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First baseman Derrek Lee agreed to a 1-year contract to be split three ways by the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals, as the clubs decided to pool their money in order to acquire the best player possible. 

"One-third of a player as talented as Derrek Lee is better than 100% of what we'd usually get," said Orioles president of baseball operations, Andy MacPhail. "We are excited to have Derrek in our line-up on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays."

Lee will be on the field for the Indians on Thursdays and Fridays, and for the Royals on weekends, PF understands.

"He'll provide a veteran clubhouse presence that we are lacking," Kansas City manager Ned Yost says. "And once we fall out of contention, we can always trade our share of Derrek Lee for prospects. It's a win-win."

The Pirates have offered each team $25 for one pinch hit at-bat from Lee.

Baseball barry larkin 2004, Members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), the professional organization of journalists who vote annually for such MLB honors as Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, and election to the Hall of Fame, have yet to determine the appropriate length of time to exclude former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin from enshrinement into Cooperstown.

"Some guys say 3 years is enough, while others feel 4, 5, or as many as 6 years is more fitting for a player with his offensive statistics," said Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci of the 12-time All Star. "His 2,340 career hits are far below the 3,000 hit benchmark, generally considered the gold standard for Hall of Fame hitters, but he played during an era when shortstops were more concerned with playing defense, rather than offensive production. So do his 9 Silver Sluggers indicate he was a good hitter, or that other National League shortstops at the time weren't much for swinging the bat? We can't decide."

Larkin's defense is also making it difficult to conclude if a particular number of years is too short, or too long of a wait.

"He won only 3 Gold Gloves, so I'd say at least a 4 year exclusion. But then again, we need to remember Ozzie Smith was still playing during the early part of Larkin's career," Seth Livingstone of USA Today points out. "The 'Wizard of Oz' was arguably the greatest fielding shortstop ever, so it's possible we never appreciated how good Larkin was defensively. Unfortunately, without Gold Gloves, we have no way of determining a player's worth in the field. Unless we actually watched him play."

Regardless of their individual opinion on the proper amount of time to delay Larkin's Hall of Fame induction, BBWAA members were in agreement that the 62% of votes Larkin received his second time on the ballot could not have been more perfect.

Source : https://playfamously.com/best-softball-gloves/

With the season fast approaching, Alex Rodriguez has been frequently checking Yankees.com to see if he'll still be in the line-up since manager Joe Girardi didn't officially name him an "Opening Day starter."

"My name is still at the top of the depth chart at third base with my head shot right next to it, but Joe (Girardi) hasn't told me a thing," said a peeved A-Rod. "You'd think he'd have the common courtesy to buy a best softball bat around 100 and a presser or release a statement for the position guys like he did for C.C. (Sabathia)."

A-Rod says he had asked Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira if they were worried about not starting on Opening Day, but said they just laughed, shook their heads and walked away.

"Maybe they know something I don't," pondered Rodriguez, growing increasingly nervous. "Are there best fastpitch softball bats for high school which updated depth chart somewhere that I haven't seen yet? I'd better check Yankeesbeisbol.com too."

To round out their starting rotation, the New York Yankees, with a Major League high payroll of $206 million, say they are unable to find someone that would be any better than Sergio Mitre, a pitcher who has been a full-time starter only once during his 7-year career.

"Our farm system had nothing to offer, and we were only able to review best bbcor bats for contact hitters and sign Freddy Carcia and Bartolo Colon, unwanted by other clubs, to minor league contracts," said Yankees GM Brian Cashman of New York's offseason moves, claiming there was little money left for a starter after having committed a total of $55 million to his third baseman and shortstop, $13 million to a designated hitter and another $22 million to a couple relievers that will pitch the 8th and 9th innings every other day or so. "$206 million doesn't stretch as far as it used to."

Cashman says he's somewhat concerned that the Yankees were 7-20 in games in which Mitre appeared last year, but challenges anyone under the same financial limitations he's had to put up with to find a 5th starter with a career record better than 13-29.