Dec 11 2010 11:31 AM
No, not that one. That was 145 years ago and probably had more far-reaching effect than the one that's coming up will have - although you'd never know it from the coverage and anticipation.
Rumor has it that it might all be completed before the weekend is out. Either that or it won't be.
And, of course, everyone believes that it's down to two teams ... unless it's someone else.
Anyway, Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus tries making the case that the winning team will be the one who finishes 2nd in this particular sweepstakes - and I'm sure he's not the only one with that view.
The Yanx, on the other hand, have to look at this with an eye towards the short-term seeing as how they're getting old and catcher (DH), SS, 3B, and closer. Plus, if Pettitte retires, their rotation suddenly looks like Sabathia, Burnett, Hughes and ... ummmm?? Probably why they tacked a 7th year onto their offer about 20 minutes after making their "best offer".
Oh yeah, and there's a little talked-about clause in Sabathia's deal where he can pull an ARod and opt out after 2011. Tough to think that he could expect more than his current $23mil/yr on the open market, but yaneverknow.
