No more Marte: The Yankees have declined his 2012 option. One dead weight lefty gone, Pedro Feliciano to go.
From the same article: Former Mets GM Omar Minaya has interviewed from the Angels position; that would be a double win for the Yankees because they could keep Damon Oppenheimer and Billy Eppler, while Minaya could create a lost decade for another big market rival.
Joel Sherman see all kinds of ways the Yankees could lose CC Sabathia to his impending free agency, mainly by playing hardball with the big lefty a la the Jeter negotiation, then watching a team like the Angels (who play near Sabathia's home) swoop in with a big offer.
Here's the difference, as I see. The Yankees determined, rightly, that Derek Jeter needed the Yankees more than the Yankees needed their 35 year old short stop. There is no one available in baseball that the Yankees need more than CC Sabathia. CC wants to have the biggest per year average of any pitcher in history (top Cliff Lee's $24M/Y)? He's got it. He wants a season where he's paid more than any player in history (Roger Clemens $28M)? He's got it.
Dave Cameron tries to compare the '11 Rangers with the '98 Yankees.
I think it's fair to say he's stretching to make the two teams appear to be equals. I think he's right to say that the main difference between the two teams is that the '98 Yankees hit phenomenally well (luckily) in those close and late situations that make the difference between 114 wins and 97 wins. But I think this is wrong -
...it’s not overly hard to believe that they were similarly effective defensively, though an eyeball test may suggest that the Rangers roster (with Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus especially) looks better on paper than the Yankees roster that featured Derek Jeter at shortstop and Bernie Williams in center field.
What Dave is forgetting is that Jeter was a much better fielder early in his career, and with Brosius covering most of the left side, Jeter was able to shade up the middle and hide some of his deficiencies. Bernie Williams in 1998 was the third or fourth best center fielder in the game- before his legs slowed down and his shoulder gave out, he covered plenty of ground to make up for a (then) average arm.
Oh yeah, the Cardinals beat the Rangers in Game 1 of the World Series. Just sayin'.