The Yanks signed CC Sabathia, and you figured that’d be their prize for the season. Then came a massive contract to AJ Burnett. Then came rumors they were pursuing Manny. Now they’ve signed Mark Teixeira to a reported 8 year, $180 million deal.

The contract will pay Teixeira, who made it clear he wanted to make a decision on where to play next season and beyond by Christmas, an average of $22.5 million per season. Boston’s offer to Teixeira was for $168 million over eight years, an average of $21 million a year.

It’s sure a good thing the Yankees offered Tex that $22.5 million per year compared to the measley $21 million Boston offered him. In this economy and all, you really never can be too safe…

Every year the Yankees overbid on a player they shouldn’t overbid on, and while CC Sabathia is probably the prize of this year’s free agent class, I’m not sure he’s worth $161 million, which is what the Yankees are reportedly signing him for.

How sure are the Yanks that CC will love New York forever? Well, not very. Not even at that price.

Sabathia, the top free agent on this winter’s market, will get a seven-year deal for approximately $160 million, a source familiar with the deal said this morning. That’s a year and $20 million more than the Yankees’ original offer, made last month, and far more than any other team was willing to pay.

If he’s great three years from now, count CC a free agent again. Even if he likes New York, which I can’t imagine he will — the pressure is just too much — chances are three years from now other pitchers will have greater deals, and he’ll want a piece of that action.

And if he isn’t good? Well, then the Yanks are locked into a contract with a 28 year-old power pitcher whose arm is bound to get tired eventually.

New York Mets 7, Philadelphia Phillies 8: It’s very, very hard to get up 7-0 on your opponent and then lose, but the Mets found a way. It took 13 innings, but if there’s ever That Game in the middle of a season that separates whether a team makes the playoffs or not, this may very well be it. New York might have this loss lingering for a while.

Chicago Cubs 14, Pittsburgh Pirates 9: The Cubs can hit, they can pitch, and if they can get over this curse thing, they should be in the World Series.

LA Dodgers 1, Washington Nationals 2: The Dodgers better get it together fast. Thankfully for them Arizona lost, but they’re still three games back.

Florida Marlins 9, Atlanta Braves 10: The Marlins are starting to fade as was expected, but you’ve gotta give this club some credit for being in it this long.

Cincinnati Reds 2, Houston Astros 1: Bronson Arroyo is actually starting to look like a real pitcher again. He pitched a complete game in this one and got the win.

Milwaukee Brewers 12, St. Louis Cardinals 0: Milwaukee’s pulling away from St. Louis, and the Cardinals Wild Card chances are getting dimmer and dimmer.

Arizona Diamondbacks 2, San Diego Padres 9: It’s a tough loss for the D’Backs, but the Dodgers lost, too, so no ground was lost.

Colorado Rockies 7, San Francisco Giants 2: There will be no late season rally from Colorado this year.

Chicago White Sox 8, Baltimore Orioles 3: The race between the White Sox and Twins is starting to get interesting, but it may simmer down. I don’t know how many, but the Twins have got something like 20 of their next 25 games on the road.

Cleveland Indians 10, Detroit Tigers 4: I know it would’ve been a long shot, but had they kept Sabathia, and with their recent surge, would the Indians be in this thing?

Boston Red Sox 7, New York Yankees 3: If the Yanks don’t take the next two in this series, you can pretty much count them as dead this year.

Toronto Blue Jays 6, Tampa Bay Rays 2: It’s a set back, but they’ve got the best record in baseball, and it’s going ot be hard for the Sox to catch ‘em.

Texas Rangers 2, Kansas City Royals 1: I feel like every year we think the Rangers year may be next year, and then they put together similar success from the previous season. But seriously: Next year this team could be dangerous.

Oakland A’s 1, LA Angels 5: They don’t have the best record in baseball anymore, but it’s hard to stay motivated when you’re up by about 3,000 games out West.

Minnesota Twins 2, Seattle Mariners 3: Maybe the Mariners just have the Twins number. For whatever reason, Minnesota just can’t seem to beat Seattle.

Cincinnati Reds 2, Chicago Cubs 1: The Reds gave up just three hits to a team that normally rips the cover off the ball.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2, St. Louis Cardinals 11: On the bright side, soon the people of Pittsburgh will have the Steelers to cheer for.

