The Rangers’ bid is a desperation move for a team that won two straight American League pennants, but failed to capture their first World Championship. They lost Cliff Lee, one of the top five pitchers in all of baseball, to free agency after the 2010 season, and this year lost one of the top free agent prizes in fellow left-hander C.J. Wilson. The Rangers signed closer Joe Nathan earlier this month and plan to move current closer Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation. Texas’ plans for Feliz are not expected to change if they ink Darvish to a deal.

Texas’ bid also shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Baseball fans constantly hear owners bemoaning the fact that they are losing money, that there are haves and have-nots, that the Yankees are spending like crazy, and teams need to tighten their purse strings.  While the true small market teams (Pittsburgh, KC) tend not to spend money earned from the luxury tax, there are plenty of other teams, not just the Yankees, who are more than willing to open their checkbooks.

With bad feelings still lingering from the 1994 player’s strike, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf infuriated most of his fellow owners when he signed then free agent Albert Belle to a five year, $55MM deal in November, 1996. At the time, the contract was the first to average more than $10MM per season.

Things have escalated since then; Alex Rodriguez signed not one, but two outrageous contracts in excess of $250MM. The first was with the Texas Rangers in December, 2000, and then A-Rod topped that with a new deal with the New York Yankees seven years later. Since 2000, more than 30 contracts have been signed in excess of $100MM in total. Boston used to consider itself a small market team, but it can no longer say that after the franchise doled out $142MM to free agent Carl Crawford last off-season and gave trade acquisition Adrian Gonzalez a $154MM extension.  One year earlier they shelled out $82.5MM for John Lackey, whose best days were behind him.

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria cried poverty, but got a new stadium and suddenly had the cash to pay out over $191MM this off-season for free agents Heath Bell, Jose Reyes, and Mark Buehrle. Angels owner Arte Moreno did not land Crawford in 2010 as many expected him to, but perhaps he was waiting to reel in the biggest catch this off-season. Albert Pujols pulled in the second richest contract – $254MM - in baseball history when he signed with the Angels earlier this month. He was joined by Wilson, who bolted the Rangers for a five year deal in excess of $77MM.

There is still one more large payout to be handed out this winter, to free agent 1st baseman Prince Fielder. The Rangers are among those expected to court the Milwaukee Brewers’ standout. A team that was on the verge of bankruptcy a short time ago could very well join the nearly dozen teams with a $100MM or greater payroll. And as the salaries go up, so do the tickets, hot dogs, parking, and beer.

Considering that Matt Kemp, Matt Cain, Zack Greinke, James Loney, Howie Kendrick, Josh Hamilton, and Andre Ethier are among next year’s potential free agents, the “spend trend” will certainly continue.

Update – As a reader astutely pointed out, Matt Kemp recently signed a new mega deal. One must be careful when mixing cold medicine and writing.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

And, then the news came down this past weekend. Ryan Braun, the reigning National League Most Valuable Player had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. In the time it took for the news to scroll across the bottom of screens, media outlets began churning out the venomous takes on Braun’s failed test. Social media exploded with angry fans, media members, and bloggers all spewing their shock, dislike, and perspective punishments for such a cheater. There were calls for repealing his MVP Award. The mass was ready for a public trial and possibly a symbolic public hanging. We haven’t had one of those in a couple of years. All of that momentum that Baseball was building seemed to have just stopped.

Of course the news was shocking. Braun is one of the last players anyone would ever expect to be a user. He was so outspoken when Alex Rodriguez was caught. He doesn’t fail the eyeball test either like Bonds did. His statistics have never really fluctuated in any season. Considering that he has been subject to testing since the day he stepped foot on a professional field, the odds of Braun failing a test or using seemed long. His reaction to his outing has also been consistent. He maintains his innocence and seems ready to fight it. While no player has ever won an appeal, Braun’s camp seems optimistic that they will win.

Whether they win or lose isn’t the issue. If Ryan Braun is found guilty, he will simply join a list of players who got caught and moved on. Even the villainous Alex Rodriguez has moved on. David Ortiz is still beloved. Andy Pettitte had no problem endearing himself back to the New York faithful. At this point, Baseball fans easily forgive as long as they get the proper amount of penance. Braun, if found guilty, seems like the type who will handle it well.

The problem isn’t even about the drug testing program. The fact that Ryan Braun was tested in October is a testament to the program and the fairness in which it is implemented. As flawed as the sport once was with drug testing, Baseball is the most vigilant of the major sports now. Minor Leaguers have been tested, punished, and placed into programs. Now, the Major Leaguers are finally being held to the same standards. On that front, it is a positive gain for Major League Baseball that they tested one of their stars.

The real problem lies within Major League Baseball. It lies within an organization that has correctly railed its players into a drug testing problem. This year, they will test for HGH, a product of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The process is based on confidentiality. The CBA explicitly states that all tests will remain confidential through the appeal process. Braun’s result was leaked to ESPN before he has had the chance to put together a proper appeal. His result was leaked before anything was finalized. There is something very wrong with a system that doesn’t allow that system to actually play out. The players reluctantly gave into a testing system. They have even given in to blood testing. Evidently, the process may just play out in public for the world to judge and to get into a frenzy about on just the possibility of someone cheating.

For the Major League Players Association, the issue of confidentiality has to be paramount. Michael Weiner, the MLBPA’s Executive Director echoed those sentiments in his press release regarding Braun’s case. “Our Joint Drug Agreement is designed to protect a player from a rush to judgment before he can challenge a reported positive test result. Fairness dictates that Ryan Braun be treated no differently. I urge all to reserve judgment on this matter until the JDA’s process has played itself out.”

The last statement–the part about reserving judgment–is the problem. Few are actually waiting to see how Braun’s appeal will play out. In most minds, he is a guilty man, just like all of the guilty men before him. Those men asked everyone to believe them before. Everyone did for quite some time. Everyone turned away from what seemed so obvious in 1998. It was right there, but hardly anyone wanted to question it. With the reality of what really did happen and how widespread of a problem we all missed, everyone is now on the witch hunt. Now, the process of drug testing has fallen into modern form of McCarthyism. It is one based on innuendo, fear, hysteria, and hunting. ESPN is not to blame for running the story on Braun. They were presented with a story–a big story–and ran it. All media outlets would have.

But, that is the problem. With media outlets searching for information and evidently finding it quite easy to ascertain, it has set a tone of uncertainty. Baseball was digging out of that tone. Now, it is, in some way, back. Ryan Braun failed a test. That seems like it is fact. But, there may just be a plausible reason for that. The information given in the ESPN report is certainly damning. It is very easy to jump to a guilty verdict based on that report. Their reporters are some of the industry’s best. There isn’t any doubt that their information is accurate in terms of his failing, what he failed for, and what it could possibly mean.

Braun does have a right to refute this. He is deserving of defending himself. In fact, it is a right granted to him by not only the sport, but the country. The issue is that we are talking about this now. None of this should be known. We shouldn’t know that Braun failed a test. We shouldn’t know that an appeal is underway. He should simply be allowed to fight his case with his dignity and good name intact. If he is innocent, he will forever have the stigma of a failed test. Fans will get over it, but Braun’s legacy would forever have the mention of that failed test, whether it was accurate or not. Major League Baseball is in dereliction of its duties to protect the privacy of the drug testing program. There have been too many leaks. Alex Rodriguez’s failed test should’ve never come out. His test, as with all of those tests, was taken on the condition of anonymity. Baseball’s track record isn’t great. Why would the Players Association even allow their players to take another test? Baseball is, in reality, in violation of the CBA. They haven’t lived up to their responsibilities in the agreement.

This only fuels the paranoia of the guardians of the game. Hall of Fame voting has become a modern day witch hunt. Players with deserving careers are being kept out of the Hall of Fame on suspicion of cheating. Jeff Bagwell was prominently left off many ballots despite compiling one of the greatest careers of the modern era. He was never charged with anything. Yet, suspicion will keep him out. Now, with a testing program that leaks out information before the process is complete will only enhance the same type of blood thirsty mob that wants to hang anyone suspected of modern sports witch craft.

The more that the testing program leaks, the more media outlets will put an emphasis of finding the information. That attention creates an Abigail Williams type of scenario where everyone involved was seen with the devil and punished despite any real due process. If Baseball truly wants to get passed all of this and prove to the world that they are policing their game, the first step should be to ensure that due process can be carried out in private. Baseball’s leaks have caused this negative story to an otherwise sterling offseason. Moving on isn’t about putting on a grand spectacle where there are public trials and hangings. Moving on is doing things the right way and eliminating the problems, not calling attention to more problems and prematurely taking one of your stars and making him guilty without following through.

Baseball’s negligence has caused this problem. First, they were negligent for not having any sort of testing for so long. Now, they are negligent for not having any type of security for these tests. From the problem’s beginning to its current state, the industry of Baseball has failed. Yes, the testing is the best in professional sports. But, their execution is poor.

Hopefully, Ryan Braun can prove his innocence. The sport will be better for it. His innocence would also illuminate just how poorly Baseball is running the program and the need for complete confidentiality. That would help quell the paranoia fire and allow the play on the field to be the sole center of attention.

Commissioner Bud Selig has to be commended on getting the players to agree to the type of drug testing program. But, he should be equally blamed for leading a program that has failed to provide the anonymity and fairness inherent with such a program. This should be his number one priority. Without a proper system to eliminate leaks in testing protocol, this issue will forever haunt Baseball. If it continues, it is also asking for a fight from the players. It would be a fight that they would easily win. Bud Selig needs to act and act quickly while he still can. If not, the sport will forever be mired in a type of chaos that will take most attention away from the field. That would be a shame as almost everyone wants to focus on the game happening on the field.

Pujols reached an agreement with the Los Angeles Angels on a reported, 10-yr, $250MM contract earlier today. The defending champion Cardinals had already lost their manager, Tony LaRussa, who retired after the Cardinals won the World Series, and now have lost their best player as well. 

Pujols was said to be seeking an average salary that would put him above the deal that Alex Rodriguez signed with the Yankees after the 2007 season. At the very least, Pujols wanted to top the cash earned by Mark Teixeira, the highest paid 1st baseman in baseball. While he didn’t reach A-Rod numbers, Pujols easily surpassed the $22.5MM Teixeira earns per season.

Pujols has put up monster numbers ever since he hit 37 home runs and drove in 130 runs in his 2001 debut season. He was the NL Rookie of the Year that season and made the first of nine All-Star appearances. In 11 seasons in St. Louis, Pujols slugged 445 home runs, averaged 121 RBI, and posted a 1.037 career OPS. He also won a pair of championship rings (2006 in addition to this past season) and won three NL MVP Awards.

The overwhelming feeling was that Pujols would return to St. Louis, especially after the Miami Marlins were told they were out of the running.  Angels’ owner Arte Moreno and new GM Jerry DiPoto played things quietly though and seized the opening. They weren’t done for the day either.

Shortly after the Pujols agreement, it was learned the Angels had come to terms with starting pitcher C.J. Wilson on a five year, $75MM free agent contract. Wilson was thought to be either returning to Texas or signing with their division rivals. Opting for the latter, Wilson joins a rotation that already boasts Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana, though there have been rumors that Santana could be moved.

Wilson began his career as a reliever before bouncing back and forth between starting and relieving roles. He became a full-time starter in 2010 and was 31-15, 3.14 over the past two seasons. Wilson was the number one starter on the Rangers, but is considered a number two or three starter by most observers.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

While rumors persist that the Rangers will throw a boatload of money at CC Sabathia, if the pitcher opts out of his current deal witht the New York Yankees, and the team already is loaded with hitters, they could go after Pujols. Texas’ principle owner Nolan Ryan surely had to be wishing Pujols was on his side as he watched the St. Louis Cardinals destroy his team in Game 3 of the World Series last night. Pujols had five hits, three home runs, and six RBI to help boost the Cards to a 16-7 win and a two games to one advantage over the Rangers.

Pujols is in the final year of an eight year, $116MM contract, with deferred money, that makes him only the 35th highest paid player in baseball. The Cardinals offered the 11 year veteran a nine year, $195MM deal last winter, but, to no surprise, Pujols turned it down. He is said to be looking for a deal similar to that of Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275) and Joe Mauer (10 years, $230). But can the Cardinals pony up the money, and if not, who can?

The number of teams that can fulfill Pujols’ wishes are limited. The Yankees, always players for big time players, should not be involved. The Angels are always mentioned when it comes to high salaried players, everyone was sure that they would sign Carl Crawford last off-season, but the Angels haven’t been throwing money around lately for outside free agents. The Red Sox saw this season (Crawford, Lackey, Gonzalez) that big money moves doesn’t even translate to a playoff spot. Other teams you will surely hear mentioned are the SF Giants, Chicago Cubs, and Washington Nationals.

The Rangers 2011 salary was $91,885,265, the 13th highest total in all of baseball. The Rangers top priority will be to bring back their #1 starter, C.J. Wilson, who will be a free agent after the World Series. If Ryan is able to accomplish that feat, and unable to bring in Sabathia (there are no other top-line starting pitchers available via free agency), the Rangers should be able to add a Pujols type contract to their payroll.

The Rangers added Adrian Beltre to any already strong lineup last off-season and Texas scored the third highest total runs scored (855) in all of baseball, but imagine what they could do with Pujols? Even more protection for Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, and Beltre. It would also free them up to deal Mitch Moreland and prospects for pitching. The downside of signing Pujols would be that Michael Young could be the odd man out, just as he nearly was this season.

You Better Be Better, You Bet

Derek Holland needs to pitch the game of his life in Sunday night’s Game 4 of the World Series. It’s the pivotal game of the series with Texas either tying things up at two games apiece or the Cardinals just one game away from their 11th title. Holland has struggled in his three playoff starts, particularly his two ALCS appearances against the Detroit Tigers. Holland lasted just 7.1 innings in his two starts and allowed seven earned runs. He appeared in two World Series games last season and allowed three earned runs in one inning.

