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Who shouldn't make the Yankees playoff roster

hile the Yankees 25 man roster for the playoffs is all but set, and you know who will be on it. I want to point out the handful of players who will make it without having earned their spot.

In some cases, it isn't entirely the players fault. Injury and a lack of playtime have held Jason Giambi back, although injury is not new to this one time MVP-caliber player. Jason has missed more than 2 months in the 2007 season. Never the less, Jason, since coming back is hitting under .180. While he has had 7 homeruns over that period, his OBP is way down. From where it usually is, in the .400's, his OBP is below .300 since his return. Add to that just 16 RBI's and he has been anything but an offensive force. One can argue that a lack of play time since coming back has kept his statistics down. I disagree with this statement because he has been given the opportunity to play as of late though. He has been given at-bats to try to break out of his slump and he has accomplished next to nothing. He is nowhere near the player he once was, and he is no longer an offensive threat. I know he will be on the Yankees 25 man roster as a pinch-hit "threat" and will no doubt be called on to get the big hit late in the game. This will most certainly turn out poorly. If he even manages the same results this postseason as he had last postseason, we can expect a .125 batting average and 1 RBI. He is no longer the hitter with the great eye who can earn a walk as well as drive the ball a long way. He chases pitches out of the zone constantly and has never been able to adjust to the "Giambi shift."

While we covered Jason Giambi on the offensive side, I would like to mention a couple relief pitchers in this list as well. For whatever reason, Joe Torre has given P Sean Henn opportunity after opportunity to pitch in big spots, and often, usually to a poor outcome. He has been inconsistent at the best of times. He pitched well in April, ending with a 3.00 era. Very respectable if you consider how terrible our pitching staff was the first months. In May however, he was unable to be consistent. With just 2 innings pitched in the month, the reliever allowed 5 runs and 5 walks. Skyrocketing his ERA to over 19.00! He wasn't used again until July where he continued to walk hitters and though he only gave up 2 earned runs in 5 innings, again proved he was unreliable. Then he went bad! He pitched in 6 games in August, allowing 19 hits, 9 walks and 18 runs over 9.1 innings pitched. These stats point out one thing. He is unable to get outs. He consistently walks players (He has given up 27 walks in 36 innings) and has given up 44 hits. For whatever reason, Sean Henn has received chance after chance to prove himself, and all that he has proved is that he is unable to perform(at least at this point) at the major league level.

Another pitcher I want to mention (though at times has been dominating!) has just been too inconsistent. Edwar Ramirez, a favorite of many of you, was actually out of baseball when he taught himself his devastating change-up. His first career appearance, July 3rd against Minnesota gave us a glimpse of what Edwar is capable of. He dominated the twins, going 1-2-3, striking out 3. There have been times this season where he has been as dominating as Joba Chamberlain! There have also been times where he is unable to spot his change-up and fastball. With a fastball topping out at 90 mph, he can ill-afford to lose his control. He allowed 12 runs over 9 innings in September and he has shown that he has some issues to work out before he is ready for the big stage. I hate to put Ramirez on this list, with his stuff, he can have a serious impact; but not this season. He would be unreliable in the playoffs and we need to limit the weak links if we hope to compete for the ALCS and World Series.

Written by Verb 10/1/2007 www.nyypride.com

Verb writes daily articles on the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball. He maintains his own website at New York Yankee Pride