Barra: Yankees 2012: OK But No Cigar…Yet

Kids remember…Gutting the blunt can lead to Jeter o’er Cano stunt.

I could do this with just about every Yankee - except for Derek Jeter, who was, clearly, the team MVP this year even over Robinson Cano. If all the above and A-Rod and Teixeira, the Yankee would have never had a second half slump and the Orioles wouldn’t have been breathing down our necks in September.

So, I can’t quite shake the feeling that the 2012 Yankees are underachievers, and I can’t help but feel uneasy going into the playoffs, no matter who we play. Okay, I’m cheered that we clobbered the Red Sox in those last three games, but, after all, was that team really the Red Sox? Without Big Papi in the lineup, they seem more like a collection of refugees from Boston’s Triple-A affiliates a collection of sad-sack .250 hitters lucky to be getting some big league playing time. I was even saddened to see once-splendid Dice-K sent out there yesterday like a sacrificial lamb.

Perhaps focusing on one team all year causes you to overanalyze and underappreciate. You lose the perspective you get from watching all the teams from a distance. But only one thing would make me feel better about this year’s Yankees - winning the World Series.