It was obvious, from his background, that Steinbrenner was the perfect man for Burke. For one thing, he had the money. For another, he had the interest, For a third, he could afford to have the Yankees for a toy. Steinbrenner has other toys. Boars. Real ones. He is Chairman and chief executive officer of The American Ship Building Company of Cleveland. That's not all. He is owner of the Kinsman Stud Farm in Ocala, Fla., part owner of the Chicago Bulls, partner in production of the Broadway musical "Applause" and the national companies of "Funny Girl," "George M." and "On a Clear Day."

The Yankees are said to want to sign two out of three starting pitchers they're coveting -- CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe. Sabathia is, of course, their No. 1 target. But Yankees players seem to love the idea of signing Burnett, a pitcher who has dominated them.

"The Yankees were considering having a charitable event at Yankee Stadium for BAT (Baseball Assistance Team). However, the Yankees realized that the final event at Yankee Stadium should be a baseball game which in fact took place on Sept. 21, 2008 with the magnificent closing ceremony. Accordingly, rather than having a fundraiser, the Yankees will be donating $500,000 to BAT."

Whom would you rather have? CC Sabathia for six years and $150 million? Or Jake Peavy for four years and $63 million?

The Padres, coming off a 63-99 season, will at least explore a Peavy trade, general manager Kevin Towers confirmed to Newsday. ESPN's Buster Olney first reported that possibility this past week.

The Yankees are among the teams with prospects that interest the Padres, although it's not clear whether Peavy would waive his no-trade clause to come to the Bronx.

"There was some good, some bad and some ugly," Maas says now about his career. "Like life. Should I have had a 10-year career, 20 or 30 homers a year? It is what it is. I played 11 years of pro ball and at 33, the end, my bat was getting slower and I had trouble staying healthy. There were a lot of influences pointing me to move on and I wasn't afraid to."

Before I get to playoff match-ups, I want to say thank you for all the kind words regarding Mike’s season, and that I really don’t know what he is going to do next year. I think he was mentally prepared to retire, but after doing so well, and knowing how close the Hall of Fame is (some people think he’s in already, but who knows) I think it’s going to be hard to walk away. At this point, that’s all I will say about Mike.