John Farrell isn’t the only AL East pitching coach on the move this offseason, as the Yankees have fired Dave Eiland.

The announcement was made by general manager Brian Cashman at a team news conference on Monday.

“I’m not going into any detail about what the reasons were,” Cashman told reporters.

Eiland missed nearly a month of the 2010 season due to personal reasons.

Brian Cashman, is surely going to have his hands full this winter.

The Yankees have a long list of decisions they must make this
offseason. They’ll have to decide on whether or not they’d like to
re-sign some key free agents. Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter will be free agents. Manager Joe Girardi’s contract is up.

All will be big assignments for Cashman and Co. Re-signing Jeter, however, will likely be near or at the top of that list.

It’s tough to imagine Jeter in any uniform but a Yankees one. He
knows that. The team knows that. The fans know that. Everyone knows
that. It’s almost a safe bet to call a contract extension imminent. If
that deal is indeed inevitable, how much will it be worth, and more
importantly how long will the deal last?

Make no mistake about it. The Yankees will pay Jeter. They will pay
him a lot. He’s earned the money and they have it to give to him, so why
not? Even with the all-but-certain full-court press for free-agent
pitcher Cliff Lee, the Yankees will be able to give Jeter whatever he wants when it comes to dollars and cents.

Where the Yankees and Jeter may differ on opinion, though, will be
when it comes to the length of a potential contract. Jeter is going to
want to end his career in the Bronx and they’ll likely want to oblige.
That being said, Jeter, for the first time in his career really, showed
signs of decline this season.

Statistically, he had the worst season of his career. His .270
batting average was 21 points lower than his previousl lowest season.
His on-base percentage, something you figure he’d make up for his low
average with, was a career-low. A lifetime .309 hitter in the playoffs,
Jeter hit .250 in the postseason before the Yankees were eliminated on
Friday night at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

Jeter is trending downward. It’s not surprising — he’s 36 — but
it’s probably closer to a sign of things to come, not an aberration.

The Yankees can fiscally afford to have Jeter around a little longer.
What they can’t afford, though, is to be overpaying him and having him
become a liability in the lineup and on the field.

The Yankees are going to have to make concessions and reward Jeter
for a remarkable career by overpaying him. That’s fine, they can handle
that part. However, Jeter may need to make some concessions of his own.

Whether it is accepting a shorter deal, moving down in the batting
order or even changing positions, he owes it to them. If they’re going
to show him how much he means to them by paying him more than his market
value, the future Hall of Famer may have to return the favor at some
point.

There once was a time when Alex Rodriguez was
hitting line drives all over the spacious gaps of the Ballpark in
Arlington and driving balls over the fences. Last night, was not one of
those times.

Fittingly, the Yankee third baseman made the final out of the
Yankees’ 2010 playoff run deep in the heart of Texas, striking out in
the top of the ninth as the Texas Rangers wrapped up their first pennant
in club history.

Of course, with anguish and peril in regards to New York baseball,
come ever-creative headlines plastered over the front and back of
tabloid newspapers across the city.

Saturday morning was no difference. The Daily News decided to take a page out of the old Boston playbook,
back when people around here may have actually believed in that thing,
with a “Tex Hex” headline. On the back page, a clever play on Texas dialect read, “That’s y’all folks.”

The New York Post, was, well, not as nice.
The Post used the front page of their tabloid to rip the Yankees, not
mincing words by declaring this season a “$210M BUST!” And on the back, a
truly unflattering picture of A-Rod with the words, “Death and Texas,”
with an even better subheadline reading, “Rangers massacre defending
chumps.”

It may not bring the Red Sox season back to life, but for a day at
least, Sox fans can take some solace in the fact that the Bronx Bombers
will be hitting the links soon enough as well.

That loud groan you just heard in New York City wasn’t from the crowd learning that the UFOs on Wednesday were actually just balloons. Nope, it was the sound of the 52,000 fans who own tickets to Game 4, upon learning they’ll be watching A.J. Burnett pitch Game 4.

That news came Thursday morning, when Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced his starting rotation, as reported by the New York Post.

There was no surprise at the top, as CC Sabathia will take the mound Friday night for Game 1. Phil Hughes, who is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two starts and three apperances in Texas, will be on the hill for Game 2.

Veteran Andy Pettitte will oppose Rangers ace Cliff Lee in Game 3, setting the Yankees up to send Pettitte to the mound in the event of a Game 7.