Pujols Makes History

Pujols’ three home run night was the second of this post-season, joining Nelson Cruz who had a hat trick in the ALCS. Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, last night was just the second time in WS history that players from both team had at least four hits in the same game. Pujols and Beltre were the first players since Enos Slaughter, Whitey Kurowski and Joe Garagiola of St. Louis had four hits for the victorious Cardinals in Game 4 of the ’46 Series, while Wally Moses had four for the Boston Red Sox.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

It’s a race that is easily similar to the last Red Sox, Yankees race when Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz battled for the hardware. That race was too close to call from the get-go, some making the argument that Rodriguez makes more of an impact because he plays the field while Ortiz gained support through clutch hits.

This season there are three worthy candidates to win the award, two of them who play 81 of their games in Fenway Park and one of them who resides in New York. A strong argument can be made for each player, but in the end there is one that does stand out among the rest.

Jacoby Ellsbury, a player who at one time seemed so lost at the plate, has developed into an All-Star caliber player. The 27-year-old had been known as a speedster, one that continually slapped at the ball hoping to find a hole.

Once on base, pitchers paid close attention to the player who stole 70 bases only two seasons ago, except this season they have more to worry about from Ellsbury. He already had most of the tools to be a great center fielder: speed, hits for average and rarely struck out, but one aspect eluded him — power.

However, he has proved this season that all he needed was time. Now entering his prime, Ellsbury is in the midst of a career-season, one that has seen him more than double his highest home run output to 23 home runs.

As the table-setter for one of the best offensive teams in baseball, Ellsbury is very valuable to the Sox, utilizing his speed to get into scoring position for the traditional power hitters. However, the point can be made that the Sox did not need his production to be where they are today.

Residing in one of the most hallowed positions in all of Yankees history, Curtis Granderson continued his hot-hitting from the end of last season into this year, showing that maybe the Yankees did receive the better part of the deal.

While Granderson struggled for much of his time in New York during his debut season with the club, Austin Jackson, the man sent to the Tigers in the trade, showed tremendous promise. It seemed one-sided in favor of the Tigers until Granderson discovered his power stroke, one that has helped make the Yankees lineup that much more potent and deeper.

The 30-year-old has set a career-high this season with 36 home runs along with 103 RBI’s and over 100 runs scored. Single-handedly, he makes a huge difference to the Yankees lineup because of his deadly combination of power and speed.

However is he the clear-cut choice for the American League MVP award? A .277 batting average and 137 strikeouts certainly does not help make for a compelling case, especially when faced up against Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox.

The A.L. All-Star first baseman came over to the Red Sox during the off-season and has escaped from obscurity that has hampered his superstardom. The Red Sox tried many times to pry him away from the San Diego Padres for a few reasons: his Gold-Glove caliber play at first, unassuming, business-like attitude and a swing meant for Fenway Park.

Gonzalez, a natural through-the-ball hitter, has pelted the Green Monster to a tune of a .345 batting average and has also blast 23 home runs. During the early days of April when the team struggled to produce any semblance of offense, it was A-Gon who supplied the pop.

He has been nothing but consistent all season, helping save runs on defense, supply pop on offense and be a team-leader in the clubhouse. The Red Sox brought him in to help win a championship and size him up for a ring.

Over the last month, A-Gon can help lead the Sox into the postseason while solidifying his position as the American League’s MVP.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

Facing the Detroit Tigers this evening, Thome homered off right-hander Rick Porcello in the 5th inning for his 599th career home run. Thome didn’t wait long to join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Sammy Sosa in the exclusive home run club.

With lefty Daniel Schlereth on the mound and two men aboard, Thome drilled number 600 the opposite way in the 7th inning for a 5 RBI night.

Thome’s home run break down:

#1 – 10/4/91 vs. NYY Lee Guetterman

#100 – 5/14/97 vs. TEX Bobby Witt

#200 – 4/15/00 vs. TEX Mark Clark

#300 – 6/14/02 vs. MIN Eric Milton

#400 – 6/14/04 vs. CIN Jose Acevedo

#500 – 6/16/07 vs. LAA Dustin Moseley

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

A future Hall of Famer, a current Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players to wear a Chicago Cubs uniform of all-time.

What do they all have in common? They were all born on today’s date, July 27. What else do they have in common? I decided not to focus today’s feature on any of them.

Those three names are well known. We know about A-Rod and how he quickly reached the 500 mark, and then not long after that, the 600 plateau in home run calculations. We know about the BALCO findings, and that he finally admitted to using substances in the early part of the new millenium. We know that he came up with Seattle, signed the largest contract in MLB with the Texas Rangers at 10 years/$252 million and then topped that with a 10 years/$272 million contract when he joined the New York Yankees. We know about his willingness to play third base because Jeter was already the captain and resident of the shortstop position with the Yankees and of course, we know about the ‘Cameron and the popcorn’ incident. (I like calling it an incident. Makes it seem like a big deal while of course, it was not).

Durocher? We know that he was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1994 by the veterans committee, won at least 500 games with three different teams, is listed tenth all-time in victories by a manager and finally put an end to the horrible ‘College of Coaches‘ idea that existed with P.K. Wrigley’s Chicago Cubs.

Speaking of the Chicago Cubs, baseball historians and poetry fans alike are well-versed in the likes of Joe Tinker. The man that leads off in the ‘Tinker to Evers to Chance’ poem helped lead the Chicago Cubs through their greatest decade and their last world championship in the early 1900′s.

The three of them have been celebrated time and time again. I have decided they’ve had their birthday cake and eaten, too. (In the case of Rodriguez, it may have even been fed to him by Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson or some other Hollywood startlet). To truly celebrate a birthday in this space and recognize a player few know anything about and some know very little, we need to highlight the career of the deserving, yet relatively unknown.

I present to you: Elliot Taylor ‘Bump’ Wills.

Bump Wills deserves not only an article on BaseballDigest.com celebrating his birth and career, his name alone should be commemorated in stone some way, some how. Whether it be a baseball award, a legal term, a dirty joke or a dance move, to have the name Bump Wills out there and no one making use of it (aside from Bump Wills) is just a shame. I will change that here and now. The legendary, Bump Wills.

Baseball Digest selected Bump Wills as the second baseman of their 1977 All-Rookie team. Andre Dawson, Jack Clark were also selected as members of the team. You can see the entire line-up here.

Bump Wills was born in Washington D.C. on this day in 1952 and turns 59 today. Those who relish in the minutiae of the game may take great pride in knowing that Wills, along with Moises Alou and David Bell,  are the only major league ballplayers to suit up and play a game against their respective fathers.

Wills played college ball at Arizona State University and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the amateur draft in 1975 (January secondary). His career spanned the years of 1977-1982, including five seasons with the Texas Rangers before closing out his time in major league baseball with the 1982 season with the Chicago Cubs.

A career .266 hitter, Wills had his highlights as well as his not-so-proud moments in the game like any other ballplayer. His time with the Rangers was highlighted by stealing 52 bases in the 1978 season. On August 27, 1977, Wills and teammate, Toby Harrah, combined to lead the Rangers to an 8-2 win over the Yankees by hitting back-to-back inside-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches. It tied the MLB mark for consecutive inside-the-park home runs and I’m guessing are the two most memorable pitches of Ken Clay’s career.

On the list of moments Wills would probably rather forget, in a game against the Yankees nearly a year later on May 6, 1978, second baseman Willie Randolph of the Yankees pulled the hidden ball trick on Mills. It doesn’t just happen in the movies. However, I’m assuming it is much more embarrassing when it happens in real life.

While you won’t find him in historic baseball prose, honored with his likeness on a plaque in Cooperstown or on the front cover of People Magazine, Wills did maintain integrity and respect on the baseball diamond when it came to the family name. His father, Maury, also played in the major leagues. Bump represented the family well by playing a quality second base (career .979 fielding percentage), stealing bases at a career mark of a 75% success rate and leading the AL twice in putouts and assists. His team was generally in a better position with him in the line up with his ability to steal a base and work his way around to score. In 1980, he scored a career-high 102 runs for the Texas Rangers.

In his one season with the Chicago Cubs, Wills hit six home runs, had thirty-eight RBIs, thirty-five stolen bases and a batting average of .272. It explains why there isn’t a banner with his name hanging anywhere at Wrigley. No statue in front of the stadium. No banner hanging in the corridors and no flag flying high above. Wills is certainly remembered more so by Texas Rangers fans. Perhaps after reading this article, you too will remember the name Bump Wills.

A baseball player who put it all out there for baseball fans in his time in the majors being remembered by baseball fans from all over. Is there a better birthday gift to be had? (If you discount having popcorn thrown into your mouth by Cameron Diaz, I would have to go with ‘absolutely not’).

Also Born Today:

Shea Hillenbrand turns 36 today. A career .284 hitter, Hillenbrand spent time with the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Giants, Angels and Dodgers. The two time All-Star appeared in more games at third base than any one else in 2002 and led the league in HBP in 2005.

Shane Bowers turns 40 today. A star at Loyola Marymount University, the right-handed pitcher was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1993 and made his major league debut in 1997. In five games with the Twins, he posted an 0-3 record with an 8.05 ERA.

Ryan Maloney is a Staff Writer for BaseballDigest.com, the author of popular Chicago Cubs blog Prose and Ivy and contributing writer to MLB.com/Entertainment.

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Less than 24 hours later, Reyes pulled into the Citi Field parking lot for a game against A-Rod’s Yankees and promptly pulled his hamstring. Make your own conspiracy-laden conclusions.

Jose Reyes was set to become an unfathomable benefactor of both an incredible pre-free-agency campaign and the media hype machine. He had always been an electrifying player, capable of hitting home runs at Shea and slapping triples into the cavernous gaps of Citi Field. Blessed with world-class speed, Reyes was larcenous on the base paths. And he manned his position with an infectious smile and an affect that was difficult not to sympathize with.

But until this season, Reyes was rarely what he appeared. The talent was always there, but the health and production wasn’t. His first two seasons (to be fair, he was only 20 and 21, respectively) were cut short by ankle and hamstring injuries. Despite avoiding the disabled list for the next four years, Reyes was maddeningly inconsistent. A .300/.354/.487, 5.1 WAR season was sandwiched in between his ’05 campaign (.300 OBP) and a 3.9 win 2007. Of course, he went on to post a stellar 2008 season in which he was yet again worth more than five wins.

Then the Mets moved across the parking lot to Citi Field, and Reyes lost the majority of 2009 to a calf injury. And 30 games of his 2010 season to a thyroid disorder. And now, with the injury to his hamstring, Reyes has quite likely shaved a few dozen games off his stat sheet and a zero off the bottom line of his next contract.

As Reyes approaches free agency, the incessant comparisons to Carl Crawford are apt. Both were 28 year-old speedsters who were approaching free agency. Both had put up career years prior to hitting the open market. Both were solid offensive players whose production relied on speed.

That last one is most important. All the queries of whether or not Reyes “deserved Crawford money” are moot if only because Carl Crawford didn’t deserve Crawford money.

For most of his career, Crawford had been the best player on a slew of dreadful pre-exorcism Devil Rays teams. But his career ark was as unpredictable as Reyes’. For every four-and-a-half win 2004, Crawford had an injury-plagued, .319 OBP 2008. For every stolen base and infield single, you had questions about his OBP, his seemingly diminishing power, and—most of all—his legs.

At various times throughout his Rays’ tenure, Crawford had complained about pain and discomfort in his legs, a phenomenon he explained away to poor turf quality at Tropicana Field. He had also fought off wrist injuries and tendon damage to one of his hands.

This may seem like a statement of the obvious, but players like Reyes and Crawford rely on their legs. That’s fine when they’re 24 and 25 or even 29. But even if speedsters remain healthy into their thirties, they are bound to see their defining attribute diminish as the years go on. Once their speed goes from great to merely very good, infield singles morph into groundouts, doubles become singles, and defensive prowess becomes defensive mediocrity.

Most of all, nine-digit contracts become massive mistakes.

Giving massive contracts to sluggers such as A-Rod and Barry Bonds isn’t exactly a sweet science, but it’s usually safe to assume they’ll maintain at least some pop and offensive value as they approach—or even enter—their fifth decade of life.

But guys like Crawford and Reyes live off their top-notch speed. Prior to this season, 16 percent of Carl Crawford’s career hits were infield singles. Take away those hits (whether by foul play or natural causes), and Crawford becomes a .260 career hitter. Without any significant power to offset the loss in speed and batting average, he is now a replacement-level singles hitter. By the time Crawford is 35, his production will be worthless and his doppelganger will be found in Double-A Binghamton with a .650 OPS. And he’ll still be making $20,000,000 per-annum.

The disturbing part is that Reyes’ situation may be even bleaker. He is a better player than Crawford ever was, finally realizing his lofty ceiling this year to the tune of a 4.7 WAR over just 80 games. He was hitting .354 with an otherworldly .927 OPS. He had 30 stolen bases. He had 15 triples and 40 extra-base-hits. Quite literally, he was burning up the base paths and was ready to cash in on his apparent greatness.

But for all of Crawford’s complaints and injuries, the former Rays left fielder appeared in 140 games in all but one of his nine Rays campaigns, never playing in fewer than 100 games in any particular season. In eight seasons with the Mets, Reyes has only played 140 games four times, and has failed to appear in 70 contests on three occasions.

Even if he stayed healthy for the entirety of this season, Reyes never deserved Crawford money. His track record was too inconsistent, his success too fleeting and his legs too unreliable to responsibly bestow him such a commitment. He’s had injuries to his ankle, his knee, his calf and his hamstrings, and giving a player with his skill set nine-digits and seven years will be a self-defeating strategy for any GM.

Thus, even if the Mets wanted and managed to forestall his departure to another club, it’s quite likely they would have regretfully rued their decision during the backend of the contract.

