AL East

After a brilliant performance in Game 3 from Phil Hughes, Joe Girardi has decided to switch him and Pettitte in the playoff rotation. And not only that, A.J. Burnett is getting the nod in Game 4. 

This may come as a surprise to a lot of people after Pettitte's good outing against the Twins in Game 2, and A.J. Burnett's horrendous regular season. But you have to trust the decisions your manager makes and I'm sure Joe Girardi knows what he's doing. 

As a diehard Rays fan, last night's Game 5 loss hurt especially hard.  Yes, it was an elimination game that ended what I thought would be a season ending with the World Series coming to Tampa.  

But it also means the likely end to 1B Carlos Pena, LF Carlos Crawford and closer Rafael Soriano.

Crawford—the heart and face of the franchise for the past nine seasons, will likely (and rightfully so) seek greener pastures next season.  But contrary to popular belief, the Rays will be just fine come next season. 

I am a fine connoisseur of movies that fall under the banner of "so bad, they're good."

If it has stilted dialogue, gaping plot holes, poor special effects and gratuitous sex scenes, I am in.

Now that the ALCS matchup has been determined after the Texas Rangers sent the Tampa Bay Rays packing with a 5-1 victory last night in St. Petersburg, the Yankees have a decision to make.

The Yankees made quick work of the Twins in the ALDS. In fact, they were so quick in dispatching the Twins that they didn’t get a chance to use Joba Chamberlain at all.

So the Rangers finally finished off the Rays last night so the Yankees will fly over to Texas to prepare for the ALCS that will start on Friday.

Here are some notes:

Via the NY Post:

The moment the Texas Rangers' Cliff Lee hurled his last strike Tuesday night; he not only killed the Tampa Bay Rays' postseason dreams, but also gave the New York Yankees an official ALCS opponent for Game One on Friday night.

The Yankees will fly down to Texas to face the Rangers in the seven-game ALCS series, which for one team will lead to the World Series.

In all honesty, predictions were betting the Rays would beat the Rangers in the ALDS, but in a five-game series, there is no room to stumble.

If anyone was surprised at Cliff Lee’s performance in today’s ALDS conclusion, they haven't watched enough baseball to call themselves fans.

If this postseason has made one thing perfectly evident, it is that a true ace in the postseason is worth many times his weight in gold. What’s more astonishing is how accurately one may predict the outcome of a series, especially a short series like the divisional round, simply by assessing the caliber of a team’s ace.

The regular season is over and it is that time for the end of the season awards. Much like the newspapers have the BBWAA that votes on the end of the year awards that everyone makes a big deal about, us bloggers have the Baseball Bloggers Alliance that votes on our own version of the awards.