Long made $1.2 million over the three years on his recently-expired contract and is expected to get a raise with this new deal, though terms of the pact were not released. It comes as no surprise that Long earned a raise as he resurrected Curtis Granderson’s hitting in late August and worked wonders with Swish Dog (postseason notwithstanding), among many other things. Plus all the hitters seem to love him.

In addition, the contracts of first-base coach Mick Kelleher, third-base coach Rob Thomson and bench coach Tony Pena all expired on Sunday, but each is expected to be back in 2011.

Also, bullpen coach Mike Harkey will most likely replace Dave Eiland as pitching coach, and Single-A Staten Island manager Josh Paul is expected to replace Harkey.

More importantly, Jeet and Mo will become free agents five days after the World Series ends and we’ll find out soon enough what the future holds in store for those future Hall of Famers.

LET’S GO YANKS!!!

It’s interesting because the announcement comes just one day after hitting coach Kevin Long referred to the derby as an “exhausting process.” Long went on to say, “It takes a lot out of you. It’s taxing. You see guys come back after the home run contest and it affects their swing.”

Hmmmmm. What’s really puzzling is if he really is suffering a back injury why hasn’t he been held out of the lineup? Or, more importantly, why is he still playing in the All-Star game?

I hope this is just an excuse to keep from messing up Cano’s swing because, as we’ve seen with Aceves, a back injury can be quite debilitating. The last thing the Yanks need is another injury.