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Well, it will be the Dodgers versus the Phillies in the NLCS. I am happy for Mr. Torre.

My prediction is Dodgers in 6. The Dodgers have the pitching to get them to the World Series. Since the Angels are choking as bad as the Cubbies it looks like the Sawx have the inside track to win the ALCS. I cannot see the Rays or White Sox beating the Sawx.

Dodgers versus Sawx would be a great series.

MO has surgery set for Tuesday. Not much else going on. Fall leagues are moving along. Counting down the days till pitchers and catchers in February.

Not too much going on with the Yankees. Organization meetings in a couple weeks. Lots of time to plan for the offseason.

I feel bad for cubbies fans. Great season, now on the brink of being swept by the Dodgers. I am happy for Torre. The Dodgers have a good chance to make the world series.

I wonder if Moose will retire after winning 20 games? Will be tough to walk away. 1 year, 12 million would be a nice contract. If he can stay healthy, he can give the Yankees 200 innings and 15 wins.

Between Pettite and Moose, if they both leave, that would be a loss of 34 wins and 400+ innings. I cannot imagine losing them both.

Unless there is some big news, I will probably not post until Monday.

Have a good weekend.

Thanks to Chad Jennings at the SWB Blog for providing this list of potential rule 5 draft players:

http://emedia.thetimes-tribune.com/Blogs/SWBYankees/tabid/552/Default.aspx

Pitchers: Wilkins Arias, Anthony Claggett, J.B. Cox, Wilkins De La Rosa, Michael Dunn, Chris Garcia, Eric Hacker, Alan Horne, Steven Jackson, Jason Jones, Zach Kroenke, Jhonny Nunez, Kevin Whelan, Eric Wordekemper
Catchers: Kyle Anson, P.J. Pilittere
Infielders: Reegie Corona, Eric Duncan, Chris Malec, Ramiro Pena, Marcos Vechionacci
Outfielders: Matt Carson, Edwar Gonzalez, Tim Battle

He states about 7 spots will be open on the 40 man roster which I agree.

Both catchers do not need to be protected. Pilittere is a good defensive guy, light hitter but is around 27 and has no real spot in the organization. Cervelli will be at AAA in 09 and the Yanks have 2 studs who will be at Tampa in A ball. Romine and Montero. Anson has a little better projection and he is only 25/26. Great defense (laser of an arm) and no hit. I doubt a team would open up a spot on the 25 man roster for him. Risk having him be taken.

There are not any infielders that jump out at you. Duncan was left unprotected last year and was not selected. He did not have a great year this year and likely will not be taken. Corona, Malec and Pena are utility type guys. Good defense and little bat. I would protect Corona and if possible Malec. Malec is a gamer and has played some first as well as other IF positions.

As for the outfielders. Carson had a decent year at AAA and is a very good defensive OF. But he will be 27 in 09 and the Yanks have outfield depth in the minors. I would risk him being taken which is a possibility. Gonzalez is a little younger and had a good year at AA but does not need to be protected. Battle has a lot of tool but has spent 3 years a A ball and still strikes out way too much. He is young and made some progress towards the end of the year but am still not sure a team would add him to the 25 man roster for the year. Tough call.

Pitchers. Wilkins Arias, Anthony Claggett, J.B. Cox, Wilkins De La Rosa, Michael Dunn, Chris Garcia, Eric Hacker, Alan Horne, Steven Jackson, Jason Jones, Zach Kroenke, Jhonny Nunez, Kevin Whelan, Eric Wordekemper

Cox was a very good prospect before TJ surgery and breaking his hand. He was a 2nd round draft pick and could help the bullpen in 09. He needs to be protected.

Garcia also needs to be protected. He finally got healthy towards the end of 09, is young and has stuff to be a #2-3 big league starter.

All the other guys are tough calls. Hacker finally got healthy and had a great year but is 25 and is not a fireball pitcher. It may be another year or two before he has a chance to start in the bigs. Not sure a team would take him.

Either Dunn or De La Rosa needs to be protected as a future left handed reliever. Dunn is closer to the bigs but De La Rosa has better raw stuff.

Chad Jennings makes a strong argument for Jackson which I agree with.

The other guys could be left off the 40 man roster and exposed. Not the end of the world if any of them are teken.

Let Pavano, Giambi, I-rod and Marte go. Offer Marte arbitration to get draft picks.

Let guys like Shelley Duncan, Betemit, Rasner, Ponson and others move on. The team has guys in the minors that have more potential.

Offer Abreu arbitration. He will be a type A free agent so if he leaves, we get 2 good draft picks. If he accepts, he is signed for 1 year.

Give Miranda a shot at first and Gardner a shot at CF.

Throw the bank at CC to sign him. He may have an overused arm but he is very durable. Give him a contract comparable to Santana.

Develop young arms for the pen. Remember, Rivera had a 5+ era his first year as a starter (10 games) and a reliever. Let the kids develop.

Look at guys like Baldelli, Mike Hampton and others as fillers.

Don’t make any big trades.

Get the payroll down to 180 million.

Trade A-rod. OK, just kidding. I would like that but it is not going to happen. Although I heard David Wright is on the block. Straight up trade plus the Yanks throw some cash into the deal?

Go Angels and go Dodgers.

