SU is excited for the Yankees’ post-season. As stated here a number of times, for me it’s about the journey; not just the end result. This was an enjoyable season for the Yankees – and it comes after several years of borderline uninspiring baseball in the Bronx by boring players. They have finally figured out how to go young and by making the playoffs, they are a year ahead of schedule.
I was impressed how the team battled through September to try and win the division and Boston really had to match their strong play day in and day out to capture the title. But the reality is that they fell short – undone by some truly brutal blown saves by the bullpen. But that’s baseball and after 162 games, it is what it is. For SU, the season is a success. Now, some will criticize SU as being accepting of less than a World Series title but I would say this: is it fair to expect a team to win it all with Todd Frazier at 3rd base and Jaime Garcia in your rotation? The goal this year was to get young and prepare for the future. They have such a strong offensive line up now going forward. Gleybar Torres will be here next season and Todd Frazier can resume striking out and hitting .200 for someone else.
Now, is it fair for the Wild Card “round” to be just one game? I actually do not have a problem with it. There has to be a reward for winning the division and there needs to be a penalty for coming in 2nd. MLB could make this first round 2 out of 3 but the clock is ticking and the season will already extend into early November most likely. And that is why I refuse to say the season would be a disappointment if the Yankees lose this game. Anything can happen in one game. In the perfect world, they win tomorrow and then you are playing with house money. But remember, this is a young team and the guys playing key roles tomorrow (Judge, Sanchez, Severino, Didi, Hicks) have not been there before for the most part. Sometimes you need to lose to win the following year.
In terms of tomorrow’s line up, Girardi has some decisions to make. SU would put Headley at 3rd base, DH Ellsbury and put Hicks in centerfield. However, as we all know, Todd Frazier must play every inning in every game so either Ellsbury or Hicks will likely be the odd man out. SU believes they will win this game and then it’s on to Cleveland which is a tough match-up with their hard throwers. But remember this: it will always come down to Todd Frazier in a big situation.
So, what do you think? Is the 1-game wild card fair?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Just think of it as the 3rd game of the 3 game series. Or the 7th of a 7 game and it’s fair. 2 of 3 would be better but we know the owners wont let MLB cut the season back to 154 to keep the season out of November.
I love the one game wild card format, because it makes winning the division so much more important. Personally, I’d argue that the wild card games aren’t really “postseason” games. They’re the equivalent of the one-game playoff in 1978 – a 163rd regular season game to determine who advances to the postseason. But call it whatever you want, I think it appropriately rewards the division winners (extra rest, plus forcing the wild card teams to burn their best pitcher before the real playoffs even start) and makes for great theater. Win-win.
One game playoff is fair. I hated when wildcard had same status as division winner. I don’t mind Frazier at third, better D than Headley and can hit the homer. In fact I would play both Hicks and Elsbury and sit Headley.
Fraizier has not been that bad during the month of September. If Minny”s pitcher is a lefty I wonder how much confidence Girardi has in Bird. I say play him. He really looks good and i’m sure he will do just fine against a lefty pitcher. plus u need some lefty hitting power balance in the lineup especially at Yankee Stadium. Short porch. I think Headly has cooled off a bit so i think its a toss up between him and Frazier. I’m good either way whether Ellsbury or Hicks starts or the other one is the DH. Odd man out seems to be Matt Holiday. Would be good coming off the bench as a pinch hitter if we are desperate and need a home run. Clint can come in if we need to steal a base. Torrez might be the most clutch Yankee on the team if there is a man on third and less than 2 outs.
I do agree that Betances and Chapman to a slightly less degree have been both disappointments. I wonder how many blown saves we had versus the rest of the league. I can’ t see Betances here next season.
Lastly, I agree that this season was exciting but we won 91 games and it would be disappointing to lose tomorrow at home. Severino is on the mound. We crushed Minny 10 days ago. We have the best record at home in the league. Our offense looks very strong right now with many players hitting. All signs point to a win. Yes, the season would be tarnished somewhat if we did not win tomorrow. It would also mean we’d have to watch the NY Giants play.
Completely fair and good for baseball. Looking at it through the eyes of an 11 and 8 year old kid, they both can’t stop talking about it.
The one game format is genius actually. It takes the #1 starter out of the mix for the 1st game of the next round which gives a real reward for winning the division.
I think it’s fair in this case (the AL case) as the two wild card teams (NYY and Minn) have records that are worse than the division winners (Bos, CLE and HOU). However, in the NL, Arizona has a good argument that they won more games (93) than the Chicago Cubs (92), why should they be in a one game playoff and the Cubs get a 5 game series? For a more dramatic view of it, in 2015, the Cardinals won the NL Central with 100 wins. The Pirates and Cubs came in 2nd and 3rd in the NL central with 98 and 97 wins respectively, and played in the wild card game. However, the NL West winner, LA Dodgers, only had 92 wins and the NL East winner, the Mets, only had 90 wins. When you look at it from that lens, it doesn’t look that fair.
It goes to the question of whether divisions matter anymore with everyone playing everyone and interleague play.