If I had to make up the postseason roster for the Yankees...

It would be a little different than what Torre probably has planned out...

Let's start simple and put in the ones that just have to be on the roster:

Jeter, A-Rod, Cano, Posada, Matsui, Abreu, Damon, and Melky... that's a simple 8 right there...

Wang, Mussina and Johnson makes it 11... Rivera, Farnsworth, Proctor, and Myers makes it 15...

That gives some questions to be answered:

1. Sheffield will be on the roster, which will make it 16, but in what condition? It all depends on how Giambi responds from his time off this weekend... a torn ligament in your wrist is not exactly the easiest injury to rebound from, and, at this point, I sincerely just want to use Giambi as the DH and DH only, putting Sheffield at 1st...

That makes the roster 17...

2. Wright over Lidle as the 4th starter, making it 18... Lidle's last start against Tampa Bay settled his fate, though I personally love the guy and his 4th/5th starter stuff... will Lidle stay on the postseason roster? I would say maybe, as an emergency starter... making the roster turn to 19...

But Lidle over Rasner and Karstens? Karstens doesn't have strong stuff, but what he can do is get you strikes and get ahead of hitters, which is always dangerous. However, the Tigers and Twins aren't exactly the most patient of teams when it comes to hitters. Karstens has the stuff that can fool teams that are patient (i.e. the Red Sox), but other teams can jump on.

Rasner's been great, and if Torre takes him over Lidle, I won't be pissed off about it. Rasner has been quite effective, even on 3-day's rest, getting the win on the 18th in place of Lidle, yielding 3 runs. If Lidle is still injured, Rasner > Lidle and Karstens... I want to wait until Lidle comes back to say him definitely, but if Lidle struggles, Rasner should go in... it depends on how things go in the next couple of days...

3. Fasano's getting on the roster, making it 20... you gotta have a good back-up catcher, especially with Posada and the risk of injury... you also need a back-up infielder, so Cairo, come on down, you got 21...

4. Villone and Bruney are almost guaranteed spots due to Villone's great start and lefty arm (you know how Torre likes his lefties), and Bruney's success so far this year... that makes the roster 23...

5. I completely forgot all about Bernie... oh ye Yankee gods, please forgive me!

So let's recap: I have picked 24 players with 11 pitchers... here comes a big question: What else to do?

You have Wilson, Phillips, and Guiel to bring up... and let's not forget Rasner... 4 players, 1 spots... who gets in?

To me, you gotta take a back-up first baseman... however, I also am pulling to bring up a 12th pitcher...

At this point, I will take Wilson over Phillips for Wilson's more "seasoned", has more experience, fields better (.990 to .989, career-wise), and I have more confidence in his bat than Phillips...

I still feel conflicted with one idea: taking Guiel or Rasner... Guiel has played 11 games at 1st base this year and has not committed an error... if there was someway Torre can use Guiel as a defensive sub for these next few games to see how Guiel can really do at 1st, I'll take him...

However, maybe I'm just slap-happy over Guiel's 2-run blast last night, and not seeing who he really is: a very useful utility player who left the Royals for good, and has gotten better while wearing pinstripes... ahhhh! *sighs*

Let's be reasonable here: I'll take Wilson as my 25th... giving you guys your 25-man playoff roster...

If you can envision the starting line-up for game 1 against the Tigers (I hope) or Twins, here is what you have:

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Giambi DH
A-Rod 3B
Matsui LF
Sheffield 1B
Cano 2B
Posada C

Cabrera back-up OF(!)
Williams back-up OF
Wilson back-up 1B
Cairo back-up IF
Fasano back-up C

Wang (starter for game 1)
Mussina (game 2)
Johnson (game 3)
Wright (game 4, if needed)

Lidle or Rasner (emergency starter/long reliever)
Villone (Torre's whipping boy... I mean, Torre's next Paul Quantrill... I mean! Nevermind!)
Proctor (a man who found his groove as the middle reliever, and whose arm hasn't fallen off... yet)
Myers (left-handed specialist who has pitched to quite a number of righties lately... hmm...)
Bruney (everything that Farnsworth is with one added spice: he has balls... and he's younger too)
Farnsworth (a ball-less version of Bruney)
Rivera (Greatest of all time... closers, that is)

Ok, even if my starting line-up doesn't work out, think about this for one second: Cano, the man with the 3rd best batting average in the league (he will be qualified soon) will be batting 8th or even 9th!

Let that soak into your minds and hearts... ok? Ok! Think about this as well: the man who is only 2 points behind Ichiro in OBP... is our back-up outfielder!

This line-up can either be one of the best hitting line-up ever to win the World Series, or the best hitting line-up not to win the World Series, simple as that. Within that line-up, you have 9 former or current All-Stars hitting up and down that line-up... from Damon to Posada, you have all All-Stars! How sick is that?

Expect a post with questions answered from Prez on the next post...

And now... some music before you guys leave...

Here's some of the NWO Wolfpac Theme, as a tribute to Giambi, his time to heal, and the new song that pumps me up before every Yankee game... :-)

Happy reading!

B(rent)