Plenty Left in Yanks' Tank

The calls for Joe Girardi as "Manager of the Year" need to start up. Taking over for the iconic and beloved Joe Torre, Girardi caught no breaks. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui all spent time on the DL, the youthful pitching corps failed to pan out as Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy imploded almost immediately. Heck, things got so desperate they signed Sidney Ponson. And yet, after two wins at Fenway, here they are 2.5 games back of first in the AL East and one game back of the Red Sox for the wild card.

Kyle Farnsworth also deserves heaps of credit for holding it together through his struggles and the heckling to throw lights out ever since Joba Chamberlain moved into the rotation.

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Washington Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrisonn received about a $1 million raise through his arbitration hearing. Well deserved indeed. There's going to be some serious competition among Caps blueliners for ice time next season. Mike Green, Morrisonn and Tom Poti are locks, leaving Milan Jurcina, Jeff Schultz, John Erskine, Karl Alzner, Sami Lepisto and Brian Pothier (if he can finally shake his concussion problems) competing for three spots. Assuming Pothier doesn't make it back, which sadly seems possible, my money is on Schultz, Alzner and Jurcina.