Well, the CC Sabathia sweepstakes have been won by the team that we knew would win them all along, the Yankees. And all it took was the richest pitching contract in the history of baseball. At seven years and $161 million, he’ll never live up to that kind of price. I just want to know if the Yanks were smart enough to put in some weight clauses to keep CC from eating himself into a heart attack with all the great food that the Big Apple has to offer. I don’t think he’ll ever pitch well enough to contend for the Cy Young again, but he will be a great top of the rotation for in the Bronx. And hey, if he stumbles out of the gate this season like he did with Cleveland, how fast will he be put sacrificed live in Times Square?
The Yankees cross-town rivals checked a big item off their Xmas shopping list too. Then they checked it again. Coming into the winter meetings, the Mets were in dire need of a closer, so they went out and got two. After signing K-Rod to a three-year deal (which no one thought he would take), the Mets swung a three-team deal and landed J.J. Putz from Seattle, who was one of their two bright spots of last season. Now they just have to solidify their outfield and they’ll be all set to choke away their division lead in September again. I think it’s fairly safe to say that Billy Wagner won’t be pitching for the Mets again.
In the NBA, the Suns look like they want to turn back into an offensive powerhouse-style after opening up the season slowly. Trading away defensive stopper Raja Bell and the now expendable Boris Diaw for Jason Richardson is a sign that maybe they want to try the run-n-gun again. It also very obvious that Larry Brown is building the type of team that he wants to coach but that won’t matter in the end because even if they become good in time, Brown won’t be around for it.
The Washington Wizards really must miss old Gil, they went out and got a guy who plays just like him. Trading for Mike James brings up the interesting question of when will we actually see Arenas play? The Wiz seemingly just braced themselves for the long term with this trade. And when Gil does come back, will the two actually wrestle on court for the ball and the right to jack up a shot whenever possible? Will the other Wizards players ever touch the ball again? Caron and Antawn must be pissed at this deal.
And then there’s this sad news. Cuttino Mobley is being forced into retirement because of a worsening heart disease. The weird thing is that the Knicks knew about this all along and still traded for him. Did they really want Zach Randolph off the books that bad? This is taking 2010 tanking to a whole new level.
For tonight’s NFL action, I’ll take CHICAGO (-3) over New Orleans. We’re looking at some pretty low temperatures in the Windy City tonight and that does not bode well for a team that relies on the pass as heavily as the Saints do.
Last week: 8-7
This season: 87-75-3