First off, congratulations to the San Francisco Giants on their 7th World Series Championship. A ten inning, 4-3 victory over the American League champion Detroit Tigers ended with triple crown and potential MVP Miguel Cabrera striking out against Giants closer Sergio Romo. The Giants completed a remarkable run, one in which they began the playoffs in fear of being swept by the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS. Not only they did comeback in that series, the Giants did it again by defeating the reigning champs, the St. Louis Cardinals, after trailing 3-1 in the series. A postseason that will be remembered for its remarkable comebacks (Ibanez heroics, Cards-Nats series) was epitomized by the Giants' run toward the title. The Giants were the first National League team to sweep the World Series after staving off at least three straight elimination games. Additionally, they were only the fourth National League team to win two World Series in a three year span joining the '75-'76 Reds, the '63-65 Dodgers and the '42-44 Cardinals.  Looking back, the Giants were led by an unflappable pitching staff, a very solid lineup, and above average defense, the Giants seemed destined for October greatness. They even had the likely NL MVP in Buster Posey and a Cy Young candidate in Matt Cain. How was anybody but the Giants considered the favorites?

                 In my opinion, come October, every team will have its star players. However, what separates the good teams from the great ones is the production from "role players." What are role players? I just like to call role players the guys who do not make a ton of money and do not receive the same publicity as say an MVP candidate or triple crown winner. For the Giants, they simply had better role players than the Tigers. Marco Scutaro, the NLCS MVP, came up with key hits throughout the postseason and drove game winning run in Game 4. Gregor Blanco, someone who did not even play in 2011, came up with spectacular defense and produced a key RBI triple in Game 3. Even on an intangible basis, Hunter Pence's leadership has been quoted frequently for uniting the Giants to play their best. Another key factor was the role of the San Francisco bullpen. Heading into the playoffs, I praised the Cincinnati Reds bullpen as the best in baseball, with talented arms such as Aroldis Chapman and Sean Marshall leading the charge. The Giants, no doubt, also had a very solid bullpen (4.01 R/G) but was far from being among the elite pens in Major League Baseball (9th). However, one aspect that was not accounted for was the development of Tim Lincecum as a relief ace. Lincecum, a two time Cy Young award winner, threw the third most innings this postseason for a Giants pitching and struck out 8 in 4 and 2/3 innings pitched in the World Series alone. Using Lincecum to pitch in high leverage situations greatly aided the Giants ability to get out of potential jams with little to no damage. The maximization of every piece on the Giants roster allowed them to roll over a team considered the favorites heading into the series. Depth and overall team production was simply better than a frontloaded Tigers team in terms of talent.

                The Giants became just the second team ever to win six elimination games en route to a World Series Championship. A season that culminated in the greatest team honor was no doubt without adversity. Melky Cabrera, arguably the team's best hitter (.346 AVG, 158 OPS+),  was suspended on August 15th for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off the blockbuster of the Century in the infamous Nick Punto Trade (that also happened to send former all-stars Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez to Tinseltown). Fanatical and borderline insane closer Brian Wilson pitched in two games before being shut down for the season for Tommy John surgery. Nevertheless, players such as Sergio Romo and the aforementioned Blanco, Pence, and Scutaro all greatly contributed toward the Giants clinching their second World Series Title in the past three seasons.  Is it too early to proclaim this Giants team as the next great baseball franchise. Probably, considering we were saying the same thing about the Red Sox a couple of years ago and look how that has turned out. But one thing is for sure, and that is the San Francisco Giants are the champions of baseball.

       The season wasn't supposed to end this way. The Yankees finished the season with the best record in the American League, most home runs hit, second most runs scored,  and had 53 years of postseason experience in their starting lineup alone. Anything short of their 28th World Series Championship would be considered a failure, and regarded by many as the favorite to win the fall classic. They had All-Stars Derek Jeter , Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and CC Sabathia. Hiroki Kuroda won 16 games and had a solid 126 ERA+, while the bullpen included Rafael Soriano (42 SV, 2.26 ERA) and David Robertson (12 K/9, 157 ERA+) After all, they were the New York freaking Yankees, the most storied franchise in all of sports. They had momentum (finished season on 13-4 run) Yet, a season that began with lofty expectations and in complete disaster, following an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.

