It looks as if one of the biggest free agents out there has made his decision on where he’s going to continue his career, and it’s in a Yankee uniform.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees have come to an agreement on a 7-year deal that is reportedly worth $160MM.  Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman had flown to San Francisco to meet with Sabathia and had face-to-face meetings with the big left-hander for the past three days, prompting Sabathia to decide to make New York his next baseball home.  With his signing, it takes the Yankees out of the running for 1st baseman Mark Teixeira, who they had been rumored to have interest in.

The question now becomes, does this make the Yankees better?  I think a lot of baseball fans, Yankee fans especially, think it absolutely makes them better though I’m not so sure.  The one thing that I do think works in the Yankees favor is, they’re not signing an over the hill, past his prime, pitcher like they did when they brought in Randy Johnson and then Roger Clemens mid-season.  Sabathia is 28 years old and has his best years ahead of him, but I think 7 years may be a little more than the Yankees should have offered, though I’m sure that was the only way they were going to land him.  Keep in mind, though, Sabathia has an opt out clause in this contract that allows him to leave after the 2011 season…that could prove very interesting in a few years.

The good side of this deal for the Yankees is, Sabathia is going to be a work horse.  This is a guy that threw a career high 253 innings in 2008 and who came off a previous career high of 241 innings in 2007.  They’re going to get a guy who can take you deep into games and take a lot of pressure off the bullpen, which is something the Yankees need.  This is the kind of signing the Yankees needed to make or they’d be watching Boston and Tampa run away from them in the AL East.

They still have work to do on their 2009 team, they are in no way done making moves.  Though they’ve address one part of their rotation, they are still left with Chein-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Sabathia as their top 3, then you can look at Ian Kennedy and Philip Hughes, but with Hughes’ injury he’s a big question mark right now.  The other name being tied to the Yankees is former Red Sox and Dodgers’ outfielder Manny Ramirez.  According to some sources close to Hank Steinbrenner, he apparently is considering a run at signing him, but where do you put him when you already have Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and Xavier Nady occupying those three spots?  I can’t see them dealing Damon or Cabrera, but Nady very well could be expendable.

The Winter Meetings will conclude Thursday night, but there could be a lot more to come before GM’s, agents and players depart Las Vegas.  Stay tuned….

According to several sources, the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs could be close to a deal that would send right-hander Jake Peavy to the Windy City.

There have been several versions of this deal written as far as what players would be involved and if there is a third team involved.  According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune, the Philadelphia Phillies may be that third team, but the Baltimore Orioles could be involved as well.  San Diego Padres’ General Manager Kevin Towers confirms that, though a deal is not done or has not been agreed upon, they have the list of names they want it’s just a matter of the teams agreeing to them.  “There’s a package there that would satisfy us.  Will they end up doing it? I don’t know.”

There are several names being thrown around and there are different scenarios that could play out with this deal, so it’s premature to say who’s going where just yet.  What we do know to this point is Peavy would be sent to the Cubs, the Padres are looking at getting Felix Pie who they’d flip to Baltimore for young left-hander Garrett Olson, the Padres would also get 2nd baseman Mark DeRose who they would then send to Philadelphia for young pitching prospects.  The other names that could be headed to San Diego are pitchers Sean Marshall, Michael Wuertz and Angel Guzman as well as Kevin Hart.

At this point, who gets the better end of this deal?  Would it be San Diego, who stands to get a lot of pitching help from both Chicago and Baltimore, if in fact the Orioles are involved?  Would it be the Cubs, who would be getting one of the better young pitchers in the game in Jake Peavy?  Until this deal is complete, it’s going to be up for debate until all the players involved start to make an impact on their respective teams.

There is a underlining story in this deal for the San Diego Padres.  If they are able to finalize the deal to send Jake Peavy to Chicago, it frees up money for them to re-start talks with long time closer Trevor Hoffman who they ended talks with a few weeks ago.  It’s not that the Padres desperately need Trevor back, they are more than happy to hand the role over to right-hander Heath Bell, Hoffman’s setup man for the past two seasons, who is more than ready to become the team’s closer if the Padres are not able to come to an agreement with Hoffman.

Day 2 of the Winter Meetings should be an interesting one and maybe we’ll see this trade finalized, maybe it’ll have to wait another few days.  Even if this deal isn’t agreed upon today, there are still several other interesting story lines to follow to keep us rumor fans salivating.

December 8th has been a date a lot of us baseball fans have looked forward to since the conclusion of, not only the baseball season, but the recently concluded GM Meetings a few weeks ago.

As the meetings get underway in Las Vegas, it means the beginning of very long days and nights of GM’s around baseball.  It means baseball fans sitting on the edge of their seats as trades are made and free agents are signed, those same fans clicking ‘refresh’ on their computers every five minutes, on every baseball website they can find, to see if there is any breaking news on their team. 

