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After a World Series and San Francisco Giants victory that fittingly capped the MLB campaign known as the Season of the Pitcher, the sport has slightly skipped a beat before immediately starting its next chapter, open season on free agents. License to begin the search in a season of big spending has been given 10 days earlier than in the past due to rules changes meant to much easier wheeling-dealing.

The top ticket item within more than 150 free agent baseballers is the Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee who has been consistently in the spotlight last month, and as I have said earlier the Yankees already reached out to his agent to show their interest. Cliff Lee, who had gathered a 7-0 postseason record in the past 2 years before 2 uncharacteristic Fall Classic stumbles against the San Francisco Giants, figures to command in the neighborhood of his old Cleveland Indian team-mate CC Sabathia’s deal with the Yanks at $23M yearly. New York might have to sweeten the pot for the best pitcher free after the sour treatment Lee’s wife met at her last visit to Yankees’ new $1.6B stadium. Kristen Lee said she was spat on and cursed at by fans at the New York Yankees Stadium during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. “It’s hard not to take it personal,” she said to USA TODAY. Lee, an amazing 48-25 with a 2.98 earned run average over the last 3 regular seasons, said he would not hold it against prospective buyer New York Yankees, brushing off the incident to a few “goofballs” among the 50,000 packed into the seats.

The San Francisco triumphed in the World Series with a cast of young, sensational pitchers backed by an offense composed of castoffs and misfits — many of whom are once again available for the taking. The Giants sluggers Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Pat Burrell and World Series MVP Edgar Renteria are on the free agent list. Edgar Renteria’s probable exit after being a key player to a championship would follow the footsteps of 2009 Fall Classic MVP Hideki Matsui of New york. Matsui, who transferred from New York to Los Angeles to play for the Angels, may require to leave another forwarding address as he again has arrived on the free agent list. New York themselves have some dynamic names on the list in captain Derek Jeter and closer Mariano Rivera, though those stalwarts of five New York title teams are both expected to sign juicy offers to continue wearing the pinstripes as much to honor their legacy as their production.

Other big fish in the pool to catch are Tampa Bay Rays’ swift outfielder Carl Crawford, Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger Jayson Werth and Washington Nationals power-hitter Adam Dunn.

A number of potential closers are also open for pick up like J.J. Putz, Brian Fuentes, Kevin Gregg, Jon Rauch, Koji Uehara and all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, 43, who hit the 600-save mark last season for Milwaukee Brewers and would like to hook up with a new team if he can continue to close games.

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Derek Jeter, the best SS to play the game today. The captain of the NY Yankees, probably the most glamorous ballclub in the sport. Jeter has been the face of the Yankees ever since he began playing for them. He is the current face of the franchise, what a true Yankee should be just like the other great Yankees were before him, The Babe, DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle. His whole career he has been a Yankee and was instrumental in winning The World Series 4 out of 5 times from 1996-2000, and in effect winning the World Series MVP in 2000. Just this past year he was Sports Illustrated’s 2009 Sportsman of the Year. He’s a guy I would definitely want to have on my team, in my opinion he’s the next Mr. October, with his clutch play in the playoffs. He may not be that spectacular in the regular season but come playoff time expect him to be clutch. I just can’t imagine Jeter playing for another ballclub. It’s like Larry Bird playing for the Lakers or Magic playing for the Celtics. There have been a lot of stars that have played for the Yankees this century, guys like Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi but I really don’t see them as true “Yankees” unlike Jeter because he epitomizes of what a true Yankee is, a guy who works hard, plays without fanfare and recognizes the fans’ support.

Baseball is considered as America’s pastime. Professionals play in the Major League Baseball which comprises of 30 teams divide into the National League and the American League. The most dominant team has been the New York Yankees which has won 27 titles including the most recent World Series.
They were very dominant in the late 90s when they won the World Series in 1996 and from 1998-2000 including the first Subway Series World Series where they faced the New York Mets in 2000. They were led by All-Star SS Derek Jeter, Catcher Jorge Posada and closer Mariano Rivera and managed by Joe Torre. In their most recent title they were also led by the same batch of players plus Alex Rodriguez and pitchers Aj Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, CC Sabathia and this time was managed by Joe Girardi.
The Yankee Stadium is proof that baseball is indeed a glamorous sport. Costing $1.5 billion, the Yankee Stadium is the second most expensive stadium in the world. Inside, it is adorned with hundreds of Yankees photographs. Partnered with New York Daily News newspaper, “The Glory of the Yankees Photo Collection” was carefully selected out of the Daily News’ 2,000 photographs.
Till now, the Yankees have dominated baseball and are known all over the world.