Yankees need uptight Girardi to lighten up  —  Tweet  —  Joe Girardi and the Yankees have no place else to turn, so they will return to each other.  —  Sometime in the next week, I suspect, Girardi will re-up for something in the neighborhood of three years at $10 million.  —  What alternative does Girardi have?

The Myth of the Small-Market Series  —  Even when the current World Series match-up of Giants versus Rangers was just a possibility, I began to hear chatter to the effect of “Bud Selig and Fox are going to hate having two small-market clubs in the World Series.”

GM finalists best news for Mets fans  —  Mets on Twitter  —  Tweet  —  Lately it's been difficult to define “good news” for the Mets.  Mostly, it's meant the absence of bad news, or the minimization of dreadful news.  If you are an especially optimistic Mets fan — and, let's face it …

Amaro says Phils want Werth and can re-sign him  —  Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. knew as soon as he sat down for his season-ending news conference where the initial questions were headed.  “Shoot, ask whatever Werth questions.”  —  Amaro said the Phillies want Jayson Werth …

Pat Burrell, revived with San Francisco Giants, doesn't want to address time spent with Tampa Bay Rays  —  Friends and teammates say the Giants' Pat Burrell, who started in leftfield in all 10 playoff games, never was cut out to be a DH.  —  PHILADELPHIA — Maybe for Pat Burrell this is best …

Black buddies with Jays' skip  —  PHILADELPHIA - John Farrell is following in Buddy Black's footsteps.  —  He's just taking longer strides to get to the same destination: Big-league manager.  —  The Blue Jays offered Farrell a contract Friday to replace outgoing manager Cito Gaston.

Laird Returns To AFL  —  Yankees farmhand adds corner outfield to positions list  —  PHOENIX—Yankees prospect Brandon Laird followed a strong 2009 Arizona Fall League stint with an MVP season with Double-A Trenton of the Eastern League in 2010.  The righthanded hitting corner infielder hit .291/.355/.523 …

Daughter of former Mets coach Eddie Yost suing team after security guard's radio falls on her  —  One-time Mets coach Eddie Yost's daughter is suing the team after she got plunked by a security guard's radio that fell from from an upper deck.  —  Alexis Yost Fougere, 45 …

Ten things I didn't know about managers in the postseason  —  Well, it's the postseason (obviously).  That can mean only one thing: time to come out with postseason-related columns.  Let's have a postseason one about managers.  This is, after all, a subject near to my heart given that I wrote …

(2 of 2)  —  Harold Pointer told The Tennessean on Friday that Britt punched him in the face during the fight, causing an injury that needed four stitches.  Pointer's attorney, William Stover, said Metro police interviewed his client over the weekend.  —  “The police are going to talk …

Marte won't throw until July after surgery  —  Rest, rehab weren't enough to heal labrum tear in shoulder  —  NEW YORK — Damaso Marte's left arm was in a sling Sunday as he gathered belongings from his Yankee Stadium locker, having undergone surgery that figures to keep him out of action until late next season.

It's No-More-Yankee-Fans Day!  —  Some people wait for that warm spring day when summer dresses and tank tops come out on the streets of New York all at once.  Me, I cherish a particular day in the fall, a day that some years sadly never comes.  But when it does come, it's a beautiful …

With right pitch, Greinke could be pried from K.C.  —  By any standard, Zack Greinke had a bad year.  —  As much as things went right in 2009, when the Royals righthander won the American League Cy Young Award, a lot went wrong this season as his ERA rose by two runs (to 4.17 from 2.16).