This Postseason Is Everything The Yankees Aren't

I've watched a fair amount of the MLB postseason so far, but last night was the first night I really sat down and WATCHED the games for extended periods of time.  With every series in action and the week's fantasy football matchup win already locked up, the timing was perfect.  As I sat watching 3 close, competitive, great games I was struck by a jarring reality; the Yankees really don't deserve to be in the postseason.  OK, maybe it's not that jarring when you remember how bad most of their team numbers were this season, but jarring in a sense that goes beyond the numbers.

It's more than just the numbers, it's the way the teams in the playoffs have built their rosters to contend.  There are bits and pieces everywhere of what the Yankees used to be, what they've gotten away from, and what they've never been.  The collection of teams in the playoffs and the various paths they've taken to get there are a perfect example of just how far off the mark the Yankees are with their business and baseball models.

In the AL, the Rays continue to be strong every year by drafting and developing well, building the core of their team from homegrown players, and constantly replenishing their system and Major League club with top prospect talent when their players become too expensive to hold onto.  The Red Sox completely retooled their roster in 1 offseason on the strength of their Major League scouting department and a handful of shrewd FA signings and trades.  The Tigers have built up a horde of strong starting pitching as their backbone, and the A's are still the best in the business at making the most out of the least.

In the National League, the Cardinals are the Rays Version 2.0 when it comes to drafting and developing their own talent.  They're rolling out rookie pitchers to start and close playoff games and watching them blow people away, constantly cultivating above-average position player talent, and they're doing it without the benefit of picking in the top 5 every year.  The Pirates took on the old Yankee trade deadline formula of slowly adding key pieces together through a series of smaller trades and signings, and the Dodgers adopted the more splashy, in-your-face approach on the trade and free agent market that used to be a staple of the big payroll Yankees.

Everywhere you look in these playoffs you can see remnants of what the Yankee formula used to be and where that formula misses the mark today as other teams have perfected formulas of their own.  The teams that are in these playoffs are the best teams in baseball, light years better than the 2013 Yankees, and they're the best for a number of reasons.  It's almost a good thing these Yankees didn't sneak into the playoffs because the results at the hands of these better clubs would have been even more brutal than other playoff exits past.  As the rest of baseball moves forward, the Yankees stay static and have taken a few steps back as a result.  Last night's games were a perfect, biting reminder of that.