Baseball

Off season excitement

It may be the off season in baseball but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to get excited about, in fact, for some baseball fans, this time of year is perhaps the most exciting time of the year. Whether it is the anticipation of new players arriving at your team or the hope that there will be improvements on the baseball that you witnessed in the season gone by, the trading and rumors that exist at this time of the year are the sort of thing that gets every sports fan talking animatedly and looking forward to the time ahead.

Of course, when people look forward, it is inevitable that some will be looking back and for some players, this is the time to retire from the game and leave people with a handful of memories. It is said that Greg Maddux is set to announce his retirement after a long and illustrious career where he will be best known for playing for the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. Maddux was selected eight times for the All Stars and was a World Series winner back in 1995 as well as picking up many awards and accolades throughout his career. No doubt there will be many people looking back fondly on the career of Maddux but baseball, like any sport moves on as people look for new heroes and the market is just waiting for a move or two to enable a whole lot of player trades and shifts to occur.

One of the most important issues is the moment revolves around CC Sabathia, who is currently a free agent but is said to be considering an offer from the New York Yankees. If reports are to be believed, the deal on the table for Sabathia is reported to be for 6 years and will earn the player a sum of $140 million over the length of the contract. A deal like that would be enough to make many people sign on the dotted line the instant they are offered it but time is on Sabathia’s side and many baseball observers are of the opinion he has made the right decision in taking his time to weigh up his options.

Of course, when there is a deal of this magnitude left uncompleted, a number of other deals tend to stall and once Sabathia announces where he will be playing his baseball in the forthcoming season, there is likely to be a spate of player moves around the league. Some of the players who are said to be waiting around on the completion of the Sabathia deal include A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets, John Smoltz and many more pitchers who will be anxious to have their immediate future sorted out.

The world may be experiencing a financial crisis at this moment in time but yet again, the top sporting stars appear to be exempt from the current situation and the level of money on offer for the top baseball players indicates the importance of the game and of the value that club owners are willing to place on the players. Some may consider the sums of money obscene but if there is someone willing to pay the high price then market forces will ensure that the top players can continue to name their price regardless of what is occurring in the real world.