Now, no one in their right mind is going to give Reyes seven years worth of “Carl Crawford money.” Which is good for the Mets, because, well, they probably wouldn’t have been able to give him that money in the first place. But what about something like five years and $80 million? Or four years and $65 million? Or if the market is dry enough, three years and $48 million?

Even with their thinning checkbook and looming ownership change, the Mets could probably afford that. And despite everything above about the uncertainty that is his future, they’d be remiss not to keep Reyes at a reasonable price. Cornerstone five-tool shortstops who double as the face of a franchise aren’t exactly dime-a-dozen. For the Mets, losing Reyes would mean reverting to an unproven and quite likely unsuccessful solution at his position. In today’s shortstop-starved world, finding a competent replacement would be difficult enough. Finding someone who could duplicate or even approach Reyes’ production would be essentially impossible.

The best course of action for the Mets is to resign Reyes for no more than five years and take a calculated risk. The true gamble would be compensating Reyes in the long-term, and with a deal at or under five years, the Mets would minimize their liability. Even if Reyes’ injury problems continue or his productions slips near the end of the contract, the Mets won’t be strait-jacketed by a Beltran-esque deal. Worst case, they take a small hit on salary while benefiting when Reyes remains healthy and in the lineup. Best case, Reyes stays injury-free and productive for the majority of the contract, and the Mets have an MVP-candidate at a premium position for half a decade.

In all likelihood, the Mets weren’t going to be competing for a pennant this season, so Reyes’ hamstring injury may have been the proverbial blessing in disguise. Seats may remain empty at the new ballpark, losses may pile up in the right hand column and the fans may grow ever more restless. But it’s hard to believe that the outlook won’t be more distressing if Reyes is allowed to leave this winter with a compensatory draft pick as the Mets’ only bounty.

Of course, there’s a considerable obstacle—besides Jose’s own perceived value—for the Mets to overcome in resigning Reyes. As with any labor force, baseball salaries are driven by market value. So if Derek Jeter is worth $45,000,000…

On second thought, the Mets might want to ready a contingency plan.

Jesse Golomb writes for Baseball Digest and is the creator and writer of The Fan Manifesto, a website for the educated sports fan. He can be followed on Twitter @TheFanManifesto or contacted by email at JesseGolomb@TheFanManifesto.com.

Franchise Player- Babe Ruth

While there are concerns about how the Babe’s skill set would translate to today’s game (after all, he sometimes enjoyed doing a Happy Gilmore impression that likely wouldn’t translate against the Lincecums and Verlanders of the world), this is an absolute no-brainer. You know about his career totals: .342 career BA, an otherworldly .474 OBP and, of course, his 714 career home runs.

But even more impressive is the extent of his dominance over the era, when no one could even approach his gaudy statistics. From Ruth’s first season with the Yanks following his (curse-inducing?) sale from Boston to his last in 1934, he blew away the rest of the Major Leagues in almost every statistical category. Over that time span, Babe hit 659 home runs—311 more than the next closest slugger, teammate Lou Gehrig (who we shall get to very shortly). Third was Al Simmons, who at 240 career jacks fell 419 HR short of the Babe’s unparalleled greatness. His OBP with the Yankees (an eye-popping .484) was forty points higher than sidekick Gehrig, who was once again second in the league during the same era. Most impressive, his .711 slugging percentage combines with the aforementioned OBP to create an OPS that not only blows second-place Gehrig away by more than a tenth of a point, but also is the highest in the history of the game. He was, by all accounts, a player with talents far above any of his peers, the proverbial “man amongst boys.” Perhaps that’s why he was able to get by on a training regiment fully sponsored by Sabrett and Anheuser-Busch.

Sabermetrically, the Babe’s Yankee WAR destroys second and third place Gehrig and Frankie Frisch by 60.3 and 80 wins, respectively; his career WAR is still the highest ever. Even with all those statistics, it’s difficult to put the Babe’s sheer dominance over all of his contemporaries in perspective. How about this: during his time in pinstripes, the Babe was worth more WAR than two entire major league teams, with the Phillies’ and Red Sox’ complete rosters exhibiting less value than the corpulent, jovial outfielder. He also hit more home runs than four clubs, blasting 106 more out of the yard than the most power-starved team in the league—the same team that had essentially given him away 15 years prior. Babe Ruth may not have left a curse in his wake following his departure from Boston, but there’s no doubt the team was inexorably destroyed by its complete lack of offense.

1B-Lou Gehrig

The Yankees are a team whose history is littered with more great players than any other, which would make one think that it will tough to be wean out the true cream from the rest of the stellar crop. In some cases, that might be true. In this case, it’s not even close.

Yankees fans adore Donnie Baseball. They love Tino Martinez. At one point, they were fond of Wally Pipp. And there had to be some moment early on when they even liked Jason Giambi.

It would be a disservice to any of those players to compare their achievements to Gehrig’s. Their impressive careers would be diminished as a result.

With some legends, it’s not worth going into much of their back-story given its prevalence in the average fan’s lexicon. If you’ve ever set foot in a major league ballpark (or even a second-grade classroom), there’s a good chance you know plenty about Gehrig’s historic battle with ALS, his famous speech at Yankee Stadium and his final submission to a disease that took from him his health, his career, and his life.

So let’s throw sentimentality to the side for now and discuss his achievements in the Majors, many of which were staggering. While the Babe was miles ahead of his contemporary competition, Gehrig was the same way, blowing everyone in the era away other than his life-loving, beer-guzzling, hotdog-hoarding counterpart. His career line of .340/.447/.632 paled in comparison to his playoff line of .361/.477/.731, compiled over 34 games. From the time Gehrig took hold of the first base job from Pipp until his final full-season in 1938, Gehrig led the Majors in HR, RBI (by more than 300), runs (ditto) and hits. Among first basemen during the length of his career, Gehrig’s 125.5 WAR was worth 34.1 wins more than second place Jimmie Foxx, 64.5 more than third place Bill Terry and 90.6 more than not-so-immortal Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley, who ranked fourth.

For those who manned his position on the right side of the infield, his career WAR is second only to Stan Musial. Among all time 1B, he’s sixth in home runs, 10^th in hits—and first in RBIs. Even with stats diminished at the hands of ALS, Gehrig’s place in history remains remarkably strong.

2B-Joe Gordon

Contrary to the beliefs of a vast majority of Hall of Fame voters, there’s definitely something to be said about the notion that four or five years of excellence from a baseball player is more valuable than seven or eight years of great, yet unspectacular consistency (the case for Don Mattingly’s enshrinement in Cooperstown, however, is still not strong). So one might want to make a case, built upon a foundation of the aforementioned belief, that Robinson Cano is deserved of this honor over Tony Lazzeri. And it seems that they’d be right—Lazzeri is not the best second baseman in team history. But neither is Cano. Yet.

Perhaps down the road, Cano—with a pure swing that might be the most gorgeous in today’s game—may reach that rarified air. For now, Joe Gordon holds a firm grip on the title of best second baseman in the history of the franchise. And for all the same reasons that Cano’s candidacy seemed worthy of such a bestowment.

Gordon, who late in his career was the first of his Indians teammates to embrace Larry Doby, was known as much for his amiable personality as he was for his immense talents. Over Gordon’s five complete years in New York he posted WARs of 7.3, 7.0, 6.8, 9.3, and 8.0—one of the greatest five year stretches for any second baseman in the history of the game. By contrast, Cano has topped 5.0 WAR once so far in his career. Lazzeri, over 12 complete big-league seasons, only reached that figure twice.

As the direct successor to Lazzeri and a huge reason for the old guard’s release prior to the ’38 campaign, Gordon was best described as a slick fielding second baseman who had unusual power for the position. He hit at least 24 home runs four times for the Yankees, drove in 100 runs in three different seasons and 97 in one other. He also slugged over .490 four times. Yet despite this superior run production, Gordon won the 1942 AL MVP even as voters saw a decline in his previously gaudy home run totals. During that defining season, he posted a stellar .322/.409/.491 line, hit 18 HR, drove in 103 runs and continued to play an outstanding second base. By the end of this decade, we may be discussing Cano with similar reverence. For now, let’s try to not forget the man they called, “Flash.” Unless we’re talking about John Flaherty.

SS-Derek Jeter

Many kids grew up telling everyone they would one day roam the position of their choice in Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, Jeter appears to be the only fantasizing child whose dreams came to fruition.

There is a certain allure and romanticism to this idea for the average fan. As a kid who grew up dreaming about hitting a game-winning home run in the World Series as a shortstop for the Yankees—then fulfilled his daydreams and promises to the tune of five World Championships and a career almost without rival—Jeter has led the kind of life that keeps the usually futile American Dream afloat.

Enough sentimentality, time for pure facts: say what you want about Jeter’s current struggles—and there are certainly plenty of things to say—no shortstop in Yankees history can hold a proverbial candle to his achievements. Some longtime Yankee fans like to believe that Phil Rizzuto deserves similar acclaim, but in reality their nostalgia appears to be particularly rose-colored; the facts not only don’t support this argument, they completely obliterate it. Yes, Jeter has appeared in almost 700 more games than the Scooter with more than 4000 more plate appearances, but his achievements are nonetheless extremely impressive.

He has almost 1500 more hits than Rizzuto, 200 more home runs, nearly 600 more RBI and, for good measure, 175 more stolen bases. His career WAR is more than 30 wins greater than Rizzuto’s. He’s also posted nine seasons of an over 4.0 WAR, something Phil did six times. In terms of qualitative stats in which Jeter’s advantage in longevity is nullified, Derek’s .313./.383/.450 line towers over Rizzuto’s fittingly diminutive .273/.351/.355.

Fangraph’s “Batting Value” stat involves a complicated formula that doesn’t warrant mention as the numbers speak for themselves: Rizzuto posted a 35.7 mark in that category over his entire career. Jeter has eclipsed that number in three separate seasons; more impressively, his career tally stands at 376.0, more than 10 times anything the Scooter could boast—or even dream—about.

Detractors will point to Jeter’s generally porous defense, and they do have a legitimate gripe. But Jeter’s place in the history of the game is no less impressive. His career WAR is tenth among all-time shortstops—even with defense factored in. His “Batting Value” stat is fourth all-time for shortstops and is the second-highest since the forties—with only a certain hot corner-manning teammate surpassing him…

3B-Alex Rodriguez

Some Yankees fans may lament this choice, deriding A-Rod for his solipsistic personality and his lack of true “Yankee-ness.” But in terms of sheer production, A-Rod is far and away the best player in Yankees history at a position that is surprisingly shallow.

There’s something to be said about Rodriguez’s steroid allegations. He claims that his PED usage ended prior to being dealt to the Yanks, but feel free to take such a claim with any size grain of salt that you wish. Steroid allegations will not be a deciding factor in this piece (and thus, A-Rod probably won’t be the last PED-tainted player on this list), so it’s particularly hard to even consider any other third baseman for this honor.

The player many baby-boomer Yankee fans would argue for would be Graig Nettles, a wizard with the glove who spent 11 seasons in the Bronx in the 70’s and early 80’s.  There is no arguing Nettles’ defensive capabilities, but his bat, while respectable, often left a bit to be desired. He posted a 46.8 WAR over his Yankees career, a figure that Alex will almost certainly pass by the end of 2011, his eighth year in pinstripes. A-Rod has been a six-win player four times during his Yankee career while Nettles only was that valuable twice; moreover, A-Rod’s two best Yankee seasons (9.4 and  9.2 WAR, an MVP trophy in both) are far better than his predecessor’s (8.3 and 6.4). Nettles had a decent but hardly Ruthian .253/.329/.433 line over his Yankee career. By comparison, A-Rod’s .295/.392/.556—well there really isn’t much comparison, is there?

C-Yogi Berra

Lawrence “Yogi” Berra received his endearing nickname from childhood friend Bobby Hofman, who remarked that his companion maintained a striking resemblance to an Indian snake charmer he had seen in a movie.

While Yogi’s status as the best catcher in team history may be a forgone conclusion for some, his candidacy receives a strong challenge from 11-time All-Star and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Dickey. Dickey is hardly a forgotten footnote in this history of the team, but he hasn’t gotten the fairest of shakes with what should be an enduring legacy. Beside his 11 All-Star appearances, he finished in the top eight of the MVP balloting on five different occasions and in the top 20 nine times. His career .313 average is third all-time for backstops; his .382 OBP ninth; his .486 SLG fifth; his 63.8 career WAR ninth all-time and the highest of any catcher who played before Berra.

So it’s not very difficult to make a case for Dickey, but Yogi is still the best catcher in the history of the franchise.

Berra played in over 300 more games than Dickey with about 1300 extra PAs, so his advantages in quantitative categories over Dickey should be taken with his longevity in mind. However, his 358 career homers constitute the fourth highest total in the history of the position. His 1175 runs are fifth and his 1430 RBI the most ever. His career .285/.348/.482 is quite impressive for any position, let alone for a catcher (a historically weak offensive position). According to Bill James’ “win shares” stat, Yogi is the most valuable catcher in the history of the game and the 52nd most valuable offensive player ever. His 71.4 WAR is fifth all-time amongst catchers (just 3.0 behind second ranked Carlton Fisk and 10.2 behind top-ranked Johnny Bench), joining Ted Simmons and Dickey as the only players in the top ten who started their careers prior to 1950.

Yogi’s greatness is often overlooked when one considers his numerous accolades. Berra won the AL MVP three times, finished in the top five seven times and in the top 30 in each one of his healthy seasons. He was so beloved by fans at the time that he made the All-Star team in 1962, despite the fact that he appeared in only 86 games and posted an anemic .224/.297/.388.

But Yogi more than earned that charitable contribution from the fans when one considers the “philanthropy” he accomplished over 18 marvelous and memorable seasons with the team. Beside his patented and now clichéd “Yogi-isms,” Berra contributed to endow the New York faithful with 13 World Championships, earning his status as baseball’s “De Facto Russell” in the process. Had Yogi had any success as a manager, writers would have jumped at the rare chance to update one of their most overused phrases: “This year with the Mets, Yogi will try to win one for the third thumb.”

