TRICK OR TREAT?

With a few hours left before C.C. could of declared himself a free agent, the Yankees reached into their bag of goodies and gave C.C. a lot of candy. They gave him a one year extension worth $25 miilion for 2016 and a vesting option for 2017 worth another $25 million. Can you say trick or treat?

If you thought that the Yankees pitching staff was awful last year, imagine if they didn't have C.C. signed for next year. His departure would have been a gaping hole in the Yankees pitching staff.

He has been one of the better acquisitions for the Yankees over the last decade. He has gone 59-23 with a 3.18 ERA since 2009. Now the Yankees need to find someone to pitch in the number 2 slot. There are two pitchers on the free agent market, Wilson of the Rangers and Oswalt, who was recently released by the Phillies. Wilson will command big bucks while Oswalt is damaged goods and they both are over 30. My theory with free agents is, you are paying them for what they have done not for what they are going to do. A high priced free agent pitcher usually falls on his face after he gets the big bucks. Can you say Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright, Javier Vasquez and who can ever forget Ed "Please Don't Slash My Tires in the Parking Lot" Whitson.

Pitching is always the foundation of a good ballclub and the Yankees need to address that this off-season. They have addressed the Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano issue, so now the major issue can be tackled.