New York

One of my favorite pictures is of my brother, dad and I sitting together on the couch on Father's Day with our Yankee hats on and watching the game.

In the picture, my brother is about three, I'm five and my dad is absolutely beaming with joy.

My brother, who happens to be named after a former Yankee team captain, now has two kids of his own, and they have their own Yankee hats (they just happen to be pink).

No one suspected that New York Yankee captain Derek Jeter’s contract negotiations would start to resemble a page out of the Alex Rodriguez biography.

The new Yankee regime sans “the Boss” has made it very clear that this is a business decision and not a personal one. The rumored offer made was somewhere in $45-$50 million range for a period of three years.

Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees have been in negotiations for some time now, with disagreements on both ends.  Jeter is already an all-time Yankee great who feels like he deserves more than the Yankees have offered.

The Yanks offered Jeter a three-year, $45 million contract, which has led to a lot of headlines in the media.  Jeter believes that he has done a lot for this franchise and would like more years and more money. 

In football, they say defense wins championships. In baseball, that can be translated to pitching wins World Series.

Pitching is the most vital aspect of a team's success. A few shutdown pitchers can lead a team to greatness.

The New York Yankees of the last two decades are known for a strong offense, but it was a solid pitching staff that got them the gold.

Many wearing the pinstripes have stepped on the rubber at the house that Ruth built (and the house that George built) over the last 20 years, but few have done enough to be remembered.

The 27 New York Yankees World Series Championships span over 87 years, hitting every decade but the 1980's.

I scoured YouTube for the best video representation for each of the Yankee Championship years and this is what developed - everything from Ken Burns to old Newsreels to television and radio broadcasts to fan video.

Cliff Lee is a free agent, and that means the team that flashes the most cash will have the advantage in the arms race.

Lee most likely enjoys Texas, unfortunately, us fans don't really get a lot of the Rangers during the typical MLB season.

As a casual observer of the game, I choose to take a glance at the 10 places in which Lee would look best. Of course, we are taking into account exposure, market and fan base.

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New York Yankee SS Derek Jeter has been reportedly told he will not be offered arbitration by the club.  It has been widely reported that there is a large gap between the Jeter and Yankee camps.  Rumor has it that the Yankees are holding fast at a three-year offer in the neighborhood of $15 million per season.  Meanwhile Jeter’s camp is reportedly looking for more years and a higher annual salary. 

In the beginning of November, the Yankees made getting Cliff Lee to New York a major priority.

First, they contacted his agent Darek Braunecker the very first day possible.

A couple weeks later, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman flew down to Arkansas to meet with Lee, his wife Kristen and Braunecker, mostly as a formal meet and greet.

Terry Collins has been selected as the new manager of the New York Mets, a source confirmed to MLB.com on Sunday evening.

He wasn't my first choice to replace Jerry Manuel, but I'll support him and trust that Sandy Alderson and Co. have made the right decision.

Now the Mets have a manager for the 2011 season, there's work to be done and Collins will have a busy offseason.

Like George Costanza, the New York Mets are doing the opposite these days.

With Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel running the show, the Mets had an undisciplined, laid-back, laissez-faire and for the most part dysfunctional organization.

Now they are doing everything they can to try to find the complete opposite of the things that went on over the past couple of seasons.