AL East

Enrique Rojas (ESPN Deportes baseball newsbreaker extraordinaire) has reported that Jose Bautista and the Toronto Blue Jays are closing in on a 5 year, $65 million extension that will keep the Major League Baseball home run champ in Toronto through 2015.

It's more than worth it.

As I posted almost a month ago, even if Bautista undergoes a Brady Anderson-like decline, he'd still be worth $13 million a season.

For major league pitchers, 20 wins has always been the benchmark of an exceptional MLB season and to some extent, a career. 

In fact, almost every one of the 51 pitchers in the Hall of Fame won 20 games in a season at least once in their career—relief pitchers excluded.

After a 2009 season in which no pitcher won more than 19 games, three pitchers were able to reach 20 wins in the 2010 MLB Season - Roy Halladay (21), CC Sabathia (21) and Adam Wainwright (20). 

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced today the signing of 34 year old OF Scott Podsednik to a minor league contract, with an invitation to attend Major League spring training.

Last season for the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers, Podsednik hit .297 with six HRs, 51 RBIs and 35 stolen bases in 134 games played.

Over his 10-year career, Podsednik has a .279 average with a .340 OBP and 301 stolen bases.

J.D. Drew's five-year $70 million contract will, finally, mercifully, end after the 2011 season.  He arrived in 2007 with many wondering why the Boston Red Sox wanted to pay him so much and he'll leave with many more people doing so.

I cannot think of another Boston player whose performance has so been so out-of-whack with his salary for five years.  Drew has performed, essentially, like an average player who is paid like a big star. 

The noon deadline came and passed without a deal.

For now, it seems as though Albert Pujols will become a free agent at the end of the 2011 season.

The St. Louis Cardinals exercised their $16 million option on Pujols earlier this offseason. He's entering the final season of the seven-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2004.

Dream with me for a moment, folks.

With the additions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the Boston Red Sox need another right-handed bat in their lineup.

At the ripe old age of 32 (in 2012) the most deserving, soon to be highest paid player ever in the game of professional baseball, Albert Pujols will fill that hole nicely.

Courtesy of Yankees 'n More

Last season, New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia stated to the press that despite having the option to do so, he would not opt out of his contract.  Joining the team in 2009, the big lefty's seven-year, $161 million deal has a clause that allows him to opt out after three years, should he want to.

Just yesterday, however, Sabathia hinted that he might exercise that clause after the season.  Being a Yankee fan, I just had one response.  WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Although they won 96 games and the AL East in 2010, the Tampa Bay Rays have lost a number of players through their firesale this offseason.

There isn't much content online about auction drafts. I think that's mostly because its more challenging and therefore less popular.

You can auto-draft (a.k.a. skip the draft) and end up with a very good team. Going into an auction, the best laid plans win.

While the auction never goes exactly as planned, the guy who does the best job at executing the plan will end up with the best team, at least out of the gate. There are many different strategies for auctions, and I cannot adequately explain them all, but here are a few simple rules to follow.