LF-Charlie Keller

This isn’t an All-Star balloting, and thus there’s not going to be three greatest generic “outfielders.” If you want to claim the title as the best leftfielder in team history, you better not have spent too much time in center or right. Yes, Nick Swisher inexplicably managed to roam centerfield for Ozzie Guillen while with the ChiSox, but that certainly doesn’t make him a centerfielder. Ditto for Ruth, DiMaggio, Maris—and exactly why there may be outcry why a certain franchise icon won’t make this list.

For a team with a rich history of great outfielders, from all of the aforementioned HOFers to Bernie Williams and a pre-Steinbrenner-feud Dave Winfield, few great players have spent a large portion of their careers manning left field in the Bronx. So Charlie Keller’s name may come as a surprise; but in reality, there isn’t all that much competition. The only full time left fielder in the history of the franchise who had a WAR anywhere near Keller’s 49.2 was Roy White, who put up a 47.2—even though he played over 700 more games and had 3000 more PA than Keller.

Keller is a classic example of the value of a few great seasons over 10 or 11 solid ones. He managed to top White’s career WAR even though he only played 130 games five times in a season. White played in twice as many 130-game seasons, but his .271/.360/.404 line is wholly unimpressive when put against Keller’s .286/.410/.528.

Charlie Keller started his career marvelously, posting a WAR over 5.0 in each of his first five seasons, including a ‘41 season where he had an exemplary .298/.416/.580 line with 33 HR and 122 RBI, finishing fifth in the MVP balloting. He finished in the top-25 in the MVP and was an All-Star in four of those five seasons. But following the ’43 season, Keller was called on to serve with the United States Merchant Marines in World War II, and missed all of the 1944 campaign before returning for 44 games in ’45.

When he returned full-time in 1946, it appeared as if Keller had taken up just where he left off, belting 30 HRs and driving in 101 RBIs with a .275/.405/.533 line. However, perhaps as an omen of things to come, Keller became the first player in Yankees history to strike out 100 times in a season. He had never before struck out more than 65 times in one year.

Three injury-plagued years later, in which Keller appeared in just 43, 85 and 60 games, the Yankees cut ties with the player the papers referred to as “King Kong Keller.” He would never appear in more than 55 games again, and retired after one AB with the Yankees in 1952.

RF-See Ruth, Babe

CF-Joe DiMaggio

Surprised? Probably not.
Now think for a second…who’s missing from this list? (Waiting…Waiting…)

Now your brow is starting to furrow, no?

Let me take this space to preempt your outrage. There’s little debating Joe DiMaggio’s place in the Pantheon of Yankeedom. But leaving out Mickey Mantle—a man who was the favorite player of an entire generation of fans; whose performance at his peak may have had no rival in the history of the game—is bound to incur some rage from someone, somewhere, right?

Mantle’s legacy precedes him: his rare pre-injury combination of top end speed and raw power; his .298/.421/.557 line; his reputation as an all-time great who might have been the all-time great had one of his innately debilitated knees not exploded after a run-in with a drainpipe in the Yankee Stadium outfield. Choosing between him and Joe D—kind of like deciding between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis—is the kind of decision that will confound and divide: based entirely on personal taste and preference, it has no single right answer. That’s why I’m going to take this space to elevate DiMaggio’s achievements—not diminish the Mick’s.

In fact, let’s elevate the Mick’s first. In 1956, he put together what may be the greatest all-around season in the history of the game: 52 HR, 130 RBI, 132 R, 10 SB, a .353/.464/.705 line and a 12.2 WAR. He preceded that with a 10.1 WAR in ’55, and followed his Triple Crown ’56 season with a 12.0 WAR the next year. For good measure, he had an additional 11.1 WAR campaign in 1961.

To put that in perspective, six-time combined MVP winners Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols have never once posted a single season that topped 10.0 WAR.

But Joe D did, posting a 10.1 WAR in an insane 1937 sophomore season (46 HR, 167 RBI, .346/.412/.673) and a somehow-higher 10.6 in ’41. And while he may not have possessed the All-American Golden Boy mystique that Mantle did, his achievements may be even more impressive.

Forget the hitting streak, which carries a whole legend (or song, or article, or book) with it. It may be one of the most impressive feats in the history of American sports, but 56 games of one season does not define a career; nor does it distinguish one career from another.

Instead, DiMaggio’s longevity is both what he should be most known for and what separates him from Mantle. As for the aforementioned of value short-lived excellence over long-run consistency, DiMaggio is the rare exception. He not only had those two 10+ WAR seasons, but he remained a remarkably consistent and valuable player until the day he retired.

He never once posted a WAR under 6.0 in a full season, with his “lesser” seasons coming in a 1949 season in which he was a five win player despite only playing 76 games, and a career-culminating ’51 campaign where he still was worth 3.2 WAR. He only once twice batted less than .300 in a full season—with a .290 and a .263 in injury-plagued years. His career .325/.398/.579 line speaks words in and of itself.

Some remark at his relatively unimpressive home run totals, but this is somewhat of a moot point. DiMaggio played in the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium, where left-handed batters were given the gift of a short porch and righties received the death sentence of cavernous left and centerfields. Mantle, who was a switch hitter but batted primarily from the left side, received many of the benefits of the latter. DiMaggio was forced to cope with playing half of his games in a ballpark that would swallow up anything but his most crushing blast.

DH-Jason Giambi

It’s hard to be fan of Giambi, let alone a proponent of the idea that he belongs on a list with names such as “Ruth,” “Berra” and “DiMaggio.” But in reality there’s no one who even qualifies for this spot besides, as John Sterling so annoying referred to him as, the “Giambino.”

Here’s the top five (in reverse order) in WAR for any Yankees player who spent at least one season in pinstripes as a primary DH:

(WAR is for full Yankees tenure, NOT just DH)

5) Danny Tartabull: 7.8 WAR.

Spent just three and a half seasons with the team, never appeared in more than 140 games, single-season high WAR of 4.3.

4) Ron Blomberg: 9.5 WAR

The original “Boomer” and the original DH, Blomberg only appeared in 225 games with the Yanks after the DH was instituted in 1973.

3) Oscar Gamble: 11.7 WAR

By the time he made his second go around with the Yanks in the early 80’s as the not-so-primary DH, Gamble appeared in 384 games over five seasons, or about 77 games per year. 242 of those games were as an outfielder.

2) Hideki Matsui:12.8 WAR

The best player of the bunch, but only appeared as a DH in 248 games for the Yankees—with 116 of those games coming in 2009.

1) Jason Giambi: 24.4 WAR

Giambi appeared more frequently as a DH than as a first baseman over a single season only three times as a Yankee, and those were his final years before being jettisoned back to Oakland. But he spent 367 games in the DH hole, far more than any other candidate. That, by default, essentially makes him the winner of this dubious honor.

It’s not as if Giambi’s stats are that unimpressive. His 209 Yankee home runs, 604 RBI and .260/.404/.524 line with the club are hardly anything to scoff at. They’re also hardly anything to get excited over, especially considering Giambi’s inability to stay healthy, his nine-figure contract, his lucky golden thong, and the fact that he handled his steroid allegations with all the grace of a twelve-ton elephant in lead shoes.

This dearth of anything resembling competence out of the DH spot is quite a testament to how the Yankees management has handled the team over the last four decades. The Yankees have always seemed to be content throwing whatever they can find into the batter’s box as a DH. Whether that is a washed-up veteran, a mediocrity who was never good enough to have the “washed-up” moniker attached to him, or—in recent years—as a landing spot for overpaid veterans on their days off, the team has never committed to having a full-time DH who could give them consistent production. Most teams seem to subscribe to this mentality, treating the idea of a full-time DH as nearly taboo—which is why the Royals have constantly tried stone-handed Billy Butler at first base despite repeatedly poor results. It’s also partly why the Yankees are reluctant to admit that Jesus Montero will likely never pan out as a catcher and thus stick him at DH for his entire career. Ask the Mariners whether they regretted having Edgar Martinez in the lineup every day for the better part of a decade. Then ask the Yankees if they really want to have an 82-year old Giambi representing the DH position at the 2053 home opener, when they celebrate the best players in the 150-year history of baseball’s most storied franchise.

RHSP-Red Ruffing

For a team with 27 World Championships, 20 of which came before the free agency era, the Yankees haven’t had many all-time greats take the mound in the Bronx for an extended period of time. In fact, the team has only three 200 game winners, with Andy Pettitte joining the surprisingly exclusive club last season.

Strangely, of the top six winningest pitchers in the history of the club, only Ruffing and Bob Shawkey threw right-handed. That’s not to say there haven’t been quality righties in New York over the last century: Mel Stottlemyre, Herb Pennock, Allie Reynolds, Waite Hoyt, Jack Chesbro, Mike Mussina—among others—all won 100 games with the Yanks (or in Chesbro’s case, the Highlanders), but it’s hard to compare their achievements to those of Ruffing.

Red Ruffing started his career off extremely poorly, pitching under the strenuous conditions of the offensively anemic (yes, that’s a double entendre) post-Ruth Red Sox, who perennially finished last in the league in batting and averaged 35 HR a year during Ruffing’s tenure. He led the league in losses twice and finished with an ERA over 4.50 five times.

Yankee manager Miller Huggins saw potential in the fledgling hurler, and orchestrated a massive heist rivaling anything out of a George Clooney “Ocean’s” movie: the Sox agreed to sell Ruffing to the Yankees for the immortal Cedric Durst (15 career home runs, no relation to Fred) and a meager $50,000. Essentially, the Yankees ended up paying $216 for every one of Ruffing’s 231 wins. By contrast, they paid nearly $4.5 million for each of Carl Pavano’s nine victories.

The rest is, as they say, history. After a difficult ’31 debut season when Ruffing had a 4.41 ERA with the team, he settled in with his new team. Over the next 15 seasons, he would win 18 games six times, never once post an ERA over 3.95 and finish below 3.55 nine times.

Those aren’t necessarily mind-blowing statistics for an era in which ERAs were much lower than they are today, but Ruffing exhibited uncanny consistency over a decade and a half with the club. He would also win seven pennants and six titles in New York, setting a since-broken pitching record of seven World Series wins.

There’s also the case of military service. After a 1942 season in which Ruffing finished 14-7 with a 3.21 ERA, he spent the better part of three years away from the game. When he returned from the Army in 1945, he was never the same. He posted ERAs of 2.89 and 1.77 in 1945 and ’46, respectively, but made just 19 starts over those two seasons. By 1947 he was out of baseball.

In an interesting factoid that has little relevance to this debate, Red Ruffing was also one of the greatest hitting pitchers of all-time. Ruffing had a .269 career average, hit over .300 eight times, and had 36 career home runs. He also finished with a positive offensive WAR in twelve different seasons, despite the fact that he never had more than 150 PA in one season.

LHSP-Whitey Ford

Yes, most of the best starters in Yankees history were southpaws, but Whitey Ford undoubtedly reigns supreme over all of them. Andy Pettitte, Lefty Gomez and Ron Guidry were all successful in their very different respective eras, but it’s not even worth comparing them to the “Chairman of the Board.”

Ford, who grew up in a 1930’s Queens yet to be infected by the Mets, made his Major League debut in 1950, but lost the entire ’51 and ’52 seasons to military service during the Korean War. Unlike Keller and Ruffing, Ford came back from the military healthy and physically unimpeded.

As both Mickey Mantle’s resident wingman following the departure of Billy Martin and the Yankees’ ace for well over a decade, Ford endured a career without rival by any starting pitcher in the history of the franchise. His 236 wins and 1,956 K’s are the most in franchise history, as are his career innings pitched and total shutouts. Of the impressive club of Yankees pitchers who have tossed 1,500 innings with the team, Whitey’s 2.75 career ERA is second only to Jack Chesbro’s 2.58 with the dead ball era Highlanders. Only four times in his career did Ford post an ERA above 3.00, with the high-water mark of 3.24 coming in 1965, his fourteenth and final healthy year as a starter with the team. His career winning percentage is third all-time for qualifying Major League starters.

It’s hard to talk about Whitey Ford without mentioning the words “World Series,” considering his record-setting 10 wins on baseball’s biggest stage. He was also a six-time Series champ, had a 2.71 career World Series ERA and was an All-Star 10 times.

Closer-Mariano Rivera

Considering this is probably the least surprising decision since Donald Trump decided to continue running his own companies into the ground instead of attempting to be in a position to do the same to the country, this examination is going to take a bit of a different angle than previous ones.

Mariano Rivera has 572 career saves, obviously ranking first on the Yankees all-time list and fast-approaching Trevor Hoffman’s all-time mark. Second place for the Bombers belongs to Dave Righetti with 224 saves. It’s not worth wasting breath, time, or dexterity typing out 500 words on how Mariano is better than Dave Righetti.

How ‘bout the fact that he’s better than anybody?

The notion of Mo’s closing supremacy has gained credence in recent years, ever since the outrage over SI’s proclamation that Hoffman was the best closer in the relatively short history of the position. But here are a few quick statistics that should come damn close to solidifying this argument as “fact,” an attribute that is inherently paradoxical to the divisive notion of a debate.

Among relievers with at least 200 saves, Mariano’s 2.06 ERA is by far the best; ditto for his 0.71 postseason ERA and his 94 career playoff saves. For good measure, his 4.12 K:BB ratio is second only to Dennis Eckersley’s otherworldly 6.29 mark and his 0.97 career WHIP is the best of all-time.

Oh, and his career WAR is 32 percent higher—and rising—than any closer in the history of the game.

Manager-Joe Torre

“What, what, WHAT! Torre over Stengel? Joe Torre over the same guy who took the Yankees to 10 pennants and seven titles in just 12 years? That Joe Torre?!”

