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In March, I think most of us would have said 95 wins would be the minimum needed to get to the playoffs in 2007 and we were almost dead on. The Red Sox won 96 which took the division, ditto Cleveland and the Yankees and Angels won 94 which got them into the playoffs too. We will reflect on all of that later, but for now, let's review 2007.

Let's start with the biggest surprises and I think you have to say there are three big ones, Posada, A-Rod and Joba. Let's start with the hitters, if you thought A-Rod would turn in the best offensive season by a Yankee in 50 years and Posada would turn in one of the best ever offensive seasons by a catcher over 35, you should head to Vegas. What that duo did is amazing and as impressive as A-Rod's year was it overshadowed an amazing one by Posada. Jorge hit .338 and his OBP and SLG%'s were career highs. That doesn't usually happen at 35 and the Yankees have to be careful when negotiating a new deal with him.

Joba came literally out of nowhere and transformed the bullpen. I wasn't a fan of the move at the time and boy was I wrong. Let's just hope the Yankees are smart enough to put the kid back into the rotation next year.

Disappointments? Well Carl Pavano's continued fragility comes to mind, but let's put Kei Igawa at the top of that list. It certainly looks like the Yankees threw away the $26 million posting fee, but maybe they can trade him in the offseason. Giambi and Damon had bad years and Kyle Farnsworth continues to underwhelm.

Big kudos have to go to Torre and Cashman for getting this team to the playoffs. Torre deserves huge credit for keeping a steady hand throughout an awful start and refusing to panic. 2007 showed that Cashman's rebuilding of the farm system is real and he wisely chose to stand pat at the trade deadline. The Yankees are still not a young team, but Cashman has at least made it plausible that the Yankees will rebuild on the fly.

So, 94-68 and a 13th-straight playoff spot. Now the real fun starts.