New York Yankees: Predicting the 25-Man Postseason Roster

While nearly 1,600 players have suited up for the New York Yankees during the regular season, only a fraction have played for the team when it counts the most—in the playoffs.

Players like Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone and the recently retired Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez all cemented their place in Yankees history with huge playoff performances.

From now until the end of the regular season, Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi and the rest of the Yankees brain trust will try to figure out which players should comprise the team's roster for the playoffs.

Will they make the right choices? Only time will tell.

But I'm up for a challenge.

After the jump, the 25-man roster that I think puts the Yankees in the best position to bring a World Series championship back to the Bronx.

Starting Eight

With one of the more-potent lineups in the game, the eight position players who have started the majority of the season for the New York Yankees will, obviously, be the starters in the playoffs.

Just in case you've temporarily lost your mind and cannot remember who got the Yankees to this point, these are the players who will take the first eight spots on the roster:

Derek Jeter

Robinson Cano

Mark Teixiera

Alex Rodriguez

Russell Martin

Brett Gardner

Curtis Granderson

Nick Swisher

Roster Count: 8 of 25.

Starting Rotation: It Starts with CC

The worst-kept secret is out—CC Sabathia is the best starting pitcher on the New York Yankees and one of the best in all of baseball.

Typically, teams go with a four-man rotation in the playoffs. The Yankees have five pitchers to choose from to fill the three rotation spots after Sabathia, with each one having their own issues: Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and AJ Burnett.

Obviously, Sabathia is a lock for the roster and the rotation.

Roster Count: 9 of 25.

Let's take a look at the other three pitchers who should join him.

No. 2 Starter: Ivan Nova

2011 Stats: 15-4, 3.81 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 151 innings, 92 strikeouts.

Coming into the season, nobody expected Ivan Nova to be more than a back-of-the-rotation starter or long reliever out of the bullpen.

Yet here we sit with just about three weeks left in the season, and not only has Nova been the most reliable starting pitcher not named CC Sabathia on the Yankees, but he finds himself in the middle of the discussion for AL Rookie of the Year.

Granted, Ivan Nova spent nearly the entire month of July in the minor leagues, but since a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Angels on June 3, he has gone 11-0 with 2 no decisions in his 13 starts for the Yankees.

Like the next starter on this list, to say that it's a surprise Ivan Nova is an integral part of the Yankees success or failure in the postseason is an understatement.

Roster Count: 10 of 25.

No. 3 Starter: Bartolo Colon

2011 Stats: 8-9, 3.55 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 152 innings, 128 strikeouts.

While Bartolo Colon has not been credited with a win since July 30, it certainly is not due to a lack of quality pitching performances. In four of his seven starts since his last victory, Colon has allowed two runs or less, and six of the seven were one-run games.

If someone had told me at the beginning of the season that Bartolo Colon would be a major factor in the Yankees postseason success or failure, I would have called that person crazy.

Amazing as it is to say, Colon is an important piece of the puzzle.

Roster Count: 11 of 25.

No. 4 Starter: Phil Hughes

2011 Stats: 5-5, 6.00 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 72 innings, 45 strikeouts.

How can I justify slotting Phil Hughes in the final spot on the playoff rotation?

In five of his last seven starts, Hughes has greatly improved from his early season problems: 4-1, 4.05 ERA, 1.10 WHIP over 40 innings.

That's vastly better than AJ Burnett over his last seven starts, including Tuesday night's 11-strikeout performance against the woeful Seattle Mariners:  2-2, 7.93 ERA, 1.82 WHIP over 35.2 innings.

Freddy Garcia, the other candidate for the final spot in the rotation, has not pitched poorly by any means over his last seven starts: 6-1, 3.89 ERA, 1.39 WHIP over 39 innings.

While Garcia's ERA over that time span is slightly lower than Hughes', Phil's WHIP is significantly lower then Freddy's. Taking that into consideration, along with what I suppose you could call a gut feeling, I believe Phil Hughes should get the nod.