There’s a pretty good chance that was a rough paraphrasing of your thoughts when you saw Torre’s name in this article instead of the manager whom most consider the greatest in the history of the game. Perhaps it’s crazy, and perhaps it’s biased as a result of fresh memories of Torre’s tenure and an obvious lack of firsthand experience with the Stengel regime. But it would be remiss if it wasn’t recounted in gruesome detail why Torre’s achievements with the Yankees were more impressive than Stengel’s.

Torre certainly had his shortcomings as a manager, most notably his reliance on veterans and his propensity to ride any reliable middle reliever until they were so far underground there was no discernable chance of reemergence (see: Proctor, Scott; Gordon, Tom; Quantrill, Paul), but it’s quite likely that Stengel would have gotten his fair share of criticism had he played in this era of sabermetrics, super “Slo Mo,” and microanalysis.

At first glance, Torre’s .602 Yankees winning percentage and his six pennants and four World titles don’t appear comparable to Stengel’s .623 mark and his 7-3 World Series record. But Torre’s victories were compiled in a much different era. And while that may not seem important to some, era analysis is a crucial component to the evaluation of any baseball player, manager or executive.

Stengel managed in an era in which there were only eight teams in each league. All teams played an equal 22 games against each other every year.

Torre’s time in New York began after the inception of interleague play. At the beginning of his tenure (before unbalanced schedules) with the Yankees, teams played 12 games against each team in their respective division, 11 games against other teams in the same league and three or four games against four interleague teams.

For the sake of argument, let’s nullify the marginal difference of games against divisional and league teams. In Torre’s 114-win regular season of 1998, the Yankees’ average American league opponent (against whom they played 146 games of their season) had a combined winning percentage of .485. In Stengel’s winningest regular season (a ’54 campaign in which the team won 103 times but finished second), opponents had a combined .475 winning percentage.

This may not seem like a huge difference, but it does have a significant impact over a six-month regular season. The bigger change in circumstance with the two skippers, however, is the rise of parity in the Majors over the last few decades. In 1954, Stengel’s Yankees played 110 of their regular season games against teams that had a combined 308-462 record. This means that the Yankees played more than 70 percent of their games against five teams that won less than 70 games each and had a combined winning percent of just .400.

By comparison, Torre’s 1998 Yanks played just 39 games total against sub-70 win opponents.

If that’s not enough, there’s the institution of the entire playoff system, which was completely non-existent in Stengel’s day. When Casey managed in New York, he simply was required to finish ahead of the other seven teams in his league (with as many as five of them being complete non-factors) and the Bombers were catapulted to the World Series.

Torre first had to finish ahead of everyone else in the usually ultra-competitive AL East, then was required to win at least seven of 12 games against two of the best teams in the league. Then he was able to stake his claim at the top of the World Series, but not before his team knocked off the National League Champs despite carrying the burden of playing over 170 games in a seven-month span on their collective backs.

One last thing to keep in mind: the biggest knock on Torre’s success with the Yankees was that, as his detractors so eloquently put it, “Anyone can win with a nine-digit payroll and a roster full of superstars.” There may be a smidgen of truth to this (at the very least, talent certainly makes a manager’s job easier), but it’s quite easy to make the same damaging claim towards Stengel’s achievements. After all, this is the same man who managed the likes of Berra, Mantle, DiMaggio, Ford and many other all-time greats.

It may make sense then to look at Torre and Stengel’s respective managerial records with other teams. Like Torre, Stengel had little success with two different teams (the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves), compiling a 581-742 record and a .435 winning percentage before becoming a Yankee.

Over 14 seasons with the Mets, Braves and Cardinals prior to taking over in New York in ’96, Torre was 894-1003, good for a much better .471 winning percentage (and posted in a much more difficult era, no less). After leaving the Yankees, Stengel had just a .302 winning percentage with the admittedly unsalvageable expansion Mets, while Torre won more than 53 percent of games with the Dodgers. Take those records as you wish, as far too many variables are involved to put them directly against each other; nevertheless, they certainly are eye-catching.

There’s no doubt that both managers had exceedingly impressive tenures with the Yankees; it’s simply a matter of the eras in which each coached. Stengel may have had a higher winning percentage and more World Series appearances and titles than Torre, but he did so in an undoubtedly much easier era for long-run success.

Some may choose to adhere to their long-gestating biases and ignoring all of the aforementioned facts. But it appears that those same facts paint an exceedingly clear picture of one exceptional manager’s dominance over another.

Jesse Golomb researches and writes for BaseballDigest.com. He is also the creator and writer of SoapBoxSportsByte, a blog that incorporates statistical analysis as well as fan perspective into pieces on the MLB, NFL and NBA.   He can be followed on Twitter @SoapBxSprtsByte, or contacted by email at golombjesse@gmail.com.

There comes a time in every players career where they no longer produce at the levels they are accustomed to. A player only has a few short years in what is deemed as their prime and often there is a tumultuous fall once it ends.

During the 1960s, the Yankees were the surest thing in baseball — they were almost assured of winning pennants and championships each year. They rode on the backs of some of the games legends: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Elston Howard.

However, as these players aged, their skills diminished, leaving them as shells of their former selfs. The Yankees knew the day would come, but they didn’t expect it to come at the same time.

By 1965, it happened. The Yankees were losing, but the team and its fans did not worry — they expected their stars to continue hitting, they thought it was a slump. It wasn’t. It was the start of their decline and the Yankees demise.

Needless to say, the Yankees did not hang another banner during the ’65 season nor in the seasons to come. Their core had aged to the point of no return and the product on the field suffered. Fast forward to 2011 and it seems as if history may be starting to repeat.

The Yankees have had slow starts in years prior and they have been frustrating for a team that is always ranked near the top in payroll. In fact, for three consecutive seasons — from 2005 to 2007 — the Yankees would end April with losing records.

Holes would be dug, yet no one panicked — their players had track records. Everyone knew Derek Jeter would hit, Alex Rodriguez would hit along with every other superstar that filled the roster. And the fans would be right.

The Yankees would make the playoffs every year after a hot second half, yet lose in the first round of the playoffs which infuriated ownership. This season, however, is different.

Superstar players continue to fill the lineup on a nightly basis. Some are even Hall of Fame caliber. The production from these players — non-existent. Jeter hits an astounding 70 percent of balls on the ground, easily the highest in the Majors, Jorge Posada has the lowest batting average in the Majors.

It had gotten so bad for Posada that when dropped to the ninth spot in the order, in the heat of the moment, he asked for his release and refused to play. Posada may not be the captain, but he has been the heart and soul of the Yankees championship teams, he’s a proud man who strives for greatness, but he may be scratching for nothing.

The facts are out in front for everyone to see: Posada’s bat speed is gone, Jeter has had one good day at the plate, and Rodriguez is lost.

Pitchers no longer fear the man who most expected to relinquish Barry Bonds claim as baseball’s home run king. They challenge him, throw their best fastball, and unlike during his prime, the 36-year-old swings through them.

He won’t be the last one to be a shell of his former self. The Yankees are locked into contracts with players who will not be the same at the back-end of their deals.

Mark Texiera has been everything the Yankees could have hoped for: He’s played Gold-Glove defense at first, hit in the clutch and helped bring a championship back to New York.

As he ages, the range will decrease, the Gold-Glove will be a distant memory and hitting will be non-existent.

C.C. Sabathia signed a seven-year deal. He’s an ace, a horse, a pitcher every team wants on their roster. Fast forward another four seasons, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound lefty, at 36 years of age — will not be the same.

The former Cy-Young Award winner has already needed surgery on his knee because of his big frame, and there is no precedent to know how long he can continue to pitch.

The 1980s were a dark-age for Yankees baseball, they had the most wins of any team during the decade but never once made the playoffs. Their core began to age and only when they developed younger players did they win again.

Long-term contracts with players who are passing their prime are setting the Yankees up for disaster. Sure, these players have track records, but no one knows when they will reach their expiration date.

History repeats itself in cycles, the Yankees are hoping their time has not yet arrived.

Around the division:

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles young pitching and hitting have become more consistent as of late and the wins that have been eluding them — are now numbers in the right column. The O’s may have lost a game to the suddenly hot Red Sox, but as long as their pitchers keep them in the game, wins are sure to follow.

Boston Red Sox: The weekend series with the Yankees not only renewed the rivalry, but also issued a Sox resurgence. The team that could not do much right over the first month of the season, hit all the right buttons in the Bronx. The Red Sox will look to continue the good vibes for the rest of the season

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays demise was clearly a bit rushed as they have stormed out of a 1-8 start to take hold of the A.L. East division. They received great pitching, timely hitting and solid defense which should help make them legitimate contenders for the rest of the season.

Toronto Blue Jays: Not many people know what to make of the Jays thus far on the season. They have a pitching staff that is extremely talented, but has not pitched to expectations, an offense that has underwhelmed and a record that screams mediocre. The Jays need to be consistent in order to contend with the big boys and thus far they haven’t.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

All of these nicknames pay homage to perhaps the most impressive clutch player in baseball history.  While there is a debate about the overall truth of ”clutch’ performances, there is no doubt that “Mr. October”, Reggie Jackson, ranks as one of the greatest postseason players in history.

In an October 1980 issue of Baseball Digest, John Kuenster wrote about Reggie Jackson putting up Hall of Fame numbers. Click here to read the full article!

Born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania in 1946 to a former Negro League player, Jackson wasted little time making his mark on the baseball world. Drafted by the Kansas City Athletics as the second overall pick in the 1966 Amateur Draft, he spent parts of just two seasons in the minor leagues before reaching the major leagues on June 9th, 1967.  For the 1968 season, the Athletics moved to Oakland and Jackson became an every day player, slugging 29 homers.

For the player and the team, the pairing proved to turn things around permanently for the franchise.  Coming off a 6th place finish in their first season in Oakland, Jackson’s 1969 season was a breakout year, when he slugged 47 home runs and at one point kept pace with the record setting 61 home runs hit by Roger Maris in 1961.  The 1969 season was the first of seven times he finished in the top 10 for Most Valuable Player.

After a down year in 1970 when Jackson hit 23 homers, he embarked on a terrific five year stretch that changed baseball in the Oakland, California area.  Between 1971 and 1975, he led the American League in home runs twice, and averaged more than 30 home runs a year.  He earned Most Valuable Player honors for the 1973 season, which capped off a tremendous stretch of success that included five straight trips to the postseason, including three straight World Series victories.  Though he missed the 1972 World Series with a torn hamstring, his presence was felt in the subsequent Series, which earned him MVP honors.  For his career, Reggie Jackson had a .357 batting average in 5 World Series.

On the heels of their 1975 ALCS loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Athletics shipped Jackson(along with two other players) to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell. The Baltimore Era of Reggie Jackson was short lived, as the New York Yankees signed the outfielder to a five year deal worth nearly $3 million dollars in November of 1976.

Jackson’s impact on the Yankees lineup was immediate, as the team reached the playoffs in four of his five seasons in The Bronx. The back to back World Series wins in 1977 and 1978 were the first for the franchise in 15 years.  After homering in Games 4 and 5 of the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yankee captain Thurmon Munson famously told reporters to speak with “Mr. October” during the series.  This came before the three homer game, which confirmed the name that would forever link the slugger among the greatest Yankees of all time.

Reggie Jackson’s best season in The Bronx was during the latter end of his tenure with the team. In 1980, Jackson slugged 41 home runs and hit .300, finishing second in the MVP voting.  His worst season as a Yankee came in 1981, which also happened to be his final season  with the team. Despite reaching the World Series for the third time in five years, Jackson clashed with George Steinbrenner and signed a five year deal with the California Angels during the off season to return to the west coast.

Though the Angels reached the ALCS twice with Jackson, he was unable to regain the mystique of “Mr. October” that he had garnered earlier in his career.  For his final season in the big leagues, 1987, Jackson signed with the Oakland Athletics.

Reggie Jackson retired with 563 home runs, good for 13th all-time. He also ranks first all-time in career strikeouts with 2,597. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993 on his first ballot, and wore a Yankee cap for his induction.  In addition to being a central figure  of The Bronx Zoo in the 1970′s and being the namesake for the “Reggie!” bar, Jackson has remained a part of American culture with appearances on various television programs and cameos in films.  He threw out the first ceremonial pitch at the new Yankee Stadium, and remains a special advisor to the New York Yankees.

Also Celebrating A Birthday:

Brooks Robinson(b.1937), spent his entire Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Orioles and ranks as arguably the greatest third baseman in MLB history.  Robinson earned sixteen consecutive Gold Glove awards between 1960 and 1975 to go along with eighteen All-Star team selections.  In addition to his 1964 American League Most Valuable Player Award, he also earned series MVP honors for his role in the 1970 World Series and the All-Star Game MVP nod in 1966.  His number 5 was retired by the Baltimore Orioles at the end of his final season in 1977, and in 1983 he became one of just sixteen players to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Michael Maher is a senior writer for BaseballDigest.com and he can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @BD_Maher.

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The standard sized cards have a full color action shot of the player on the card fronts. Bordered in white, the card fronts also show the player name, position and team name and logo. A simple colored stripe matching the team color trim the card fronts. The card backs are all horizontal in layout. A small, cropped head sot of the player is the only photo on the back. Moderate biographical information, modest career highlights and complete career statistics highlight the backs. The card backs are also trimmed with a the teams primary color.  In all, the Opening Day cards look exactly like the regular base 2011 Topss set, save the “Opening Day” logo in the lower left hand corner of the card fronts.

