Thanks, Jake

It's a few days old, but I can't stress how important and even exciting it is that Jake Westbrook has signed a 3-year, $33 million contract extension with the Tribe. This is just a great deal for the Tribe all around. It's also a refreshing renewal in our faith that not all sports figures are driven by the greed of more money. While non-Tribe fans may say, "big deal - he got 33 million? He's not a number one". That's true - he's not. But in a market where Barry Zito, who has 41 wins in the last three years, gets a $126 million dollar deal, and Gil Meche can sign a 5-year, 55 million dollar deal with the Royals, the signing of Westbrook for 33 million, with his 44 wins the last 3 seasons (3 more than the sainted Zito) and who, with Cliff Lee, Johann Santana, and Kenny Rogers is one of only 4 pitchers with 14+ wins each of the last 3 seasons in the AL, is absolutely huge, and will be extremely important as the Tribe tries to lock up its other players (Hafner, Sabathia) and bring up young arms. This signing is just wonderful, start to finish.