But the big story is that A.J. Burnett will be
starting Game 4. The $82 million dollar man didn’t pitch in the
three-game sweep of the Twins after a horrific year. Burnett went 10-15
with a 5.26 ERA. He allowed 25 home runs for the second straight year
and hit a league-high and career-high 19 batters. He battled with Javier Vazquez all season long for the title of “Most Unreliable Starter on the Yankees,” but he edged Vazquez for the ALCS start.

It didn’t exactly inspire confidence that Burnett hit two batters and threw a wild pitch in his simulated game on Wednesday.

The expected pitching matchups are below:

Game 1
CC Sabathia vs. C.J. Wilson

Game 2
Phil Hughes vs. Colby Lewis

Game 3
Cliff Lee vs. Andy Pettitte

Game 4
Tommy Hunter vs. A.J. Burnett

Game 5 (if necessary)
Wilson vs. Sabathia

Game 6 (if necessary)
Hughes vs. Lewis

Game 7 (if necessary)
Pettitte vs. Lee

If the first round of the MLB postseason taught baseball fans anything, it’s that playoff baseball can be hit or miss.

While the Yankees and Phillies swept the Twins and Reds,
respectively, with ease, the Giants and the Rangers had their hands full
with their respective foes.

The Rangers went all five games with the AL East-winning Rays while the Giants eliminated the Braves in four one-run contests.

Whether your team’s been golfing for weeks by now or your club is
still in the thick of things, there’s plenty of reason to stay tuned to
the postseason.

Check out the Championship Series schedule below (all times ET).

ALCS
Game 1 — NYY at TEX — Friday, Oct. 15, TBS, 8:00 p.m.
Game 2 — NYY at TEX — Saturday, Oct. 16, TBS, 4:00 p.m.
Game 3 — TEX at NYY — Monday, Oct. 18, TBS, 8:00 p.m.
Game 4 — TEX at NYY — Tuesday, Oct. 19, TBS, 8:00 p.m.
Game 5* — TEX at NYY — Wednesday, Oct. 20, TBS, 4:00 p.m.
Game 6* — NYY at TEX — Friday, Oct. 22, TBS, 8:00 p.m.
Game 7* — NYY at TEX — Saturday, Oct. 23, TBS, 8:00 p.m.

NLCS
Game 1 — SF @ PHI — Saturday, Oct. 16, FOX, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 — SF @ PHI — Sunday, Oct. 17, FOX, 8:00 p.m.
Game 3 — PHI @ SF — Tuesday, Oct. 19, FOX, 4:00 p.m.
Game 4 — PHI @ SF — Wednesday, Oct. 20, FOX, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5* — PHI @ SF — Thursday, Oct. 21, FOX, 7:30 p.m.
Game 6* — SF @ PHI — Saturday, Oct. 23, FOX, 3:30 p.m.
Game 7* — SF @ PHI — Sunday, Oct. 24, FOX, 7:30 p.m.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi never admitted
it, but there were many rumblings that his club coasted down the
stretch, purely satisfied with the American League wild card berth as
opposed to the division crown.

The intent, it seems, was twofold. For one, the wild card winner
would be paired with the Minnesota Twins, a team the Yankees simply own.
Two, there would be no Cliff Lee standing in front of New York’s quest for a crown until the second round.

Whatever
observers think of the supposed plan, which forces the Yanks to open
every series on the road, it has worked like a charm. In fact, it may
have panned out better than Girardi could’ve imagined. As Lee’s Texas
Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays went the distance in their first-round
matchup, the Bronx Bombers were smiling their off-days away.

Not
only did the Yankees claim their customary sweep of the Twins and earn
five days of rest, but because the other ALDS went five games, Lee was
forced to go twice, including the sparkling Tuesday-night finale. That
means that the lefty will not go until Game 3 of the ALCS in Yankee
Stadium and he will see the New Yorkers a maximum of two times in the
best-of-seven set.

Those are odds any team would take given the prospect of facing a guy who is building an unparalleled postseason resume. 

With an 11-strikeout, complete-game win over the Rays on Tuesday
night, Lee is now 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in seven postseason starts,
sporting a phenomenal 54 strikeouts against six walks in 56 1/3 innings.
Although the sample size may be a bit less than other postseason
heroes, Lee has a body of work that can support a claim that he is the
best playoff starter in baseball history.