First bit of good news from yesterday, that Cashman is back for 2009. He has a plan, a good plan and if he is allowed to do his job will build a good team. I think Hal overuled Hank and got Cashman to come back. Hank is simply for the tabloids.

The Yankees are going to have a lot of money to spend this offseason with numerous overpaid free agents leaving town and a new stadium where hot dogs will be $10 each opening up across the street.

What to do with all this money? Go crazy on the free agent market? Sign CC, Burnett, Texeira, Manny and a cast of others? Invest it in the draft?

With a deep farm system comes the issue of the 40 man roster. The Yankees have some good minor league players that may have to be exposed to the rule 5 draft. The Scranton Yankees blog has a good analysis of the 40 man roster situation.

Tomorrow, If I was the Yankees GM post. If Cashman doesn’t come back the team will be looking for a replacement right.

Well, there goes the 2008 season. Overall a major dissapointment. Lots of blame to go around but that is all water under the bridge.

Kinda sad to see both NY ballparks close with no playoff baseball. It will be nice to have a couple new stadiums to enjoy in 2009. I am hoping to catch 4-5 Yankee games and 2-3 Mets games in 2009.

For your Yankees fix you can follow the Arizona Fall League for some Yankee youngsters as well as the Hawaiian Fall League.

Cashman is going to have an end of the year press conference today. It will be interesting to see if he stays. His return is the first step in having a good offseason. Chaos will ensue if he leaves.

Rasner - gone, Ponson - gone, Betemit - gone, Giambi - gone. Yankees need to get younger and build there pen around Veras, Ramirez, Robertson, etc. Sign CC and Moose to solidify the staff. A rotation of Joba, Wang, CC and Moose would be a good start. Then fill the other spots with Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy, etc. The Yankees have some very good arms in the minors. Melancon will hopefully be a very good addition to the pen in 09 and fill Joba’s lights out role and allow Joba to start. Plus guys like Marquez and Wright as possible starters. Coke may also start or be an effective lefty reliever. Not to mention Brackman, Betances, McCallister on the horizon.

I think Miranda deserves a shot at the first base job. I also think Cervelli will be a good backup in 2010 and possible full timer in 2011/2012. Gardner looks to be developing into a good CF and had a good last 2 weeks of the season.

Optimism is the joy of every offseason.

Go Angels and go Dodgers for the World Series. The East coast can enjoy football this Fall.

Doubleheader today to finish the season. Hopefully the Yanks will get to 90 wins. If only they played in the NL. I do not agree with Hank that it is unfair, it is just baseball. Hank needs to stop his whining and go away.

It would be nice to see Moose get 20 wins this year. Hopefully he can come back and anchor the rotation in 09. Not sure if Pettitte should come back. If the Yanks sign CC he probably will not be back. If the Yanks choose to not pursue CC or miss out on him, Pettitte would be a good re-signing. The problem is by the time CC makes a decision, Pettitte may be retired or signed someplace else.

Should be an interesting off-season. Going to be odd to not have late nights watching the Yankees in the playoffs. I am rooting for the Twinkies and Brewers to make the last 2 playoff spots. The Yankees should look at the Twinkies organization for inspiration about how to BUILD a team. They have a great organization.

What a slugfest last night in the rain. It was good to see the Yankees send the Sawx to a wild card spot. Now they will have to play a very tough Angels team. That should be a great series with 2 very good teams going head to head.

One thing I know for next year is that Cody Ransom deserves the utility spot over Betemit. Betemit just does not get it. Ransom plays hard, can play every infield position and has a better bat and glove.

Girardi learned a huge lesson with the Rivera injury. Do not keep things from the media, they will roast you if they are lied to. Better to be honest and open. Torre was great at doing that.

Gardner is really picking up steam for 2009. He deserves every chance to win the starting CF position in spring training. Cabrera is a 4th outfielder right now and maybe that is all he ever will be. An OF of Nady, Gardner and Damon is not bad. Cabrera as a defensive replacement/4th OF/pinch runner is not bad. Have Matsui DH and be the 5th outfielder. Not a bad outfield for not a lot of money.

Peter Abraham over at Lohud Yankee blogs mentions the team offering Abreu arbitration and if he walks the team would get 2 picks, if he signs, it would be for one year. I agree with him.

I am hoping Cashman is going to stay but Hank may be too much. Hank, go away, PLEASE. Let Cashman run the team. He is a very smart guy with a good plan.

I just realized my previous post is a day late. For some reason it was saved as a draft and I just published it.

After 1 year at the helm, is Girardi the right guy for the Yankees? He seems to have issues with the NY media by not always telling the truth and trying to play games. It appears Rivera has a shoulder injury but Girardi was afraid to admit it. Now the NY media is roasting him. Can he handle NY as a manager?

Torre is not coming back. That bridge burned a looooooong time ago. Girardi is signed for 2 more years. It will be interesting to see if Cashman comes back. I am not sure Cashman and Girardi get along great. Cashman is an upfront type of guy.

If Girardi goes, who comes in? Bobby Valentine? Donnie baseball?

In my opinion Girardi stays for at least another year, if for any reason the Yankees are cheap when it comes to managers pay and will not wan to pay the buyout. I also think he needs 1 more year to learn how to manage in NY.

The biggest decision and move this offseason is Mr. Cash-man. That decision sets the tone for the whole offseason. I think he needs to come back and hopes that he does.