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What does $161million get you in this current climate? Well if you are Brian Cashman then it gets you a 250lbs left handed starter with a pedigree.
After missing out on the play-offs for the first time since before the Joe Torre era, the Yankees who shed approximately $88million in contracts this off season were always going to be aggressive in free agency. No disrespect to Sidney Ponson or Darrell Rasnar but neither player should be a staple of the starting rotation and GM Brian Cashman has decided that he doesn't want a repeat.
So CC is in and is getting paid a pretty penny. No other team had even offered him more than $100million but the Yankees weren't willing to play around. They knew CC needed some extra money to come to NY as his preference was to stay on the West Coast, but did he really need an extra $61million?
The thing is this is only the start of the Yankees rejuvenating their rotation. Only Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain look like locks who are carried over from last season. Mike Mussina has retired, Andy Pettitte is waiting to see what the Yankees are going to do, Darrell Rasnar has gone off to Japan and Sidney Ponson has gone.
So who is next for the Bronx Bombers? Various reports have them having offered contract to Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets and AJ Burnett and are getting close to the latter one of them. AJ Burnett opted out of his contract in Toronto after a quite stunning second half of the season and looks set to sign for the Yanks or the Braves sooner rather than later.
Derek Lowe seems to want to pitch on the East Coast but his preference is with Boston. Ben Sheets is the interesting one as it seems that he might be willing to take a one or two year deal to prove his health and then cash in when the economy has hopefully recovered.
The 2009 Yankees will be heavily stacked however it plays out and they'll probably go into the season as the favourites in Vegas.
One of the most talented players ever to grace the sport of baseball has retired after twenty-three seasons in the game. Greg Maddux leaves the game in eighth position on Major League Baseball’s win list after successful spells with clubs including the Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres.
One of the best pitchers to play in the sport, Maddux, who won the World Series with the Braves in the mid-1990s, can boast more wins than any other living player in his position.
The pitcher is forty-two years of age and, after focusing upon his game for so long, the decision to walk away was undoubtedly a tough one. He admitted as much but also revealed that it felt like time to turn in a new direction.
Maddux revealed that he appreciates “everything the game has given” him but he is excited about being able to spend more quality time with his family. Like many sports stars, part of Maddux’s decision to quit was based upon a slight slip in form.
Although he believes that he could still play the game, he believes that he could not perform to his best at his age. Maddux therefore made the decision which many have made before him. If perfection in a sport cannot be attained, then it is better to quit whilst you are ahead.
During his career, he managed to win a total of eighteen Gold Glove awards and also won the Cy Young award for four years running between 1992 and 1995.
The recent announcement from Maddux came as no surprise to his team mates, who had apparently known of his decision prior to the start of the season. However, the pitcher, in typical style, chose not to make a fuss, preferring instead to enjoy his last appearances in the game.
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