Roster Count: 12 of 25.

Bullpen

A strength of the team over the vast majority of the season, the Yankees bullpen has been vital in the team's success this season, picking up the slack when the starters faltered.

Led by the legendary Mariano Rivera, this group should continue its dominance into the playoffs:

Mariano Rivera

David Robertson

Rafael Soriano

Boone Logan

Luis Ayala

Cory Wade

Freddy Garcia

No real surprises here. Garcia makes the cut over AJ Burnett because, well, Burnett simply cannot be trusted.

Roster Count: 19 of 25.

Backup Catcher

Francisco Cervelli's latest concussion has not only knocked him out of action for the time being, but chances are it's knocked the rest of this season (and potentially his catching career) out of the park as well.

This is Cervelli's third concussion since 2005, and his second in two years. The Yankees simply won't take chances with the man's health and risk further injury, which leaves them in a bit of a predicament.

Someone has to back up Russell Martin.

Is it Jesus Montero, the uber-prospect with the sweet stroke and weak glove?

Is it Jorge Posada, the seasoned veteran on his way out the door?

Neither. The correct answer is...Austin Romine.

With Cervelli on the DL, Romine can be an injury replacement for him on the postseason roster.

Defense wins championships, and Romine is the best defensive catcher of the group—Martin included.

Roster Count: 20 of 25.

Backup Infielders

Eric Chavez, the oft-injured, six-time Gold Glove Award winner, has played excellent defense for the Yankees when called upon this season.

His 48 games played are the most he has played since 2007, and his .276 average is the highest he's had since 2004 when he hit—wait for it—.276.

Chavez has the ability to play both corner infield spots, which leaves the middle of the diamond wide open.

Our two candidates are Ramiro Peña and Eduardo Núñez, and while Núñez has struggled with the glove this season, Pena's entire game has struggled all season long.

The offense that Núñez can provide beats out Peña easily, and Eduardo gets the nod as the backup to Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano.

Roster Count: 22 of 25.

Backup Outfielders

Realistically, the Yankees really only have three choices: Andruw Jones, Greg Golson and Chris Dickerson.

While his .243 average is subpar, Andruw Jones brings experience and an ability to hit left-handed pitching (.282 average, .929 OPS), and makes the cut.

At this point, the other outfielders would have to serve another purpose on the postseason roster—and in this case, it would be as a pinch runner.

Golson is arguably the better base stealer in this case, with 172 career stolen bases in the minors to Dickerson's 161, with both being caught 47 times.

However, when the Yankees needed another outfielder this year, Dickerson was the one to get the call.

Joe Girardi's familiarity with Dickerson beats out Golson.

Roster Count: 24 of 25.

Designated Hitter

Jesús Montero or Jorge Posada?

Baseball-wise, this is a fairly easy decision.

Montero has been on fire since joining the Yankees earlier this month, while Posada has struggled for the majority of the season.

As a Yankees fan who counts Jorge Posada as one of my five favorite Yankees of all time, saying that Posada should be left off of a postseason roster while he still wears pinstripes is virtually impossible for me to do.

But at the end of the day, Jesús Montero is too dynamic of a player to be left out of the picture.

Montero's in, Jorge's out.

Roster Count: 25 of 25.

Who Just Missed the Cut

Greg Golson: The Yankees have made it clear from their moves all season that they are more comfortable with Chris Dickerson at this point.

AJ Burnett: Regardless of his outstanding performance against the Seattle Mariners earlier this week, Burnett simply cannot be trusted and has done nothing to earn a spot on the roster.

Ramiro Peña: A scrappy player, Peña has been underwhelming in limited playing time.

Hector Noesi: He still has a bright future with the Yankees, but has faded down the stretch and has been outplayed by Cory Wade.

Jorge Posada: A sad ending to an outstanding career.