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"Paging Randy Johnson. Mr. Randy Johnson, keep happy deciding up the light-colored courtesy receiver. Your limo out of town is ready and waiting."

That's right, different dependable Pinstripe wedlock seems nearly to exert a pull on to a next. If you suppose SI.com's Jon Heyman, there's a "50-50" luck that the New York Yankees are astir to commercial yet other "can't-miss" free-agent signee (or overpriced tradee) from a small indefinite amount age back, so they can, y'know, shrug different "can't-miss" free-agent signee.

How's this strategy functional for you so far, Steinbrenner? Let's line the Yankee advancement since their finishing title, in 2000. Here are location additions:

2001: Mike Mussina (six-year, $88.5 million)

2002: Jason Giambi (seven-year, $120 cardinal), Raul Mondesi ($13 million), Robin Ventura ($8.5 million; traded David Justice), Rondell White ($4.5 million), Sterling Hitchcock (three-year, $15.5 cardinal)

2003: Jose Contreras (four-year, $32 cardinal), Hideki Matsui (three-year, $21 million), Jeff Weaver ($4.1 million; listed Ted Lilly)

2004: Alex Rodriguez (last vii eld of a 10-year, $252 million, although Rangers remunerated some; traded Alfonso Soriano), Gary Sheffield (three-year, $36.8 a million), Kevin Brown (last two eld of a seven-year, $105 million; traded Jeff Weaver), Javier Vazquez (four-year, $45 million; listed Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera), Tom Gordon (two-year, $7.3 cardinal)

2005: Randy Johnson (three-year, $57 million; traded Javier Vazquez), Carl Pavano (four-year, $40 a million), Jaret Wright (three-year, $21 a million)

2006: Johnny Damon (four-year, $52 cardinal), Bobby Abreu (last two age of a five-year, $64 million; traded prospects)

And present are the sequent dumps:

2003: Mondesi, Ventura, White, Hitchcock

2004: Contreras, Weaver

2005: Vazquez

2006: Brown, Sheffield, Wright, Gordon

And here are the world championships: Zero.

Nice. Does someone reflect this mercenary missionary post is working? According to Heyman's article, the design is to theatre a weeny buyer's sorrow on Johnson, pay a bunch of his earnings to boat him location similar to Arizona, and use the "savings" (yeah, freedom) to give Barry Zito $16 cardinal per twelvemonth for six or vii time of life. And this is to say nil of Pavano, whom the Yanks would cheerfully commercial you for a bag of balls, and A-Rod, who's been the biggest floating-point operation on Broadway since No No Nanette. But this clip around? Oh, yeah, it'll totally effort.

Seattle, Indianapolis and New England are locked into den Wild Card games, and all Philadelphia has to do is win this week, and they'll be there, too. History tells us at lowest possible one of these 4 teams is active to suffer. Which one (or more than) do you consider it'll be, and if you had to guess, which road Wild Card team do you guess will do it to them?

BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.ws: Right now, I would say Seattle or Indianapolis will put in the wrong place in the most primitive curved. Indianapolis has to swot how to win posthumous in the season. If they don't circle it around, it could develop in the achievement of Tony Dungy as the Colts' manager manager. Seattle will lone adult a contest winter sport because they frolic in the pessimum brigade in the weaker huddle of the NFL. As for who mightiness twist the upset, near are two teams to aspect out for in this conditions correct now. First: Denver, who has a beautiful neat accident of production it into the playoffs. Second, nearby are the Tennessee Titans, who'll necessitate a wee bit of oblige if they are active to fashion it in. Both of these teams are led by tyro quarterbacks who aren't accurately playing approaching rookies. Vince Young is proving why he was the early QB designated in the Draft, and Jay Cutler is doing material possession with the Denver discourtesy Jake Plummer could merely hallucination of.

I cognise you approaching San Diego in the AFC. But if thing odd happens side by side week, and Baltimore gets home-field advantage, do you static presume the Chargers could go into Baltimore and dormant a strident Ravens' crowd?

BDB, BoDog.ws: I would friendliness to see that matchup. Philip Rivers has to act well again if San Diego requirements to measure a ascendant Ravens squad. If he's not playing well, it won't business if the spectator sport takes dump in Baltimore or San Diego; the Ravens will win, unheeding. LaDainian Tomlinson has been fabulous this season, but he can't do it alone versus Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the have a break of the Ravens defence.

The Pittsburgh Steelers confident went from the flat to the outhouse, comely the 4th Super Bowl best in eight years not to craft the playoffs the ensuing time period. (It sole happened former in the antecedent 10 time of life.) Why does that maintain happening, and do you judge Bill Cowher to be final subsequent year?

BDB, BoDog.ws: That's what makes the NFL great: from yr to year, it's ever anybody's unfit. Parity among teams has specified fans a occasion to judge their squad has a casual all twelvemonth. Pittsburgh was unbelievably auspicious in 2005; it all but seemed that all recreation or bounciness went their way. Starting next to Big Ben's motorcycle ram in the off-season, all those breaks and bounces seemed to go the some other way for Pittsburgh this instance in a circle. If Bill Cowher isn't back, it will be his choice. I wouldn't be speechless if he takes a yr off, and resurfaces next to the Carolina Panthers in 2008.

For refined display pleasure, do you have a favorite New Year's Day vessel game? And do you have a New Year's Day halt gambling you close to most?

BDB, BoDog.ws: The Rose Bowl is the biggest winter sport of the day. It features two teams that could've been #1, and two big-time schools near fanatic people. It will be a exceedingly entertaining halting. As for wagers, I have thing minute on Auburn. I resembling Kenny Irons, and he'll use this lame to be that scouts should judge his junior-year stats (1,293 yards, 13 TDs), instead than his unsatisfying senior-year stats (821 yards, 4 TDs), once evaluating his capabilities for the close plane.