"How about the Yankees?"

-- "How about the Yankees?" That is the quote that defines the return of the swagger that carried the dynastic Yankees teams of the late 90s and 2000. After defeating the Twins last night, YES Network's Kim Jones asked another one of her vague, vapid personality inspired questions to the shoot from the hip, pie chef AJ Burnett. Jones asked a celebrating, beer/champagne drenched Burnett, "AJ, how about the Angels?", to which Burnett immediately replied, "How about the Yankees?......How about the Yankees?" That is not cockiness, that is giving his team credit for what it has done to this point, and it shows a true sense of confidence in their abilities going into the ALCS. This is the first Yankee team since 2003 that appears to be playing with a sense of calm, with a high level of confidence that they can win every game. They have the best bullpen since 1998, the best bench since 2000, a strong front three in their starting rotation, and a lineup whose eighth batter is a guy who hit almost thirty homeruns in the regular season (Nick Swisher).


-With all of that said however, there should be a level of concern surrounding the team's performance in the playoffs thus far. Everyone looks at the recent sweep of the Twins at face value and as an easy victory. However, aside from three players the Yankees offense was stifled by Blackburn and Pavano (not even close to Lackey and Weaver who they will see in the ALCS). Let's break it down shall we?



- Posada, Jeter, and Rodriguez combined went 13 for 32 (.406) with 3 doubles, 4 homeruns, and 10 RBI in the series. The rest of the Yankees starting lineup went a combined 10 for 69 (.149) with 1 double, 2 homeruns, and 5 RBI.



-The team that during the regular season played as a cohesive offensive juggernaut was held to a .225 batting average and an emaciated .288 on base percentage against a Twins team that many would argue wasn't even a playoff caliber team. This of course does not mean the team wont hit in the next series, but it should be acknowledged since in my opinion it was gravely overlooked as the corks popped Sunday night.

-This brings it all home to what is most important in the postseason, pitching. The rotation and bullpen for the Yankees won the ALDS hands down, so AJ Burnett cheers to you in saying "How about them Yankees?", but may I suggest changing that a bit to, "How about them Yankees pitchers?"

--ALCS X-factors

• Yankees: AJ Burnett, Jorge Posada's defense.
• Angels: Chone Figgins (keeping him off base), Bobby Abreu