San Diego Chargers 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 8: It was the first time all season that Jake Peavy gave up five earned runs.

Colorado Rockies 4, LA Dodgers 3: With the Dodgers losing and the D’Backs winning, that lead is now one game in favor of Arizona.

Florida Marlins 5, San Francisco Giants 6: The Giants are starting to come around. They’re not going to do anything this season, but for a young team, this is promising.

Oakland A’s 1, Minnesota Twins 3: Francisco Liriano didn’t give up any runs, and if this guy is back to the form he was in two years ago, watch out.

Seattle Mariners 3, Chicago White Sox 15: Griffey ties Sammy Sosa for fifth all time, but like someone on ESPN said, “The report should read that Griffey remains fourth all time.”

Boston Red Sox 6, Baltimore Orioles 11: On the bright side, the Rays lost.

Kansas City Royals 5, Cleveland Indians 8: There’s really no intresting stat to report in this one.

New York Yankees 5, Toronto Blue Jays 1: Andy Pettite got his first win in a long time.

LA Angels 5, Tampa Bay Rays 4: The Rays went for the sweept, and tried to put together their normal late-inning magic, but that’s a hard thing to do against the Angels, and an even harder thing to do against K-Rod.

Detroit Tigers 1, Texas Rangers 9: Maybe next year will be the Tigers year to rebound and re-group.

St. Louis Cardinals 3, Cincinnati Reds 7: It’s always nice to see Cincinnati actually win a game. I know he’s on an awful team, but Edinson Volquez might well be your Cy Young. He’s the best pitcher, and he’s proving it by winning 15 games for one of the worst teams.

San Francisco Giants 3, Atlanta Braves 1: The Braves are reaching all time lows. They can’t hit, they can’t pitch, they can’t really do anything right now.

Chicago Cubs 9, Florida Marlins 2: The Marlins are sinking further and further back. They had a nice run, but it looks as if it’s ending.

Colorado Rockies 7, Washington Nationals 2: The Rockies have won four of their last five. Can they rattle off 22 straight and make the playoffs? They did last year.

New York Mets 4, Pittsburgh Pirates 0: It looked rash getting rid of Willie not even half way through the season. But whether it’s his management style or not, the move is paying off.

Arizona D’Backs 0, Houston Astros 3: Don’t look now, but here come the Astros.

Milwaukee Brewers 5, LA Dodgers 7: It took a walk off, but it put the Dodgers back in first place.

Philadelphia Phillies 2, San Diego Padres 1: The Phillies are still two back from the Mets.

LA Angels 3, Cleveland Indians 4: It’s rare, but the Angels actually lost a series, and to the Indians, no less.

Baltimore Orioles 16, Detroit Tigers 8: They were an early season favorite, but the Tigers just haven’t played well this season.

Kansas City Royals 6, New York Yankees 15: They’re only five back in the Wild Card, and this “The Yanks are dead” talk may have been a bit premature.

Toronto Blue Jays 15, Boston Red Sox 4: All that’s ever talked about is Manny-Manny-Manny, but Jason Bay, even going 0-3 in this one, is hitting .328 since coming over to Beantown.

Seattle Mariners 8, Minnesota Twins 11: This year Adrian Beltre makes $13.4 million. He’s been a rip off for a while, and though he’s still not worth $13M, he’s at least got 20 homers this year.

Chicago White Sox 13, Oakland A’s 1: Ouch.

Tampa Bay Rays 7, Texas Rangers 4: With Boston struggling, they’re starting to run off with the AL East. And given that their entire team is injured, it’s something to applaud.

Chicago Cubs 10, Atlanta Braves 2: It was the first of a double header, and things didn’t get better in the second game.

Cincinnati Reds 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 5: I’m too lazy to look it up, but have the Reds won a baseball game in the last month?

New York Mets 12, Washington Nationals 0: The Mets are tied with the Phillies for first place in the NL East.

St. Louis Cardinals 6, Florida Marlins 4: The Marlins are slipping away out East. The Cardinals are three back of Milwaukee in the Wild Card.

Cubs 8, Atlanta Braves 0: Say hello to a decent draft pick, Atlanta.

San Francisco Giants 2, Houston Astros 6: The Astros, who started the season hot and then sucked, are starting to get hot again. At 61-59, it’s a stretch, but it’s still possible.

Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Colorado Rockies 6: I think the D’Backs will be the most dangerous team in the playoffs, but they’ve got to get there first.

Milwaukee Brewers 7, San Diego Padres 1: Does anyone want to play Milwaukee right now? Sabathia improved to a perfect 7-0, and is now gunning for the Cy Young with only a half season under his belt in the NL.

Philadelphia Phillies 6, LA Dodgers 7: Say hello to a tight race in the NL West. Couple that with a very tight race in the NL East, and we’ve got some fun heading into clutch time.

NY Yankees 2, Minnesota Twins 4: The Twins took two of three from the Yanks, who look as if they’re done this year.

Texas Rangers 4, Boston Red Sox 8: No, 36 runs weren’t scored in this one.

Baltimore Orioles 6, Cleveland Indians 1: Whatever.

Toronto Blue Jays 4, Detroit Tigers 3: The door of opportunity is being shut on Detroit. My prediction for AL representative in the World Series isn’t even going to make the playoffs.

Kansas City Royals 0, Chicago White Sox 4: The ChiSox will be a very dangerous team in October.

Seattle Mariners 10, LA Angels 7: They’re about three and a half million games ahead of the second place Rangers out West, so this loss shouldn’t hurt too badly.

Tampa Bay Rays 3, Oakland A’s 2: With Crawford and Longoria out, the Rays need to continue winning these 3-2, 2-1 type of ball games.

Pittsburgh Pirates 7, New York Mets 5: The Mets bullpen blew a four run lead, and gave up three in the ninth to clinch the loss.

Washington Nationals 1, Milwaukee Brewers 7: Does anyone want to play the Brew Crew right now? Two weeks ago, it looked like this team was starting to fall apart. Now they’re white hot and hitting on all cylinders.

St. Louis Cardinals 4, Florida Marlins 2: No ground was lost in the East, given that Philly and New York both also lost.

San Francisco Giants 1, Houston Astos 3: Houston’s back to .500l, but don’t look for any type of playoff run.

Philadelphia Phillies 6, LA Dodgers 8: The Dodgers are closing in on the Diamondbacks, who just acquired Adam Dunn, a strikeout king but a guy who can launch the ball 500 feet.

Baltimore Orioles 8, Cleveland Indians 13: It’s a shame the Indians are just now starting to play ball, because had they made the playoffs with Sabathia and Lee, they would’ve been an awful hard team to beat.

Toronto Blue Jays 7, Detroit Tigers 2: After looking so solid two years ago, Justin Verlander is beginning to look the part of a one year wonder.

New York Yankees 0, Minnesota Twins 4: When the Twins play a good team, they win. When they play a bad one, they lose. I’m starting to feel the Yankees are somewhere in the middle of that.

Boston Red Sox 5, Chicago White Sox 1: Boston is trying to keep pace with the Rays, who don’t seem to be going away.

Florida Marlins 8, NY Mets 2: Don’t look now, but the Marlins are keeping pace. It’s kind of scary how this team always seems to have nothing but always seems to do well with it.

Houston Astros 13, Cincinnati Reds 4: The Reds are just pitiful right now. Pitiful.

Washington Nationals 4, Milwaukee Brewers 5: It took a walk off in the 13th, but the Brew-Crew will take it.

San Diego Padres 16, Colorado Rockies 7: I’m guessing the Rockies don’t have the magic in ‘em this year like they did last year.

Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Philadelphia Phillies 6: To quote Jimmy Rollins, this seems to be the class of the NL East for the second year in a row.

LA Dodgers 4, San Francisco Giants 5: When you’re chasing the D’Backs, you’ve gotta beat teams like SF.

Atlanta Braves 1, Arizona D’Backs 6: Brandon Webb is now 17-4 with a 2.88 ERA. If it wasn’t for him, this team wouldn’t be anywhere near being in the running. Can we just go ahead and hand him the Cy Young?

St. Louis Cardinals 2, Chicago Cubs 6: Ryan Dempster pitched at home, which means a win for the Cubs.

Oakland A’s 1, Detroit Tigers 6: With four hitters over .300, you’d think the Tigers would have a better record than this.

Cleveland Indians 4, Toronto Blue Jays 0: Cliff Lee pitched eight innings, lowering his ERA to a 2.45. He’s 13-2 on the year.

