What do the following names have in common: Pat Meares, Derek Bell, Jeromy Burnitz, Wil Cordero, Mike Kingery, Mark Redman, Benito Santiago, Joe Randa and Pete Schourek?

All were free agent signings by the Pittsburgh Pirates who failed to pan out.

And the organization was publicly raked over the coals for each and every one of them.

The point?

Every team in baseball has hits and misses when playing the free agent game. When you're dealing on the open market, you're never quite sure of what you're getting.

Wally Backman, Reggie Sanders, Jeff Suppan and Jose Mesa are a few free agent signings who did work out while they were here.

The difference between teams like the Pirates and teams like the New York Yankees is that a free agent miss can set the low-budget franchise back for a year or two, if not more.

A free agent miss by the Yankees rolls right off their backs. Cut a check, hand it to the disappointing player and say "go away, kid, you bother me."

Think the fabled Yankees don't make mistakes? Here are just a few of them:

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Carl Pavano: A pitcher who won a career-high 18 games with the Florida Marlins in 2004, he was signed to a four-year multimillion dollar contract by the Yankees immediately afterward.Arm problems have kept Pavano off the field most of the time since then. He won four games for New York in 2005. He's won one game since.•

Jaret Wright: Another pitcher the Yankees threw a lot of money at in 2004. He wound up in the Pirates' camp this year as a minor league free agent and failed to stick.•

Sidney Ponson: Yet another pitcher signed in 2006 after coming off a career-best season with Baltimore. He washed out with the Yankees, was recently released by another club and signed to a minor-league contract — by the Yankees.•

Robin Ventura: Had a solid career with the White Sox as a third baseman. With the Yankees after he signed a free agent deal in 2002?Not so much.•

Todd Zeile: Another guy who had a solid major league career as a catcher-third baseman-first baseman — all before he signed with the Yankees in 2002.Here are a few names from the 1980s that the Yankees signed as free agents:Steve Kemp, Bob Shirley, Butch Wynegar, Al Holland, Rod Scurry, Wayne Tolleson, Rick Cerone, Jerald Clark, Dave LaPoint and Pascal Perez.Here's a few from the 1990s:Spike Owen, Steve Howe, Scott Bankhead, Dwight Gooden, and Dale Sveum.If the Pirates made that many mistakes, they'd be out of business.The Yankees moved forward and hit the jackpot on players such as Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Hideki Matsui, etc.The Pirates paid for the Meares mistake for years.Money still talks in baseball. And the Yankees still have the biggest mouth in the game.John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.