AROUND THE HORN

## For a while it appeared that Jorge Posada might end up with the Phillies, but when Philly signed Jim Thome, that possibility went out the window. Not even an American League team could afford to have two left-handed pinch hitters who can't play in the field anymore. C'mon Jorge, you're starting to embarrass yourself.

## The Yanks and the Red Sox are the only teams in MLB that have been hit with a luxury tax. The Yanks will be paying $13.9 million, the same as they pay a utility infielder.

## The rumor is that Carlos Beltran made another bid to become a Yankee. When he originally hit the free agent market back in 2005, he supposedly offered the Yanks a discount to sign him. The Yanks refused and Beltran went to the Mets. Beltran has now signed with the Cardinals as the Yanks have passed on him again. Why is that? Bad Breath?

## The Mets have asked starting pitcher R.A.Dickey not to climb Mt Kilimanjaro as part of a charity event. Dickey's career record is 41-50, which could make him the Mets #1 starter.

## A-Rod went to Germany for Orthokine Therapy on his knee, as recommended by Kobe Bryant. Oh, those are two guys you want to see together. The only difference between these two, is that A-Rod didn't have to buy the jewelry.

## The market on Prince Fielder seems slow. To help it along, Scott Boras has produced a 73- page book, listing the advantages of signing Fielder. I'd like to read it, but I guess I'll wait till the book signing at Barnes and Noble.

## You can't fool the bookies. The papers are full of stories about Syracuse's first big test, playing Big East rival, Seton Hall. The Hall is 11-1 this year and beat the Orange in Syracuse last year. It should be a tight game. By the way, the line on the game is Syracuse -15 1/2. Yeah, real tight game.

***THEY SAID IT***
"The fact that there has been little public buzz over Fielder means nothing. Boras operates in the darkness, amid smoke and shadows and illusion. No team interested in Fielder knows where it stands." -- Richard Justice, MLB.COM
"Researchers at a New York university say the leading cause of sickness over the festive season is overexposure to Christmas trees. A close second is Bowl games." -- RJ Currie
"Texas signs Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish but stipulates that he must change his name to Y'all Darvish." -- Mark Whicker, Orange County Register
"Ah, New Year's Eve in Times Square. For once a ball drops and no one's demanding it go to instant replay." -- Dwight Perry
"During her bus tour of Iowa, Bachmann has a strict “no questions” policy. From the debates, we know the candidates have no answers. Now there are no questions either." -- Brad Dickson
"Reports indicate the Toronto Blue Jays ended up 2nd in the bidding for the rights to negotiate with Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish. In that case, go with Texas, as the sushi from the Gulf is a step up from Lake Ontario." -- TC Chong

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