Baseball has a wacky transaction system. Yesterday the Yankees offered Bernie Williams arbitration, but only because they knew he would decline it. Why the apparent waste of time? Because without the offer, the Yankees would have lost negotiating rights to Bernie and if Bernie had accepted he would have been in line for a salary near ten million dollars for 2006. So, the Yankees and Bernie have until January 8th to make a deal. Even if they do, Bernie won’t be back as a starter and a certain, hairy, centerfielder may take his place. more ›

In the end, the big deal didn’t happen. Desperate to add more offense, the Mets could not complete a blockbuster trade with the Red Sox to acquire Manny Ramirez. While the Ramirez trade would have been great for the Mets, most fans were hoping for more bullpen help at the very least and that didn’t happen either. So the Mets, who are only four games out of a playoff spot, will have to make do with what they have for now. more ›

Excuse the exclamation point, but the way things were going Gothamist wasn’t sure if the Yankees would ever win again. Win they did, shutting out the Pirates 9-0 in their first meeting since the 1960 World Series. Mike Mussina gave the Yankees the dominant start they needed. Moose was perfect until Daryl Ward singled with two outs in the fifth inning. Mussina pitched a complete game giving up five hits and having the shutout preserved by a nice relay from Bernie Williams to Robinson Cano to Jorge Posada to nail Matt Lawton at home. more ›