Burnett and the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry

What the hell are the Yankees thinking giving A.J. Bruentt upwards of $16 million a year for the next five? Burnett is a bum. He’s a high-strike-out guy who can’t do anything when it really matters. In my opinion, the Yankees just took a step backward with this move. Now they’re sinking more than $40 million a year in two pitchers. This coming a year after the Yankes refused to mortgage the future (read: Hughes and/or Joba) for Johan. Unbelievable.

I think Derek Lowe will be the better acquisition this offseason.

The one good part of this signing is that the Yanks may have removed themselves from contention for Mark Teixeira.

Sabathia and the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry

Look, we at The Baseball Stars are fully aware that the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings are underway. And each of us is paying attention to the moves being made there, and by teams in the weeks prior to the session.

We know about Matt Holliday, Edgar Renteria, and Francisco Rodriguez. We’ve heard the John Smoltz-Boston Red Sox rumors. And we’ve been keeping tabs on the Mark Teixeira situation. But when the Yankees pulled out all stops Wednesday signing CC Sabathia to the richest contract ever offered to a pitcher, we could not sit on our hands any longer.

On a mission from … Day 5

Ah, the last mission post. The Jon is once again sitting during his break … on his own computer … ready before the ride home on the light rail with drunk Rockies fans on a Friday night racking The Jon’s brain on what to write about. Seeing how these posts were more on actual fantasy baseball with the exception of last night’s epic Ichiro post, The Jon had to think hard.

Anyone who reads The Jon knows thinking isn’t The Jon’s strong suit. Luckily, The Jon is involved in talks for some fantasy deals and needs to replenish rosters from the waiver wire.

And a topic was born. And what’s with the Rockies’ video? Read on and press read more to, well, read more.

What The Jon needs is ..

See that video up there? That is the best debut of all time in the second best fake sport of all time. Why this video? Why Chris Jericho now? Because The Jon is getting it handed to him by FreeSanJose this week. FreeSanJose even resembles Jericho in a whiny, selfish sort of way. Now The Jon knows what you are thinking. This is where The Jon complains about how FreeSanJose’s team has done him wrong, blah, blah, cry, cry, Newspaperman, sniff, sniff.

C’mon, this is The Jon. Yeah C.C. Sabathia nutted up and got 11 Ks. Chase Utley and Pat Burrell are going to a place few power hitters go. So what. That is fantasy baseball.

But the one thing The Jon could use is Curtis Granderson. Why? Thought you would never ask.

Astro-Logical

Over the past several years, the Houston Astros have brought out one of the dullest offensive lineups in the bigs. I mean, if you could differentiate Geoff Blum from Morgan Ensberg from Mike Lamb in a police lineup you should be eligible for free season tickets. No longer will that be the case in H-Town. While nobody will confuse this offense with the BoSox or Yanks, this should be the surprise producer of 2008.

This ain’t fantasy football where too many good players on one team cannibalize each others production.

Draft Advice: Top 10 Third Basemen

There will be no dispute as to who the best third baseman in fantasy baseball is. Alex Rodriguez recaptured his spot atop the fantasy world last season, leading the league in both home runs and RBIs, making a fool of all those who doubted him. But where things begin to get interesting is at No. 2. There’s two clear cut choices, and then an outsider who beat out two solid contenders for the National League Rookie of the Year. With the influx of young talent, third base isn’t as shallow as it used to be. All five BaseballStars participated in this vote, hence the higher vote count.

No longer Twins Territory

So, The Jon has heard a couple Red Sox fans trying to justify the fallout from The Johan Santana deal. One of the great arguments was that they are happy to keep Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester. The Red Sox told the Twins that they wouldn’t package those two guys together. As if those guys were the future of the franchise.

Granted Ellsbury had 41 hits in 33 games for the Red Sox and all signs point to him being one of the brightest stars in the game, but this is Johan Santana. Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz can carry an offense that has a pitching staff of Santana, Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield.