After Jayson Werth's $126 mn contract with the Nats, I got to wondering how it would affect the free agent market. It was clearly going to matter in how much Carl Crawford would end up making. What I wasn't sure about was if it would matter in how much Cliff Lee was going to get.

My initial thought was that front offices had (recently) realized that everyday players were worth more than pitchers (in the regular season, at least) and were willing to pay accordingly. But then I went back a little over 10 years and things started getting really interesting.

More after the jump.

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[Disclaimer: I have nothing against the Mets, and I love Met fans after reading AA]

I came over to Amazin' Avenue in the preseason when the Jason Bay rumours were coming from everywhere. I thought I'd come over here and see, and all I can say is that I was hooked. AA has an amazing mixture or humour, off-beat conversations and sabermetrics, as well as one of the best communities I've seen on the internets. While I haven't seen a Met game in 10 years (the time difference here means a 7.05 ET start time is 4.05 a.m. for me, and I have enough trouble following my own team), I've come here nearly every day and read some fantastic gamethreads and recaps, musings, and some amazing analysis. At first I was fascinated by how utterly hilarious everyone could be in a losing season, and I still love how everyone over here can diss the team without being overly negative.

I know I probably can't add much to the conversations (except maybe the off-topic threads) since most of my Met knowledge comes from here anyway, but I really feel like I want to know what happens with the Mets every day. I think the two things that sealed it for me are the Amazin' Avenue annual, and the Dickey Photoshop contest. Both were ridiculously good.

So, here's some thanks and props from a Yankee fan for providing a great blog. Kudos to you all.

Just like Joe D, Jeter leads Yankees

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer
October 26, 2000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Derek Jeter is just like Joe DiMaggio: He arrives, and the New York Yankees start winning the World Series, year after year.

``We've been fortunate the last few years,'' he said after leading the Yankees over the Mets 3-2 Wednesday night for a 3-1 World Series lead.

Asked to assume the leadoff spot, he homered on the first pitch of the game, then tripled and scored for a 3-0 lead in the third.

Yet, he preferred to look ahead, to finishing this Subway Series, not behind.

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