Baseball News and Opinion:

Yankees sign Johnny Damon to a 4 year $52 million dollar contract. Word is that his "below average" arm & his defense will suffer in the expansive Yankee stadium outfield. But regardless he will add more offense to a team that already didn't need any. And more importantly the Yankees signing of Damon will cause a further crumbling of morale and substance in the Red Sox nation, which began with the departure of Theo Epstein as GM.
The Yankees also have to pay a "luxury" tax of $34 million for going over a baseball set payroll ceiling. Boston so far only has to pay a $4 million dollar tax, but that may go up as they search for a replacement for Damon's bat and glove,

The San Francisco Giants acquired outfielder Steve Finley from the Los Angeles Angels for third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo
What a deal for the Angels. While Finley WAS a big offensive threat, and is a fine defender it would appear the operative words here are "was" when referring to his offense. Alfonso at 32 is 9 years younger than Finley and there appears to be a much bigger offensive upside for him as opposed to Finley.

The Cardinals sign Sidney Ponson to a 1 year, 1 million dollar contract during which he will have to compete for a job. Ponson was and should have remained unemployed, but in today's baseball world extra chances are the rule, not the exception and it seems like a small gamble by the Cards with big upside potential.