Can’t we just get to a playoff game already? Thanks to friggin’ Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings, we are still waiting around to find out who the Yankees will play in the first round of the American League playoffs.

Oh well, here are some stories making the rounds of the Yankee Universe to occupy your time while you wait for the Minnesota-Detroit winner today.

• While the Yankees wait, they have decisions to make about the schedule they will play and the 25-man roster they will utilize. Here is my pitching staff, based on the Yankees taking just 10 pitchers into the opening round. CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, Alfredo Aceves, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain and a tossup between Chad Gaudin and Damaso Marte. It’s Marte if the Yanks play the Twins, Gaudin if it’s the Tigers. Your thoughts?
• Jon Heyman of SI.com listed his thoughts on the 30 best moves of the season by teams around the league. not surprisingly, several of the moves made by Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman this season appear on that list.
• The Yankee Universe examines just how promising phenom Jesus Montero really is. Let’s just say they conclude he is really, really promising. ‘Kudos’ to River Avenue Blues for this find.

We all know about the steroids controversy and the hip surgery and the most circus-like spring a player has ever had to deal with. When A-Rod returned to the Yankees on May 8, he talked to us about “trimming the fat” from his life and letting his baseball do his talking for him.

Like many, I was skeptical that he would be able to follow through, as he has a penchant for opening his mouth at the wrong time. At some point, he would say the wrong thing, spark some controversy or find himself on the gossip pages, and the whole sideshow would start up again. It was inevitable, right?

Wrong.

A-Rod stayed true to his word, granting few interviews outside of some postgang group sessions and laying low at the ballpark. He dealt with his hip injury throughout the season, and the fatigue that led to a pair of days off in June amounted to the most controversial headlines he would face all year – and that was only because the games were in his hometown of Miami.

“I didn’t expect any of you guys to take me at my word – and I don’t blame you,” A-Rod said. “But for me, I think I’ve done a good job of that this year. Hopefully I can do that for the rest of my career. … I’m in a place in my life and in my life – professionally and in my personal life – that I want to hold on to. I definitely don’t want to change it.”

But as we all know, if the Yankees fail to get out of the first round again, the first thing people will look at are A-Rod’s stats, and if they resemble the ones he posted in the last three playoff series, his reputation as an October choke artist will grow even larger.

From Pinstripe Alley. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.