Here’s the type of sports fan that I am: it’s a week and a half until Christmas and I’m already looking ahead to the 2009 baseball season. Mind you, I’m not discounting the validity of the Super Bowl, or the raging ball of excitement that we expect from the NHL, but as a sports fan and a New Yorker, this past week has been an emotional one for me.

Let’s analyze, shall we, what exactly the two New York baseball teams have done in these past seven days.

Now everyone knows that I am a Mets fan, but that still doesn’t protect them from my wrath. Signing K-Rod and trading for Seattle closer J.J. Putz are good moves, but let’s just take a look at these deals a little closer.

My take of Francisco Rodriguez is this: a fire-baller who is one wrong move away from his arm literally coming off his body. And though he’s a Mets fan, my girlfriend’s father would probably like to see this, because almost every time we watch a sporting event, he mentions that he would like to see some body part come flying off a player’s body, much to my amusement. Well, this isn’t Frank Gore’s head in his helmet, but I could see K-Rod’s arm being in really bad shape in the very near future.

This is not to say that the man is without his merits. Rodriquez is coming off a year where he broke the MLB saves record for a season, with 62. He is a three-time All-Star, and he’s only 26 years old. He’s got a ton of upside, but will that upside be enough to keep the boo-birds at bay down the stretch when he’s either blowing saves or sitting on the bench with his arm in a sling? Mets general manager Omar Minaya says he isn’t worried about K-Rod’s arm. But I say Mets fans have 37 million reasons to be skeptical. We’ll see how it goes.

Now, on to J.J. Putz. With the exception of having an unfortunate last name (though he does pronounce it “puts,” as in he puts hitters back on the bench after striking them out), I kind of like him. Putz has proved over the past few seasons that he can get batters out. I would maybe argue however, that trading away pitcher Aaron Heilman, who was pretty decent for the most part while in New York, might have been a little bit too high of a price to pay. And I am certainly going to miss outfielder Endy Chavez, who was a human highlight reel while patrolling the Shea Stadium outfield. However, for a bullpen that had a lot of trouble closing games last season, the Mets were obviously salivating at the prospect of having a guy like him standing on the mound in the eighth inning, while K-Rod warms up in the bullpen, and that is reason enough for me. The combination of Putz and Rodriguez gives the Mets one of the best combinations in baseball for closing out a game.

Now on to the fun part for me, questioning everything that the New York Yankees do.

OK, signing CC Sabathia might turn out to be a good move … if they can keep him away from the buffet line. I’ve heard people saying “But he’s 6-foot-7, it’s OK that he’s a little husky.” I think “husky” is reserved for the boys jeans department at Sears, not a man-beast that will take the mound every five days or so for the Yankees. Sabathia is listed, quite generously I believe, at 290 pounds. That type of weight for anyone but a nose tackle is unreal. Hopefully his seven-year, $161 million contract comes with a gym membership, because otherwise the Bronx Bombers are going to have a “Fat Man” pitching for them. Did you like the World War II reference?

And just a few days ago, the Yanks pulled another unbelievable signing, nabbing pitcher A.J. Burnett. Only the Steinbrenner family would give a five-year, $82.5 million contract to a guy whose throwing arm is being held together with piano wire and Velcro. Burnett has seemingly been on the disabled list for like, three years. In that time, he’s looked pretty good when he’s been healthy, but everyone’s entitled to a good stretch. I mean, even I hit .480 last spring during co-rec softball. But the Yanks are no strangers to giving huge contracts to guys who end up being huge busts.

Carl Pavano anyone?