Begun, the MLB free agent wars have

We are just over 24 hours into Major League Baseball's free agent frenzy, and the first move has been made by (surprise!) the New York Yankees. Apparently the Yanks have offered rotund lefty C.C. Sabathia a six-year deal worth over $137.5 million, more than Johan Santana got last year from the Mets. The deal would obviously make the portly fellow the highest paid pitcher in baseball history. The New York Mets seem to have their hat in the fray as well. Unbelievably, but not surprisingly, the Yankees are going after not only C.C., but A.J. Burnett AND Derek Lowe. In other words, just the three best pitchers on the open market this year. Burnett is a sure fire bet to land there, but Lowe on the other hand I'm not so sure. It would make the free agent period very boring if the Yanks went out and got all three of those guys PLUS Manny Ramirez. Oh, and they are working on a deal with the Padres for Jake Peavy. Think the Yankees are a little pissed off about last season?

This little kid just won the Cy Young

The little kid is of course San Francisco Giants phenom Tim Lincecum. Not really much of a surprise, he had my vote (if I had one. Surprisingly, I do not). Lincecum was 18-5 for the horrible Giants, with an MLB leading 265 strikeouts. He also posted a second-best N.L earned run average of 2.62. Opponents hit just .221 against him. Not too shabby. Here is how the voting broke down... 1. Tim Lincecum 137 pts 2. Brandon Webb 73 pts 3. Johan Santana 55 pts 4. Brad Lidge 10 pts 5. C.C Sabathia 9 pts 6. Ryan Dempster 4 pts The American League Cy Young award will be awarded on Thursday, with Cliff Lee the favourite to win it. Throw in Roy Halladay and K-rod in the discussion too, they'll both get first place votes. I can't write about Lincecum without throwing another jab at inept Blue Jays G.M J.P Ricciardi. Rumours were floating around this time last year that a Alex Rios-for-Lincecum deal was in the works. Obvioulsy it never panned out and I had to watch Rios phone it in every game he played for the Jays this summer.

Holliday wants to go to a perennial contender, so Oakland makes sense

Matt Holliday is apparently on the move to the Oakland Athletics, in a deal that apparently will see closer Huston Street head to the Coors Light State. This is a bit of surprise. Last week, the should-have-been 2007 National League MVP (see image) stated that he wanted to be dealt to a team that has a chance to compete for the World Series year in and year out. Apparently, that team is Oakland. Quick! Name five other current Oakland A's! I can't either. Doesn't matter though, Holliday is one hell of a pick up for Oakland, but does he make them an immediate favourite in the A.L West? He'll need some help. And a better question is do the A's have the resources to lock him up after next season? Might they be starting to build their empire now, preparing to move into a new stadium in the next few seasons?

Hamels vs Kazmir: a look back at the '02 Draft

The starting pitchers tonight are Cole Hamels (PHI) and Scott Kazmir (TB). Both guys were drafted in the middle of the first round of the 2002 MLB Draft. Hamels was drafted 15th, and Kazmir at 17th. Why do I care? Because J.P Ricciardi took RUSS FUCKING ADAMS at 14th. Come on! Lets take a look at who else J.P could have taken at 14th... 16. Nick Swisher 19. James Loney 20. Denard Span 22. Jeremy Guthrie 23. Jeff Francoeur 24. Joe Blanton 25. Matt Cain 39. Mark Teahan Wow I love J.P.