New York at Minnesota

As soon as I start a baseball blog, the Angels miss the playoffs for the first time since 2006. I hope you like your post-season previews filled with animosity and tears.

Derwood wanted to write this preview but he opened an email from some porn-spam and it burned down his apartment. Now he's selling oranges off of the 75-loop in Atlanta, swing by on your commute. The Yanks face the Twins at 7:37 Central Time Wednesday night so long as George Lopez doesn't have an emergency prime-time special.

My Completely Biased Opinion.
Yep, I hate the Bronx Bombers. Yet, I love Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin. Go figure. Meanwhile, I really like Joe Mauer and whatever Gardy is doing in the Twin Cities. Can I pick against the Evil Empire? Sure can. More on that later.

Just Some of the Facts M'am.
I already touched on the Yanks' decision to skip AJ Burnett in the ALDS which probably isn't the worst idea. Instead the Yanks will trot out CC Sabathia on short rest for game 4 if necessary and let Phil Hughes take the mound for game 3. Sabathia was 21-7 with a 3.18/3.54/3.78 pitching line. 21 wins? Give that man the Cy Young The Twins will counter with Francisco Liriano and his 3.62/2.66/3.06 and 6 WAR. So Liriano was just about 1 win better than Sabathia this season. That my friends, is huge. But will Liriano get any Cy love with his pedestrian 14 wins and bloated 3.62 ERA? No sir but don't let that fool you. He is a true ace.

Capt'n Jetes hit .270/.340/.370 and saw his wOBA fall .70 points from last season. And according to Fangraphs' WAR, this was Jeter's worst season EVER unless you want to count his 51 plate appearances in 1995. But at least he'll only re-sign next season for around 4 more years and $80 million. Joe Mauer had a disappointing season of his own, hitting .327/.402/.469. Slacker. The Twins had to shut Justin Morneau down for the season after a concussion turned out to be the only thing that could slow him down. In 348 plate appearances, Morneau hit 18 home runs and .345/.437/.618. That is half of an MVP season.

Prediction.
My utter disdain for the Yankees prevents me from ever picking them despite my desire to be right. Do I feel good picking a team that is starting Carl Pavano in game 2? Nope, sure don't but here it goes anyway. Twins in 5.