October Preview

The only way the Yankees don’t make the postseason at this point is if they go 0-6 in their remaining games and if the Tigers win out. The Indians have the AL Central, the Angels have the AL West, and if five of the remaining twelve games for the Red Sox and Yankees fall Boston’s way they will walk away with the AL East.

That means the postseason picture is pretty clear. In one split or the other, the Red Sox and Yankees will take on the Indians and Angels. How do these teams match up? I’ll go through expected lineups, key bench players, expected postseason rotations and key bullpen arms.

The two numbers following a batter’s name will be Season OPS and OPS over the last 30 days. For pitchers, the two numbers will be ERA for the same timeframes.

I’ll leave analysis up to the discerning reader, but these lineups are based on recent performance and local media speculations as well as managerial comments (like, for example, how Joe Torre has said that Mike Mussina will be his number four rather than Phil Hughes).

Boston Red Sox:

C: Jason Varitek (.773, .785)
1B: Kevin Youkilis (.848, .862)
2B: Dustin Pedroia (.811, .715)
SS: Julio Lugo (.651, .678)
3B: Mike Lowell (.880, .814)
LF: Manny Ramirez (.880, 2.333)
CF: Coco Crisp (.712, .625)
RF: J.D. Drew (.769, .884)
DH: David Ortiz (1.032, 1.116)
Key Bench: Jacoby Ellsbury (.976, 1.027), Eric Hinske (.727, .797), Alex Cora (.678, .480)
SP: Josh Beckett (3.14, 2.86), Curt Schilling (3.97, 3.38), Daisuke Matsuzaka (4.48, 9.11), Tim Wakefield (4.80, 10.70)
Key Bullpen: Hideki Okajima (2.28, 15.19), Eric Gagne (4.01, 5.14), Jonathan Papelbon (1.93, 2.61)

New York Yankees:

C: Jorge Posada (.969, 1.065)
1B: Doug Mientkiewicz (.753, 1.132)
2B: Robinson Cano (.831, .826)
SS: Derek Jeter (.826, .830)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (1.055, 1.055)
LF: Hideki Matsui (.861, .671)
CF: Melky Cabrera (.731, .519)
RF: Bobby Abreu (.815, .803)
DH: Jason Giambi (.798, .658)
Key Bench: Johnny Damon (.719, .621), Wilson Betemit (.700, .603) Jose Molina (.614, .955)
SP: Chien-Ming Wang (3.72, 2.65), Andy Pettitte (3.81, 4.34), Roger Clemens (4.18, 3.38), Mike Mussina (4.96, 3.76)
Key Bullpen: Joba Chamberlain (0.42, 0.71), Luis Vizcaino (4.17, 7.88), Mariano Rivera (2.86, 0.42)

Cleveland Indians:

C: Victor Martinez (.877, .853)
1B: Ryan Garko (.842, .784)
2B: Josh Barfield (.599, .750)
SS: Jhonny Peralta (.776, .742)
3B: Casey Blake (.771, .790)
LF: Kenny Lofton (.783, .735)
CF: Grady Sizemore (.852, .861)
RF: Franklin Gutierrez (.817, .800)
DH: Travis Hafner (.818, .850)
Key Bench: Jason Michaels (.737, .904), Chris Gomez (.730, .748), Trot Nixon (.688, .425)
SP: C.C. Sabathia (3.19, 2.19), Fausto Carmona (3.03, 2.68), Paul Byrd (4.55, 5.02), Jake Westbrook (4.32, 4.10)
Key Bullpen: Rafael Betancourt (1.41, 1.10), Rafael Perez (1.69, 1.26), Joe Borowski (4.96, 2.45)

Los Angeles Angels:

C: Jeff Mathis (.646, .733)
1B: Casey Kotchman (.841, .845)
2B: Howie Kendrick (.807, .848)
SS: Orlando Cabrera (.751, .660)
3B: Maicer Izturis (.753, .775)
LF: Garrett Anderson (.843, 1.162)
CF: Gary Matthews, Jr. (.747, .603)
RF: Chone Figgins (.846, .971)
DH: Vladimir Guerrero (.943, .912)
Key Bench: Reggie Willits (.741, .646), Kendry Morales (.807, .839), Robb Quinlan (.639, .718)
SP: John Lackey (3.11, 2.22), Kelvim Escobar (3.46, 7.36), Jered Weaver (4.01, 4.20), Bartolo Colon (6.41, 4.26)
Key Bullpen: Scot Shields (3.87, 5.40), Justin Speier (3.04, 2.38), Francisco Rodriguez (2.89, 3.38)