The Texas Rangers knocked the Yankees out of the baseball playoffs the other day. The series turned out to be a mismatch, but not in the expected way. The Rangers shattered the New York team in all aspects of the game. The Yankees won two games, but never really looked like they were in the series.
What became evident was that injuries and age caught up with the Yankees. What was really amazing was that New York won 95 games in the regular season. Their best players, except a relatively young Robinson Cano, were hurt at some point during the year. The team showed a lot of grit, and manager Joe Girardi deserves credit for getting the team into the money season.
Girardi's best move was convincing Yankee general manager Brian Cashman to obtain pitcher Kerry Wood from Cleveland during the season. Girardi knew Wood when the pitcher was a Chicago Cub star and Girardi was with the club. Wood stabilized the Yankee relief corps, and carried the Yankees to the ninth inning and Mariano Rivera.
Perhaps the most telling detail of the Yankees' playoff demise was that the Yankees were often knocked out before Rivera had a chance to warm up.
For the Yankees, the so-called "Core Four" has reached its Waterloo. Rivera will be 41 years old next year. An aging Derek Jeter is clearly living on his reputation rather than his current performance. Alex Rodriguez is thirty-five and might be the only player in major league baseball this year to have over one hundred RBIs' and have an "off year." Andy Pettitte is ready to retire. While Cashman has made the Yankees younger, he'll have his work cut out for him this off-season. With all the fuss about Cliff Lee, the Yankees larger need might be younger position players.
In the meantime, Yankee haters have had their moment, courtesy of the Texas Rangers. However, there was no doubt Texas was the better team in American League championship series, and the team George W. Bush once owned will soon play in its first World Series.
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