Opinion

If tomorrow were April 4 and the Yankees were opening their season in Fenway Park, their outfield would be very suspect.

The projected fly shaggers right now are Brett Gardner in left, Curtis Granderson in center, and Nick Swisher in right.

Brian Cashman has said in as many ways as he possibly can that he is not going after a big name to fill in at left field, so you can forget Matt Holiday.

The Giants just signed Mark DeRosa which took away one possibility that many thought would be a viable upgrade to the Yankees' outfield.

Last offseason, fresh off his team's first championship in nearly three decades, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. pounced on free agent OF, Raul Ibanez to fill the void left by the departed fan favorite, Pat Burrell.

Amaro acted quickly, as the rival Mets were reportedly hot on the trail for the left-handed slugger.

The rookie GM offered the 36-year old Ibanez a three-year, $31.5 million deal, to which he quickly agreed to.

In his four plus years with the New York Yankees, Melky Cabrera was loved by many of the fans. But he was never appreciated by the management of the team.

Cabrera was often the talk of trade rumors until he was finally traded last week to Atlanta in a move which will bring Javier Vasquez back to New York.

But Cabrera was still only 25-years-old, and he was a better player than he was given credit for.

The Oakland Athletics signed Justin Duchscherer to a one-year, $5.5 million deal earlier this week.

This is the sort of move I've been hoping the A's would make for weeks.

It's no secret around Bleacher Report that I think Trevor Cahill and Vince Mazzaro need to start 2010 in Triple-A, and that the A's, prior to signing Duchscherer, only had three true MLB-level starters: Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, and Gio Gonzalez.

They also have Josh Outman, but Tommy John surgery will keep him out for at least the first two months of 2010.

In desperate need of some offense, the San Francisco Giants added a bat last night.

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman via Twitter , the Giants have signed Mark DeRosa to a two-year, $12 million contract. DeRosa is expected to play third base for the Giants in 2010.

I’ll get to the Giants' part of this in a second, but for DeRosa and his camp, this has to be considered a loss. I know it’s hard to fathom someone losing when they just made $12 million, but it is.

Ed Rand has rooted against the Yankees all his life.

He recently became ecstatic, or least extremely pleased, when he read an article in an old baseball magazine about how Bob Cerv was sent to Kansas City and how the Yankees' reject almost won the 1958 American League Triple Crown.

I've done numerous stories on the Yankees' need for a left fielder.

From Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Johnny Damon, Mark DeRosa and Xavier Nady, they've all been mentioned and in some way linked to the Yankees.

There is another name to add to the mix for the Yankees: Jermaine Dye.

Now, there are multiple sources with different stories to the Yankees' interest in Dye.

Jon Heyman from Sports Illustrated has said that he doesn't see the Yankees as a strong suitor to land Dye and sees teams like the Braves, Giants and Rangers more likely to land Dye.

I will give General Manager Jim Hendry and the rest of the Chicago Cubs front office this.

They are not overreacting.

This offseason, after a largely disappointing 2009 campaign, the Cubs have made no significant additions to their 83 win team. They also are only rumored to be looking at tweaking, bringing maybe a bottom of the rotation starter or center fielder in.

In an era where those in player personnel often overreact to disappointing seasons, I wish it was more refreshing to see a GM who stays patient and plays for the long term.

Over the last several days, there has been a lot of speculation that the Red Sox's recent shopping spree may not be done. In the aftermath of the New York Yankees' acquisition of RHP Javier Vazquez, some pundits have speculated the Sox may feel the need to make one more big splash in free agency. The thinking is that the Sox will perceive the New York rotation to be close enough to the Red Sox (in quality) that the stark differences in the team’s respective lineups will be impossible to ignore.

I love baseball movies.

Field of Dreams still makes me cry (don't laugh—I know you cry when Ray Kinsella has that catch with his dad). Bull Durham is that perfect Saturday afternoon dose of rivalry and sweetness. Then there are the historical dramas like Eight Men Out.

So, when the American Film Institute recently released its selections for this year's top films, and a baseball movie called Sugar was on the list, I went right to my computer and shot it to the top of my Netflix queue.