All Things Bubba

The hot stove is heating up. The Red Sox have made the biggest splash, signing Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. I guess they didn't like fighting the Jays for third place.

The Yankees are still courting Cliff Lee. Supposedly, they've offered him 7 years, even though they said they wouldn't.

Former Yankee Melky Cabrera signed a 1-year, 1.25 million contract with the Royals. The Cincinnati Reds gave Miguel Cairo a 2-year, $2 million contract. It's his first mutli-year contract. It's also his most lucrative. The most he's ever made in a year was $1 million (with the Yanks, of course). And it looks like Nick Green will sign a minor league deal with the Orioles.

Eric Duncan signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. He left the Yanks as a 6-year minor league free agent last year, having spent three years in Scranton, never getting so much as a sniff of the big leagues. He spent last year in AA, in the Atlanta organization.

Geez, I remember when Eric Duncan was an untouchable. First round draft pick, top-ranked prospect in the Yankees system. He's still fairly young - just turned 26 five days ago - but his top prospect days are long behind him. Maybe the hitter-friendly PCL will do him some good.

The Rule 5 draft was yesterday. The Pirates took Josh Rodriguez from the Indians. He was a star at Rice, a couple of years behind Paul Janish. He had a great year this year, and the Bucs think he can stick in their lineup.