With the AL East, it's not about simply being talented. It's about being more talented than the Yankees and Red Sox both. Obviously they have talent on the team but I still think it would be dumb to lock up Hardy to an extension (assuming he wants like 7-8 mil/yr), since I believe they have like 3 SS in their top 10 prospects. Yes, obviously they have to be better than the Yankees or Red Sox. The Yankees however are not this unbeatable entity. Again, I point to the Rays. They also are likely going to have to deal with re-signing CC this off-season, Jeter, Posada and Arod are declining and they don't have great pitching. I still don't see why it's dumb. They have very young SS's who are still a ways away, we're sitting here talking about how difficult it is to find a talented young Shortstop, and how hard it'd be to trade for Hardy. So if he actually signs for 7-8 million a year(I think it'll be more) then he should be easy to move. You get good production and then you trade him when your younger guys are ready. Are they suppose to just go with terrible, cheap players until the next wave is ready?