Top News:
Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:
No deal for Youkilis — Kevin Youkilis and the Red Sox will not reach a long-term contract agreement this offseason, said Joe Bick, Youkilis's agent. Youkilis and the team have discussed a possible long-term contract this winter, but the sides currently stand too far apart for a deal to be finished before the 2009 season.
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Adam Kilgore / Boston Globe:
Yankees grab prize Sox pined for — $180m deal lures Teixeira to N.Y. — Their familiar and monstrous rivals loomed over the Red Sox the whole time, their deep pockets and pinstripes somehow hidden in plain sight. The real surprise might not be where Mark Teixeira …
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Red Sox trumped in Teixeira stakes — The Red Sox never needed Mark Teixeira. — That's what I kept hearing from Sox defenders after the Yankees scored a knockout punch in the heavyweight fight with Boston. The Yankees, as we warned all along, swept in and grabbed the prized free agent of the 2008 offseason.
Joel Sherman / Hardball:
YANKS SIGN CASH TO MINOR LEAGUE DEAL — The Yankees stole another player away from the Red Sox on Tuesday, though Boston will hardly bemoan the loss of Kevin Cash as much as it did watching Mark Teixeira take, well, the Yankee cash and run to the Bronx. — The Yankees did not announce any signing …
Gordon Edes / Yahoo! Sports:Yankees are stealth Bombers, get Teixeira
Discussion:
Sox and Pinstripes
Harvey Araton / New York Times:Moneyball, a Yankees Tree Ornament
Discussion:
NY Daily News, Washington Post, Bats, New York Post, bronxbanterblog.com, WasWatching.com and iYankees
Danielle Sessa / Bloomberg:
Brewers Owner Suggests Salary Cap After Yankees Sign Teixeira — A A A — Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) — Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said Major League Baseball may need to impose a salary cap to preserve competition after the New York Yankees spent $424 million to sign three players.
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Craig Calcaterra / Hardball Times:
It's worth noting . . . . . .that the Yankees payroll on Opening Day 2008 was $209 million. — It's also worth noting that even with the additions of Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett, the Yankees' 2009 payroll obligations — including signing bonuses — stand at roughly $201-205 million, give or take.
ESPN.com:
Maddon unfazed by Tex joining Yanks — Lest anyone forget, the Tampa Bay Rays are the reigning AL East champions and they were vying to win the World Series in October. — So, forgive manager Joe Maddon if he isn't quaking in his cleats over the New York Yankees reaching a $180 million …
Discussion:
ESPN
Boston Globe:
Derek Lowe closing in on deal with Mets — According to a baseball source, The New York Mets appear to be closing in on a deal for free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe. — The deal is believed to be four years in length, or three years with a vesting option. The contract is estimated to be worth between $14-16 million per season.
Marc Katz / Dayton Daily News:
Dragons lose new manager — DAYTON — Jamie Dismuke, who was to manage the Dayton Dragons this summer, has instead taken a job as hitting coach for the Class AAA Gwinnett (Ga.) Braves in the Atlanta Braves organization. — “It's a better situation for me,” said Dismuke …
Jack Marshall / Hardball Times:
The baseball ethicist: Why nobody signed Barry Bonds — I had been gleefully anticipating the 2008 baseball season for one additional reason than the usual ones: no more Barry Bonds. For an ethicist, the astounding volume of invalid rationalizations put forth to excuse, tolerate …
Spencer Fordin / MLB.com:
Markakis declines invite to Classic — With baby due in March, outfielder tells paper he's staying home — BALTIMORE — This time, the Orioles won't lose their best player to the World Baseball Classic. Right fielder Nick Markakis told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday that he has declined …
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Curt Schilling / 38 Pitches:
With Teixeira signing comes a dose of reality — No one should be shocked, at all. Theo has, at least in my opinion, operated within parameters set by he and the club, and stuck to them. Letting emotion enter into this stuff will see you spend for spending sake.
Discussion:
Projo Sox Blog
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Yankee Signings of Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett Move Salary Figures to Cartoonish Levels — As I wrote yesterday, in The Anatomy of a Yankees Spending Spree, what we have now is the perfect Steinbrennerian storm for going after free agents with reckless abandon this postseason.
Bob Ryan / Boston Globe:
Bronx bombshell sends loud message — Attention, Yankee Nation. Attention, America. Attention, World. Attention, Universe. Attention, Galaxies Unknown. Attention, Babe, The Iron Horse, The Mick, and all other residents of that great Yankee Retirement Home In The Sky:
Discussion:
LA Times Sports Blog
