The San Francisco Giants wound up making the mistake. But if they hadn't, someone else would have.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, baseball execs throughout MLB thought Mark DeRosa was worth several million dollars a year. DeRosa wound up getting six million dollars for two years: a two-year, $12 million deal.

This is the sort of move that, as an analyst, drives me up the wall.

Mark DeRosa doesn't do anything particularly well. He hit a mediocre .250/.319/.433 in 2009, a .752 OPS. Third basemen as a whole hit .265/.335/.421, a .757 OPS.

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.

The Nationals acquired Sean Burnett from the Pittsburgh Pirates during midseason 2009 and were rewarded with a 3.20 ERA down the stretch. Burnett also posted a 3.06 ERA with Pittsburgh prior to the trade, so his ERA for the year was 3.12.

Given those numbers, it would seem that the former top prospect has settled in nicely as a middle reliever, but upon closer inspection, that's not the case.

The market is still wide open for Jason Bay, who most analysts agree is one of the top three free agents available this offseason. Surprisingly, he has not been highly sought after and has only received two known offers from the Red Sox and the Mets. Both offers are for four years and between $60 and $65 million.

He rejected the Sox offer early in hopes of receiving a fifth year, but that has not happened yet, and now he is leaving the Mets in limbo by not making a decision on their offer.

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.

Every year, I choose two MLB teams, one in each league, and hop onto their bandwagons in March.  Now, I do not confuse my loyalties, as I always remain a Rays and Braves fan, but bandwagon teams make the season more fun.  This year, I have hopped onto the bandwagons of Cincinnati and Seattle.

(For the record, I had hopped onto Seattle's bandwagon after the Chone Figgins signing, before the Cliff Lee trade.)

As we go on during this offseason, we can see that certain teams are going to go through rebuilding stages. One of these teams is the Cleveland Indians.

Fausto Carmona is not necessarily on the trading block, but it is said that the Indians are open to listen to offers for him in order to help their rebuilding process.

The Indians may be hesitant to move him, but he has had two lousy seasons, and the asking price for him shouldn't be that high.

All right, I'm "hosting" a "Salary Cap Summit."

Let's work out the numbers; how's this going to work?

I'll lay out the criteria we MUST arrive at (hey, it's my article) and then moderate.

ONE : The cap must not unduly penalize the currently rich. That means that (sorr, Goon) there's no trying to punish the Yankees, etc., for their CURRENT or PAST sins. Only Samuel Jackson is allowed to be vengeful.

Please check your past frustrations at the door.

As time went by this offseason, many of my predictions and hopes for the Florida Marlins did not happen.

The first being Josh Johnson's contract negotiations reaching an impasse and not getting any starting pitching help.

In past posts, I had mentioned what I had expected from the Marlins' front office, some of these posts talk about Nick Johnson, Dan Uggla, and other players who are on the trade block or their contracts are up. 

So, during the span of time since those posts, a lot has changed.