ALDS: Yankees’ bats too explosive for Twins to handle

As I watched Game 1 of the Divisional Series between the and the , I was overcome by a strong sense of déjà vu. An unnamed S&B staff member, who chose Cleveland lounge as her venue of choice to watch the game, could hardly hide her delight as Minnesota jumped out to an early three lead. However, even as retired the side in the top of the fifth to maintain the Twins’ lead, I turned to the solo Twins fan and said, “Three runs is nothing for this [the Yankees’] lineup, all they need is one good inning.”

Not to toot my own horn, but I couldn’t have been more right. It just wouldn’t be a Yankees-Twins playoff game if the Yankees didn’t fall behind early, only to demolish the Twins late in the game and come out with the W. After all, this is the Yanks’ seventh consecutive playoff victory against Minnesota. Forget the recent history between these two teams, though, the Yankees do this to everybody. The Yankees are, and have been for some time now, a team that relies on offensive bursts and a strong , rather than solid starting pitching and defense, to win ball games.

These are not your older siblings’ Yankees of the late 90s and early 00s. Those teams could throw three or even four all-star caliber starting at you, which made beating them in a seven-game series near impossible. While those teams still had fairly potent lineups, there were definitely some holes, such as Chuck Knoblauch batting third on the ’99 and ’00 championship teams and Robin Ventura batting fifth in ’03. Fast-forward to the present and one can sense a role reversal. Gone are the rotations that boasted , , and , and in is the rotation featuring CC, A.J., and, well … Andy Pettitte. Many of you will scoff at the idea that a rotation including CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettite is ‘pitching poor.’ No, with the kind of talent on that staff, of course the Yankees aren’t ‘pitching poor,’ but the statistics suggest that the pitching has been poor. While CC Sabathia posted great numbers this season and established himself as the clear-cut ace of the staff, the rest of the Yankees starters posted a 4.72 ERA during the regular season. A.J. Burnett, whom the Yankees gave a five-year, $82.5 million contract a couple of seasons ago, has been absolutely shelled this season, posting a 10-15 record with a 5.26 ERA. Javier Vazquez, who was purchased this offseason in an attempt to bolster the bottom of the Yankees’ rotation, has also been horrendous, posting a 10-10 record with a 5.32 ERA. These stats are really bad, and the Yankees probably made the right move by leaving these two guys off the roster for the ALDS. However, that doesn’t mean the Yankees don’t have pitching concerns for the playoffs. Number two starter Andy Pettitte, the ageless wonder, pitched well this season when he was healthy. However, he suffered a hamstring injury in the second half of the season, and hasn’t quite returned to form. Furthermore, the injury makes it harder for him to field his position, which is a concern against the small ball-loving Twins.

The Yankees’ final starter, Phil Hughes, put up OK numbers this season, but he has a 4.90 ERA since the All-Star Break. His rate has diminished greatly, while his walks and home runs given up have increased. Even with all the Yankees pitching woes, their starters still managed to post a 72-49 record during the regular season. That is the third-most wins and the fewest losses by any AL rotation. That points out two major strengths of the Yankees — the bullpen and the offense.

Let’s start with the offense. The Yankees scored a major league-leading 859 runs this past season, 41 ahead of the second-place Red Sox. The Yankees have led the majors in runs scored four out of the past five years, quite different than the Yankees teams at the turn of the century, which usually finished outside the top-three in the American League in runs scored. The Yankees also led the American League in on base percentage, and were second in on base-plus-slugging, a statistic that many experts consider the most indicative of a team’s offensive success. How well balanced was the Yankees’ lineup this year? Stars , , and Curtis Granderson all had down years (by their standards), and yet the still led the league in scoring. Robinson Cano’s team-leading .914 OBP was the lowest OBP to lead the Yankees since 1995 … and yet this was still the best hitting team in the world. As a starting , you have quite a bit of room for error when your offense can score 5+ runs in a heartbeat, just like the Yankees can. The Yankees may not be able to outpitch teams, especially when CC isn’t on the mound, but they can almost always ‘outbludgeon’ them in a slugfest. This has been the Yankees’ formula all season—take the lead late in the game and ride the bullpen to victory.

The Yankees’ bullpen has a staff ERA of 3.47, third in the AL and seventh in the majors. However, this statistic doesn’t tell the whole story; this is a staff that has become tremendously better in the second half of the season with the acquisition of Kerry Wood. Wood, previously one-half of the Cubs’ “Broke-Arm Mountain,” has been rejuvenated by his arrival in New York, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.69 ERA. , in turn, has taken advantage of the extra rest, and has an ERA under 2.20 since the arrival of Wood. Of course, the real star of the Yankees’ bullpen is , perhaps the best ever. The man has a 0.74 ERA in 134.2 postseason inning pitches, enough said. While some may claim he is more vulnerable than ever this year, I have to see it before I believe it.

From the tone of this column, it might seem like I’m not even giving the Twins a chance in this series. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Twins have better starting pitching, a lineup that might not be as potent as the Yankees, but is still very good in its own right, and a bullpen that converts a better percentage of its save opportunities than the Yanks’ (without injured All-Star ). I could easily see the Twins taking a game, possibly even two, from New York, especially at Target Field where the Twins are dominant (53-28, best in the AL). However, I just think that the Yankees will be able to take at least two more games in this series (best-of-five) in a fashion similar to the way they won Wednesday night’s game. I guess the $200+ million payroll works in such a way that it makes certain areas of a team so good that they can hide obvious deficiencies. Make no mistake about it; the Twins are a better-rounded team than the Yankees. At the end of the day, though, it’s about the number of times you cross the plate, and nobody does that as well as the Yankees.

