nice season by both teams, although the yankees didnt play as well as they should have, i had a feeling that they would still catch one of the teams, esp the D-Rays. But both Tampa and Boston played great ball the entire season. Gonna suck not having a team to root for this year...but for the fans of the D-Rays(especially) and the Sox....enjoy the postseason...my Yanks are gonna be gunnin' for you next season to start another 15(+) year postseason appearance streak

What's the fun if Yankees fans start to be nice?!!!
Come on be an a..h...!! It's not funny if the bad guys start to be good!

Funny how Joe Torre's going to the post season but the Yanks are not...coincidence?

I love Torre. Would't mind it a bit if he was still our manager. But in that division this year, the Dodgers would have been in the playoffs anyway. Grady Little. Joe Torre. Joe Girardi. Wouldn't matter. Once they got Manny, that changed everything in that division. Sure, Torre gets some of the credit, but front office moves that panned out (Manny, Casey Blake) get most of it.

And would the Yankees have made the playoffs with Torre? That's hard to say. The injuries still would have happened. Most important, to say that they would have made it takes away from what Tampa and Boston accomplished this year. And I am like Pooj in that regard: just can't do discredit the Rays or Red Sox. Those teams were better on the mound and at the plate, and I don't know if Torre would have made that much of a difference this year. Let's just start a new playoff streak next season.

The Yankees and Toronto would be post season teams in the Dodgers 'division'
Also, I give full credit to the Rays what a great year and Bo$ton was great too, but they are ju$t like the Yankee$ with the $ so fugghedaboudit

Dude, that's a MAJOR stretch. You are drastically underestimating what a complete MESS that clubhouse was. They had a bunch of young guys last year who were openly fighting with the veterans, and verbally jabbing via the press...Jeff Kent is a disaster and has been a horrible teammate everywhere he's been...Nomar is a quirky dude who loves himself...Brad Penny is an egomaniac...Derek Lowe went from flaky millionaire to the hottest pitcher in baseball...Andruw Jones showed up making $18 million, was overweight, and clearly didn't care about baseball anymore...It's sad when MANNY RAMIREZ brings some stability to your locker room.

Give Torre the credit. The front office you're giving the credit to also gave $50 million to Andruw Jones to hit .158 this year. They are in a division with the two teams who played in the NLCS last year. They were nowhere to be found in the divisional race last year. There's something to be said for the calming, professional influence that Torre has on a ballclub.

I DO give Torre credit. In fact, I said that in my post. I don't disagree with anything you said about Torre's calming influence in the clubhouse, nor do I disagree with anything you said about Nomar, Lowe, Andruw, etc.

But the Yankees would not have made the playoffs with Torre as manager this year, in my opinion. Too many injuries. More important, the Rays and Red Sox were better teams all season long.

And you have to give credit to the Dodgers front office who recognized that a couple of moves in that weak division could make them a playoff team. Add Blake. Add Manny. Win division. Don't make those moves, and the Diamondbacks are in the playoffs. Simple as that. Therefore, I think slightly more credit goes to the front office for making those two moves.

But whatever. The beauty of Joe Torre is he doesn't care who gets the credit.