anyone that thinks the yanks make it to the post season are insane.
Care to back this up with any real reasons?
I'll start with reasons why they will.. They will make the playoffs because the will add either Phil Hughes or another arm via trade to their rotation. This will give them one of the best staffs in baseball 1-5. They already have the best lineup, and many of them are starting to return to their normal levels. They still have Rivera as well. They have also had the hardest schedule in baseball to this point (per ESPN's rating scale), so the dog days of summer will be filled with weaker teams that they should feast on. They have 17 games left with TB and Baltimore, and six with KC. They've had their slump coincide with devastating injuries to their pitching staff, yet are only 3.5 out of the WC in the middle of June.
The teams they need to overcome at this point are Cleveland, Detroit, and Boston. Detroit's staff is very good, but their lineup is ok, and their closer plain sucks. Cleveland's starting pitching is supect, and their lineup is ok as well. Both teams are lucky to play the Royals 19 times, but, overall the central is a much tougher division. The White Sox will get better, which will only make it harder.
Catching Boston could prove to be very hard, but keep in mind that Beckett will regress as the season goes on, as will Lowell and Youklis. I doubt you will see any Sox starter with an ERA under four at years end, which means they will not keep up their current pace. I think Crisp and Lugo are just average players and will not improve much, although Manny and Drew should get better. The bullpen should regress as well - their statisical history shows them to be average at BEST, but they have outperformed their norms early, which could indicate a big correction coming. If the sox are able to add another frontline starter, though, it should be enough to compensate for their weakness and make them extrememly dangerous, especially in a short series.
