1) Phillies, 2) Yankees, 3) Rays, 4) Giants, 5) Rangers, 6) Reds, 7) Braves, 8) Twins
Here's what Heyman had to say about the Yankees:
They get the benefit of the doubt for their talent and even their tradition. But their recent performance (especially their starting pitchers' bad performances) has been nothing short of worrisome. After ace CC Sabathia, there are mostly questions. Phil Hughes hasn't had a good second half but a revamped changeup has helped in recent days, and Andy Pettitte, a playoff staple, has groin/back questions. They will need big performances from one or both of them considering A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez look all but unusable. The team's 4.30 ERA since the break is 26th-best in baseball. As for the bullpen, Kerry Wood has helped, and Joba Chamberlain and Dave Robertson are having nice second halves, but even Mariano Rivera has been less than perfect lately. The bullpen's 3.42 ERA is seventh-best in baseball. Their offense could carry them, in any case, especially if Alex Rodriguez can come anywhere close to repeating last year's October performance, when he batted .365 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 15 games. Their 855 runs is tops in the game. Mark Teixeira, who has endured thumb and toe injuries recently, is among their regulars who will go into the playoffs pretty beat up, though. Odds: 4-1