sabugo

The Royals are dangerous but the Giants have past WS experience and, at least on paper, a better chance to win. But so did everybody who played KC before. I'd put my mone on the Royals just because of everything they've done this past month. It's hard to stop a team like that. Should be interesting to watch.

Injuries.That's what happens when you get older. Even if they both rebound, it will be very hard for them to produce like they're paychecks suggest they would. It's a price the Yankees pay for signing guys past their prime.

We can only hope Homer

And I forgot to mention Pineda, who was great when he wasn't covering himself in pine tar. I expect great and also dumb things from him in the years to come.

Now that the regular season is about to be over and the Yankees miss the playoffs for the second straight season, it's time for me to revisit my predictions for the year and add some thoughts: - Jeter wasn't too bad the during the first half, but lost some steam during the second part of the season. He's 40 and playing shortstop so his fielding went more or less as expected and he didn't spend time in the DL, so that was a good thing (or not...). He also became the king of the RBI groundout, an achievement of which nobody should be proud of. - Ellsbury played well and didn't spend time on the DL, which I'm sure nobody saw coming. Still, he's 30 and I don't know if he's worth all that money. - Sabathia struggled with his new body and spent most of the season on the DL. Nailed it. - Teixeira sucks. End of story. Not writing anymore about this guy. - Soriano was great. Sometimes. Ten years ago. - So was Carlos Beltran, during all the years he didn't play for the Yankees. Should have signed him 7 seasons ago. - Tanaka was great when he was healthy and then he had that game in Boston a couple of days ago. Growing pains amidst some greatness. Nailed it. - The bullpen had great performances by Betances and Robertson. Warren wasn't bad either. Then of course was the Aceves comeback. The Esmil Rogers signing. And let's keep trotting David Huff out there out of the bullpen, because that's clearly where he belongs. Homegrown pitchers more than held their own, proving that the Yankees should give them more chances. Greene and Phelps come to mind as future end of the rotation starters. Whitley wasn't bad for a bit, but then he seemed way out of his depth. - Brian Roberts was a failed experiment, but he had to go much sooner than he did. Same thing with Kelly Johnson. - Some of the deadline deals went right. McCarthy was great but I'm not sure he'll be able to keep playing as well as he did. Prado was a great pickup. Headley...I'm not so sure, but at this point anything over A-Rod is fine. Solarte we miss you, it was great having you. My eyes bleed whenever Drew comes to the plate. Chris Young was a nice find, he should be a solid bench OF. - Suzuki was at times given too much time on the field. At this stage he should be a pinch-hitter/runner part-time starter. He excelled in that role but sucked whenever he had to play as a regular starter. - Can you believe that Cervelli played in 48 games?!? And averaged .301 for the season. Give this man a multimillion dollar contract asap! - McCann's average was low, but his production wasn't so bad. Maybe he should stop listening to Kevin Long. - Gardner was the team's MVP for most of the season. That DL stint derailed his production a bit. I'm so glad to have him. Now that he's 30 and striking out as he never did, there is no way the Yankees are getting rid of him. - To finalize, Phil Hughes had a good season with the Twins for which I have no reasonable explanation. It was a strange and disappointing season for the Yankees, who at times beat the best teams in baseball only to be swept by the worst in the following week. Give Girardi credit for keeping this team over .500 during the last two seasons. I'm glad it's almost over...

It was a former Portuguese dictator who came up with the phrase: 'If you don't want something to get done, name a committee." Smart man...

Let's hope he does, because he surely deserves it.

Maybe because of the distance I have a different and perhaps more romantic view than you guys. Jeter has been the face of baseball for a long time. To someone like me, in a country without baseball, the impact is bigger. That, coupled with the Yankees' and MLB's marketing machine made him a star, beyond his real value on the field. And I agree that Biggio is getting screwed. Big time. But like I said, Olbermann is so right that it hurts. I specially agree with the point he makes about the jersey patch. He's retiring, not dead. Creepy.

Three games in which we could have beaned him that simply won't happen. This is a tragedy. It could only get worse if say A-Rod comes back next year. Oh wait...

Still, how many moments like yesterday has Jeter been part of during his career? I was sitting at home, one continent away and in a country that does not have any kind of baseball interest whatsoever when he homered for his 3,000 hit. Off David Price. He made me jump out of my couch. How many other baseball players can say that they made such an impression on random people across the globe? Again, I'm in Portugal, there is no baseball here. None. I did not choose to admire Jeter, he just made himself admirable throughout the years. Much in the same way I didn't set out to dislike A-Fraud, it was all his doing. But then again, Ketih is so right that it's painful. I just wished he did such a piece on Tex, A-Rod and Kevin Long.

Ooooooooooh, Keith is evil! 'How dare you disparage The Jeter!?' hahaha He makes great points, but there's more to this game than numbers. I have to agree that this whole farewell tour has sometimes gotten a little out of hand. But it would look bad if Mariano got one (entirely deserved imo) and Jeter didn't, so there wassn't really a better way to deal with this. Still, Jeter deserves my respect. Numbers show he wasn't the great player he's made out to be, but his character makes up for a lot of that. Again, numbers aren't everything.

Someone should tell him to stop playing with himself.

I watched the game, and you're right. I had given up on them and Young started it all. Great pick-up so far, he had some good years with Arizona. They were just talking about Stanton when Headley got hit in the chin, scary stuff!

2014 Yankees: How to routinely get beat by the worst teams in baseball

You kind of have to be good to have groupies...

So all this time you thought I was some crazy Teixeira groupie or something?!?!?

Why do you think I've been defending him all this time? Pedroia is also of Portuguese ancestry, but let's not talk about that. Same with Kevin Correia and Dane Sardinha.

I sure hope he won't, let him rest for next season, when it might actually matter. Teixeira is now batting .223 so this has become unbearable even for me. I'm officially withdrawing my support for him. Tomorroy morning I'm going to start a petition so that any mention about his Portuguese heritage becomes outlawed. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus!!!! I TRIED! Y4L knows I tried, but it's become impossible to like this guy. Holy mother of God! .223 from a star 1B who often bats third, how disfunctional is that?!

I guess this is the good part of not having ESPN.

I had heard about him before, I just didn't expect him to be this successful in the majors. There is some truth to the fact that the Yankees prospects aren't really game changers, but there are some good guys in there.

Is that Greene guy for real? Looked great yesterday, it's a shame he coudln't get the win.

Would you expect different?

The Yankees will win it all, like always.

I really didn't expect the Yankees do take 3 out of 4 vs the Tigers. This team has been up and down all year long. It's great that they're finally taking a gamble on the prospects, see what they're really worth. You might not get another core four in a hundred years, but if your farm system can't produce at least a utility infielder and a decent bullpen guy, you might as well just close it down.

Better said like this: If a guy stops using his wife, do you have the right to use her instead? Just before anyone says: "Depends on how she looks", the correct answer is: No.