Less than a week ago, I naively fantasized about the New York Yankees smashing their way to the 2007 MLB World Series.  I was excited to see what this year's Yanks had in store, with the feeling that there was no way they were going to disappoint yet again.  It felt like they hadn't even peaked yet and the playoffs would bring out their best.  But hey, maybe I wasn't comPLETEly wrong.

Maybe I had the wrong team, the wrong guys.  5 days ago I wrote that the Yankees would "outmuscle the opposing pitching, with a little help from their own staff".  Jeter is expected to deliver (not just defensively) and why wouldn't this be the year that A-Rod proves he can hit when it counts?  The rest of the team played their game for the most part, but these 2 guys certainly didn't live up to their hype.  Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz did.

The Yanks future does look bright, however.  I did say that Cano was a budding superstar and that the Yanks may be set at centerfielder for 15 years with Cabrera.  I still think Shelley Duncan can hit and I don't think he should have come out of the game the other night so Jason Giambi could take a shot (no not in his rear end).  Hughes and Joba give fans something to look forward to.  Everyone's talking about the Yankees overhauling their roster with all the free agents to be-- at least A-Rod won't be leaving.  And did you see Posada get some revenge for Matsui with the ‘unintentional’ little clip of a swinging bat to end the top of the 8th or 9th inning, right after he signaled to the infield?  He might be gone though.

Anyway, I’m anxious to see how Manny and Ortiz fare up against Cleveland's pitching.  Maybe this is the year of the bats; I was just counting on the wrong ones.