Matt Garza

Free agent Carl Crawford signed a monster deal yesterday with the Boston Red Sox.

Crawford signed a seven-year, $142 million deal, a huge move for Boston who recently traded for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

With Crawford off the market, who will be the next big name free agent to sign?

Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that the New York Yankees have offered starter Cliff Lee a seven-year deal. The Yankees originally had a six-year deal worth roughly $140 million.

The 2010 ALDS was probably one that I will say I hadn't seen before for one reason alone. The home team didn't win a single game the entire series.

Texas took the first two games in Tampa and the Rays repaid them by taking two in Texas to bring the series back to their home stadium for game five. They still couldn't get it done as Texas took game five to move on to the ALCS.

It's widely known that the Rays' front office is planning on cutting payroll from this past year which means they will probably not re-sign a few of the free agents that are on their list.

In the 'Year of the Pitcher,' the batters never stood a chance.

There were five no-hitters thrown (but really six), including two perfect games. There were also nine one-hitters, and a major-league debut that featured 14 strikeouts by a certain Stephen Strasburg.

Several pitchers, among them Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, and Ubaldo Jiminez, have had so many jaw-dropping performances this year that they could populate this top 10 list all by themselves.

But 2010 was no ordinary year. It was the pitcher's year.

There is a saying that bad news doesn't get better with time. However, announcing plans to cut payroll while your team is in the middle of a division race can't be a good idea.

That's exactly what Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg did when he announced that even if the Rays win the World Series payroll will be cut in 2011. The current estimate is that the Rays will cut this year's $72 million payroll by $15-20 million.

Tonight marks the first of four games, between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx.

For several years now, it has been Major League Baseball tradition that cash-strapped teams shop one or more of their best players during the annual Winter Meetings. Lately, the biggest deals have been for elite pitchers: The Oakland Athletics traded Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2007--a deal that included current stars in pitcher Brett Anderson and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez--and the dominoes have fallen each winter since. 

New York Yankees Javier Vazquez will face Tampa Bay Rays Matt Garza on Saturday night at the Trop.

Let's take a look at this match-up:

Tampa Bay Rays: Matt Garza (11-5)

Not Tanyon Sturtze, Bryan Rekar, Albie Lopez, Esteban Yan, Jorge Sosa, John Halama, nor Paul Abbott were able to do it. Dewon Brazelton, Casey Fossom, Tim Corcoran, and Jim Morris weren’t able to do it either.

The feat I am talking about is throwing a no-hitter for the Tampa Bay Rays. Up until last night, no pitcher was able to throw a no-hitter for the Rays, but then Matt Garza took the mound on Monday night.

Matt Garza faced 27 Detroit Tigers hitters Monday night and rendered them hitless, recording the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history.

The Rays have been on the wrong side of two no-hitters this season, including Dallas Braden’s perfect game May 9 in Oakland.

Detroit rookie standout Brennan Boesch kept Garza from accomplishing the same feat, working the count full and drawing a walk with one out in the second inning. Garza got Ryan Raburn to ground into a double play three pitches later to get out of the inning unscathed.

Tampa Bay Rays' Pitcher Matt Garza now joins Edwin Jackson, Dallas Braden, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Roy Halladay as MLB's pitchers to throw no hitters or perfect games in this amazing 2010 baseball season.

So really, what is it? It's gotta be something. First off, this is the third time the Rays have been involved in a no hitter (Braden threw a perfect against them and Jackson threw a no hitter against them) three times in one year. The last time that's happened was 1917.