Not even close.

Alex Rodriguez picked up his third MVP award on Monday and the only surprise was that he didn't capture all of the first-place votes.  Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez somehow managed to get two first place votes.  Who voted for Ordonez?  Well, Tom Gage and Jim Hawkins gave Ordonez their votes.  Both scribes do their writing in Michigan.

It's not that big of a deal since Rodriguez won the American League MVP running away (A-Rod finished with 382 points and Ordonez finished with a distant 258), but those two guys should be embarrassed.  Did they vote for Ordonez because he was the hometown player or because they actually believed he deserved the award?  Or did they do it just so it wouldn't be a clean sweep?  Maybe they just wanted to get their names out there in the national media.

Anyway, A-Rod became the ninth player to win the award at least three times, but all anyone really wanted to talk about was the contract that the three-time MVP was about to sign with the Yanks.

A-Rod wasn't biting.

"There will be a time and place for that," Rodriguez said.

Fair enough.

Also in Yankee Land, closer Mariano Rivera seems to be on the verge of agreeing to a three-year, $45 million deal to come back to the pinstripes.  Rivera was looking for a fourth year, but I never really believed it was a make-or-break request.  I think Rivera is looked up to by a lot of Latin players in the league and it was his way of showing the younger guys to always treat negotiations as business and to never settle for anything (Robbie Cano and Melky Cabrera specifically).  He also may have been miffed that Jorge Posada got a fourth year and that Alex Rodriguez was brought back after the Yanks declared he was gone. 

Still, the three-year contract will make Mo the highest paid reliever (he will earn an average of $15 million per year) in the bigs.  The Mets' Billy Wagner is next on the list with an average of $10.75 million over four years.

The Yanks are still waiting for Andy Pettitte to decide if he wants to come back, but the Bombers have done a pretty nice job of keeping their important pieces.  It didn't start well as Joe Torre walked, Don Mattingly was passed over as the next manager and A-Rod opted out, but the Yanks have rebounded nicely.  Abreu, Posada, Rivera and Rodriguez will be coming back and it also looks like backup catcher Jose Molina will return.

All and all, this off-season has been a success.  The only downside (in my opinion) is that Joe Torre won't be back (and that Mattingly will be wearing Dodger Blue next year), but I guess you can't have it all.

Just look at the MVP voting.