MLB's 10 Most Drawn-out Offseason Free Agency Sagas Ever

I almost forgot Prince Fielder is still a free agent. It's such old news that it's starting to grow ear hair. This saga has lasted so long, it remembers Prohibition. All right, enough with the bad jokes.

But really, it needs to end. I'd rather the Yankees throw $500 million at Prince than have to wake up another morning and get a puff of smoke when I check the MLB rumor mill. 

This has to be one of the most drawn-out free agency sagas in a long time, and any finish will now be pretty anticlimactic. Here are the 10 free agents who had to wait longer than a highway motorist in Los Angeles to get their payday.

Cliff Lee

Before the 2011 season, Mila Kunis was the only person more coveted by rich, old men than Cliff Lee. He pulled off the shocker of the off-season, spurning big bucks and the frighteningly bright lights of New York to re-sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

This wasn't so much of a lengthy saga as it was just plain surprising and confusing. Don't get me wrong; the guy still got big bucks.

But instead of being a big, fat cliche, Lee decided to head to Philly and assure that the defending NL East champs would have the scariest rotation of all time.

Yeonis Cespedes

Somebody please tell me why this guy isn't already a big leaguer? He's strong, fast, young and can hit the ball a thousand miles. Plus he makes awesome videos. 

If Cespedes wasn't a star only in Cuba, he would be generating just as much buzz as Fielder by now. As it stands, he's only the second most coveted player on the market.

Despite having interest from no fewer than 11 teams, Cespedes won't be signed until at least Jan. 15, when he establishes residency in Puerto Rico and officially becomes a free agent.

Barry Zito

It's not like the Yankees and Red Sox to back off on a big free agent and avoid a big mistake. But they did it back in 2006, when Zito hit the market after a solid start to his career in Oakland. By the end of the bidding, it was a Bay Area battle between the A's and Giants for his "services."

Unfortunately for Giants fans, their team coughed up $126 million to sign the lefty. In terms of value translated to dollars, they haven't gotten a single cent back on that investment.

It was a long, back-and-forth bidding war before the Giants finally broke the bank to make one of the worst free-agent decisions in baseball history. Zito quickly went from Cy Young winner to Bust of the Year.

C.C. Sabathia

Sabathia has been one of the three best pitchers in baseball for years now. And he knew it after the 2008 season. Unlike Cliff Lee, C.C. made the choice most of us would make, and darted for the big money in the big city. 

Anyone with at least a peso and a house on Baltic was in on Sabathia when he hit the market. Naturally, the biggest bully won out and he has paid huge dividends for a franchise already rich in championships.

Last season, he went 19-8 before restructuring his contract to assure he was making $1 million more per season than Lee was in Philadelphia.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

If I had $51 million for every time somebody wanted to negotiate with me...well, I'd be Matsuzaka. The BoSox paid huge bucks in a blind auction just for the right to speak with the World Baseball Classic hero. 

Again, pretty much everyone who could afford it wanted a piece of the gyroball-hurling Japanese starter. But the Sox outbid the field by over $10 million and then signed him to an even more massive contract. Too bad for them, injuries have derailed an American career that started very promisingly. 

Adrian Beltre/Richie Sexson

These moves were mostly saga-licious because they were such a mess. The Mariners ignited their fan base in mid-December 2004, when on back-to-back days, they signed Beltre and Sexson to huge contracts. 

What looked like the most solid corner infield combo in the bigs, especially after Sexson's two Opening Day home runs in 2005, turned to disaster, as injuries and pathetic play ruined those epic plans.

Obviously, things haven't been the same in Seattle since these moves. As for the players, Sexson is out all together and Beltre is tearing it up for a division rival.

Albert Pujols

The suspense was killing us all! Don't deny it.

First it was the Miami Marlins continuing their firestorm of cash spending. Then the Cardinals were bringing him back for life.

As it turned out, Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels, an eleventh-hour team who threw down too much green to pass up.

But the real saga in all this was last year's off-season and the impending speculation throughout 2011. Maybe Pujols knew before the season ended that he wouldn't be back, so he sent the fans out in style with a fantastic World Series run.

If there's anyone that deserved so much free-agent cheddar, it's the third guy in baseball history to smack three deep balls in one World Series game.

Johan Santana

Okay, this was technically a trade. But still, as soon as Santana turned down Minnesota's four-year, $80 million offer in 2008, it was game on. Apparently, Santana had a penchant for much crappier teams in bigger cities.

The move ended up being golden for the lefty, as the Mets handed him nearly $140 million to throw darts for a success-starved franchise. And it backfired just as spectacularly for New York, who have gotten more surgeries and DL time out of the former All-Star than wins since the contract began.

Derek Jeter

Oh, this was absolutely ridiculous last winter. It's Derek Jeter.

You don't deny Elvis admission to a concert, you don't shut Denzel Washington out from a cinema, and you don't tell Derek Jeter he can't have whatever he wants from the New York Yankees franchise.

If Jeter wanted $500 million and a private island, he should have gotten it. What? The Yankees could afford it.

But seriously, the guy was the poster child, parent and grandparent of the Yankee dynasty of the 1990's, and the Steinbrenner clan tried to nickel-and-dime him? Unbelievable.

Prince Fielder

It's all pretty much been said. But, come ON. This has gotten to the point of pure annoyance.

Whoever finally signs Fielder will have gotten a great player. And will have spent an unnecessary amount of energy on making it happen.

I expect Prince to get at least $22 million a year from one of the teams still vying for his services.

The Yankees and Red Sox don't even have room on their roster for another star, but let's just all hope that he doesn't end up in that section of the A.L. East by 2012.