Kuzul

At 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, free agency began for Major League Baseball.

The Yankees wasted little time in planning out whom they are making their main target for the off-season.

Now, most know the Yankees will try and likely get Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera back for 2011. That will be the easy part of their winter.

But aside from Jeter and Rivera, the Yankees will be putting their main focus onto Cliff Lee, the biggest prize on the free agent market.

The Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman have already contacted Lee’s agent Darek Braunecker about preparing a potential offer for the left-hander.

Lee is no stranger to New York, as he beat the Yankees in Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS as a member of the Rangers.

Last year in the World Series, Lee won Games 1 and 5 of the World Series when he was a member of the Phillies.

The Yankees will not be the only suitors for Lee’s services. The Rangers, Angels, Nationals and Cubs are all expected to try to persuade Lee to pitch for them as well.

The Rangers—Lee’s 2010 second-half team—are factored to be the toughest competition for the Yankees, considering Lee lives in Arkansas and Texas is closer to his family.

The Yankees know this, which is why they will be pulling out all the stops for Lee.

Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg has said he will do what it takes to keep Lee, but he may be biting off more than he can chew if he wants to get into a bidding war with New York.

The Yankees are the highest grossing team in all of baseball, and if they want to add more payroll, they have the luxury to do so.

The luxury tax doesn’t bother them either, as they have been paying it the last several years.

If the Yankees want to add Lee by offering him more money, they will do it; they always go the extra mile to get the players they want.

Back in 2008, when they were trying to sign CC Sabathia, they upped their initial offer of six years and $140 million to seven years and $161 million.

The Yankees knew they needed Sabathia, and they knew they had to offer something extra to convince him not to pitch on the west coast near his California home. By adding more to their offer, they got Sabathia to relocate his family to New York.

The Yankees will be looking to do the same thing now with Lee and his family. So if the Rangers offer a major contract, expect the Yankees to trump them, whether it be in years or dollars.

Speaking of Sabathia, he is one of Lee’s closest friends from their playing days in Cleveland, and will be playing the role of recruiter for Lee and his family to come to New York.

Sabathia won a championship in his first year with the Yankees, while Lee has lost in consecutive World Series. A championship in New York with the Yankees, to go along with a massive contract, may be enticing enough for Lee to choose them instead of Texas.

From the Yankees’ point of view, Andy Pettitte’s unknown future with the team may be even more incentive to go after Lee.

Since 2007, the Yankees have gone year to year with Pettitte, who is mulling retirement. Pettitte wanted to come back to the Yankees to win one more championship, which he last achieved in 2009. At 38, Pettitte may want to finally call it a career and spend time with his wife and four kids.

His possible retirement, along with A.J. Burnett’s inconsistency, will only further increase the Yankees’ desire and need to get Lee to New York.

Right now, we are in the early stages of free agency and the negotiating process. As the weeks go on, we’ll hear more stories and rumors of Lee and his whereabouts for 2011 and beyond.

But for right now, we all know the Yankees’ main plan for this winter; it just all depends on how much money and how many years it will take to convince Cliff Lee to come to New York.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Yankees payroll is about average, maybe even smaller than it should be.

I hate to use juvenile terminology, but you people who complain about it are whiners and haters. Most reasonable observers agree that the the Yankees and the star powered teams that they field are great for the business of the other 29 teams. However, I will go further than that. I can say with reasonable certainty, that their payroll really isn’t that high at all.

New York City is expensive. Well, New York State is expensive, the city itself will bleed every penny you have. We are easily one of the most heavily taxed states in the country. Sure the city has much to offer, but it all comes at the price of a sales tax that is almost nine percent.

That extra nine percent is added to a premium of anywhere between 25 and 100 percent that we pay on almost all goods and services. The premium is the result of higher rents and transportation costs. We pay these premiums using money that is subject to extra city payroll taxes that total about four percent of your income. I won’t even try to explain New York State’s property taxes and other small taxes that don’t even make sense to me.

I think the point I’ve made here is obvious: The Yankees pay their players well, but the players pay their state well in turn. Alex Rodriguez made $25M-plus as both a member of the Rangers and the Yankees, but he pocketed a lot more of that salary as a member of the Rangers.