Prediction: Yankees in 4

Bansal believes in Broncos’ ability, vision

The coming of autumn means different things to different people. For many Grinnellians, it means the beginning of another challenging, yet thoroughly enjoyable school year. It also means that it is merely another few weeks before the bone-chilling winds come and dry our souls as completely as they dry our skin—but I digress. For me, the coming of autumn means one thing above all else—the beginning of the NFL season. High school football is good, is great, but nothing quite compares to watching the best of the best compete against each other in the pros. While the 2009-10 NFL season is still young, it has already manufactured several compelling storylines. Perhaps no story is as surprising, though, as the undefeated . Left for dead by the football media after trading star to the , the Broncos have won their first three games of the season, and have looked extremely impressive in doing so. The outlook for the 2009 season was bleak for the Broncos after a tumultuous offseason. After firing their head coach of 13 seasons, two-time Super Bowl Champion Mike Shanahan, the Broncos made the bold move of hiring 32-year-old Josh McDaniels. McDaniels is best known as the ’ coach and Offensive coordinator for the from 2004-2008 under media bad boy Bill Belichick. Upon taking the job in Denver, McDaniels almost immediately clashed with Cutler who demanded a trade and got one to the Chicago Bears. In return, the Broncos received often-criticized quarterback Kyle Orton and multiple high-draft picks. As if on cue, the media tore into McDaniels and the Broncos. So-called “experts” preached how rare it is to come by good quarterbacks and how owner Pat Bowlen was foolish to let both Shanahan and Cutler walk in the same offseason. Besides being unusually young for the position, McDaniels had no previous experience as a head coach and the collective NFL world wondered whether this was really an improvement over Shanahan—the winningest, most beloved coach in the history of the Broncos’ franchise. McDaniels’ status as a Bill Belichick disciple further hurt his credibility with the media, players and the fans. All the controversy surrounding McDaniels, along with various other issues, such as star receiver Brandon Marshall coming off a major hip surgery and the defense licking their wounds after finishing 29th last season, combined to deflate expectations for the Broncos 2009 season to an all-time low. Yet, somehow, the Broncos are 3-0 and find themselves atop the AFC West. Granted, the season is only three weeks in, and skeptics are quick to point out that the Broncos have not beaten a 2008 playoff team. However, the Broncos have absolutely demolished the last two teams they have played, beating the Browns 27-6 and the Raiders, on the road, 23-3. In fact, the only close game the Broncos have played this year is their season opener against the , in which they just squeaked by for a 12-7 road victory. These are the same Bengals that beat the Packers at Lambeau Field and, last week, beat the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Forget the qualitative stuff, though, let’s look at the numbers. The stats tell a tale of stout defense and efficient offense. Perhaps the most telling stat is the amount of points the Broncos have allowed through their first three games—only 16. To give you a sense of how ridiculously low that is, the second lowest total of points allowed this season is 33, more than twice the number of points the Broncos have allowed. The Broncos are tied for first in the league with 10 sacks through three games this season. On the offensive side of the ball the Broncos are fourth in the league in rushing, averaging 158.7 yards per game. Through the air, the Broncos are 15th in the league with 215.7 yards passing per game—nothing spectacular. However, Kyle Orton is doing what he has always done throughout his career—managing the game and protecting the football. The Broncos are one of only two teams in the league, the Packers the other, to not throw a single this season. People are quick to forget that Orton is 23-12 as a starter throughout his five-year NFL career. The bottom line is that if you give Orton a solid running game, the man can win games. Of course, this was all part of Pat Bowlen’s shrewd plan to rebuild the Broncos. While no one could have foreseen the Broncos having the immediate success they are enjoying now, Bowlen was well aware of the big picture when pulling the trigger on the Cutler trade. Besides Orton, the Broncos also received some high-draft picks from the Cutler trade with the Broncos. They converted the first rounder they received into stud defensive end Robert Ayers who should help solidify that Broncos’ pass rush for years to come. They also picked , whom Iowa fans know is a very talented guard with great size. Perhaps even more important than those draft picks in the rebuilding of the Denver Broncos is the money they saved by unloading Jay Cutler’s contract onto the Chicago Bears. Cutler is in the third year of a six-year, $47.86 million deal. While most of that money has already been paid to him, believe me when I tell you the Broncos are still saving a lot of money, which they have used to bring in prized free agents such as linebacker Andra Davis and defensive end Vonnie Holliday. The Broncos have laid down a very solid template on how to rebuild a football team after a slough of disappointing seasons. They did what most organizations lack the cajones to do—dispose of the star player and legendary coach in order to benefit the team. As a result of these bold personnel decisions, the team took a lot of flak from the media, which in turn led to deflated expectations for the season, expectations that severely underestimated the talent level of the team and the coaching ability of Josh McDaniels. Remember, this is the man that ran the Patriots offense while Tom Brady was rewriting the record books with his passing proficiency. The fact of the matter is that the Broncos are a good team and I fully expect them to challenge for the AFC West title and a playoff spot this season.