Sabathia: Big drama

C.C. or C.J.? Does it come down to that for the Yankees? We still don't know who's going to the World Series, but the internet is abuzz with speculation about whether the Yankees are going to try to re-sign C.C. Sabathia or Texas Rangers left-handed ace C.J. Wilson — or both.

C.C. is getting $23 million a year for the next four years, and the Rangers had a $91 million payroll last year. Does anyone seriously think they're going to take on a grossly overweight 31-year old for, what, $27 or $28 million a year for three or four seasons?

It's not my money, so I don't care how the Yankees spend it, but I do care how it affects the team. And not only can't Texas afford to pay that kind of money, I don't think anyone else can, either. Well, the Yankees could, but why should they?

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If you're sick of Moneyball clichés, try the cure: Too Much Moneyball, a video from Jest.com that's making the rounds.

Our favorite scene is when the actor playing the Brad Pitt role — or, rather, in this scenario the Brian Cashman role — is thinking of new ways to spend money: "Overpay for hometown heroes," he says and the camera cuts to footage of Derek Jeter jumping up and down.

The video is more than a picture-perfect turnaround of the movie. It's a virtual compendium of all the reasons that big-market teams don't win every year, despite their obvious advantages.

As the postseason hits full swing, it's amusing watching the three richest teams in baseball scramble frantically to figure out why they lost despite their enormous resources. Well, it's amusing if you're not a fan of those teams.

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The parade's gone by: A-Rod in 2009

​Let's look on the bright side ... no, scratch that. There is no bright side. Let's try to take in the big picture ... no, skip it. That's crap, too.

The Yankees' 3-2 elimination loss to Detroit on Thursday night was as ugly as a one-run defeat can be. They were a better team than the Tigers, not by much, but a little. They had a lower team ERA and scored more runs, they were playing at home with their relief corps rested, and Justin Verlander didn't pitch. The Yankees should have won.

Why didn't they? Well, apparently it is all Alex Rodriguez's fault. But isn't it possible that some of the other Yankees didn't get the job done, either? And what does this tell us about this Yankee team?

Alex Rodriguez didn't not do the job all by himself. Not by a long shot.

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​Now that the baseball season for Yankee fans comes down to what-ifs (Why couldn't Joaquin Benoit have thrown that last pitch just three feet higher?), it seems like adding insult to injury to suggest that a suddenly postseason-free October could batter New York's fragile economy as well.

Yet that's the upshot of a report by the New York City Economic Development Commission that, as noted in yesterday's Daily News, projected that each ALCS home game played at I Can't Believe It's Not Yankee Stadium would bring in $12.6 million to the local economy. World Series games came in at $20 million a pop, said the study — which would mean that A-Rod's feeble hacks last night helped cost the city as much as $110 million.

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Verlander: Use him or lose it?

If you were about to play what could be your last game of the season, would you use every weapon you had? If we are to believe Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, he wouldn't.

Leyland has repeatedly said he "probably wouldn't use Justin Verlander in relief" in tonight's Game Five against the Yanks, that it was "unlikely." The press took this as "absolutely will not." Earlier this afternoon, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that Leyland was "emphatic" about not using the best pitcher in baseball this season in relief.

Does anyone believe this?

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​As we reported yesterday, Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested while marching over the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York Times reports police made over 700 arrests. Demonstrators claim authorities misled them by saying they could march on the bridge. Officers arrested people who weren't on the pedestrian walkway, but many who were on the bridge say the distinction wasn't made clear. Jesse A. Myerson, a media coordinator for Occupy Wall Street, told the paper, "The cops watched and did nothing, indeed, seemed to guide us onto the roadway." [NYT]

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Scary: Verlander vs. Sabathia

If I were a Yankees fan, I'd be afraid — very afraid. Of course, as I've said all season, whenever I look at the pitching staff I'm afraid. But in addition to being afraid all season, I've also been wrong all season, so maybe I'm wrong now. Maybe there's something I'm not seeing here, but the numbers I'm seeing tossed around by most analysts are, I think, very misleading.

Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball, and he's going against the Yankees tonight. C.C. Sabathia is very good, but he's not in Verlander's league — no one else is, either — and Sabathia has not been a great pitcher over the last third of the season. To be honest, I've never thought he was a great big-game pitcher anyway, but since they're playing at Yankee Stadium, I guess it's close to being a toss-up.

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Girardi

I'll be honest: I didn't think the Yankees would win the AL East, right up to the day they won it.

Yet they did it, and in fact by a wide margin. Before we even consider the problems of the playoffs, we should acknowledge the gutsy job turned in by everyone, particularly manager Joe Girardi, who, though he is one of the worst on-the-field decision-makers in baseball, does know a few things about holding a team together over the long run.

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Yankee savior Rivera

Here's a story from the November 17, 1997, Seattle Times that's making the rounds:

Not even the New York Yankees' offer of reliever Mariano Rivera, rated one of the American League's top closers, could entice the Mariners to give up Randy Johnson. ...

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See ya!

What are the Yankees going to do about Jorge Posada? This is a question that concerns me because I love Jorge, and I would love to see him close out his career in the Bronx.

But I'm baffled at the idea that people think that somehow this is a tough baseball decision. It isn't, it's a question of sentiment.

Let's keep the argument simple: Jorge just turned 40 and has no future as a Yankee catcher.

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