Just heard 7 years 160 mil.
This is why I the Yankees. I hope he sucks like he did with the Indians this year.

we can all see now the notion that these players will leave money on the table to play close to home is a joke. Also I am sick of the Yankees buying a winning season after winning season, but they have been doing it since the begging of time. Sometimes I wonder why I bother with baseball when the pigs just stay pigs......

Report in the Chicago Tribune would indicate that Felix Pie is not part of the Jake Peavy deal.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-10-cubs-winter-meetings-chicdec10,0,4553272.story

If AJ Burnett lands in the Bronx, I think he will be a worthy sucessor to Carl Pavano.

Peter- If the O's made a press conference for noon and announced they were moving the team to Alaska, I swear, I would not care one iota. 5 years ago, I would have become violent. We just have no chance of winning. Money wins. Profit sharing eliminates the possibility of a cap. And in the O's case, it wouldn't matter anyway.
When the yanks miss the playoffs 1 year in 15, and then go out and sign the top 2 or 3 pitchers on the FA market, and we have Cesar Isturis. Its laughable.
I'm no longer a fan. Have a good life. I'll check for Ravens post.

Tex to Washington? Would that be the biggest slap in the face the Orioles could have? I think so! The O's CANNOT let that happen. It would set us behind a franchise that, at this point, has no fan base. It would be terrible. Pay him what he wants, get him signed, and watch the domino effect. Make sure the senators don't get him.

Man one big domino falls and another follows right away. Orioles inked Izturez. At least thats an upgrade from last year.

Well the iron is cast. A level for top teir free agents has een established. CC was the numero uno of free agents.

So Tex now numero duo will want some where close to this.

If the O's must go after Tex hard he is the ONLY free agent worth giving up a draft pick for. I did want Garland and ZBnett. But not at the expense of the future.
If Tex is on the serious radar O's, They need to offer soemething like 8 years for $180.

Time to choke the competetion IF we want him.

Hey Pete, looks like the D#$% Yankees keep getting richer and richer in talent. Seems to me there should be a rule against teams doing that but I guess, like everything else, the almighty dollar rules. Players today are more concerned about their pockets than they are the game of baseball. Just my opinion thats all ... what do you think?

Only time will tell - that's a lot of dough to spend for any pitcher. (Kevin Brown?) Despite the economy, it seems the large market teams still have limitless Monopoly money to spend. It'll be interesting to see, later in the season, how full the Yankees' new stadium will be if they're not in contention.

ESPN, Steve Phillips, is reporting the O's have signed C. Izturis? Is that official now?

I was amazed on listening to FOX Sports 'insider' Seth Everett this morning that he spoke about the Sabathia deal, not our pickups of Freel and Izturis.

That said, at least we have a shortstop for '09. Now offer Tex $182 mill for nine years, and sign two starting pitchers. Please!

Too bad...

I was excited for Sabathia to be the first guy to turn down the biggest of big bucks from the Yankees to stick with Milwaukee or go home and play for the Giants, Angels or Dodgers.

Now that Sabathia's (probably) a Yankee, does that put New York out of the running for Teixeira? What chance do you think the O's have of signing Tex? Considering the fact that Boston is still very much in the game, I'm going with "slim to none".

What's going on Pete? It's 11am (CST) and no updates from the Winter Meetings? You must have taken my advice last night on the roulette tables. (and we never heard from him again)....

So from my estimation the O's probably won't get a SP until after Christmas the way this market is playing out, right?

Originally posted by "ryan": "When the yanks miss the playoffs 1 year in 15, and then go out and sign the top 2 or 3 pitchers on the FA market, and we have Cesar Isturis. Its laughable.
I'm no longer a fan. Have a good life. I'll check for Ravens post."

These kind of posts of my favorite.

Some team signs some player that the Orioles weren't even considering signing and had absolutely no chance at anyways, and some fans goes off and bashes a very solid move made by the O's.

Then, said fan denounces the O's and says he/she is no longer an O's fan, also insinuating that he/she won't even follow O's news anymore, only to come back a few days later to bash another O's move.

