
Kinda painted myself into a corner there. It's hard to segue from a testicle reference. So anyway, Boston actually just offered the same two-year, $30 million contract that the Yanks did. It makes some sense since they don't trust Jonathan Papelbon and could have non-tendered him if they stole Mo away from their arch nemesis. Instead they had to tender Paps and will end up having to pay him somewhere between $11-13 million anyway.
The Angels were more of a curious case. Obviously the back-end of their bullpen is shaky at best with Fernando Rodney trying to hit the strike zone blindfolded in save situations. But I can't imagine them being serious about allocating $15 million to Rivera when they'll likely have to go over $100 million for Carl Crawford and rumoredly have their eyes on Adrian Beltre. Plus they could get Rafael Soriano for less than $15 mil per but he carries a big durability risk.
By locking up Rivera, New York ends up signing their most important and productive free agent to a reasonable deal (for a rich team) and keeps him a lifetime Yankee. I'm glad that story is behind us and didn't drag out all winter.
Obligatory Mariano Rivera Stat
Rivera has a 0.71 ERA in 139.2 post season innings. He's surrendered two post season home runs. Yikes. I'm almost willing to call that clutch. Almost.
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