New York

Andy Pettitte gave the Yankee universe a scare early this winter when he told reporters that he was leaning toward retirement.

Another scare came after the Rangers had supposedly reached out toward the native Texan.

Now we get our first piece of good news.

Over the course of the 2010 MLB season, when the conversation turned to the upcoming free agent market, little attention was paid to Derek Jeter.

The fates of Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee have inspired countless articles and debates, but few writers spilled ink on his pending free agency because it seemed unfathomable that the Yankees captain would ever play anywhere but New York.

According to ESPN and the New York Post, the New York Mets are deep in talks with hurler Chris Young.

According to MLB Trade Rumors the Mets are are pursuing starting pitcher Chris Young (formerly of the San Diego Padres).  The deal will in all likelihood be for one year, laden with incentives. The Mets are looking to add depth to a rotation which will not feature Johan Santana for a good chunk of the year.  Right now the Mets starting rotation features R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese.  

The second time was not a charm for Javier Vazquez as a New York Yankee

After almost winning the NL Cy Young in 2009, Vazquez bravely returned to the Bronx in 2010. He had high hopes to end the Yankee fans smear campaign, which dated back to the 2004 season.

Just in case you were subconsciously blocking out 2004 (trust me I do), it was the year the Boston Red Sox finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS. The Yankees blew the series after being up 3-0 in games, with three outs to sweeping the series.

Today's baseball players simply have no idea the leverage and position they hold in negotiations thanks to sacrifices of some of the game's greatest players such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays.

Before Curt Flood and the reserve clause, players either played or sat out.

Ownership held all the cards and ownership wasn't afraid to clench its teeth when it came to salary negotiations with some of the game's most loved and important icons.

The New York Yankees are one of the most decorated and historic franchises in sports.

Names like Mickey Mantel, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra and the Babe are just a handful of the historic names to don pinstripes.

“Winning Championships” is the Yankees motto. Baseball is a team sport, which makes individual accomplishments merely an added bonus. Awards for anything other than a World Series will not absolve a season’s failure.

The New York Yankees have once again failed to reach their goal of winning a World Series Championship.  While the team was solid, it won nothing last year but a single playoff series.  Granted, it sounds pretentious to 29 other teams to call a trip to the ALCS a failure, but in Yankee town, that’s all it is.

Black Friday has come and gone and the Yankees and Derek Jeter have yet to strike a deal. Everyone knows what has gone on thus far. The Yankees have offered a deal to make Jeter the highest paid middle infielder in the big leagues when he is not performing like one. Jeter wants the Yankees to give him an Alex Rodriguez type contract, with rumors floating around of six years at $22-25 million per.

In a contract negotiation that was already ugly, things between the Yankees and Derek Jeter have just gotten worse.

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News has stated that Jeter and the Yankees are at least $80 million apart in their contract negotiation.

It is possible that the two sides may be more that $80 million apart.