The silence is broken

Say it ain't so Andy. Say it ain't so.

Even if it is your decision to retire, I blame your wife.

Armageddon avoided

So, it's looks as if the Yankees and Derek Jeter will kiss and make up, exchanging a giant pile of money in the process.

The timeless and time-honored "sources" are saying Jeter will three years and $51 million with an option, his, for a fourth.

$17 million per year, a slight pay cut, but certainly not chump change.

Odds are Jeter will bounce back this season. He has a lot to play for and getting bounced from the playoffs did give him some extra off-season time to get healthy.

That said, the Jeter dollars have been on the Yankees books for a decade, so it's not as if anything much changes.

And we get to keep our vaunted and valued leader. Life without DJ and Mo and those guys will be back enough. Life without them, even in the latter stages of their illustrious careers would have been downright unpalatable.

So, cheers to the Yanks for ponying up those dollars. And no, brace for a ticket price hike. Or some other ridiculous money-making scheme that will chew up the infield/outfield and pee just a little bit on the Yankees status as the highest wage earner in MLB.

Honestly: The Pinstripe Bowl?

Oh Derek ...

This will not end well.

The Yanks shot themselves in the face with the Posada contract, now DJ wants in on the action, and he probably deserves it.

That said, I wish he would have gone the Paulie O route and done year-to-year contracts based on his health and production.

But that's a perfect world and the Yankees vast fortune can't make it such.

The Yankees will cave to Jeter's four-year demand, but God help him if he goes all Willie Mays on us.

Derek, buddy, we will turn on you. We will hurl invective at you. We will question your hustle, your health, your legacy. We shout unpleasant things at you, and when we leave the Stadium, or turn off the TV or radio, we will feel guilty and lament doing so, knowing you don't deserve any of it, but also knowing we have no other choice but to do so.

So, take your year and your money, as the Yankees will surely give it to you, as much for us and for the organization, but don't say we didn't warn you.

Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee

We're talking effing Lee.

Or, the Yankees are, anyway. Because it's all about pitching. And they know this.

They also know Jorge ain't a catcher no more. He's a DH. He was a DH last year. The quicker he comes to grips with this, the quicker he can get on with his career, extended by five to eight seasons.

He's the ideal DH for the Yankees, or any team really, but only the Yankees will pay the freight for him. Such is their curse.

Anyway, the pinstripers need more, reliable pitching, and a rotation of Sabathia, Lee, Pettitte, Burnett (the good version) and Phil Hughes is really more a video rotation. But, whatever. The Giants won the title with pitching, mostly home grown. The Yankees got bounced because they couldn't hit, couldn't pitch and got dinged up at the worst possible time.

The Yanks will dump some dead weight, and reload for next season with more golden bullets.

Also, Derek Jeter deserved the Golden Glove, so you haters can shut your faces. Six errors. Six. You're graded by the plays you make. He makes them.

Just a bit outside

Three great storylines so far in the ALDS:

Curtis Granderson is smacking bee bees everywhere because of one tiny adjustment. I assume Kevin Long told him to keep that top hand on the bat through the strikezone, that's the obvious change in Granderson's stroke. That and he's hitting everything on the barrel. Pretty sure being a hitting is more than "Curtis, hit the ball better."

Andy Pettitte came off the DL and had a great start. In his next two, he looked uncomfortable in his own skin. Last night, he looked like postseason Andy Pettitte. There's something tremendously comforting about him on the mound. He's not blowing guys away, he's locating pitches and setting batters up. You never expect a complete meltdown.

Lance Berkman had two hits and 2 RBIs last night. He drove in the game winning run after taking what some people, including the Twins manager, thought was a strike. Fine, that pitch may have been a strike, but no one's talking about the two pitches Berkman took for strikes one and two, which were clearly outside. Plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt's zone was 8 inches off the plate for lefties and and there was no outside edge righties.

So shut up whiners. The Yanks look as if they flipped the proverbial switch after being so terribly and completely awful in September.

Can't wait for Saturday.

Oh Yankees, was that heart I detected? Way to be Grandie ...

Fine Roy Halladay. We get it. You're good.