NEW YORK -- The Yankees had just begun celebrating their 27th World Series title, and first in nine years (that's 63 in Yankee-drought years), when general manager Brian Cashman was asked about people saying his team bought a title.
"You can call us anything you want," Cashman said. "You're also going to have to call us world champions."
But if the Yankees' latest championship teaches us anything, it's that a big payroll is just money unless it's combined with smarts.
Here's what we can conclude off the 2009 postseason:
MINNEAPOLIS -- People in New York must think we're talking about some other guy named Carl Pavano.
And maybe we are.
The Carl Pavano who will start for the Twins on Sunday in Game 3 of their American League Division Series against the Yankees doesn't sound like the one who spent four years on the Yankees. Or, more precisely, their disabled list.
He's married now, with one child and another on the way. He's 33 years old and pitching on a one-year contract that forces him to earn his next deal.
For every Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte with a history of success in the October, the Yankees seem to have a player who has to prove himself in this coming one.
You'll hear all about from now until those players redeem themselves -- or the Yankees are eliminated.
"It's going to be a huge deal," said CC Sabathia, who will take a 7.92 ERA from his five playoff starts into Game 1 of this year's Division Series.
As fall begins and the Yankees near their first American League East championship since (gasp!) 2006, it's time for the focus in the Bronx to turn to the playoffs. While discussing Joba Chamberlain with the Bergen Record, Brian Cashman let two interesting playoff-related tidbits slip. The first is that the Yankees are planning on going with a 10-man pitching staff during the Division Series. The second is that Chamberlain isn't guaranteed one of those ten spots if he doesn't, "step it up," in the near future.
There's no denying that Chamberlain's been awful lately. In his last nine starts, his ERA is 8.25 and hitters are reaching base at a .409 clip. Even if he can't turn things around completely, it's hard to imagine him being left off the playoff roster entirely. Leaving him off of the playoff roster would leave a spot open for someone like Chad Gaudin, who's not really much of an upgrade. Still, looking at the schedule it's entirely possible that Cashman isn't bluffing.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira was one of the two big free agents available last winter along with CC Sabathia, and it wasn't exactly a huge surprise when he landed a $180 million deal with the Yankees. What has been somewhat surprising is Teixeira's inability to live up to his contract through the first month and a half of the season.
While Teixeira has hit seven home runs and driven in 19, his batting average sits at a lowly .202 through his first 114 at bats. Now Tex has always been a slow starter in his career, generally heating up along with the weather, but the man who signed him to that big contract thinks there's another factor to Mark's slow start. The pressure of living up to his deal and being a Yankee.
It's not just that they were swept by the hated Red Sox in Fenway Park. It's that their all-world closer, Mariano Rivera, coughed up a two-run lead with two outs in the ninth inning en route a 5-4 11-inning loss Friday night. It's that $82.5 million free-agent addition A.J. Burnett was gifted a six-run lead Saturday afternoon and he blew it, only to be matched by the bullpen in a 16-11 loss. It's that to add insult to a number of injuries, Jacoby Ellsbury stole home -- on a straight steal no less -- against Andy Pettitte Sunday night to cap off the sweep.
In a town like New York where the pressure is always on, it's bad enough to get swept. It's much worse to have it happen because of blown saves, flat-out lousy pitching and a mental error by a veteran starting pitcher.
FanHouse completes its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the New York Yankees.
When they signed A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira for a combined $423.5 million in December, the Yankees opened the door to criticism that they were just trying to use their revenue advantage to bludgeon the opposition. The team did use a heavy hand, but they aren't deserving of criticism.
The biggest competition in White Sox camp this spring was the same one it's been the last few seasons: the battle for center field and the leadoff spot. The three candidates were Brian Anderson, Jerry Owens, and Dewayne Wise, with Owens starting camp as the favorite. Well, now Owens will be leaving camp without being able to say he's even a member of the White Sox organization.
On Monday the White Sox placed Owens on waivers, which means that Dewayne Wise will be the team's starting center fielder and leadoff hitter.
Jeff Pearlman is best known as the reporter who was on the receiving end of John Rocker's now infamous rant abouttaking the No. 7 train to Shea Stadium in New York City, but he hasn't stopped digging up dirt on America's most famous -- and controversial -- professional athletes since that interview.
Jeff has authored four books over the last five years. The latest -- a biography of Roger Clemens titled The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality -- hits bookshelves nationwide Tuesday March 24.
FanHouse was lucky enough to speak with Jeff Tuesday afternoon about Clemens, the man, and many of the juicy details in the book. The full interview is after the jump.
If Joe Mauer's back problems won't go away, the Twins are left without a No. 3 hitter.
If Jorge Posada, can't come back from shoulder surgery to catch regularly, then he and Hideki Matsui have to split time at DH while Jose Molina catches, making the Yankees' A-Rod-less lineup even weaker.
If Jason Varitek isn't better than a .220 hitter, all his leadership and game-calling skills can't keep him in the Red Sox lineup much longer.
NEW YORK -- The Yankees had just begun celebrating their 27th World Series title, and first in nine years (that's 63 in Yankee-drought years), when general manager Brian Cashman was asked about people saying his team bought a title.
MINNEAPOLIS -- People in New York must think we're talking about some other guy named 
NEW YORK -- Can a team win the World Series with an ace sporting a 7.92 ERA and a cleanup hitter with one RBI in his past 59 at-bats in the playoffs?
As fall begins and the 
Yankees first baseman 
It might be a tough Monday morning in Yankeeland.
The biggest competition in White Sox camp this spring was the same one it's been the last few seasons: the battle for center field and the leadoff spot. The three candidates were 
Jeff Pearlman is best known as the reporter who was on the receiving end of John Rocker's 
