The Arizona Fall League starts play tomorrow and runs through Nov. 20. So why should you as a Yankee fan care about that?

RHP Phil Hughes
OF Austin Jackson
1B Juan Miranda
RHP Humberto Sanchez
RHP Jeff Marquez
RHP Kevin Whelan
INF Kevin Russo

That’s why. Those seven players are on the roster of the Peoria Javelinas. Hughes, Sanchez and Miranda all have a shot to make the team out of spring training next season. Jackson will be knocking loudly on the door and Marquez and Whelan are projectable pitchers who could be very solid prospects if they can stay healthy.

The pitching coach for Peoria is Scott Aldred, who did a great for Trenton this season.

For Hughes, the AFL is a chance to get another 35-40 innings under his belt against top-notch competition. Sanchez can continue his comeback from surgery and Miranda will get a shot to show whether he’s a real prospect or not.

You can follow the league on its site every day. The Peoria schedule is here.

Talked to Phil during the last week of the season and he agreed to do an interview or two while he’s in Arizona. I’m also hoping to talk to Austin while he is there.

ALDS Game 4: Tampa Bay (Sonnanstine) at Chicago (Floyd), 5:07 p.m.

ALDS Game 4: Los Angeles (Lackey) at Boston (Lester), 8:37 p.m.

The Rays and Red Sox each have 2-1 series leads and can clinch tonight. … Interesting game in Boston as both teams wore their bullpens out last night. Lackey is 2-4, 6.34 in eight career regular-season starts at Fenway Park. His one postseason start there (in 2007) was a loss as he went six innings and allowed four runs. Lackey’s last playoff win was Game 7 of the 2002 Series.

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Yankees and Mets fans are all excited because CC Sabathia said yesterday he is open to all teams. What did you expect him to say? The first rule of free agency is to say how much you love New York, whether you actually do or not.

Sabathia will create some interesting debates in front offices across the game.

Should the Brewers change the way they do their business and make him a deal?

Should the Dodgers pay him or Manny?

Should the Giants adds another huge contract after their Barry Zito disaster?

Should the Yankees just wait until everybody has their say and offer $10 million more?

Should the Mets get in the mix?

Should the Angels try and keep Mark Teixeira or go after Sabathia?

Counting the playoffs, Sabathia has thrown 513 innings over the last two seasons. Whoever signs him will dismiss that and talk about what a good athlete he is for his size. But that’s a lot of innings. Make a list of all the long-term contracts for free-agent starters that worked out well. Let’s see there’s … um … Mike Mussina.

Do you think Craig Sager looks at himself in the mirror after he puts on the purple suit with white stripes and says, “Damn I look good.”

A few other thoughts on the playoffs:

* That Frank Caliendo show on TBS could well be the greatest television program since M*A*S*H. But thanks to a marketing strategy that appears centered on annoying as many people as possible with incessant commercials, nobody will watch it.

* Francisco Rodriguez will make a big pile of money as a free agent. But how in the world can a guy who throws like that possibly stay healthy over three or four years? He bends awkwardly then flings himself to the ground every time he throws. It hurts just to watch it.

* Bob Schaefer is Joe Torre’s bench coach with the Dodgers. He is from Putnam, Conn., a little town in the northeast corner of the state. His first job in baseball was being the head coach of Ledyard (Conn.) High School. He’s had just about every job in baseball there is.

* Mike Lowell’s hip and J.D. Drew’s back could keep Boston from advancing to the World Series if they finish off the Angels. Lowell is moving around like Captain Ahab out there.

* Manny Ramirez must be taking acting lessons from somebody in Hollywood given how well he’s convinced everybody in Los Angeles what a good teammate he is. Scott Boras is playing chess and everybody else is playing checkers.

* TBS should win some sort of Comeback Player of the Year award. The quality of their broadcasts has improved significantly since last year. Harold Reynolds is good. Buck Martinez, too.

