Red Sox bolster lineup with Beltre

News broke last night the Red Sox signed third baseman Adrian Beltre to a one-year, $9 million deal.

Take a look at Beltre’s stats. He’s really dropped off since his career year in 2004 with the Dodgers. He didn’t bring his bat to the Mariners when he signed a five-year, $64 million contract with them, but he did take home two Gold Gloves.

I knew they were going to make an upgrade before I did my lineup comparison to the Yankees. WEEI.com is reporting the Red Sox will try and trade Mike Lowell (broken thumb) now. They were close to dealing him to the Rangers but he failed a physical because of the thumb so the deal didn’t go through.

Yankees walk-offs 2009

The year 2009 may forever be known as “The year of the walk-off.” The new Yankee Stadium hosted 15 walk-offs for the Yankees. No, that’s surprisingly not the record. The Pirates did it 17 times in 1959 and 1977 (thanks Larry).

Anyway, here are all 15 13 of my game posts on the walk-off wins.
 
April 22 vs. A's — Melky Cabrera
May 1 vs. Angels — Jorge Posada
May 15 vs. Twins — Cabrera (2)
May 16 vs. Twins — Alex Rodriguez
May 17 vs. Twins — Johnny Damon
May 23 vs. Phillies — Cabrera (3)
June 12 vs. Mets — Rodriguez (2) — I was at my first concert! 
July 4 vs. Blue Jays — Posada (2)
July 20 vs. Orioles — Hideki Matsui
Aug. 7 vs. Red Sox — Rodriguez (3)
Aug. 12 vs. Blue Jays — Robinson Cano
Aug. 28 vs. White Sox — Cano (2)
Sept. 8 vs. Rays — Nick Swisher — Working a TV show at QU
Sept. 16 vs. Blue Jays — Francisco Cervelli
Sept. 29 vs. Royals — Juan Miranda
Oct. 9 vs. Twins — Mark Teixeria (ALDS)

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The most satisfying walk-off in my opinion was A-Rod’s third of the year against the Red Sox on Aug. 7, headlined “The best game ever played.” I watched it with my summer ball battery mate, a Boston fan. Even though his team came up on the losing end, he was a good enough sport to realize he had just watched an amazing game. It was especially inspiring to us because it was a pitchers’ duel. I’ll remember that night forever. Thanks, Gagey!

Rosenthal: Damon fits with Braves

Ken Rosenthal’s latest column touches on all the biggest remaining free agents this winter, including the likes of Matt Holliday, Johnny Damon and Aroldis Chapman.

Damon: Rosenthal neglected to mention the Yankees in his segment on Damon, and predicted the Braves and Giants as likely suitors, as mentioned by me last week. I really feel like it would be unnecessary for the Yankees to sign Damon after they replaced him with Curtis Granderson. However, Tim Dierkes of MLBTR predicts Damon will end up with the Yankees on a one-year, $6-7 million deal. I think there’s too much of a market for a quality bat like Damon for his price to go that low.

Holliday: Rosenthal, Dierkes and MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez think Holliday will land back in St. Louis with the Cardinals. Gonzalez’s report says the two parties are “closing in on” a deal. Rosenthal predicts Holliday will get seven years and around $120 million. I never thought Holliday had a realistic shot at going to New York. He seems to like it in the National League a lot after playing in Oakland.

Chapman: Rosenthal thinks the tables have turned for Chapman in that low-market teams like the Marlins are the favorites to land the Cuban defector. The Yankees and Red Sox are less likely to break the bank on an unproven pitcher, while a low-market team might take a chance on a potential franchise player.

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That’s all the Yankees news. It’s pretty evident Brian Cashman has made the big moves that he wanted to make this offseason. All that’s left is possibly trading Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin to improve the bench/bullpen.

David Cone Featured Yankee Card of the Week

David Cone will not be returning to the YES Network in 2010, Bob Klapisch reported on Saturday. Sad news in my opinion. I wasn’t following the Yankees very closely when he was pitching, but I know now he was a fan favorite.

And yes, I am aware of his perfect game four days after my birthday in 1999.

Can A-Rod avoid the hot seat in 2010?

As you may have heard, Alex Rodriguez will play in 2010 without his girlfriend cheering in the stands. Kate Hudson may have dumped A-Rod for still being interested in Madonna, but who cares. Does anyone think Hudson really helped A-Rod in 2010?

If anything, it’s one less distraction for him with the New York media, which leads me to my new poll on the left pane. Last year, A-Rod dealt with Selena Roberts’s report of steroid use, went through a memorable interview with Peter Gammons and overcame an injury causing him to miss all of April. Not only did he stay below the radar, but also posted his 12th straight year of 30 homers and 100 runs batted in.

What dirt is left to find on A-Rod’s record? Will anything prevent him from continuing his run at the all-time home run record? Vote now!