Monday, January 20, 2014

I'm Back, Doesn't Look Like I Missed Much

I'm back from my extended Chicago weekend.  If you're wondering, yes, the Blackhawks game was outstanding.  The United Center is a great place to watch any sporting event, Hawks crowds are always good, and watching Patrick Kane play hockey live is a real treat.

I'd like to thank the Yankees and the rest of MLB for not doing anything major while I was gone the last 2 days.  We still don't have a resolution in the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes with just a handful of days remaining for him to sign.  Far as I can tell, this is all I missed:

- The Yanks are unsurprisingly still looking for another late-inning reliever, according to Joel Sherman.  They continue to show little to no interest in Grant Balfour or anybody else available on the FA market.

- 6 teams have officially submitted offers to Tanaka, and all 6 of them were for at least 6 years/$100 million.  I expect the Yankees were on the higher end of the spectrum and I still think they end up getting Tanaka sometime in the next 2 days.

- Biggest on-field news was Derek Jeter getting back onto the field today as planned.  According to the AP, he took swings off a tee in the batting cage and took 108 grounders on the inner infield grass at the team's Tampa complex.