And away we go....

Free agency has officially begun as of midnight last night with who else but the Yankees making the first major signings after the arbitration period expired picking up pitcher Jared Wright and 2B Tony Womack. Womack gets a 2yr/$4 million deal to start at 2B and lead-off for the Yankees while Wright will get between $21-25 million over three years according to various sources. They are also reported to be on the verge of signing Lefty Eric Milton to a 3yr/$24 million deal which could be announced any day. Wright signing with the Yankees was not a shocker but what was surprising was that he signed so early. However the Womack signing surprised me completely as I have not heard him associated with the Yankees at all so far this offseason, although I am glad the Cubs did not sign him like rumored even though he could fill the lead-off role the team desperately needed to fill. Now that the team has re-signed Nomar and Todd Walker there is little hope that the team will be able to add a lead-off caliber player in the outfield to their roster.

- Well like previously mentioned the Cubs re-upped Nomar Garciaparra and Todd Walker today. Nomar gets a 1yr/$8 million deal with incentives to reach $11 million based on starts and plate appearances while Walker gets a 1yr/$2.5 million deal with an option year at $2.5 million. Walker can also guarantee the second year at either $2.5 or $2.75 million based on plate appearances.

On top of the two resignings today the Cubs have inked Henry Blanco to a 2yr/$2.7 million deal to back up Michael Barrett and be Greg Maddux's personal valet for the season. Blanco has experience doing this during the 2002 and 2003 seasons he spent with the Atlanta Braves. Blanco is a big defensive upgrade over Bako and has one of the best arms in the league. He will probably wind up as an offensive equal to Bako though, with a little bit more power (compared to Bako's none). The Cubs will have to give up a draft pick to the Twins for the signing.

With no closers left on the market look for the Cubbies to sign one of these three former closers with recent arm trouble to minor league deals: Matt Mantei, Robb Nen, or Jeff Zimmerman. Nen would probably be the leader to be signed since he played under Dusty Baker in San Francisco and Larry Rothchild was his pitching coach while he was in Florida. On top of this why not sign former Red Sox and Red middle-man Scott Williamson. He was injured last season and will probably be signing a discounted deal but when healthy he has been a consistent reliever who can get outs, which the Cubs need as many of as they can find.

- St. Louis and Minnesota each brough back their former aces yesterday before the arbitration deadline. The Redbirds re-signed Matt Morris to a 1 yr/$2.5 million deal with a possible $4.5 million in incentives. Morris is coming off of shoulder surgery and hasn't been the ace pitcher he was before elbow reconstruction surgery he had back in 1999 and the first couple seasons back from it. His velocity has really dropped off the last few seasons after a strong season and a half coming back off the surgery. If the surgery Morris recently had heals his shoulder problems and he can return to his form of old, it will be a steal for the Cardinals and a good audition year for Morris himself, as well as some bad news for the Cubs. This leaves one spot open in the rotation for the Cards with them rumored to be going heavily after Randy Johnson and Matt Clement, and with some interest in Pedro Martinez.

- The Twins re-upped Brad Radke to a 2 yr/$18 million deal. What makes this signing interesting is that Radke was turning down three year offers from other clubs saying he wanted only a two year deal.

- In a move that is unprecedented for the MLB players union, they have decided to work with MLB officials in changing part of their collective bargaining agreement before it runs out. With a few years left on the old deal the players have initiated talks at their annual meetings stating that they want harsher penalties and testing standards for drug use. Baseball will be more than willing to grant their wish, especially with the government breathing down their necks on the issue. Both sides probably agree that any move made by themselves to control testing is better than the government getting involved to regulate drug testing. These actions are happening sooner than I expected when I wrote about them a couple of days ago.

- In a follow up to the Denny Neagle story, it is official as the Rockies have terminated his contract. Look for the Players Union to be getting involved with this very soon.