* Heard this the other day: The Mets have abandoned Shea Stadium and all of their employees are working at Citi Field. The new Yankee Stadium is still very much a construction site. I’m sure it’ll be ready for Opening Day, but shouldn’t things be a little further along at this point?

* I love that people read a box score from a winter league game in Hawaii and decide that Jeremy Bleich stinks. Here’s a crazy thought: The scouts who watched every inning he threw at Stanford might know a little bit more than you do reading a box score from a game played 5,000 miles away.

* Would knowing the Mets might try to sign him give the Yankees more motivation to sign Bobby Abreu? Should it?

* Mark Teixeira’s sister lives in Hoboken, by the way.

* The more you watch guys like Papelbon and K-Rod jump around after getting three outs, the more you appreciate the dignity of Mariano Rivera. Unfortunately, he’s the anomaly these days.

* Here’s what CC Sabathia said after the Brewers were bounced: “I want to get it done pretty quick. I try to be as less free as possible. All that is is stress, having it drag on through the winter. We’ll see what happens. I can guarantee you I won’t be flying around going to different cities. I’ve pretty much been to every city. I’ve got a lot of friends around the league. They’re going to have to come to me.”

* I can see where the Yankees might not want to pick up the $6 million option on Damaso Marte, who had problems throwing a strike in the AL. But wouldn’t it make sense to pick it up and then try and trade him? If you agree to pick up $3 million, you could get a pretty good prospect or two in return.

* The Yankees will have their own pick in the first round in 2009 and the compensation pick for Gerrit Cole and possibly a compensation pick for Abreu depending on who signs him and at least two picks in the second round as they’ll get compensation for Scott Bittle. That’s five of the first 75 picks or so depending on how many picks the sandwich round is.

Of course, they could lose their first rounder if they sign somebody. But regardless, the draft will set up well for them.

* This video on Astros.com is hilarious.

Now that the season is over for CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez is doing his part to get the big lefty to sign with the Yankees.

In an attempt to show CC how great it is to be fabulously wealthy, Alex dined at a sidewalk cafe in the Village and casually wiped his face with a $100 bill.

It is not known whether A-Rod then flung the soiled bill to the ground and said, “Let’s see Jeter do that.” But one would assume he did.

It is expected once Sabathia learns that being a Yankee means you can use $100s as a napkin, he will sign immediately.

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On a serious note, perhaps you noticed John Danks win two huge games for the White Sox in the last week. This would be the same John Danks who lost 13 games and had a 5.50 ERA for the White Sox last season when he was 22. The lesson is you have to be patient with young starters.

Sure, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy had poor seasons for the Yankees. But there was a reason they were first-round picks (just like Danks) and you have to give them time. If the playoffs can serve as a blueprint, that is what the Yankees should take from it.

By all means, go get Sabathia or Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett. But don’t give up on Hughes or Kennedy. Give it a year and they they could be pitching in a big game in October.

It’s a quiet October for baseball in New York. The Sunday Baseball Beat looks at what the winter holds for the Yankees and Mets.

Sam Borden wonders why the Mets were in such a hurry to hire Jerry Manuel.

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Congrats to Joe Torre, Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa for leading the Dodgers to a sweep of the Cubs and a berth in the National League Championship Series. Using a lineup that favored younger players over veterans and getting a near-perfect performance out of the bullpen, the Dodgers are in the NLCS for the first time since 1988.

Wait a second, doesn’t Torre need financial incentives to win playoff series? Hmm, maybe it wasn’t the manager after all.

Here’s how good life is for Torre these days: One of his horses, Trimaran, won a $50,000 race at Santa Anita on Friday. One of his two-year-olds, Vineyard Haven, won the $400,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont on Saturday by nearly sixth lengths. Vineyard Haven is getting ready for the Breeders Cup Juvenile, which will be held Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

That’s the same day as a possible Game 3 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. Thanks to Big League Stew for pointing this out.