And the Yankees will
face him just once in the first six games of the ALCS, in all
likelihood. Indeed, New York’s lackluster effort down the stretch in the
regular season and a comeback by the Rays to force a decisive Game 5
have teamed together to create a perfect scenario for Girardi’s crew.

If
Lee stays on regular rest, he can go in Game 7 at home and foil the
Yankees’ best-laid plans. But based on where the Bronx Bombers could’ve
been if they had won the division, they will take such a scenario.

Although the Yankees might have to face Rangers ace Cliff Lee twice in the ALCS series, manager Joe Girardi is telling his team to keep their focus on Game 1.

Girardi and the Yankees watched on Tuesday night as Lee threw a
complete game against the Tampa Bay Rays, striking out 11 and allowing
one run in the 5-1 victory.

“These are professional guys that know you have to worry about Game 1,” Girardi told the N.Y Post.
“I don’t think our guys are going to talk about Game 3 because the
most important game is Game 1 right now and that’s what you are worried
about.”

Starting against the Yankees in Game 1 for the Rangers is C.J. Wilson, who will go up against CC Sabathia.
Although Wilson held the Tampa Bay Rays scoreless in Game 2 of the
ALDS, he didn’t pitch too well against the Yankees in three starts this
season. Wilson allowed 11 runs in only 14 1/3 innings in those starts.
The Yankees must be overjoyed that Wilson is starting the series off
instead of Lee.

“I am not saying it’s going to be easy against Wilson because he is a
great pitcher, but when you get a chance to see Cliff Lee pitch before
your first game then have a couple of days of not facing him it’s good
because he’s been dominant his whole postseason career,” Yankees first
baseman Mark Teixiera said.

The Yankees will need to take advantage of the first two games of the
series or else Lee could carry the Rangers the rest of the series.
With the prospect of Lee pitching Games 3 and 7 looming, Girardi knows
the first game is crucial because of how dominant of a pitcher Lee is.

“We still have to face him,” Girardi said. “The thing about Cliff Lee
is if you’re patient you’re going to be behind 0-2. The only way to
bring up his pitch count is foul the ball. He’s aggressive, he throws a
lot of strikes. He knows how to move the ball up and down, in and out
and change speeds. You have to look for that one mistake and you have to
hit it.”

The Yankees are taking a gamble by adding A.J. Burnett to the four-man roster for the ALCS. If they let Francisco Cervelli catch for Burnett in place of Jorge Posada, they’ll handicapping themselves even more.

Over the course of the regular season, manager Joe Giradi preferred
to have Cervelli catch Burnett and either give Posada a rest or put
him at designated hitter. Last year, Girardi similarly rested Posada
and let Bengie Molina catch for Burnett.

While it’s understandable to give Posada time off during the regular
season, this year’s playoff situation makes sitting Posada hard to
justify.

Burnett has struggled, to say the least, so if Giradi’s goal is to
have Cervelli catch in order to maintain Burnett’s productivity, that
doesn’t really make any sense. It’s hard to believe Burnett would pitch
any worse with Posada, because Burnett doesn’t have any rhythm to
break.

Burnett wants to start fresh in the playoffs, so maybe pitching to
Posada provides a spark. After all, the Yankees won in Burnett’s first
three starts of the season, all of which Posada caught. Then due to
injury  and Girardi’s decision-making, Burnett primarily pitched to
Cervelli and went 8-15 the rest of the season. While these stats aren’t
intended to imply that Burnett pitches better with Posada, they do
imply that Posada is able to do the job well enough for Burnett to
still have success.

Since there’s no real advantage for Burnett, why take away Posada’s
offensive production? Posada’s .356 on-base percentage nearly ties
Cervelli’s .359 OBP, but the major difference comes in power. Posada
smacked 18 homers in an injury-shortened season while slugging .449,
whereas Cervelli didn’t hit a single home run and slugged a paltry .335.
Whether the Yankees play the Rays or Rangers, New York will face a
good pitching staff, so the Yankees need all the help they can get on
offense.

Even if the Yankees make Posada the DH if Cervelli gets the start, Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns are both better hitters than Cervelli, so that would still put the Yankees at a disadvantage.

At the moment, Girardi is legitimately considering starting Cervelli
at catcher when Burnett pitches, and this move should only take place
if the Yankees are up in the series 3-0. Otherwise, the game is too
important to not have the best players out on the field.

Should Jorge Posada catch for A.J. Burnett, or should Francisco Cervelli get the nod?