One can use the matchup excuse for the Yankees but look at what happened in 2004 with Boston and 2006 with Detroit where the Yankees traditionally had an edge over those teams. Could it be that the Yankees are ill constructed for a short series relative to their counterparts? I could could pick Raf’s concept of usual suspects, but the Phightin’ Phils only had reentered the playoffs in 2007 after years of almost making it, so it is dubitable whether or not they are a usual suspect. The New York Mess(sic), they only appeared in the playoffs once since 2000, far from a yearly appearance I might say!

There is parity no doubt about it BUT the Yanks haven’t excelled in the playoffs the last few years. I find it trublesome that CC is just OK in the playoffs, AJ has never pitched in the playoffs, Wang is either mediocre OR terrible, and Andy has been good in the post season BUT is Andy on the decline? That is something which in constructing this team, Cash Man might have yet again made a team that could win 95-100 during the regular season BUT maybe not make it past the first round again………

I dunno about the parity quest, since of those teams listed, several have made repeat appearances, and many of the teams are the “usual suspects” when it comes to playoff appearances.