Joe Girardi

Talent needs execution like you and I need air to live and thrive. That’s perhaps an extreme analogy but oh so true.

Joba Chamberlain knows this deep within himself.

This uniquely gifted man, lifted up by expectation that now slides down toward a thoroughly middling career because he can’t quite get a handle on “great” and his grip on “good” is slipping.

What would you pay for a 6'3", 190 lb pitcher with a mid 90s fastball, who was ranked as the 5th best prospect in Indiana by Baseball America?  The Yankees decided that the price was the 440th pick in the 2008 amateur draft.

The New York Yankees have to divert whatever attention is left from all the Cliff Lee drama, but there is no denying the painful disappointment still lingers.

Losing Kerry Wood to the Chicago Cubs was unexpected, but the signing of former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin gave the first ray of hope thus far in this offseason.

Why is signing Russell Martin such a positive? For two reasons:

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.

Immediately following the World Series, the New York Yankees announced the termination of pitching coach Dave Eliand, which came as no surprise.

There were many guessing games of who might be Eiland’s replacement. The front-runners looked to be current bullpen coach Mike Harkey; Rick Kranitz, who has worked with Yankees skipper Joe Girardi before; and Scott Aldred, who currently serves the role in Triple-A Scranton for the last two seasons.

It’s official.

Joe Girardi will remain the New York Yankees' skipper for three more seasons.

Many Yankees fans have been quick to blame Girardi for the team’s failure to repeat as World Series Champions. Fans were frustrated all season with Girardi, blaming any loss on unnecessary pitching changes or playing it by the book/binder.

With the New York Yankees and manager Joe Girardi having ironed out a new three-year deal, general manager Brian Cashman can focus on finding a pitching coach. After firing Dave Eiland, the Yankees priority will be to find his replacement.

It appears Cashman and Girardi will have options as they begin their search. A handful of names have been mentioned as possibilities, some with ties to Girardi and others with plenty of experience.

Three in-house options will likely be considered.

There was little drama to the negotiations that led to the three-year contract extension Joe Girardi reportedly agreed to with the Yankees on Thursday.

It kind of makes all the second-half speculation about Girardi's future seem a bit silly in retrospect. I'm not innocent—on more than one occasion I joked that Girardi did postgame interviews this summer while looking over blueprints of Wrigley Field's manager's office.

According to a source on ESPN, Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees have reached agreement on a three-year contract that will pay him $3 million per season with a $500,000 bonus for winning the World Series.