offseason has finally come out: CC Sabathia is going to be a New York Yankee for a long, long time. Initially wanting to stay on the West Coast, the Yankees finally lured the big man to the Bronx by giving him 7 years for $161 million, not to mention a city with more restaurants than any other city in the world.

The deal, according to a source close to negotiations, gives Sabathia the right to opt out of the contract after the first three years, by which time he will have been paid $69 million. Sabathia appreciated the clause because it satisfied concerns he had about living in New York and the impact it might have on his wife and three children.

He will make his opt-out decision after the 2011 season with four years and $92 million remaining on the deal, at which time he could renegotiate, leave or stay.

I’m sure this contract will give Sabathia enough money to avoid sending his children to Public School 36A in the middle of the Bronx. But does it make the  Yankees the favorites in the American League? We saw Johan Santana have a great year in his debut season with the Mets, but it still wasn’t enough to get them back into the playoffs. Can Sabathia and the mysterious remainder of the Yanks’ rotation get the job done?

Anyone who uses the argument of Sabathia’s playoff disappointments has lost the plot. Sure, Sabathia has struggled in the three postseason starts he’s made. But were those September starts on three days rest not clutch performances? Was his MVP-caliber performance in Milwaukee not enough to prove he can take the ball in important games and deliver? I’m not crazy about the Yankees’ negotiations with Burnett or Sheets, but signing Derek Lowe would be a nice get for a team in desperate need of pitching.

Dear Hank,

Let me start this quite simply so we are clear on where I stand.  I can’t stand you.  I think you’re a disgrace to the sport of baseball, I think you have no place running one of the greatest franchises ever, and I think you should never EVER open your mouth.  You confirmed this thought of mine by your bitching and moaning comments today about the current state of baseball.  According to the New York Daily News, you said this Hank, “The biggest problem is the divisional setup in major league baseball” you said that you hate the divison set up now, but you hated it  in the 1970’s too.  And of course because you’re an almighty deity you, you didn’t even give us a better way to align the divisions.  You just bitch and moan that the Dodgers don’t belong in the playoffs because the NL West sucks.

So what do you propose Hank?  That we just ignore divsions and give the top four teams in each league a playoff spot?  Okay fine, your team still doesn’t make it.  You say its “not fair” that the Dodgers are in.  You’re the head of the Yankees and you want to talk about fair Hank?  How about we have a chat with the Orioles, Blue Jays and Rays.  Hell let’s bring in all the small market teams from around the league, and lets see what they think about you complaining about things not being fair.  I’m guessing they would feel as bad for you as Ohio State fans feel for Michigan fans right now.

Another great line from you Hank, you say that if L.A. were in the AL East they wouldn’t be in the playoff conversation.  I find that fascinating, Hank, and so does this map. In case you’re struggling with that, notice that Los Angeles is on the left side of that map (we call that the West) and New York is on the right (we call that the East), now I know this 1st grade geography is really tough Hank, but having L.A. in the A.L East doesn’t make any sense.  In fact, it makes about as much sense as you complaining about things not being fair.

Enjoy your billion dollar stadium, destorying history and getting no sympathy from everyone.  And I’ll end by suggesting you take that stick out of your ass, and get those sour grapes out of your office.  There’s no place for them or you in Major League Baseball.

Sincerely,
The guy who thought he would never have wanted George Steinbrenner back in charge of the Yankees so badly.

Yankee Stadium is, for all intensive purposes, a concrete history book.  It’s role in shaping sports in America is unrivaled by anything built in our country’s history.  Since its’ construction, 20% of all World Series games have been played there.  Think about that, let that marinade for a second.  Legends such as Ruth, Mantle, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Berra used to call this home.  It’s where men like Jeter, Brosius, and Boone have launched moon shots into the history books.  It’s where Mr. October was coined, where the great Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in three consecutive pitches.  It’s where the first papal mass in the Western Hemisphere was celebrated, where the “win one for the Gipper” speech was coined.  And soon, it’ll be where a steel ball crushes into its’ walls, effectively destroying the holy ground.

