Opinion

Game # 8 – Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees – 2003 ALCS Game 7

With the end of the decade nearing, Sportmeisters Derek and Ryan have decided to present their top ten games of the past decade. Today’s discussion is on the tenth best game from 2000-2009. What follows is a transcript of their discussion.

The Associated Press has reported that the New York Yankees have re-acquired right-handed pitcher Javier Vazquez, who spent last season with the Atlanta Braves.

Vazquez will head to New York, with outfielder Melky Cabrera going to the Braves.

Sure, Vazquez had a strong season in 2009, and was one of the top pitchers in the National League. He went 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA and 238 strikeouts, helping Atlanta stay in wild-card contention until September.

He even finished fourth in the NL Cy Young balloting.

But haven't the Yankees seen this guy before already?

There is an old saying, that two heads are better than one. In baseball, we use a slightly modified variation on that axiom: two bats are better than one.

Brian Sabean and the San Francisco Giants went into the 2009 offseason with a relatively short, but particularly important to-do list.

The deadline for offering arbitration has passed. The winter meetings are over. Free agents are coming off the market.

And what have the Giants done? Aside from being involved in a juicy rumor involving Dan Uggla and signing minor league pitcher Eric Hacker, San Francisco has only seen their players leave.

Were it not for the several feet of snow that has blanketed Washington D.C., you would be able to see Nationals’ fans jumping up and down with glee at the news that their team has just agreed to terms with free agent pitcher Jason Marquis.

Maybe they can make snow angels instead.

Presuming that the Oakland A's move forward with their signing of Coco Crisp, there will be somewhat of a logjam in the outfield for the Athletics.

Fortunately for Billy Beane, Cubs GM Jim Hendry just happens to be looking for a center fielder.

While the rumors continue to circulate about Byrd being the word for the Cubs, don't dismiss the possibility of a trade with Oakland. Hendry has worked deals with Beane before, most recently the Jake Fox trade, plus Davis fits the mold of the type of player Hendry should be looking for.

The Washington Nationals have been working very hard to answer some of their many lingering questions this offseason.

Get rid of a closer who walked more batters than he struck out? Check.

Bring in at least one, and possibly two, relievers to take his place? Check.

Cover the team’s posterior, in case Jesus Flores is not 100 percent healthy, by signing a former all-star catcher willing to take on a reduced role? Check.

The title to my original piece was "Roy Halladay Should NOT Be in the Yankees' 2010 Plans." However, as usual, the thoughts are in my head and in my notebook (with generous amounts of information and facts to back up my thoughts), but the time to get it all down was non-existent.

Then with the whopping four-team, 175-player trade that went down last week, I thought that I had to get something down.

Halladay being traded outside of the American League was the best thing to happen to the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

What we know right now is that there is one team pursuing Matt Holliday.

Despite Scott Boras' best antics, everyone that follows baseball knows only the St. Louis Cardinals are in the running for Holliday.

Why hasn't Holliday signed yet?

Boras.

Boras won't let Holliday sign until they have exhausted every option and gotten the offer they want from the Cardinals. In other words, he wants to prolong this until he gets his way.

Now that Mike Lowell's torn thumb ligament has put a pinch on the Rangers' pocketbook, Theo Epstein and the rest of the Red Sox front office face a rapidly diminishing market for the 36-year-old's rapidly diminishing services.  However, despite Lowell's Major-League worst -14.4 UZR/150 (i.e. his defense was atrocious), he remains a viable, affordable DH option for the Kansas City Royals.