Stinkin' Yankees

Well, it's a good thing the Yankees won't be facing the Baltimore Orioles or the Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs, because New York has been horrible against them lately. (New York is currently losing to Toronto 9-2.)

As the last two weeks until the end of the season trickle by (with most of the playoff berths tied up in both leagues), many teams are trying to conserve talent and rest players. That could really hurt the Yankees, though. They need to keep plugging, keep hitting, keep pitching...especially with all the lackluster playoff performances they've had lately.

In the tiny series that are the first round of the playoffs, even a great team can get sent home with a couple bad games. And considering the crap that A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain have been tossing off the mound lately (actually, Chamberlain would be throwing crap, but he hardly stays in long enough to throw anything), it's looking scary. CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte can't handle it all, and they've been shaky plenty of times this season, too (although Sabathia is a real September-October workhorse).

The good news is, the Yankees bullpen is great, and those pitchers have able to keep their arms fresh as the bum half of the pen has taken care of these last few games.

The return of Brett Gardner to the lineup has also given New York a little spark, and the spate of young players that showed up with the September expansion of the rosters has also been a good test of the Yankees' wide range of weapons.

But really, Yankees? Losing to the Blue Jays? And by half a dozen? That's got to stop.

Roy Halladay, a usual Yankees foil, was pitching for Toronto today. That means that as good as the Yankees are this year, they're still not drop-dead amazing enough to dethrone players who usually give them fits, such as the entire rosters of Red Sox and the Angels and even Detroit's Justin Verlander (a probably first-round foe). Not a good sign.

These next few games will be a good test to see whether New York is going to keep its foot on the gas, or whether the Yankees are letting off just in time for the most important games of the season.

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