Postseason picture starting to take place …
Posted by: Sam Borden - Posted in Misc on Oct 04, 2009 
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… except for, you know, who the Yankees will play.
Here’s what we do know (for now):
• The Tigers will pitch rookie Rick Porcello against Minnesota’s Scott Baker in the one-game playoff and it’ll be on Tuesday afternoon (5 p.m. Eastern) in Minneapolis.
• The Yankees will have one hour after that game is over to let MLB know which division series schedule they would like.
• If they take series “A,” Game 1 will start at 6:07 p.m. at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Tyler Kepner of the Times blogged that Game 2 will start at the same time on Friday, though MLB still lists that game time as TBD.
• If the Tigers win, Edwin Jackson will be on turn to start Game 1, with Justin Verlander likely to start Game 2 (on full rest) and a potential Game 5 (the following Wednesday). If the Twins win? Well, their pitching scenario is a little more complicated. Nick Blackburn pitched yesterday, so he could start Game 1 on short rest or they could use rookie Jeff Manship, who started Friday and would be on regular rest.
Ron Gardenhire will gladly deal with that question if he gets past Tuesday. The Great Carl Pavano, who won today, could go in Game 2 at what would surely be a very, very friendly Yankee Stadium environment.
How sweet would it be if the Yankees beat the living you know what out of Pavano.
I’m rooting for Minnesota. No Morneau. No verlander. No Miguel Cabrera. I’ll take my chances with Mauer and Nathan and no starting rotation at all.
Who’s lineup is better?
Even w/o Morneau, I think Minnesota still is better.
We survived the regular season. Woo.
Twins/Tigers-I don’t care.
Can’t wait for the playoff games to start
we still can’t get away from the idle…time too whoop his u know what
Well gosh, if Jeff Manship would be starting Game 1 in the ALDS, then we’ve gotta root for the Twins to beat the Tigers.
jeff maship vs the yankees it seems easy enough
It’s tough to say. Minnesota’s team had a much better overall offense this season. They scored 65 runs more than Detroit. But without Morneau I think it is a much easier offense to navigate through. And Ordonez is hot finally for Detroit. Miguel cabrera is a great hitter. Granderson and Guillen can also be good. I don’t know, I ‘d rather face Minnesota, but I could see if you wouls prefer Detroit;s lineup. But even with that said, the fact that the Twins have no starting pitchers like Verlander makes it a no-brainer for me.
Vrsce, did you take dumbo pills today? I wasn’t making any point about Joba at all. You haven’t demonstrated that you have a clue what I’m talking about or why I’m posting what I’m posting. Smarten up, please?
I have to root for Minnesota for the sheer hilarity that would be Carl Pavano potentially pitching game 2 at the Stadium.
Would be a great story for Minnesota to make it in.
I think they would be the tougher opponent, actually.
If you want to come out on top, then you should face the better team.
Porcello is a tough kid but he’s gonna have his hands full.
Another fine aspect of the May 15 debate was SJ44′s suggestion that Hughes might be traded for the greatness that is… Shin Soo Choo.
Some of us still had faith in Hughes, however:
“Nick in SF in Santa Rosa
May 15th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Choo is from a tough part of Seoul. He’s seen kimchi that would make most men run and hide. But I didn’t sign up for trading Master Philip for him!”
and:
“Nick in SF in Santa Rosa
May 15th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Just because Phil Hughes is soft like Carvel ice cream and melts like he’s been waiting outside the Galleria while his mom shops at Ann Taylor doesn’t mean we should lose faith in him now! Just another start or two and he can go back to the mean streets of Scranton and learn the grit he never learned in the carpool lane.”
I have tickets for Friday right behind home plate about 20 rows. I have to work on my Carl Pavano taunts.
I will be rooting for the Twins. Their rotation would be a mess for the playoffs. The Tigers are still somewhat set but their guys in just in a different order. Jackson has been terrible and he would pitch 2 games against the Yanks including game 1. I would much rather face the Twins pitching and lineup. I think a good CC and AJ could shut them down. The Tigers have a lot of guys that seem to steup up against the Yanks like Granderson and Inge. Also Magglio has been very hot.