Texas Rangers 15, Baltimore Orioles 7: Josh Hamilton hit his 28th homer of the year. The kid can sure swing the bat.

Boston Red Sox 5, Chicago White Sox 6: Ken Griffey wasn’t playing, but the ChiSox still got the W.

Minnesota Twins 4, Kansas City Royals 5: You have to start wondering what kind of team the Twins really are. One second they’re looking dominant — the next they’re dropping two of three to the Mariners and losing to the Royals.

New York Yankees 3, LA Angels 4: Mariano Rivera blew this one, surprisingly.

Tampa Bay Rays 11, Seattle Mariners 3: The Rays are slowly walking away with the AL East.

San Diego Padres 3, New York Mets 5: The bullpen blew the win for Johan, but the Mets were still able to prevail with two runs scored in the ninth.

Florida Marlins 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0: Cole Hamels got the loss, going six innings while giving up seven hits and two earned. He’s 9-8 on the year now.

LA Dodgers 4, St. Louis Cardinals 1: Manny went 1-3, dropping his average to .565 in the NL, but he did have another home run, his fourth since coming to LA.

Washington Nationals 6, Colordo Rockies 3: This one might really mean something come playoff time. . .

Washington Nationals 6, Colorado Rockies 3: No, it’s not a typo. They played a double header, and yes, it was the same score as the first.

Houston Astros 7, Cincinnati Reds 4: Roy Oswalt got the win, and the Reds continue to slump.

Atlanta Braves 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 4: The D’Backs grip on the West is slipping pretty quickly.

Oakland A’s 4, Toronto Blue Jays 6: The A’s have now lost 10 straight. It’s getting sad in Oakland.

New York Yankees 3, Texas Rangers 0: Will The Boss have a fit if the Yanks miss the playoffs? My guess is yes, which is why I’m rooting against this team.

Detroit Tigers 8, Chicago White Sox 3: I’ve been holding on hope for the Tigers all year, and even with the win, I think the team is proably done when it comes to the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Rays 1, Seattle Mariners 2: Felix Hernandez is just sick.

Milwaukee Brewers 6, Cincinnati Reds 3: The Reds are slumping, and the Brewers seem to be getting out of theirs. Ricky Weeks had 4 hits to help the Brewers get the win.

Houston Astros 4, Chicago Cubs 11: Remember when A-Rod was traded for Alfonso Soriano? I’m not comparing the two — A-Rod’s clearly the better player — but did Texas get the best of that deal when it took place? He’s half the salary, and he’s well more than half the player. He hit his 21st dinger of the season in this one, and that’s considering he’s missed plenty of time with injuries.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2, Arizona Diamondbacks 0: Randy Johnson pitched a good game, but Jeff Karstens had a no-no with two outs in the 8th inning.

Atlanta Braves 2, San Francisco Giants 3: With Chipper and McCann out of the lineup, is there an easier group of hitters to navigate through in baseball?

Florida Marlins 0, Philadelphia Phillies 5: If there’s one thing Philadelphia’s been great at this season, it’s beating the teams in the East when they’re head to head.

San Diego Padres 4, New York Mets 2: Pedro gave up two solo homers in the first, settled down, but still go the loss.

LA Dodgers 6, St. Louis Cardinals 9: Manny hit his third homer in five games, but it wasn’t enough to power the Dodgers past the Cardinals, who also received a jack from Albert Pujols.

Cleveland Indians 7, Tampa Bay Rays 10: The Rays scored six runs in the ninth to win this one. They’re certainly a team for the dramatic recently.

Baltimore Orioles 4, LA Angels 9: Vlad went yard, and Tex had 2 hits, raising his average to .286.

Minnesota Twins 7, Seattle Mariners 3: Good thing they won this one, because getting swept by the Mariners isn’t a good thing to do.

Oakland A’s 1, Toronto Blue Jays 5: Oakland is fading, fading, fading. . .

New York Yankees 5, Texas Rangers 3: The Yanks gave up 9 hits, but only surrendered three runs.

Boston Red Sox 8, Kansas City Royals 2: The Wakefield Knuckler was looking good last night.

Detroit Tigers 1, Chicago White Sox 5: Griffey couldn’t get anything going, but it didn’t slow down the ChiSox at all. Detroit is letting Minnesota and Chicago run away with this division right now. Given that they were my World Series prediction at the beginning of the year, I’m not too happy about it.