Money is an object, but it is a relative object. In order to successfully compete in a dynamic marketplace, the Yankees and the Mets must entice free agents with salaries that are much higher in absolute terms, because in real terms, the purchasing power of those salaries is much lower.

Speaking of the marketplaces, let’s take a look at the Yankees market. The New York metropolitan area has a population of about 19 million people. Since there are no baseball teams besides the Yankees and the Mets in New York State, you can add on another 10 million people who are New Yorkers yet don’t reside in the city itself.

So, the Yankees and the Mets have to their selves a marketplace of almost 30 million people.  And to be quite frank, who cares about the Mets?

The exact extent of the Bomber’s international appeal is unknown, but it is surely bigger than any other team in MLB. Sorry other 29 teams, but you just don’t have as many people living in your market. So while the supply of baseball remains constant, the demand for baseball  increases. It is only fair that the Yankees benefit from these extra revenue streams.

Actually, everyone benefits from the Yankees extra revenue streams. Despite complaining from the “small-market” Boston Red Sox, most owners love it when the Yankees come to town. The 27-time world champions probably bring in more spectators when they visit Baltimore than the Orioles do.

Owners don’t care who you root for once you’re in the stadium, as long as you part with your money. This popularity is fueled both by the Yankees having a roster loaded with stars and the mere storyline of having a perennial power house that other teams want to beat.

Still not convinced?

Do you still think that having a salary cap would create a more fair world for the have-nots? You’re forgetting what makes the MLB different from the NBA and the NFL. The MLB is loaded international players from Latin America and Japan.

If baseball modeled its draft and payroll system similarly to the other two sports, it would create an impossibly difficult situation for aspiring Latino players. There would be little incentive for clubs to invest money in Latin America and try to discover the next big talent.

Even if there was a way to incorporate these players into the draft system, teams could easily cheat the salary cap by offering cash payments to family members in foreign countries. In all likelihood, teams wouldn’t even bother going south of the border.

That would be a shame considering stars born in Latin America put so much money into hospitals, churches and charities of their home countries. We take it for granted that those evil Yankee dollars mean clean water for a poor child overseas.

Fortunately, there never will be a salary cap in baseball. It is in the interest of almost all parties to allow teams to spend freely and invest in their product. But unfortunately, many ignorant fans will continue to blame the Yankees for all the ills in the baseball world.

Their efforts would be much better spent protesting their own team’s failure to invest in quality ball players. Hatred of the Yankees is not based on of reason or logic. It is based on jealously and a failure to understand how baseball and the economy works.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

We’re about to present a slideshow in which we analyze the voting for the 2010 American League Cy Young Award. We’re going to look at 10 Cy Young Award candidates and analyze them along several lines, i.e. how much run support each one got, how well each player kept the ball in the yard, how hurt by his home park each one was.

But at the end of the day, none of this matters, because really all we want to know is the answer to this one question: Is this the year? Will this be the historic year in which the Baseball Writers Association of America does the correct thing and gives the Cy Young Award to the best pitcher in his league, without regard for his win-loss record?

Put another way: Will Felix Hernandez win the 2010 American League Cy Young Award?

Let’s have a look.

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For what feels like the 10th time of the decade, Andy Pettitte will once again enter the free agent market. At 38 and quickly approaching 39, Pettitte is the gold standard of wizened pro baseball players, still enjoying much success. Pettitte finished the 2010 season 11-3 with a 1.20 WHIP, not too shabby for a 38 year old. But it is in the postseason where Pettitte has earned a reputation, winning a record 19 games.

The 2010 postseason saw a continuation of Pettitte’s dominance, providing the Yankees with several quality starts, which went for naught as the squad collapsed against a superior Texas Rangers squad.

Pettite is a free agent again, and though he is 38, he still has the numbers to warrant yet another massive payday. And he probably will get one, most likely from the Yankees who will be able and willing to overpay for the dominant starter’s services yet again. And when Andy Pettitte does sign his new contract with the New York Yankees, and when Andy Pettitte is yet again dominant in both the regular and postseason, every baseball fan with a brain should raise their eyebrows.

Why should fans question Pettitte’s sustained efficiency? Because Andy Pettitte is a cheater.

