Opinion

We are almost upon the New Year of 2010. A new decade is about to dawn upon us.

But, when that decade comes, the Yankees will begin it as the reigning champions of baseball.

They will also be still in search of a left fielder for the 2010 season.

Just this week, two more options went off the board for the Yankees in the left field sweepstakes.

Mark DeRosa signed a two-year, $12 million dollar deal with the San Francisco Giants.

Jason Bay signed a four-year, $66 million dollar deal with the New York Mets.

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting on Wednesday that the St. Louis Cardinals' offer to free agent outfielder Matt Holliday is in excess of $100 million.

In the wake of Jason Bay agreeing to a four-year deal worth $66 million with the Mets ($17 million per), it's hard to imagine another team throwing that kind of coin at Holliday.

With the decade coming to an end tomorrow at midnight, let’s take a look back at the Boston Red Sox top 10 individual seasons from 2000-2009:

No 10: Tie—Championship Performances

Curt Schilling, 2004

Since the blunder that sent George Sherrill, Adam "I'm not Pacman" Jones, Chris Tillman, and two others for Erik Bedard, the Seattle Mariners have played as if they were trying to win a Class 3A high school championship, not a World Series.

However, there has been a shift in the AL West.

When the Yankees signed Nick Johnson as DH for approximately $5.5M base pay, I thought that it was a very solid move.   Nick Johnson "keeps the line moving," wears down starting pitchers and gets on base, which is not a bad think in a lineup including Rodriguez, Teixeira, and Posada behind him.

Very shortly thereafter, the Yankees traded Melky Cabrera and two prospect pitchers for Javier Vazquez.  Nothing wrong with that trade either.

Washington DC

By Patrick Read

Giants' fan Larry Levensen always argued that Leo Durocher could run rings around Casey Stengel when it came to managing. Durocher never blew a World Series the way Stengel did in 1960.

Casey Stengel's Error

Nothing was better than seeing the Yankees beat the Pirates in just about every category in the 1960 World Series, except for the only category that counts, which is games won.

Jason Bay is unofficially off the market as the New York Mets have signed the Canadian-born left fielder to a four-year deal worth a reported $66 million.

This is quite possibly the last big signing of the year, the decade, and Omar Minaya’s final chance to put a winning ball club on the field in the always-competitive National League East.

According to ESPN correspondent, Jerry Crasnick, the deal will become official after Bay takes the required physicals.

Bay and the Mets do appear to be a perfect fit for each other.

Finally.

After what seemed like an eternity, especially to the Flushing faithful who suffered through this dismal 2009 campaign, the New York Mets finally made a big time move this offseason when they agreed to terms on Tuesday with free agent outfielder Jason Bay.