What I Pulled:
252 unique cards – No duplicates!
200/220 base set cards = 91% of the base set
3 Opening Day Stars
6/10 Presidential First Pitch
6/10 Spot the error cards
9/32 Mascot cards
5/10 Stadium Lights
8 Blue Serial numbered parallels #/2011
7 Topps Town Cards

Base card front and back:

The inserts: (not all scanned)
Opening Day Stars: Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, David Price
Presidential First Pitch: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10
Spot the Error: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9
Mascot cards: 1, 3, 6, 10, 11, 14, 17, 20, 22
Stadium Lights: Joe Mauer, Pedro Alvarez, Adrian Gonzalez, Jason Heyward, Ryan Braun
Superstar Celebrations: Braves, Red Sox, Rays, Rangers, Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Mariners
Serial Bumbered Blue: Miguel Tejada, Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, Mark Reynolds, Magglio Ordonez, Joe Mauer, Adrian Gonzalez, Bobby Abreu
Topps Town: 4, 5, 9, 13, 18, 21, 22

**************************************************************************************************************************

Looking very much like the 2011 Topps Base set, Opening Day is pretty much a parallel set.  The insert sets are different and are what I think make Opening Day stand out.  I absolutely love the Opening Day Stars cards.  The 3-D effect is a throwback to the Kellog’s sets of the 60′s, 70′s.  These are not a motion card like Sportflics, but I thick they look really sharp!  Instead of, not so secretly, planting a few cards that were creatively and purposely airbrushed as ‘planned errors’ Opening day has the Spot the Error insert set.  The errors are pretty easy to spot.  Hint:  look at the background for most of them.  These are a nice novelty and I like them as inserts rather then planned errors.  The Stadium Lights inserts are another nice set.  Each card is a night time shot and focuses on the stadium as much as they do the player.  The lights, player and other elements from the stadium are embossed or raised over the rest of the matte finished card.  All that being said about the insert sets, I would still like for there to have been a few less of them and that many more base set cards.

The Bottom Line:
I give 2011 Topps Opening Day a buy rating. It will be very easy to complete a base set with a box, and some light trading. There are lots of inserts and parallels to chase.  Buy a box and trade your Tigers cards to me!

The Final Score:
Final Ratings (Out of 5):
Base set collect-ability: 4/5
Big-hit Hunter: NA
Prospector Hunter:3/5
Overall Design: 5/5
Fun: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Re-buy: 5/5
Overall Quality: 5/5

Overall: 32/35 (91.4% = A)

Thanks to Topps for making this review possible!

Until next time, keep collecting, collect for the joy of the hobby and collect for the fan in all of us.

The official card trading site of Baseball Digest.com – Sports Card Forum

The fans are loud well before the first pitch is thrown and the first beer and hot dog have been sold. Discussions on the pitching rotation, the lineup, the manager, the hated rivals. It doesn’t matter if it’s grey and 35 degrees; it feels sunny and warm (though if you were sitting in the Bronx on Thursday you might disagree).

It’s the day of the clean slate; when the teams that have no hope of making the playoffs can be in first place for a day. When the light hitting infielder is batting 1.000 and everyone is in good spirits (even Carlos Zambrano). The souvenir shops are overflowing with fans who want to see the latest gear. The parking lots are full and the train stations are crowded with life.

You walk out into the seating area in any park and peer down at a pristine field. The grass (or turf) is in perfect condition. The foul lines are unbroken, the bases are sparkling white. Calls of “Beer here” cuts through the chatter.

No matter what happens the rest of the season, players will be cheered on this day. A player that struggled the year before will be welcomed with loud applause. The umpires will even get a break…at least until the first pitch. The only disappointment of the day will be if you go home with your team’s record sitting at 0-1. Opening Day, there is truly nothing like it.

Baseball Digest will be bringing you coverage of Opening Day and every day all year round with our team of senior writers and contributors. We will be discussing the rivalries, whether it be Yankees-Red Sox, Phillies-Mets, Cardinals-Cubs, or Dodgers-Giants. We will seek out the stories before they break and look to find out answers to some of the questions that surround the 2011 season. Questions like:

The thought on everyone’s mind in St. Louis will nest in Ryan Franklin’s beard. But seriously, will Albert Pujols be playing his final season in the red and white uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols certainly won’t be traded and it’s not likely he’ll be distracted. But where will he be next year?

Will Alex Rodriguez have a big year now that his hip is completely healthy? He was certainly locked it in as he was during spring training.

Will Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovanni Gallardo lead the Brewers to the playoffs?

Can the Giants repeat as World Series champions? They certainly have the starting rotation to do it, especially if Tim Lincecum returns to his pre-2010 form.

Buck Showalter will continue to mold the Baltimore Orioles in his image. How quickly can he help move them up the ladder in the AL East?

Will the Wilpons have new ownership partners for the Mets before the season is over? They certainly need an infusion of cash.

Will Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly succeed in his first year as a manager anywhere?

Does Felix Hernandez finish the season in Seattle? With the Mariners going nowhere, it would not be surprising to see the King moved.

Will the Phillies Four Horsemen have the tremendous year everyone expects them to? And if they do, could their bullpen still be their downfall?

Will the new concussion rules and 7-day disabled list have a significant impact on the game and the health of the players?

Will Bud Selig’s initiative to add playoff teams gain steam as the season goes on?

Does Derek Jeter have a bounce back season as he approaches and eclipses 3,000 hits?

Will the Mets move Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, or some of their other core players? And how much time will Johan Santana miss?

Here come the rookies…Jeremy Hellickson, Kyle Drabek, Freddie Freeman. Who else will have a significant impact this year?

How far will the Angels and Nationals move Mike Trout and Bryce Harper through their minor league systems?

Who will win the division and wildcard spots? Who captures the MVP, CY Young and other awards. Here’s what our team of editors and senior writers think, starting with the divisional play and wildcard:

Some surprising picks indeed. Our Kirk Verner is certainly going out on a limb in picking the Toronto Blue Jays and Florida Marlins to meet in the World Series. Then again, who would have expected Butler and VCU to meet in the NCAA basketball final four? Kirk feels the Blue Jays are the second best team in the AL East and will get to the World Series the hardest way- as the wildcard. Kirk cites the Yankees starting pitching as “problematic at best” and the main reason the Blue Jays will finish ahead of them.

Both the Phillies and Red Sox are overwhelming picks to win their divisions, while assignment editor Bill Ivie is the lone wolf in selecting the Cardinals to capture the NL central and the Braves to grab the NL East ahead of Philadelphia. Bill’s belief is that injuries will cost the Phillies the crown and the health of the Cards is what will vault them back to the top of the division. I’m flying solo in the AL East, with the only non-Red Sox selection. I have serious questions about Boston’s starting rotation and bullpen, and feel the Yankees will improve their rotation to outlast Boston for the division title (with the Sox grabbing the wildcard).

Editor Mark Healey and I agree to disagree on the AL West. We both think there’s just one team to beat, except Mark think it is the A’s and I am going with the Rangers. “Heals” loves Oakland’s starting pitching and feels they have enough hitting to get the job done. I totally agree about the A’s starting pitching, but to me the A’s are a team of “punchless Judy’s”.  We both agree that putting Neftali Feliz back in the bullpen is a huge mistake, but I think the Rangers have plenty of offense and enough pitching to get beat out the competition in the division.

Except for Mark’s pick of the Dodgers, everyone agrees the Giants or Rockies will take the NL West. Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb and Matt Wilson concur that the Giants superior pitching, led by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, will hold off any and all challengers. Meanwhile Josh Landsburg doesn’t see the Giants even making it back to the post-season to defend their title. “As good as the Giants pitching is, they just don’t have the offesne, and unless Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey have monster seasons, I don’t see them making it in.”

Michael Maher is the sole selector of the Detroit Tigers to win the AL Central. Michael feels that it will be a race to the wire between the Twins and Tigers, with Detroit pulling it out due to “the emergence of Phil Coke as a starter”. The rest of the panel is split between the White Sox and Twins for the division title.

Simon and Bill think the Mike Sciosoia led Angels will return to the playoffs after a year’s absence. Simon has them winning the wildcard, while Bill has the Halos back on top in the division. Bill may also have to go into hiding from the Metropolitan area after these choice words, “For only the second time since divisional play began, no New York team will make the playoffs”. Bill won’t be alone though, four of our panelists agree with him.

Five of our nine voters have the Phillies and Red Sox meeting in the Fall classic, with three selecting Philadelphia to win their second title in the last four years. Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb sees a rematch of the 1915 World Series, which saw rookie Babe Ruth and the Red Sox win 4 games to 1. Except this time around it’s the Phillies turn in seven games, bolstered by Roy Halladay’s time spent pitching in the AL East. Josh Landsburg loves the Phillies pitching and their habit of making a second half surge. He believes this year’s surge will be one that will take them right through the post-season and a defeat of the Red Sox. Shai Kushner would love to see some underdogs in the Fall showdown, but can’t get past the fact the Red Sox and Phillies have the two best rosters. He sees a seven game classic with the Phillies coming out on top. The rest of the crew selected the Reds (Mark Healey), Giants (Drew Sarver), Marlins (Kirk Verner), and Braves (Bill Ivie) to capture the championship.

Conversely, Michael Maher and Matt Wilson think Boston wins it’s third championship in the last eight years. Michael sees the Red Sox and Phillies off-season moves getting them to the final round with Boston having the most talented team. Matt believes Josh Beckett will have a bounce back year and an improved from John Lackey are the keys to shutting down the Phillies offense.

The gutsiest pick: Kirk Verner’s choice of the Seattle Mariners to win the AL West. Kudos for bravery!

You’ve had the Oscars, the Golden Globes, etc., but now it’s time for the Baseball Digest individual award predictions. We’ll kick it off with the AL:

The consensus is that Adrian Gonzalez will hit home runs by the bunches and pepper the Green Monster in Fenway. That’s the reason Mark Healey, Shai Kushner, and Matt Wilson have predicted “A-Gone” will be the AL MVP. Mark sees Gonzalez’s all around power (45 HR), RBI (140) and batting average giving him the nod ahead of Adam Dunn, who will approach 50 home runs playing in Comiskey Park (Mark refuses to call it anything else). Despite Seattle’s expected woes (outside of Kirk’s opinion), Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb looks for Ichiro Suzuki to pull of an MVP upset. That means a very high batting average and plenty of steals.

Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester are the favorites to grab the AL CY Young award. Shai Kushner is refreshingly frank in selecting King Felix to repeat (as well as Roy Halladay in the NL). “Sure, it doesn’t take much imagination to pick a repeat award-winner, and even less imagination to pick both of last year’s winners to repeat, but these guys are that good.”

Jeremy Hellickson (3 votes) is the favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year, while Mike Moustakas and J.P. Arencibia each received a pair of votes. From watching Hellickson last season and following him in the minors, I feel he really is the goods. “Hellickson has a tremendous arsenal of pitches and a good head on his shoulders. He also has an underrated pitching coach in Jim Hickey.”

Joe Mauer and Manny Ramirez are the front-runners for the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Bill Ivie has a healthy Mauer taking MVP honors as well. The selections by Matt Wilson (Grady Sizemore) and Mark Healey (Joe Nathan) show a lot of faith in overcoming major injuries.

The top manager award doesn’t have too many surprises outside of Bill’s selection of Kansas City’s Ned Yost, who Bill believes will bring the Royals back to respectability. Buck Showalter and Ozzie Guillen were the top picks with three votes each. Josh Landsburg is looking for a big boost in Baltimore. “Even though the Orioles will not make the postseason, they will contend and finish in third place in the tough AL East.”

Now a look at the Senior Circuit.

You know that no discussion of the NL MVP award can take place without Albert Pujols’ name being mentioned. And in fact he is the top vote getter (3) among the panelists. Simon thinks this past off-season will fuel Prince Albert’s fire, “Pujols is the safe choice, I know.  But he’s going to have a chip on his shoulder as he tries to earn a $300 million contract.” Ryan Braun (2) and 2010 MVP Joey Votto (2) finished just behind in the voting.

Four of the nine voters went with back to back CY Young Awards for Roy Halladay, and who can blame them. Michael Maher says you just have to look at the numbers to see why. “Halladay is still a favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award. He’s averaged 240 innings over the last four seasons with 34 complete games and 11 shutouts. A sub 3.00 ERA and 1.11 WHIP during that time also helps to suggest he will take home a second consecutive award.” Mark Healey with the “out of the box” pick of Clayton Kershaw, while Bill Ivie (Roy Oswalt) and I (Cliff Lee) both went with Halladay’s teammates.

With the exception of Josh Landsburg’s selection of the Braves’ Craig Kimbrel, this was an Aroldis Chapman-Freedie Freeman race. The Reds’ fireballer received one more vote (4-3) to be the top pick. Simon says (no pun intended) the weakness of the NL Central will help Chapman grab the trophy. “…it helps that he (Chapman) gets some inferior opponents such as the Astros and Pirates 18 times a season.”  I see Freeman’s power potential helping the Braves to the NL wildcard.

The NL Comeback Player honors are littered with New York Mets. Jason Bay’s return from concussion symptoms garnered three votes, while the “forever coming back” Chris Young received a pair of votes. Mark puts it simply about Bay and his AL pick Joe Nathan, “Simply, two former All-Stars felled by 2010 injuries come back to near or equal their 2009 seasons.”

We have a nice diverse pick of top managers- Two votes each for Ron Roenicke, Edwin Rodriguez, and Jim Tracy, plus votes for Clint Hurdle and Terry Collins. Shai Kushner on Tracy: “It won’t be easy for the Rockies to overtake the Giants in the NL West.  While they will rely on Carlos Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Troy Tulowitzki on the field, it will be manager Tracy who helps them stay focused over the course of the season.” I weighed in on Roenicke: “Roenicke takes over a talented/underrated Milwaukee squad that makes its way back to the post-season.” And finally Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb has this opinion on Rodriguez: “They won’t make the playoffs, but Rodriguez should keep his Marlins at least hanging around the races in a solid third-place position in an NL East division that’s becoming tougher every year.  That should be enough to get him this award.”

So there you have it.  Be sure to follow Baseball Digest all year long to see how your teams and players do and how we did with our selections. Come Fall or before, we’ll know if you are laughing at us or giving us a polite applause. And if you missed Baseball Digest Live’s MLB Preview on Blogtalk radio this past Wednesday, be sure to listen to the pre-recorded show.  Host Mark Healey was joined by Bill Ivie, Drew Sarver, Shai Kushner, and Dave Mitchell.