With the start of the Winter Meetings, it also means a list of concerns each team has to address.  Who needs pitching?  What positions do they need to fill?  Do they have the money to sign a big free-agent or do they need to think spreading the money out and signing several players?  Can they re-sign any of their own free-agents?

These and many more questions may be answered this week in Las Vegas, so put those fingers to your keyboard, type in your favorite baseball rumor site or any of your favorite baseball sites and hang on tight, this might be a fun week.

It looks like Greg Maddux has thrown his last pitch in the big leagues. 

According to a message sent from the office of his agent, Scott Boras, Maddux will annouce his retirement at the Winter Meetings next week.  A press conference with Maddux, his family and Boras will be held at the same hotel where the meetings are taking place.

Even after 23 seasons, Maddux still doesn’t cease to impress.  In his final start, pitching for the Dodgers against the Giants, it was vintage Maddux as he gave up just one run on two hits over six innings pitched.  If there was ever a way to finish a career, going out on the kind of game that only Maddux could throw, that was it.

Instead of me sitting here writing a long article on the career of the future Hall-of-Famer, I’ll let his accomplishments speak for themselves:

355 Career Wins (8th all time)

355-227 Career Record (.639 winning percentage)

3.16 Career ERA

8 Time All-Star

4 Cy Young Awards (1992-95)

18 Gold Gloves

Won at least 13 games in 20 straight seasons

This is the Greg Maddux that a lot of us saw growing up, through his many years with the Atlanta Braves with Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, then having some great years with the Chicago Cubs, moving on to the San Diego Padres and finally the Los Angeles Dodgers.  This is, and will always be, one of the greatest pitchers of all time.  What’s more amazing to me, he didn’t kill batters with speed, but it was with finess and location.

1:40pm

Update on the Giants deal with Edgar Renteria

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle adds some new information to the Renteria’s 2-year deal with the Giants.  It includes a $9.5MM option for 2011 as well as a $500K buyout.  He can also void the option and take the buyout if he’s traded during the length of the contract.

1:19pm

Update on Khalil Greene trade to St. Louis

It wasn’t known at first what players were being sent to San Diego in a deal that sent shortstop Khalil Greene to the Cardinals but MLB.com’s Corey Brock is reporting that right-hander Mark Worrell will be one of the players going to San Diego.  The other player will be named at a later date.

Worrell went 3-3 with a 2.15 ERA in 58.2 IP with the Memphis Redbirds in 2008.

Nationals interested in Royals’ Greinke

According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Nationals are apparently interested in trading for Royals’ starter Zach Greinke.  Royals’ GM Dayton Moore had interest in outfielder Jeff Francoeur at one time but that interest may not be as strong as it once was.

12:26pm

Jack Wilson not dealt to Tigers

Contrary to an earlier report, the Tigers have not acquired Pirates’ shortstop Jack Wilson.  Dejan Kovecevic talked to Pirates President Frank Connelly who said the Tigers did make an offer but there was no deal agreed to.  Besides that, Wilson and his agent would have to approve a trade to Detroit and they haven’t had anything brought to them for approval.

Rosenthal’s latest:

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports:

- The Yankees and Dodgers could rekindle talks at the Winter Meetings regarding Robinson Cano.  It’s been said that the Yankees are asking for outfielder Matt Kemp.

- The Cubs have been talking daily to the Padres about Jake Peavy but Rosenthal doesn’t believe that the Orioles are the third team involved in the trade.

- The A’s are the front runner to land free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal but are also targetting veteran left-hander Randy Johnson.

- Rosenthal confirms the Phillies did make an offer to Derek Lowe, but says it’s a backup option if they can’t sign Jaime Moyer.  If they aren’t able to retain Moyer, look for the Dodgers to show interest.

11:28am

Braves confirm offer for Burnett

Atlanta Braves’ GM Fran Wren confirmed that they have an offer on the table for free agent right-hander A.J. Burnett.  The deal is apparently for 4 years and $15MM annually with a 5th year option.  I can’t imagine that Burnett is gonna jump at the deal, but we’ll see.

11:15am

Giants’ deal with Renteria complete

The San Francisco Giants and free agent shortstop Edgar Renteria have finalized a 2-year $18.5MM deal according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Tigers acquire Jack Wilson

The Tigers have completed a trade from Pittsburgh that will send shortstop Jack Wilson to Detroit.  It’s not known what the Pirates are getting in return.

10:36am

Buster Olney has a blog out this morning…here’s just a few things he’s covered thus far.

- Could Manny Ramirez and his agent, Scott Boras, accept the Dodgers offer of arbitration?

- The Cubs could be considering Adam Dunn and may be willing to sacrifice defense for his offensive production.

