-There would have been a psych factor of having overcome a 14.5 game deficit, but given that we beat Boston 5 of 6 down the stretch, and won the season series, I'd say the Sox are already wary of NY.

-Resting our more tired veterans (and youngsters).

-Playing Cleveland rather than the LAA of A is going to be a relative boon, given the disparities in our play against the two teams this year, and in the recent past.

-Also, not having to travel to the West Coast once or twice will pay off.

-And like NoMaas says, that the draft philosophies of teams like NYY/BOS/DET have become "take a flier on this guy b/c we have the money", it is helpful to be able to draft ahead of similar organizations when there are only a few of these gambles in the late 1st round.

I forget the details, but I think he's been asked to pitch all three outs in a half inning 13 times. Eight of those times he's given up at least a run a long the way. Usually more than that.

One would think an "innings eater" could get people out. Karstens fails to meet those requirements.

Locks for the roster:
Wang
Pettitte
Clemens (guarantee that he will pull one of those 2-inning, 3 run outings, ow my hammy hurts I have to leave now games in the playoffs)
Mussina
Hughes
Kennedy
Rivera
Vizcaino
Chamberlain

Two spots left....Villone? Britton? I'm assuming Torre is going to have Farmaduke on the roster given he's had TWO CONSECUTIVE SCORELESS OUTINGS OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT HE'S GOT A LASER ROCKET ARM!

To eat innings, by its very definition, you have to be able to get outs.

IF
Posada
ARod
Jeter
Cano
Minky
Bettemit
Giambi
Duncan
Molina

OF
Damon
Matsui
Abreu
Cabrera

He recalls to mind the scene in Bull Durham where Crash gives Meat the ball outside the bar and tells him to throw it at him as hard as he can. I would take that bet with Bruney -- he would miss me. He has no idea where the ball is going to go when it leaves his hand.

There's something to be said for an extra position player, mainly for the prospect of playing in the World Series. But all things considered, I think I'd add Britton. His sample size is small, but he's been better against lefties than Villone has.

Pinch Hitters: who are we going to pinch hit for? Not Jeter or Cano, so no reason to bring the AG. Maybe for Melky, but if push comes to shove (appropriately enough) Shelley can fill in -- he's not good, but an inning or two of OF defense upgrade isn't worth the roster spot. Molina, sure, but then you'd just use Posada as the PH (and in any case Molina is unlikely to start a play-off game).

Pinch Runners: probably use them for one of our catchers or first basemen. But there's no third catcher to bring, and we have plenty of guys who can play 1B already.

World Series: clearly this is the spot where you'd want to have an army of good PH on the bench. With the roster so far, we'd have Duncan and probably Matsui or Damon, I guess -- assuming Giambi plays first, otherwise add him to the army. It would be nice to have another power hitter available, but there aren't any to bring so again, I can't see using the roster spot.

I get it. 14 position players means 11 pitchers. We shouldn't bring 12 pitchers. So we do need some kind of specialist or other.

I guess I'd go with Sardinha. The chance of anyone else (I can think of) actually increasing our win expectancy is awfully small. There are reasonably likely scenarios where you'd like a top-notch base runner.

I get it. 14 position players means 11 pitchers. We shouldn't bring 12 pitchers. So we do need some kind of specialist or other.

I guess I'd go with Sardinha. The chance of anyone else (I can think of) actually increasing our win expectancy is awfully small. There are reasonably likely scenarios where you'd like a top-notch base runner.

By the way, if someone tells me it's in the sidebar of this very site, please excuse my ignorance.

But I guess Shaun P has found him a loophole. (Loofole. Hee hee.)

The rule is that you have to be on the 25 man roster or the DL on August 31, or you need to be on the 40 man roster and brought in as an injury replacement for a PS-eligable player.

For the Yankees, that's Aug 31 roster:
Damon
Jeter
Betemit
Abreu
A-Rod
Duncan
Matsui
Posada
Giambi
Cano
Melky
Phillips
Molina

Hughes
Britton
Wang
Joba
Clemens
Moose
Pettite
Rivera
Farnsworth
Vizcaino
Bruney
Henn?

DL:
Scrabble
Pavano (or another pitcher to replace him)
Veras
Sanchez (or another pitcher to replace him)

Yep, here's what Cliff wrote:

"while the presence of Darrel Rasner and Carl Pavano on the DL should allow Ohlendorf to be added via the K-Rod loophole."

Love that K-Rod loophole! Even if it screwed the Yanks over in '02.

If the past couple weeks are any indication, Dougie is starting at 1st, Damon in left, and Matsui as DH. Giambi rides the pine with Wilson! and Duncan.

Wow. Giambi is one heck of a highly paid pinch hitter.

35 DM is back on the qactive roster, but Andy Phillips is on the DL, so he'd be the conduit needed to get a PR'er on the team.

Not sure why the Muts would be front runner besides the fact that the desperately need him. I don't think they could come close to matching other team's offers. No idea how legit the article is, but fyi...

Back in 1990, I was laid up in a hospital bed recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery when a friend came by to visit and told me that I had missed Cecil Fielder hitting #50 & #51 while I had been under the knife.

Remember the days when 50 homers were an anomaly (it had been 13 years since the last one and 12 years before that)? Now, it has happened every full season except one (2003) during the last 12 years.

Also, that 1990 season saw the Yanks finish at 67-95 (21 games behind Boston). Yankee fans who can only remember the last dozen years should really appreciate the run we are on. Sometimes, I think Yankee fans take winning for granted. Unfortunately, like I discovered during that ACL rehab, sometimes you don't appreciate things (like being able to run) until after they're gone. Let's hope that our success and our 50 homer guy both stay with us for a long, long time.

According to the Denver Post, he called Holliday to apologize. Doesn't sound like the sort of thing Clemens or Pedro would do. I also still maintain that he wasn't trying to hit drama queen Youkilis in the head.

http://origin.denverpost.com/ci_6999896

You are correct that we can sub an otherwise-ineligable position player for Phillips -- I'd forgotten he was hurt.

So sad when father/son relationships go sour.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GDmo8R8WbnM

44 A quick analysis of Minnesota's payroll obligations shows that they could easily afford to sign Santana to even a $25M/year contract and only have to increase payroll about $10-$15M beyond where it is now (~$72M) - and that includes paying to keep both Morneau and Nathan. With all the young pitching, and some of the young position players, they have, it could be easy. And then they have a new stadium (and all its extra revenue goodness) opening in a couple of years, which helps even more.

For some reason, no one in the MSM ever mentions this. I'm not even sure if the Twins' blogosphere (Gleeman et al) knows it. But the numbers are all there on Cot's.

As for Minnesota, they are opening up a publicly subsidized stadium in 2009. There owner is also a multi-billionaire. They can definitely afford to keep Santana, but that doesn't mean they will.