Priceless.

And back to the very solid move made by the O's: If it goes through, the Izturis contract will be a great move for this team. Sure, he doesn't hit much, but it's not like he was signed to show off his bat at the top of the order. He was signed to play solid defense and to hit ninth. And with Izturis flling a major hole and rounding out the "up the middle" defense with Brian Roberts, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters/FA, I'd say our young pitchers are going to be a lot better off next year.

the real reason the yankees got sabathia is because brian cashman actively and vigorusly persued him. a fat checkbook helped.brian cashman got off his behind,and make sabatia feel like he was wanted in new york. this is also why they will sign burnett. none of the baltimore contingment will do that to get a player in baltimore. i also think peter the great is still meadling and will continue to do as long as can draw a breath.

So with the acquisition of Freel whree does that leave Reimold, Montanez and Salaazar? Considering that O's already have Scott, A Jones, and Markakis in the OF?

I guess Freel could be considered an IF utility player while Montanez, Salaazar and Reimold fight out the 4th OF spot? I would be upset if Oscar or Luis are not on the big league roster next year. With Salaazar hitting so well last yera in AAA and in the winter leagues, how could you justify NOT having him at least as the DH? Montanez also had a hell of a year...

Roberts (2b) S
Mora (3b) R
Markakis (RF) L
Huff (DH/1B) L
Jones (CF) R
Weiters (C) S
Scott/ Montanez (LF) L/R
Salaazar (DH/1B) R
Itsurez (SS) R

Bench: Freel, Back up C, Montanez or Salaazar...

Only reason Weiters isnt hitting 4th is because no experience in MLB. Give him some time in the second half of the lineup like Jones last year.

This move is probably more bad than good for us. The Angels now are down to their last top free agent priority. With Francisco Rodriguez and CC Sabathia taken care of, Texieria is now their top priority and I dont think that they will want to lose out on another one of their top targets.

leonard -

Cashman did a good job recruiting Sabathia, but the only two reasons that Sabathia is a Yankee are dollars and years.

No other team could offer as much money as New York and no other team was willing to offer seven years.

The Yankees were the only team desperate enough to give a seven year contract to a 260 pound starting pitching who has tossed 500+ innings over the past two years. I wonder if the Yankees realize that Sabathia will be 35 in 2015...

I'm with anon.

I just don't understand the uproar over the CC signing. The Orioles were never going to go after him, and whoever got him would pay a ton of money to do so. Where's the surprise? Why so many pitchforks? We've known this was coming since last July. Sheesh....

On a related note. I don't really see why not getting Burnett is such a big deal either. IMHO he's going to turn in a few mediocre years for a whole lot of money, and I'd just as soon it not be for the Orioles. He seems like a Juan Guzman part duex. Plus he's already 31. Can you say Pat Hentgen? Oh wait, there's two veteran former Toronto pitchers that did not do well in Baltimore. Third time's the charm? No thanks.

One more thing: The Big Domino (emphasis on big) would be a good nickname for Sabathia.

OK, so The Evil Empire buys another player for the price of the universe. Big deal. They also signed A-Rod and traded for The Big Unit a couple of years ago. And where did that get them? A cup of coffee in the playoffs, quick exit, and see you next year!!

The CC signing should be of little consequence to us, since a) we were not going to catch NY this year anyway, b) we had no intention of even talking to him or his agent, c) that's not what rebuilding teams focus on.

Andy is making the right moves, shedding some salary, adding depth to the minors and bringing in a hustling hard-nosed player that offers us versatility and better offense than Fahey or Bynum. The focus is on improving the franchise in the long run, not in 12-18 months. Sorry folks that the cold hard truth. You don't fix 11 consecutive losing seasons in 2 off seasons.

And listen to a guy like Steve Phillips talking about Tex. He got it right. He's a really good player. But he's not an elite talent worth 20 mil + a year. We had him down here in Texas for awhile and with a better offense than the O's. And how did that work out?