The most commonly held misconception of this offseason is that the Yankees could have signed pitcher Ben Sheets or could still sign left-fielder Manny Ramirez. According to the Basic Agreement, and confirmed by a top Major League Baseball official, once the Yankees signed CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, they had signed their quota of Type A or Type B free agents under the collectively bargained rules established by management and the Players Association. All three were Type A free agents who played for other teams last season aside from the Yankees. The Yankees could re-sign their own Type A or Type B free agents without it affecting the quota. Under the rules, "if there are from 39 to 62 [Type A and B] players [during a given offseason], no team can sign more than three." "Frankly, it's an unusual year to have that many ranked players," Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, told MLB.com this week.