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Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Derek Jeter needs 74 hits to become the 28th player in major league history with 3,000 hits. Ivan Rodriguez is 183 hits away from the mark, but he hasn’t come close to that many hits in a season since 1999, and he isn’t likely to get enough at-bats to reach the milestone this year.

Others who should reach hit milestones include Alex Rodriguez (top 50 on the all-time hits list), Chipper Jones and Vlad Guerrero (2,500 hits).

Do chicks still love the long ball after (hopefully it’s after) the steroid era? Jim Thome needs just 11 home runs to become the eighth player to hit 600 home runs. He’ll only be the 5th not linked to steroids. Speaking of which, Alex Rodriguez will pass Ken Griffey Jr. for 5th place on the all-time list and with a big season (37 HR), he would reach 650 career dingers.

When and if Manny Ramirez finds a job he should pass Reggie Jackson, Rafael Palmiero, and Harmon Killebrew to move up into 11th place. If he hits 29 (past Mark McGwire) or 32 (past Frank Robinson), he can move up as far as 9th. Guerrero and Jones should both reach the 450 mark while Albert Pujols should leap frog over a number of players from his current 45th position. Jim Edmonds needs seven more to reach the 400 mark, while Paul Konkero could get there with a big year (35 home runs).

Hank Aaron’s RBI mark of 2,297 seems monumental when you look at it. Pujols currently has 1,230 RBI. He would have to average 107 RBI over the next 10 years to get there. At age 31 that’ s a pretty big task ahead. Even if he averaged 130 RBI over the next five years he would still be over 400 RBI away.

Both Alex Rodriguez and Ramirez should reach 1,900 RBI, which only 10 players before them have accomplished (Barry Bonds and Eddie Murray being the last two). Chipper Jones will eclipse 1,500 as will Guerrero. Raul Ibanez, Torii Hunter, Pat Burrell, Troy Glaus, and Mike Cameron can all top a grand.

Juan Pierre doesn’t hit home runs, but he can steal a base like few others. He’ll move into the top 25 in career thefts with 31 swipes this season. Carl Crawford should run away with number 450, while Ichiro Suzuki will top the 400 mark. Johnny Damon (15) and Bobby Abreu (28) also have outside shots at the 400 plateau.

Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes will top 350, with the latter having a shot at 400 as well if he can steal 69 bases this season.

The leader in wins coming into the 2011 season is Jamie Moyer with 267, but with the 49-yr old coming off major surgery, he’ll be stuck on that number for some time to come. Andy Pettitte is just 10 wins away from 250, but will he pitch? That means the only career leader who will definitely be active on opening day will be Tim Wakefield. The knuckler needs seven wins to top the 200 mark.

It’s not likely that Roy Halladay will win 31 games, though I wouldn’t put it past him. But, he will move up significantly on the list from his current total of 169 victories. Mark Buehrle needs a pair of wins for 150 as does Mike Hampton, though with the latter’s health issues you never know. Yet another lefty, Barry Zito, needs eight more wins while right-hander Jeff Suppan needs a team and 12 wins. With another good year, Chris Carpenter (17) will get there as well.

Miguel Batista, Dan Haren, Joel Pineiro, and Jason Marquis are all on the precipice of the century mark.

3,000 strikeouts is another remarkable sign of longetivy and it’s not likely to be reached by anyone in the near future. The top three active leaders – Moyer (2,405), Javier Vazquez (2,374), and Pettite (2,251) won’t get there. If he finds a taker, Kevin Millwood will top the 2,000 mark this season. CC Sabathia has an outside shot at reaching 2000, with 202 K’s needed. He’s topped the mark twice in his career, and came up shy of a third time last year by 3.

Chris Carpenter, Ted Lilly, Jake Peavy (if healthy), Josh Beckett, and Carlos Zambrano will break the 1,500 barrier. Joel Pineiro, Scott Kazmir, Kyle Lohse, Justin Verlander, Carl Pavano, Zack Greinke, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Marquis, and Cole Hamels will all top 1,000 career K’s.

When Trevor Hoffman retired as the all-time saves leader he knew the record wouldn’t last long. Maybe not even one season. Mariano Rivera trails Hoffman by just 42 saves, meaning if he can eclipse the number (42) on his back this year, he’ll be the new numero uno. Francisco Cordero needs 10 saves for 300, while his fellow Francisco, K-Rod Rodriguez, needs 32 to reach that level. Jose Valverde (7) is closing in on 200 career saves as is Jonathan Papelbon (12) and Brian Fuentes (13). Bobby Jenks (27) has a shot if he were to take the role away from Papelbon.

Hudson Street needs one more save for 150, and should be joined by Brian Wilson, Joakim Soria, and possibly Kevin Gregg. Heath Bell and Ryan Franklin, meanwhile, will reach the century barrier.

There you have it. A taste of some of the more well-known milestones that will be smashed, trashed, and bashed this year. And Baseball Digest will be here to tell you all about it.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

Carl Pavano and the Minnesota Twins are said to be on the verge of a new deal.

Ken Rosenthal’s sources indicate the Yankees could get a deal done with Andruw Jones today. His agent, Scott Boras, was at Yankee Stadium earlier today for Rafael Soriano’s introductory press conference.

In one of the strangest moves, the Tigers yesterday avoided arbitration with Armando Galarraga by agreeing to a new one year deal. Then to make room on the 40 man roster for Brad Penny, they designated Galarraga for assignment. Huh?

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Prince Albert will make $16M for the 2011 season and then will be a free agent unless the Cardinals can pony up an attractive enough contract to keep him in St. Louis for years to come. And that is easier said than done.

With an ongoing rough economy, it may be difficult to pay the game’s number one player, number one money.Pujols is a three time MVP and has finished in the top three in MVP voting five other times. He’s a nine time All-Star, has won six Silver Slugger awards and a pair of Gold Gloves. He averages 40 home runs and 120 RBI a season! I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

At 31 years of age (this Sunday) and with 10 professional seasons under his belt, there is no reason to think that Pujols is going to slow down any time soon. What that translates to is a $30M per year deal. With A-Rod’s deal averaged out to $27.5M over the life of his deal, the Cardinals know they have to pay their man dollars more per season. It’s not just a matter of principle, Pujols deserves it.

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi recently spoke with Cardinals’ chairman and CEO William O. DeWitt Jr. about his franchise player. When asked if the two sides were close to a deal, Dewitt replied, “No, I would just say we’ve had discussions, and we’re continuing to talk.”

“We’ve got time between now and then (the start of spring training) to get things done,” DeWitt said. “I’m hopeful. But these are big deals, and we’ll make every effort to get it accomplished.

“Spring training is a long period of time — six weeks. Whether it’s reporting date, or a week after, I don’t view it as, ‘If it’s not done by this day, then . . .’ I don’t see a specific day.”

The Cardinals faithful certainly share DeWitt’s hope.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

The NY Daily News sent the social media networks atwitter on Wednesday when they published a piece saying that Andy Pettitte would not start the season with the New York Yankees. With near panic in the streets, GM Brian Cashman said the reporter had misinterpreted what he had said. The Yankees had not received any new word from Pettitte, so for now they have to proceed as if he won’t be with them when the season begins. In other words, Pettitte’s situation is the status quo.

The Rays, Rockies, and Yankees are all reportedly showing interest in outfielder/DH Andruw Jones. But the Rays are the only team that really make sense for the 15-yr veteran. The Yankees have committed to Jorge Posada as their full-time DH in 2011 and the Rockies can’t afford (defensively) to play him in the outfield. The Rays, however, could plug him into the DH spot.

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg told the Washington Post he is about three or four weeks away from beginning to throw. Strasburg underwent Tommy John surgery this past September 3rd.

The Diamondbacks have inked utility man Willie Bloomquist to a one year, $1.05M deal with a mutual option for 2012.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

1999-2000: The Seattle Mariners sent icon and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. to the Cincinnati Reds for Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez, Brett Tomko, and Jake Meyer.

It was the beginning of the end of a magical era in the Emerald City when Junior and Alex Rodriguez were teammates.  For Griffey it was a return to his hometown and team his father won two World Series titles with.  His first season in Cincy was outstanding- 40 home runs, 118 RBI, 100 runs scored, and a .942 OPS.  And of course there was the Gold Glove defense he displayed in centerfield.  But then the injuries started and Griffey was never the same offensive force.  Griffey would play more than 140 games just twice over the final 10 years of his career, which finished where it started in Seattle.

Cameron played four seasons as a Mariner, before leaving as a free agent.  His 16 years in the majors have been marked by solid defense, good power, and many strikeouts.  After two average to below average seasons in Seattle, Tomko was dealt to the Padres and ended his career in 2009 having won 100 games for 11 organizations over 13 years.

2000-2001: The Oakland A’s, Kansas City Royals, and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays pulled off a three team, seven player swap. The’s The A’s got the better of the deal, receiving Johnny Damon and 2nd baseman Mark Ellis from the Royals. The A’s sent Ben Grieve to the Tampa Bayand Angel Berroa and A.J. Hinch to the Royals. Finally, the  Rays sent Cory Lidle to the Oakland and Roberto Hernandez to the KC.

Damon spent just one season in Oakland, helping the team to the final game of the ALCS before falling to the NY Yankees. He then left for free agency and helped end the the Red Sox World Series drought in 2004.  Damon just completed his 16th season in the bigs and is a free agent.  Ellis has been a steady presence on an Oakland team that has seen much turnover during his eight year career.  The A’s recently picked up Ellis’ option for 2011.

Berroa was rookie of the year for the Royals in 2003, but that was the highlight of his career.  Grieve was also a rookie of the year, but his career became average at best when he played for Tampa and injuries led to a premature end to his career at age 29.  Hernandez had the last two 20-plus save seasons of his career in KC.

2001-2002: Cleveland sent Roberto Alomar, pitcher Michael Bacsik, and minor league Danny Peoples  to the New York Mets for Alex Escobar, Matt Lawton, Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder and Billy Traber.

In Alomar, the Mets thought they were getting the offensive and defensive force that helped Toronto to two World Series titles. But the then 34-yr old’s best days were behind and he was dealt away on July 1, 2003.  Lawton had three decent seasons for the Indians, but the trade turned out to be a bust for both sides.

2002 – 2003 Bartolo Colon traded by the Montreal Expos with a minor leaguer to the Chicago White Sox for Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Liefer and cash.

With his contract expiring after the 2003 season, Colon was in much demand during the preceding hot stove.  Chicago won out but not before acquiring Hernandez first from the Yankees for Antonio Osuna and a minor leaguer.

Colon won 15 games, threw 242 innings, and led the AL with nine complete games, and then bolted for a contract with the Angels prior to the 2004 season.  The deal was a disaster for the Expos as Biddle and Liefer were unremarkable players and El Duque missed the entire season with an injury and never wore an Expos uniform.

2003-2004: Alex Rodriguez was on the verge of becoming a member of the Boston Red Sox, but the player’s association would not allow him to restructure his contract to complete the deal.  The Yankees hopped in and sent Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias to Texas for A-Rod.

So began a love/hate relationship between the Yankees fans and A-Rod that hit a low nearly every post-season, but hit an all-time high when A-Rod helped the Yankees to their 27th World Series title in 2009.  Soriano averaged 32 HR, 97 RBI, and 24 steals in two seasons before Texas, fearing a big free agent pay day, dealt him to the Washington Nationals prior to the 2006 season.  In the long run, the deal proved huge for the Yankees and A-Rod’s career.

2004 – 2005 The Oakland A’s were perennial contenders at the turn of the decade due to their fantastic starting rotation.  Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito were a force to be reckoned with.  But all that changed in a matters three days.   On December 16, 2004 GM Billy Beane send Hudson to the Atlanta Braves for Juan Cruz, Dan Meyer and Charles Thomas.  On the 18th, Beane sent Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals for Daric Barton, Kiko Calero and Dan Haren.

The Hudson deal turned out to be a bust for the A’s.   Hudson has been a stud for Atlanta, while Cruz was dealt after one season. Neither Meyer or Thomas reached their potential.  But the latter deal worked out wonderfully for the Oakland.  Haren has developed into one of the best pitchers in baseball, Barton is the A’s starting 1st baseman, and Calero was a mainstay of the A’s bullen for four years before injury and free agency sent him elsewhere.  Meanwhile, Mulder won 16 games his first year in St. Louis, but a bad hip derailed his career and he didn’t pitch in the majors after 2008.  Though Haren was ultimately dealt, Beane was able to bring back young stars Brett Anderson and Carlos Gonzalez in a trade with Arizona.

The two deals definitely demonstrate the motto, “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose”.

2005 – 2006 The Red Sox knew that Hanley Ramirez was going to be a star, but when they had the opportunity to get Josh Beckett from the Marlins they couldn’t resist.  Even when Florida insisted that the Red Sox take Mike Lowell as part of a salary dump.  In return for Beckett, Lowell, and Guillermo Mota, the Marlins received Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado, and Harvey Garcia.

One year later, the Red Sox were winning their second title in four years, thanks in large part to Beckett’s pitching.  And the World Series MVP was none other than Mike Lowell.  Ramirez has become a star, as expected, in Florida and Sanchez has been a serviceable starter, though he has also been beset by injuries.  He threw a no-hitter in September, 2006. The deal was definitely a win-win for both sides.

2006 – 2007: At the end of the 2006 season the Yankees realized their deal for Randy Johnson prior to the 2005 season did not turn out the way they hoped. Johnson never seemed completely happy, and though he won 17 games both years, his first year was much better than his second. The Unit’s last season in NY saw an ERA of 5.00 and a bad back.  So that January, the Yankees sent Johnson back to Arizona for Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson, Alberto Gonzalez, and Luis Vizcaino.  Johnson struggled through two more pain filled seasons in AZ before playing one final year in San Francisco.  All four players the Yankees received are no longer in the organization.  Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

2007-2008:  Miguel Cabrera was a terror on pitchers in the National League, but the Marlins knew they couldn’t afford to pay him when the time came.   So the Marlins went looking for buyers and on December 4, 2007 traded Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz,  and Mike Rabelo.