As a history buff and more importantly as a sports fan it’s tough to see a site like Yankee Stadium go.  If you ever had the chance to visit or attend a game at Yankee Stadium, you know.  There’s just nothing quite like the aura that exists on that field each time the pinstripes run out for nine innings of baseball.  There’s nothing like the white arches that surround the top of the stadium, giving it an unmistakable identity.  There’s nothing like the bleacher creatures doing roll call chanting names like “De-rek Je-ter!” and “Ro-bin-son!”  There’s nothing like the plaques that stand in left field, honoring the Yankee greats and providing audience for the current Yankees.  It’s irreplacable.

Next year the Yankees will move across the street to their new billion dollar home and in about a year, all will be forgotten as the current stadium will be demolished in favor of a park.  Even though the stadium will be long since gone, however, the memories of those who played there and even those who attended games there will never be forgotten.  Yogi Berra said it best yesterday when he said Yankee Stadium will live inside of him, just like it will live inside many of us.  And as Nick Trotta said in a Sports Illustrated article, “Those walls are alive.  They are going to scream.”

Alex Rodriguez hit his 35th home run and drove in his 100th RBI the other day, making it the 12th straight season he’d done so.  In accomplishing this feat, A-Rod passed Babe Ruth as the only player to ever do such a thing.  “Passed Babe Ruth”…Now there’s a phrase that cements an accomplishment as legendary.  So where do you rank Alex Rodriguez in the history books?  Exactly how great is this guy considering his accomplishments and his post season failures?

Remember in June when the Yankees were floundering at .500 and almost 10 games back and I told you that they’d be fine.  I wasn’t wrong.  It’s not like this is a new occurrence for the Bronx Bombers.  Oh and, by the way, they just added a .330 slugging outfielder to the mix by acquiring the X man, Xavier Nady, and reliever Damaso Marte for a few luxury box tickets, a bag full of trinkets, and a minor leaguer.

Joba Chamberlain is slowly working his way up the list of people I am a fan of.  It’s not because of his awesome autographed picture that’s available in SkyMall and other flight magazines and it’s not because he almost seamlessly converted from a set up man to the best starter in the Yankees rotation.  It’s because, despite his impeccable pitch location for 99% of the league, he magically loses a ball or two when Kevin Youkilis steps in the box.  Combine that with my open hate for the Red Sox as an organization and we have a good match.

I’m not advocating throwing at players heads, lets make that clear right now.  Pegging people, however, is part of the game.  It’s the pitchers job to intimidate; if he can’t strike fear into the batter with an inside fastball or two, he’ll get shellacked.  Hence, after Chamberlain gassed one over Youkilis’ head and luckily hit his bat for strike one, he came back with sliders and cheddar on the outside corner that Youkilis had no chance at hitting.  Intimidation.

I can almost guarantee you that someone on the Yankees will get dotted today for Joba’s actions last night.  Warnings will be issued, benches might stand up and glare at each other, and ESPN will assuredly blow it out of proportion and re-run all those clips of A-Rod and Varitek slugging at each other and Don Zimmer getting thrown by Pedro.  It’s inevitable.  But it’s part of the game.  I’m just glad to see that, in today’s society where stepping on toes will shatter your image in the public eye, someone like Chamberlain has the stones to play the game with some grit and lawlessness.  And hey, what do you know, at only three games out, the Yankees are right back in this thing.  I told you so.

For whatever reason, I’ve always been a big fan of Jason Giambi. Maybe it’s his honesty in dealing with steroids, maybe it’s his mustache, or maybe it’s his tendency to take pulls from bottles of Jack Daniels. We caught this picture of the Giambino living it up during the All Star Break.

Giambi’s Final Vote campaign for inclusion into the All Star Game has only added to his increasing legend, as thousands of New Yorkers donned mustaches to support his inclusion in the game. Giambi’s bid for the Final Vote fell short, but I don’t think it’s affected him too much.

Perhaps Giambi is just pre-gaming for the arrival of Richie Sexson, who signed with the Yankees earlier today. Sexson gained fame in Seattle for his awful batting average, which inspired a Seattle bar to price pints based on Sexson’s batting average ($2.18 through the first half of the season). For our sake, we can only hope Giambi will be seen shotgunning cans of MGD in the near future.