The Evil Empire, The Yankees Introduce Their Big Ticket Items

With all for the conjecture and the kind words about the Yankees, just say why you joined the team -- um, for the money.

It's always about the money.

A.J. Burnett Now A Yankee...

ESPN is reporting that A.J. Burnett will be the newest member of the Yankee pitching staff.

The Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves were also in competition for him; however, Baltimore didn't want to give Burnett the years he wanted and also were not a viable option for him as winning served to be important a factor.

The deal with New York is for five years, 82.5 million dollars.

Burnett may turn out to be Carl Pavano II -- ok, it may be a stretch -- but his history should be enough to give anyone a pause; alas, that's obviously not the case. It looks like A.J. was good enough and also healthy at the right time to get the chance to make even more money.

I guess he got the money and the years he wanted.


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Burnett to Atlanta; Markakis and Pedroia

It looks like the Braves may be in the hunt for Burnett, and may be ready to offer him what he wants -- a five year deal.

Via the New York News: Just as they were finalizing a trade for Javier Vazquez, the Braves were preparing a five-year offer for A.J. Burnett, according to sources. Burnett, considered the No.2 starter on the market, was expected to wait for Sabathia to make the first move. But with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays all apparently hesitant to give Burnett a fifth year, the 31-year-old might jump at Atlanta's offer before Sabathia makes his decision.

The Braves need pitching and want to get back into the NL East hunt. At this point, who knows what happen and if Burnett may use the Braves to increase his price, or he if he'll sign. With times being so uncertain and the oft-injured hurler being signed to his 37th birthday, he may sign with Atlanta.

However, I think the Braves may be taking a huge risk with Burnett and considering the conservative nature in which they hand out contracts, signing him may not be wise and it was a definite surprise to hear this.

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While many are waiting for news to come out from the Warehouse about any important signings, moves, etc., the Red Sox went ahead and signed Dustin Pedroia to a six-year, $40.5 million contract extension, with an option for 2015, that takes them through three arbitration and two free-agent seasons. Smart move for the Sox; thus, what does this for Nick Markakis and the Orioles.

Nothing at all.

A Markakis deal will get done at some point; however, with the winter meetings on the horizon along with the team trying to find arms for the rotation, as well as a shortstop (Khalil Greene?) the Orioles had to put the discussions on the back burner.

Folks, the sky isn't falling yet; therefore, we should not worry. Then again, it seems important the team sign simply sign the right fielder for credibility purposes amongst the fanbase, and he wants to be here, so let's let the discussion -- no matter how slow it may be -- take its course.

Sports Illustrated, Teixeira/Free Agents, Rebuilding and the Orioles...

I was somewhat optimistic that the Orioles in 2008 -- at least until the end of July -- could approach the .500 mark and perhaps start looking forward to finally getting out the AL East cellar in 2009.

Well, obviously I was proven wrong and a couple of people called me out on my high hopes as the team flatlined from mid-August until the end of the season.

That being said, Sports Illustrated recently previewed our division and gave us fans a sobering look at the organization:

If the Jays should look beyond 2009, the same goes doubly for the 68-win Orioles, who employed the fifth-oldest lineup in the league, one in which only Jones and Nick Markakis were on the right side of 30. For far too long the O's have been in denial about their plight, which now extends to 11 straight losing seasons. A typical winter's patchwork involves trying to get them to 75 wins, a level that the Orioles have actually reached just once in this millennium. This only forestalls a more extensive rebuilding effort; they need to face the music and clean house. Take the rotation -- please. The unit's ERA as a whole was an MLB-worst 5.51, and Jeremy Guthrie was the only member with at least a dozen starts and an ERA below 5.25; in that light perpetually maddening Daniel Cabrera starts to make sense because of his ability to eat innings. The Orioles need another arm or two to stabilize a corps of not-so-young and none-too-effective pitchers like Radhames Liz and Garret Olsen, but they shouldn't overpay for name-brand studs on long-term deals, because they're a couple of years away from a credible run at .500, let alone the division flag. Paging Odalis Perez...

As much as I'd like to disagree with this assessment, I agree with it. It looks like your young pitching needs more time, seasoning, and at this point I would only pencil in Jeremy Guthrie as a starter.

I think no matter who we acquire from the free agent market -- whether it be a Teixeira, Burnett, Izturis, Byrd, or anyone else -- how does that impact the rebuilding process? Do we see steady improvement, or are we destined to repeat the same mistakes for the past decade? While we need some free agents to make the team more competitive in the near future, no one should be fooled into thinking we'll have a plan to contend unless the organization is built from the bottom up.

While the foundation and the blueprint may be laid out, the Orioles are not even done building the first floor of the house despite some promising arms in the minors and Matt Wieters.

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