In December of 2007, Andy Pettitte was named on the Mitchell Report. Less than 48 hours after being listed by Senator Mitchell, Pettitte released a statement hoping to rectify his image and sway Americans away from their bias against cheating baseball players.

Pettitte’s release said: “In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow…I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible…I was looking to heal.”

Despite admitting to being a cheater, Pettitte was quickly embraced by the American media and public for his decision to come clean. Despite being a cheater, Pettitte managed to completely avert the continued criticism and skepticism that plagued other dominant superstars of the era, such as Barry Bonds.

In July of 2010, Andy Pettite strained a groin, causing him to miss two months. Pettitte came back in late September, pitching a masterful and complete six innings in his return, allowing just one run.

All of baseball bought it—Pettite was back, firing on all cylinders, and October, where Pettitte had always made his name, was two weeks away. Pettitte made two postseasons starts, allowing four runs in 14 innings pitched, with baseball fan’s everywhere drooling at the continued success of Ageless Andy, baseball’s best drug free 38 year old ever.

But lets be serious here, why on earth would we give Ageless Andy the benefit of the doubt? He is an admitted cheater, having confessed in a statement released by himself to receiving HGH injections to recover from an injury. Pettitte admitted he cheated when he was 30, in the prime of his physical fitness, to recover from an injury. Why should baseball fans believe that this same cheater, eight years later and older, would now refrain from cheating?

Andy Pettitte was 38 with a groin injury. HGH is a supplement that could definitely help a baseball player recover from an injury, as Pettitte witnessed when he cheated while on the DL in 2002. What would prevent Pettitte from turning to a PED again in 2010? Certainly his body would require this drug supplement much more than it did when he was at his athletic peak.

Why would Pettitte not take a PED in 2010? He had all the same incentives as in 2002 (remember Ageless Andy was in a contract season this year) and was once again on the DL.

Pettitte already cheated once, why should baseball fans expect him not to cheat twice?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Baseball is the only sport, in my opinion, where the season lasts 365 days a year. Major League Baseball’s offseason is unlike any other.

The “Hot Stove” is always cooking something.

Nothing like going to bed with a rumor and waking up to a new player on your team.

Teams can officially start negotiating with free agents come 12:01 Sunday morning. Teams that are likely to spend are, of course, the New York Yankees, who are looking to get younger and get back to the Fall Classic.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are looking to have a bounce back year and regain their AL West crown.

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Overall, the 2010 season was a disappointment because the Yankees did not win the World Series, but last year’s championship softens the blow a bit.

This is not the collapse of 2004, the gutwrencher of 2001 or the frustrating drought of 2005-08. Instead, this was a good team, but not a great team.

With that in mind, let’s hand out grades for 2010 to every pitcher with at least 26 innings and every hitter with at least 72 at-bats.

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Now that the Major League Baseball season is officially over, we need to start thinking about the offseason. Here are some important dates that you may want to mark off on your calendar.

Nov. 7, 2010: Free-agent filing period and exclusive negotiating window ends at 12:01 a.m. ET. Free agents can sign with any team.

Nov. 9, 2010: AL Rawlings Gold Glove Awards

Nov. 10, 2010: NL Rawlings Gold Glove Awards

Nov. 15, 2010: AL, NL Rookie of the Year Awards

Nov. 16, 2010: NL Cy Young

Nov. 16, 2010: AL & NL Manager of the Year

Nov. 16-17, 2010: General Managers Meetings, Orlando, Fla.

Nov. 18, 2010: AL Cy Young

Nov. 22, 2010: NL Most Valuable Player

Nov. 23, 2010: AL Most Valuable Player

Nov. 23, 2010: Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to free agents in order to preserve their right to draft-pick compensation.

Nov. 30, 2010: Last day for free agents to accept salary-arbitration offers.

Dec. 2, 2010: Last day for teams to tender 2011 contracts to players under reserve.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Courtesy of Yankees ‘n More

According to the new free agency rules in Major League Baseball, there are only five days (rather than the previous 15 days) between the end of the World Series and open season on free agents.

That means teams can begin negotiating with free agents at midnight, this Sunday morning. If history is any judge, you can expect to hear about a substantial offer made to Cliff Lee by the New York Yankees sometime on Sunday.

“The free agent market is certainly a big thing we look at,” said owner and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner when asked about Lee. “And we will have money to spend.”

