Second wild card is bogus. In fact, the first wild card is bogus.

Why was anyone expecting a great team to take the second wild card?

Ten teams out of thirty make the playoffs in MLB. 

The Yankees, at their best, are a mediocre team.  The sole reason the Yankees have hope is because lots of mediocre teams make the playoffs in MLB and quite a few mediocre teams go on to win the World Series:


"While it has indeed been a bit of a miracle managing job on Joe Girardi’s part, keeping this Yankee team September relevant in the face of all the injuries and all the wear-down of his veteran starters, he still couldn’t have done it without the help of the Tampa Bay bullpen, the Kansas City Royals’ offense, the Orioles’ strikeout-challenged pitching and now, all of a sudden, a second straight September implosion on the part of Ron Washington’s Texas Rangers."

Of course.

Just like the Rays are "lucky" the Astros didn't win 120 games. If the Astros had won 120 games, then the Rays would not make the playoffs.


"Of course, even with the easy schedule, Girardi’s wild-card task just seems to get tougher and tougher. With Gardner gone for the season with an oblique injury, Soriano nursing a sprained right thumb and the uncertainty of just how many more games, if any, Rodriguez has left in him, Girardi’s lineup, which also now includes light-hitting Brendan Ryan at shortstop, appears to be once again diminished to its first-half model that averaged 3.9 runs and eight hits a game. Overall, the Yankees rank 12th in the AL in on-base percentage, a category in which they routinely finished first or second the past 20 years."

The Yankees offense has improved greatly since the additions of Granderson, Reynolds, ARod, and Soriano. The on-base% is up from 14th or 15th.


"So it stands to reason, the Yankees are going to struggle scoring runs again — at least everyone is going to be spared that magic moment of A-Rod passing Willie Mays on the all-time home run list — leaving in question whether the starting pitching can at least keep games in check, as they did in the first-half formula of getting a lead to David Robertson and Mariano Rivera."

I feel relieved.

Since Bill Madden just wrote off ARod again, I'm pretty sure ARod is going to come back strong in the next two weeks.  Maybe "everyone" will not be spared the torture of an ARod home run.

In fact, this is the only time I have felt confident the Yankees can make the playoffs.



"Maybe the Blue Jays, Giants, Rays and Astros will provide a welcome end-of-season breather for this beat-up Yankee team. Or maybe the Yanks are simply too beat up now to make a big finish.

On the other hand, the way most of the other wild-card contenders have been playing, it may not take a big finish."

Of course this ... it stands to reason that ... maybe this, maybe that ... on the other hand.

The Yankees will make the playoffs ... the Yankees won't make the playoffs ... the Yankees will make the playoffs ... the Yankees might make the playoffs.

So you're basically saying you don't know what will happen over the next 12 games. Big ups to the in-depth baseball columnist.