            The Yankees cruised into the playoffs finishing the final month 19-9 with contributers such as Robinson Cano (.593/.600/1.074) and Curtis Granderson (.333/.393/750) red-hot over the final week. Since they had the best record in the league and won the division, the Bombers would also be exempt from the sudden-death Wild Card Game and have "home-field advantage" throughout the playoffs. After a Orioles victory in the Wild Card game, the Yankees would be playing the intra-divisional rival whom they were an even 9-9 during the regular season. An exciting number of close games, peppered with heroic performances (Raaaauuuul!), took the Yankees to a deciding game 5 which saw a dominant C.C. Sabathia take the Yankees to the ALCS. A series in which the Yankees as a team only batted .211/.278/.333 could have provided some apprehension towards future success but could the Yankees talented offense remain ice-cold. After all, they had the most runs scored, home runs, on base percentage, slugging percentage in the league. No way the mighty Yankees would futile in the batter's box for another series…

            Well, not only did they stay frigid with the bat, but the Yankees took a bad offensive performance and made it historic. The Yankees had the worst batting average (.188) in a single postseason,  Robinson Cano's 0-29 stretch was the longest in postseason history, and only scored one of their six runs prior to the ninth inning. Furthermore, Quentin Berry (yes, Quentin Berry) had a higher OPS (.625) than all but four Yankees. Additionally, the staff was not that great as New York pitchers combined for a 4.14 ERA. Clearly, the Yankees just fell apart this series and were overmatched especially at the plate. Big names such as Robinson Cano , Nick Swisher , Alex Rodriguez , Mark Teixeira , and even Raul Ibanez all batted below .250. Also, it's not just that they slumped but the fact that they were the best offense in the American League and frankly because they have the highest payroll in the league. Teams with $209 million payrolls and that kind of talent are not supposed to flounder in October, no matter how good the opponent is. No doubt, credit should go to Detroit, as their pitchers (minus Jose Valverde ) only allowed 2 runs in the entire series and hitters combined for an .802 OPS. They were another talented team that vastly underperformed (rather, in the regular season) and had a mountain of payroll and expectations coming into the season. Nevertheless, the pathetic showing by the Yankees cannot be explained by much other than the fact that their offense did not show up, clear and simple.

            After an embarrassing postseason, the Yankees will face a series of decisions this offseason. Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez are all free agents. Most likely is that Swisher will leave for a long-term commitment, depriving the team of a good OBP source and their starting RF. Theoretically, if Ichiro is resigned, the Yankees can go Brett Gardner in LF, Granderson in CF, and Ichiro in RF. I could definitely see the Yankees going this path considering Ichiro's success in pinstripes without having to pay the big bucks for Swisher's services. Also, Rafael Soriano possesses an opt-out clause to become a free agent. Presumably, Soriano will take this in order  to obtain more years at a premium price. Additionally, it seems fairly reasonable that Pettitte, Rivera, and Kuroda will be back due to their desire to stay in the Bronx. Other than some minor moves for bench and bullpen players, the Yankees do not have any glaring holes to be filled.

            However, one major concern is the aging of the team. The Yankees will have 0! position players under 30, barring a offseason move. This aging, although it may not have been clearly visible yet, should result in a gradual attrition of their ability to hit and play the field on an everyday basis. Alex Rodriguez has already showed signs of slowing down in his own miserable postseason (have fun with another 5 years $114 million Yankees fans) as well as Mark Teixeira. Robinson Cano will play next season at age 30 and will command a long-term commitment upwards of 6-7 years. And despite his defensive shortcomings, Derek Jeter cannot keep producing offensively, right? Brain Cashman and the front office must add youth to this team sooner rather than later. Even the Yankees have to restock on talent at some point.

            Personally, this is how I would fix the Yankees and their age issue. First, I would trade Alex Rodriguez to anyone who wants him and absorb the majority of his contract so that the team could obtain better prospects. Second, I would not extend Robinson Cano to a long term contract. He will be entering his post-prime and although he has had no injury history to this point, second basemen have a tendency to break down rapidly following their age 30-32 seasons (see Utley, Chase). Lastly I would trade Mark Teixeira and eat most of his contract so once again, better prospects could be sent back to New York. Although, the Yankees still have a ton of talent, their offensive struggles highlighted a growing concern about the team's age and its ability to hold up over a full season. This is something needed to be addressed over the next season, or else the Yankees, although equipped with the most financial freedom in the game, will have a rude awakening