That’s exactly what New York did two years ago with CC Sabathia, opening with a shock ‘n awe initial offer of six years and $140 million on the first day of free agency. That offer dwarfed the then-record deal for a pitcher, which was just over $120 million for the Mets Johan Santana.

If it’s possible, the Yankees appear to value Lee even more than they did Sabathia. In fact, Lee is the only player for whom GM Brian Cashman has been willing to give up both premium talent and dollars. Cash refused to do so when he had the chance to trade for either Santana or Sabathia.

The idea for such a quick and massive initial offer is to intimidate and immediately eliminate as many teams as possible from the Cliff Lee chase. That’s also why news of this offer will be “leaked,” almost certainly by the Yankees themselves. They WANT this information out there.

The plan worked well with Sabathia, who never received any firm offers from the National League teams on the West Coast he was believed to covet. A big offer from the Yankees might not immediately eliminate the Texas Rangers, but it might send just about every other team scrambling for a white flag.

In the winter of 2008, the Yankees eventually bid against themselves to lock up Sabathia. Increasing their already-best offer by another year and another $21 million, admitting they knew they had to pay a “premium” to get Sabathia to give up on the National League and the West Coast.

Back in the middle of the season, Cashman was more than willing to trade a package of prospects, including his very best in Jesus Montero, to Seattle for Lee, and then to pay top free agent dollars to the pitcher, as well.

And now that prospects like Montero are not needed to get Lee? Now that the Yankees need only write the check? Expect them to be extremely aggressive and decisively quick, and expect them to go to whatever financial lengths are required to land the best pitcher to hit the open market in years.

And Cliff Lee (along with the rest of us) can expect to here from the Yankees this Sunday.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Courtesy of Yankees ‘n More

You hear a lot of names mentioned as possible offseason targets for the New York Yankees. Cliff Lee, of course, gets more attention than anybody else, and rightly so. Then there are guys like soon-to-be free agent outfielders Carl Crawford and Jason Werth. Even names like Zack Greinke and Johnny Damon have received some play.

But one you never hear that might make a lot of sense is catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez. This is 100 percent pure speculation, but here’s why we think Victor Martinez-to-the-Bronx makes sense.

1) The Yankees are, according to multiple reports, ready to move Jorge Posada to more of a full-time DH role in 2011, which happens to be the final year of his current contract.Yankees ‘n More

2) Most people who follow this team believe the Yankees will attempt to break in top prospect Jesus Montero as their major league catcher of the future next season. If they do, they will need something more substantial than Francisco Cervelli in reserve.

3) Brian Cashman and the Yankees LOVES them some switch hitters (Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, Lance Berkman, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams…) and Martinez is one of the very best in the game today.

4) While Martinez is not a great defensive catcher by any stretch, he’s at least as good as Posada is, and the Yankees obviously don’t emphasize defense at catcher. If they did, Posada would have been replaced long ago.

5) Martinez also gives the team some versatility/insurance at first base in the event of Teixeira being forced to again miss time with injuries or the like.

6) If 2011 marks the final season in pinstripes for Jorge Posada (and you have to think there is a good chance it does), Martinez transitions nicely into a fulltime, switch-hitting designated hitter role starting in 2012, when one would certainly hope at least one of the truck load of talented catchers in the system is ready to take over full time.

7) Signing Martinez takes him away from the Boston Red Sox, leaving them with another hole to fill.

8) Martinez was the regular catcher for both CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee when all three were together in Cleveland.

No doubt the Yankees are going after Cliff Lee with both barrels this offseason. And we would not be the least bit surprised to see them make a run at Carl Crawford, as well.

But don’t go to sleep on Victor Martinez. You might wake up one Winter morning to find out he just signed a contract with the New York Yankees.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

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.

The best in the game match up with the best of yesteryear, sometimes in ways that can be surprising. In the October 24 New York Times, George Vecsey compares Josh Hamilton to Mickey Mantle in ways that surprised myself. The two were troubled, yet were two of the best hitters of their respective eras.

This is just one of many comparisons between 20 of the top players in baseball and their respective historical counterparts. The comparisons are based on build, ability, stats, and just about anything else that makes a baseball player a baseball player, for better or worse.

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