Cabrera now terrorizes AL pitching to the tune of an eight year, $153.3M contract.  Maybin and Miller were the keys to the deal for Florida, but both were recently dealt after not reaching expectations quickly enough (Maybin) or being continually hurt and ineffective (Miller).

2008-2009: Beane took another big game gamble when he acquired free agent to be Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies for Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street.  Holliday’s numbers in a half season in Oakland were average due to a spacious ballpark and a weak lineup around him.  He was dealt at the deadline for three prospects, none of which so far have made an impact in the majors (though Brett Wallace was later dealt from Oakland and may get a legitimate shot for playing time in Houston).  Gonzalez has developed into a triple crown threat for the Rockies, while Street has been a decent closer.

2009-2010: Two deals were swung last hot stove that directly affected the pennant races and future in both leagues.  The Blue Jays gave Roy Halladay a chance to finally be on a winner, shipping him to Philadelphia for big time prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud.  Halladay had a perfect game, 21 wins, a CY Young award, and a no-hitter during his first post-season.  Drabek is expected to have a major impact for Toronto, possibly beginning in 2011.  This deal has the potential to be very good for both teams.

The second deal also involved the Phillies as they sent their prior ace, Cliff Lee to the  Seattle Mariners for prospects J.C. Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont, and Tyson Gillies. At the deadline, the M’s then dealt Lee to the Rangers for Justin Smoak, a star in the making.  Lee then helped Texas to the first World Series appearance.  The Mariners and Rangers got the best of the deal, with most pundits feeling the prospects sent to Philly could have been better.

Update 7 p.m.

Dontrelle Willis is giving it another go.  The left-hander signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds and will be used as a reliever.

According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, at least three teams are interested in Jarrod Washburn, who hasn’t pitched since 2009.  The Brewers are said to be one of the team looking at the lefty.

It’s odd to hear a report from Boston about the Yankees free agent offers, but the Boston Globe reported that the Yankees are offering Cliff Lee a five year deal valued between $115M and $120M.   FoxSports Southwest speculates that the Yankees beginning point might be the Texas top bid.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

That ball has made it through the past 60-plus years in excellent condition, and it’s one of the highlights of Steiner Sports’ first Catalogue Auction, now through Nov. 18.

Another one-of-a-kind piece among the hundreds of entries is the old Yankee Stadium bullpen phone, signed by Mariano Rivera with the inscription “Enter Sandman,” the title of his famed entrance theme song.  Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Paul O’Neill and the rest of the present and recent Yankees championship teams are also well represented.

Items bearing the likenesses and signatures of dozens of other Hall of Famers are included in the auction, which is heavy with Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs memorabilia through Steiner’s partnerships with those clubs, as well as football, hockey, basketball and boxing pieces.

The two biggest free agents among the current Yankees are their skipper Joe Girardi and the face of the team, shortstop Derek Jeter.   Cashman has already stated he wants Girardi to stay and said Jeter will not be going anywhere.  The second is nearly 100% true, but Girardi’s situation could be a little trickier.

Girardi would have been in for a mega pay day had his contract expired at the end of the 2009 championship season.  But he and his binder struggled at times this season and the Yankees season fell short of both management’s and the fan’s expectations.  Which, of course, is easy to do when you’re expected to win the World Series every year.

Girardi also lost some negotiating power when the Chicago Cubs, rumored to be highly interested in the Illinois native, hired interim leader Mike Quade to be the full-time manager.  That being said, according to several sources Girardi will sign a new deal shortly, likely three years in length.  Should the Yankees and Girardi not work out a deal, Bobby Valentine, Tony Pena,and  Willie Randolph would be among those considered for the job.

Derek Jeter is fully expected to be back in Pinstripes next year, but just like Girardi, Jeter’s bargaining power decreased with a subpar year after a huge 2009, and many questions remain.  How much money is he willing to accept?  How long does Jeter want to play? How long can he play shortstop and will he be willing to eventually move to another position/share time at DH? Will he be able to handle reduced playing time? The right thing to do would be to sign Jeter to a lifetime deal that specifies baseball and post-career life.  Jeter should never be out of Pinstripes unless he wants to be.  A deal will be made, but just how quickly a deal gets done remains to be seen.

The two other big free agents among current Yankees are two-thirds of the remaining “Core Four”- Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. The main factor in each player’s future is how strong their desire is to return for another year.  Both have admitted they have pondered their future beyond baseball.  Rivera said at one point not too long ago that he would like to pitch another five years.  It was certainly tongue in cheek, but Rivera is likely to return in 2011.  If for whatever reason Rivera decided to hang it up, the Yankees would certainly go hard and heavy after free agent closer Rafael Soriano.

Pettitte, as he has done the last two years, will probably take his time over the winter and not declare his intentions until after the holidays.  At this point, chances are probably 50/50 that he returns next season.  Though he was healthy for the most part, Pettitte suffered a debilitating groin strain that DL’ed him for two months, and then he dealt with back and hamstring issues in the post-season (which was revealed yesterday in a Brian Cashman-Joe Girardi season wrapup press conference.)

Aside from Jeter, the remainder of the infield is set with Mark Teixeira (1B), Robinson Cano (2B), and Alex Rodriguez (3B) returning to their positions in 2011.  The Yankees catching situation will most certainly see a change though.  Jorge Posada will be back for the final year of the four year contract he signed prior to the 2008 season, but backup Francisco Cervelli will likely be gone.  Cervelli started out the season hitting like a house on fire, but his offensive and defensive production decreased with increased playing time. Posada’s time behind the plate is also likely to be reduced to try to limit the number of games he misses due to injuries.

The beginning of the Jesus Montero era, however long or short, should begin in the Bronx next season.  In addition to backing up Posada, Montero should see time at DH as the Yankees take a serious look at his powerful right-handed bat.  Austin Romine will also be waiting in the wings at Scranton and, as has been the norm for the past several years, the Yankees will sign a Chad Moeller-esque catcher to a minor league contract as a precaution.

The outfield situation is an interesting one.  Curtis Granderson (CF) and Brett Gardner (LF) are likely to return,  but with free agents Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth looming on the horizon, the Yankees could move Nick Swisher if either outfielder is signed.  Everyone loves what Carl Crawford can bring to a ball club, but signing the right-handed, right field-playing Werth may actually make more sense (and could possibly be a less expensive option than what Crawford will demand).  The Yankees could use another strong right-handed bat as well.

While it may sound like blasphemy to some Yankees fans, Swisher’s value will never be higher.  He had a career year, but Werth is a better ballplayer in every aspect of the game.  Swisher has one year ($9 million) left on his current deal with a club option ($10.25 million, $1 million buyout) for 2012.  Age isn’t a factor in this one since Werth (31) is actually a year older than Swisher (30).

Crawford, who will start next season at age 29, can of course wreak havoc on the basepaths as well as hit for power.  He’ll most certainly be looking for a long term deal (5-7 years minimum?), though the economy could impact his future.  Crawford has always been a center or left fielder and he isn’t your prototypical rightfielder.  So if he were to be signed, it would likely mean moving Granderson or Gardner out of town, and that doesn’t make any sense from a baseball or economic standpoint.

The starting rotation for now consists of CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, and a beleaguered A.J. Burnett.  Javier Vazquez will be gone and NOT brought back a third time.  While Pettitte contemplates his future, Cashman and the Yankees will be firing on all cylinders as they go after free agent-to-be Cliff Lee.  But Lee’s signing isn’t as automatic as most pundits and fans thought several months ago.  Lee likes it in Texas and he’s the guy front and center leading the team to its first World Series.  The new ownership has plenty of bucks and has already vowed to do everything they can to keep Lee in Arlington.

The World Series outcome should have no impact on Lee’s decision.  WFAN’s Evan Roberts believes Lee is much more likely to stay if the Rangers win, but just the fact that they are there could play a major factor in Lee’s decision.  The Yankees will argue, of course, that they have a better chance of reaching the World Series in any season.  And, of course, the Yankees will not be outbid.

If indeed the Yankees succesfully land Lee, they could look into dealing Burnett, who was a train wreck in 2010.  With three years remaining on his five year deal, it’s a trade that could be accomplished, especially if the Yankees pick up some of the cash.  The Yankees will also look at back end of the rotation options to replace Vazquez and/or  in case Pettitte retires.

The bullpen, a key to the team’s 27th title, was a let down this season. Outside of Rivera, there wasn’t much consistency.  Damaso Marte will be out until after the 2011 All-Star break after having surgery on a torn labrum. Boone Logan stepped up and did a decent job as the left-handed specialist.  He should remain in that capacity next season.  David Robertson had a hugely disappointing follow up to his breakout season in 2009.  His spot is certainly not guaranteed for next year.  Some of the young arms in the minor leagues will certainly get a chance to make the squad out of spring training. And then of course there is Joba Chamberlain.

In yesterday’s press conference, Girardi said Chamberlain will be a “bullpen guy”, a back end of the bullpen reliever.  If not for the fact that he’s out of options (thanks to the guys at River Ave. Blues for that information), the Yankees could have had Joba working his way back as a starter in the minor leagues like they should have in 2008 or 2009.  But that ship has sailed.  Of course there is the very real possibility that Chamberlain could be dealt.

The Yankees won’t pick up the $11 million option on Kerry Wood, but will definitely be interested in resigning him if they can get him at a good cost and if he doesn’t mind remaining as a setup man.  Wood excelled once he was acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline.

The utility infield position will be up for grabs, with Eduardo Nunez having a solid chance to push Ramiro Pena out of the job. While Pena has the better glove, Nunez has much more offensive potential.  The Yankees are also likely to bring in a Miguel Cairo type to compete for the position as well as to push the youngsters.

The bench was a key to the second half of the Yankees regular season though it was a bit exposed during the playoffs.  Lance Berkman’s option won’t be picked up and there is a good chance he’ll return to Houston and/or the National League.  Both Marcus Thames and Austin Kearns are free agents that may or may not be back.  Thames put up solid numbers, but is a defensive liability, while Kearns battled injuries and has always had an erratic bat.

One surprise that came out of the season ending press conference: pitching coach Dave Eiland, for reasons kept private, was dismissed by the team.  Early candidates to replace him are bullpen coach Mike Harkey and minor league pitching coach Scott Aldred, who spent the last four seasons in the Yankees organization in Trenton and Scranton.

Finally, Brian Cashman himself has to do a better job this off-season.  The GM himself admitted that last winter was not one of his best as moves for Vazquez and Nick Johnson, (who will also not be making a third trip back), blew up in his face.

Whatever moves are to be made this winter, you can bet the Yankees will be right in the middle of things. After all, there’s a 28th championship out there to be won.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

The “Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Year Presented by Pepsi” nominees are:

• Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
• Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
• CC Sabathia, New York Yankees
• Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay Rays
• Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
• Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants

Starting today, fans can visit pepsiclutch.mlb.com, powered by MLB.com and created specifically for the Clutch Performer Award platform, to vote for the nominee they believe was the best MLB Clutch Performer throughout the season. Online voting for the winner will conclude at 11:59 pm ET on October 25.

The player chosen exclusively by the fans as the winner of the “Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Year Award Presented by Pepsi” will be announced on October 26.

Previous winners include Alex Rodriguez (2007), CC Sabathia (2008) and Andre Ethier (2009).

Twins starter Francisco Liriano started out Wednesday night’s game like the ace of the Twins staff he has become.  But just as he faltered down the stretch of the regular season, Liriano wore out as his pitch count rose in the 6th inning.

The Dominican born left-hander was dominant early, making Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada look silly for three of his seven strikeouts.  He had retired nine straight and cruised into the 6th inning up 3-0.  After Nick Swisher was Liriano’s 10th straight victim, Teixeira ripped a double into the left field corner and the tide began to turn.  Alex Rodriguez fought his way to a full count walk and  Robinson Cano showed why he’s a top AL MVP contender when he delivered an RBI single to right to get the Yankees on the board.  Liriano bounced back to strike out Marcus Thames for the second out, but Jorge Posada roped a single to right to cut the deficit to one.  Curtis Granderson, who had been criticized all season for his at-bats against left-handers, drove a 94-mph fastball  off the wall in deep right-center for a 2-run triple that put the Yankees on top for the first time, 4-3.  It also ended Liriano’s night.

Minnesota’s offense had given Liriano support early when Michael Cuddyer hit a 2-run bomb off CC Sabathia for a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning.  A frame later, aggressive base running by Orlando Hudson helped manufacture a third run. The O-Dog  singled through the left side and a batter later advanced all the way to third base when Teixeira had to dive to beat Joe Mauer to first base to record the out on Mauer’s tapper.  The O-Dog’s hustle paid off when Posada mishandled a Sabathia sinker for a run producing passed ball.

Sabathia couldn’t maintain the lead in the home half of the 6th after he retired the first two hitters.  The Twins loaded the bases and Sabathia, showing a rare lack of control, walked rookie Danny Valencia to force in the tying run.

Teixeira’s mammoth go-ahead blast off of Jesse Crain stayed just inside the right field foul pole and allowed Girardi to begin mixing and matching with his bullpen.  Boone Logan, David Robertson, Kerry Wood, and Mariano Rivera shut down the Twins the rest of the way and guaranteed the Yankees at least a split when they head home for Game 3 on Friday in New York.  Rivera recorded a four out, four broken bat save, getting Denard Span to ground out with the tying runs on base to end the 8th inning and Jim Thome to pop out as the tying run in the 9th.

From Joe Girardi’s press conference,

On Sabathia: “..it’s odd that he walked that many guys, but I threw the ball decent.”

On Granderson: “Grandy’s been a different guy since August in Texas.  He made that little adjustment..he’s a different guy.”

From Ron Gardenhire’s press conference:

On leaving Liriano in to face Granderson: “Granderson was hitting like .188 against him.  We wanted to let Liriano try to work his way out of it.”

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.