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Just a friendly public service announcement: If you’re planning to vote in November, you may need to register within a few days. Check out this site to get information on registering.

This release from the Yankees:

RHP Mariano Rivera will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on Tuesday, October 7. The procedure will be performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

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Mo is getting a calcification taken out that had grown above his AC joint. The growth had caused some inflammation. By having the procedure done now, he is expected to be ready for spring training. Altchek is the team physician of the Mets and earlier this year did the shoulder surgery on Jorge Posada.

No, not Brian Wilson and Co. We’re talking about Andrew Brackman, Jeremy Bleich, Austin Romine and Damon Sublett.

The Hawaiian Winter League has started and there are four Yankees on the roster of the Waikiki Beach Boys. They play at Les Murakami Stadium.

For Brackman, it’s his first taste of competition since he finished his Tommy John rehab. He was their first-round pick in 2007. Bleich was a supplemental first round pick in the 2008 draft. Sublett is a 2007 draft pick (seventh round) who was with Single-A Tampa this season but played only 42 games.

Romine is a bright prospect, a high school catcher who went high in the 2007 draft and performed well at Single-A Charleston (.300/.344/.437).

The league runs through Nov. 15. You can follow the Yankees players on the HWL web site, which has stats. Minor League Baseball.com also is keeping the stats.

UPDATE, 9:44 p.m.: Hey, this is cool. Mel, one of our loyal readers is blogging about the HWL. So check that out.

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This could be it for the blogging for a new days unless there is some news to report. It’s time for a little break.

Joe Girardi was on WFAN this afternoon with Mike Francesa. You can listen to the interview on the WFAN site.

It was the usual stuff, much of what you heard on Monday. There was one part that had to make Brian Cashman cringe, however.

Asked about his relationship with the media, Girardi said: “I think it’s pretty good. I think I’m comfortable with the media and the media is comfortable with me. You take away (the injury issue) and I think it’s outstanding.”

Outstanding? Meanwhile, Cashman said several times yesterday, including on WFAN, that Girardi needs to improve how he deals with the press because it’s important in the New York market. Forget what I think, that’s the GM talking.

Those organizational meetings should be very interesting later this month.

On Sunday and again on Monday, Joe Girardi said he did not anticipate making any changes to his coaching staff before 2009. The question seemed to surprise him.

Brian Cashman got the same question yesterday and said it was something they had to discuss during the coming organizational meetings.

That could well mean nothing happens. Cashman very rarely gives yes or no answers to anything at this time of the year. Or it could mean that the GM and the manager will be having a very serious discussion sometime soon.

Pitching coach Dave Eiland is safe. I also think the Yankees still have faith in hitting coach Kevin Long, albeit a little less than they used to.

The question will revolve around third base coach Bobby Meacham. He was one of Girardi’s choices for the staff last fall and he had a rocky first season, making a bunch of mistakes with runners. But the bigger problem - as George King of the Post wrote today - may be that Girardi leaned more on Meacham than his other coaches for advice.

One way or another, and I have written this before, the Yankees need somebody who will be more of a presence around the players.

I know some people want Willie Randolph to come back. But his ego is unlikely to allow that. He also can sit around for a year and collect his paycheck from the Mets. Paul O’Neill wants nothing to do with doing more games for YES that he already does, he’s certainly not making a six-month commitment to be away from his family.

Tino Martinez? Luis Sojo? Somebody from outside? There are a lot of possibilities.

Brian Cashman is back and is determined to clear his name. Cashman has plenty of interesting comments at his press conference.

Columnist Rick Carpiniello wonders if Cashman should have escaped the Steinbrenners when he had the chance.

Columnist Sam Borden checks in with Rays owner Stu Sternberg, who’s a real baseball fan.

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Not sure how much, if any, Yankees news there will be this week. Things could be quiet for a few days now that Cashman is back. The organizational meetings won’t be for another two weeks. But we will keep blogging at various points.