Nick in SF…..There’s an old proverb, put your money where your mouth is …..There’s very few there you will do so, and you & I know those you do and will go out on a limb before the season or the game unfolds…..It’s easy ot be sucking down a brew and spout all sorts of after the fact crap…Lay it on the line, as a athelete that’s waht you do……Over the years I had my disagreements with SJ44, then I understood how he views the game….He has an owner mentality ( he’s invested in farm teams ) so I know understand how he sees things….CB, has a GM mentality, so he views the game with numbers and is excellent in explaing those breakdowns….Randy I views the game thru the mask of a catcher, so his perspective is different…Although I tend to see things the same way……GB, well he was the batboy when The Babe hit his 60 th in 27…..This deversity is what makes this place so good, as there really is a wealth of good baseball pespectives and insights….Tah tbeing said, the price is the twits that sometimes infest the LoHud….Microcosim of life
I think the Yankees have to choose the series that starts on Wednesday. Whoever their opponent is won’t even get into NY until at least 1:00 AM on Wednesday.
Well…if the Yankees play the way they have since A-rod returned they should be fine.
The one thing that I wanted to have happened and that started with Verlander going today and ended with a playoff game on Tuesday…all you can hope for now if extra innings on Tuesday.
The tougher matchup would be the Tigers, and it’s not even close.
Verlander is going to pitch twice in the Yankees series – if the Tigers beat Minny on Tuesday. No Yankee fan should want that.
Verlander, Jackson and Porcello or Blackburn, Baker and Pavano. There is no contest there.
Plus, while the Twins may have scored more runs during the regular season, they’ve lost their second best hitter -Morneau. Who else scares you in that lineup besides Mauer and maybe Kubel?
The Tigers offense also features a suddenly red-hot Magglio Ordonez.
Twins are the easy choice.
Thanks for keeping up the quality of this site, guys. You are doing a fantastic job!! I notice fewer comments, but those who are staying away are missing really great stuff! This is the best Yankees info site around. Thank you!!
Man I can’t type….
swingsandmisses
October 4th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I have to root for Minnesota for the sheer hilarity that would be Carl Pavano potentially pitching game 2 at the Stadium.
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The Yanks really knocked Pavano around this year…to the tune of 4 runs in 13.1 innings.
Why are the games starting at 6:07, when no one has left work already, much less made it home?????
I think it was great that both the Twins and Tigers WON today for a tie, rather than both of them losing into a tie.
I don’t care one way or another which team the Yankees face; I’m sure the Yankees are prepared for either. And que sera, sera. I like that our Yankees won today; I especially like Damon getting a couple of hits, AJ staying on a roll, and the bullpen continuing to step it up.
The only thing is, I don’t want Pavano to smell the playoffs. Just because it doesn’t seem right that a guy who languished for 4 years in NY, not earning a thing, not seeming to put himself out at all, should get to pitch a playoff game the very next year. (And I was always easy on Pavano, and actually rooted for his comeback last season, thinking that it’s got to be few and far between the human beings who would willingly collect $40 million for doing nothing – that he was hurt, and no athlete would want to be hurt.)
Both the Tigers and the Twins, whichever one comes out on top, are going to be psyched going into the playoffs. They could be tired, but it’s going to be the kind of tired that doesn’t matter. Yankees just have to stay focused and single-minded and play their brand of baseball.
If Minnesota makes it the yankees might change there postseason roster. You might want to add Marte because they have more lefties. And all Coke does is give up homeruns to Mauer.
Thanks, Pat M, you have a very astute way of looking at things — typos aside.
Pat M.
October 4th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Man I can’t type….
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You can’t blame that on me. I didn’t teach you.
DK, you make me glad I live in the midwest. Home by 5:30, dinner by 6:00, maybe 7:00 if I cook something fancy. Wow!
“Randy views the game as a catcher”, who’s caught too many games without his mask and cup.
The Twins scored 13 runs today. 13. They have, obviously, the capacity for some offense. Don’t write off either team; I’m sure the Yankees aren’t. Yankees have to play their game. No let up. And keep the confidence that they can beat anyone, especially at home.
The Twins had 3 players with at least 30 homers and another with 28, 2 with more than 100 RBI and two more with over 90. These are not your childhood Twins. They can hit, they can run, and though they pitching names aren’t flashy, they don’t walk batters, they don’t make errors and they don’t quit.
I’m sure someone is going to remind Girardi about what happened a few years ago against the wild card Tigers. The Yanks will be ready this time.
Rooting for Tigers simply for the fact that I live near Detroit and have tickets to Game 3…they both suck anyway
go Twinkies!
The bottom line is this, no matter who the Yankees play they should win, if they can’t beat the Tigers or Twins with homefield and resting while they play a extra playin game then there is something wrong.
I’m sure someone is going to remind Girardi about what happened a few years ago against the wild card Tigers. The Yanks will be ready this time.