- The Cubs and Padres have “a basic framework in place” that would send Jake Peavy to Chicago in a deal that is apparently centered around Josh Vitters but any finalization of a deal would have to wait until the sale of the team is complete. 

NOTE: Keep your eye on the Angels, the Padres and Angels have dealt with each other before and Peavy would definitely love the chance to stay in Southern California.  There hasn’t been much talk about the Angels getting involved, but noone saw them coming when they landed Torii Hunter either.

- The Atlanta Braves may push right-hander A.J. Burnett for an answer before C.C. Sabathia signs.  Though, the Braves know if C.C. signs first, Burnett won’t be as cheap.

- Olney believes Rafael Furcal will sign with Oakland

9:22am

Derek Lowe receives offers from 2 teams

According to Tom Massarotti of the Boston Herald, Derek Lowe has received contract offers from two teams, one of which is the Philadelphia Phillies but the other is NOT from the Red Sox or Yankees.  However, in the same article, Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman has flown to California to meet with Scott Boras, the agent for Lowe which could lead to an offer for the free agent right-hander.

8:52am

Yankees update

The New York Yankees are confident they are the only serious suitor for the services of C.C. Sabathia as there is still a $40MM gap between their offer and the offer from the Milwaukee Brewers.  If the Yankees do end up inking Sabathia, they will probably turn their focus to Derek Lowe and Andy Pettitte instead of Mark Teixiera and Manny Ramirez.

The Yankees are also willing to give a 5th year vesting option to right-hander A.J. Burnett, but the Braves should land him if they are in fact willing to give Burnett a full 5-year deal as was reported earlier. 

Andy Pettitte has made it known that he will not take a pay cut from his $16MM he received in 2008.  The Yankees have made a 1-year $10MM offer.

Mariners make Putz available, sign Branyan

The Seattle Mariners have apparently made their closer J.J. Putz available and they’re already getting interest from the NY Mets who are expected to talk to Seattle about Putz during the Winter Meetings that get underway on Monday.

The Mariners signed 33-year old outfielder Russell Branyan to a 1-year deal, though the terms of the deal aren’t known.  He’s a good backup option as long as he doesn’t face left-handers.

Red Sox looking at bench additions

The Boston Red Sox are looking to add to their bench and could be interested in names like Willie Bloomquist, Jay Payton and Mark Loretta.

6:38am

Padres deal Khalil Greene to St. Louis

The Padres have dealt long time shortstop Khalil Greene to the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Padres will get two relief prospects back in the deal which will clear $6.5MM from the Padres’ payroll.  Could it improve the chances of retaining Jake Peavy?

Giants ink Renteria

In a deal that was reportedly “close” yesterday was completed late last night.  Edgar Renteria took the physical with the Giants and should be announced at a press conference soon.  The Giants had been in negotiations with Rafael Furcal, but they weren’t sold on giving the 4-year deal he and his agent were asking for. 

This is a solid move for the Giants and one that should give them a definite improvement both offensively and defensively.

Braves close to a deal with Dave Ross

The Atlanta Braves are close to a 2-year $3.5MM deal with catcher Dave Ross.  He should bring an improvement to a backup catching roll that struggled for the Braves in 2007, hitting a combined .114 (13-for-114) with just 2 HR’s.

The Braves sure aren’t wasting any time improving their ballclub from 2007, already making a trade for starter Javier Vazquez and possibly working on a 5-year contract offer for right-hander A.J. Burnett.

Padres close to dealing Khalil Greene?

According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, the Padres could be close to trading long time shortstop Khalil Greene.  Though the team or teams involved are not known, the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals have been looking hard for a shortstop. 

A few weeks ago, the Padres had talked to Baltimore about Greene but had requested left-hander Garrett Olson in return, which Baltimore turned down.

Twins make offer to Casey Blake

The Minnesota Twins have apparently made an offer to free agent infielder, and former Indian, Casey Blake.  It’s reportedly a 2-year $6MM deal with an option for 2011.  Blake’s agent, Jim McDowell, orginally requested 3 years and $20MM but it was more than the Twins wanted to spend. 

Dodgers looking for pitching

Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers have asked for information on right-hander Randy Johnson, left-hander Andy Pettite and former Padre closer Trevor Hoffman.  I know the Dodgers want pitching, but I didn’t think they’d look at “past their prime” pitching.

Giants close to a deal for Renteria?

Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Giants are closing in on a deal with free agent shortstop Edgar Renteria.  Renteria’s agent, Barry Meister, said “we don’t have a completed agreement, but we are making substantial progress.”

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick believes the deal could be 2-years and $18M.

Mets to meet with Trevor Hoffman?

Trevor Hoffman’s agent, Rick Thurman, told the NY Post that the Mets have talked about meeting the 41-year-old closer in Las Vegas but also mentioned the Mets will meet with Brian Fuentes as well who is also represented by Thurman.