The AP reports that A-Rod and his wife, Cynthia, are expecting their second child, due sometime in the spring. Congrats to them.

The Yankees will be in Jacobs Field in Cleveland tonight for Game 1 of their Division Series against the Indians. They will be making their 13th straight postseason appearance, and are actually the only of the eight postseason teams this year that was also there last October. The Indians will be making their first playoff appearance since 2001, when they nearly pulled off a historic upset of the Mariners, who won 116 games, but were sent packing after losing both Games 4 and 5. The Yankees and Indians have met twice in the postseason before, most recently in the 1998 ALCS which the Yankees won in 6 games. They also played each other in the ALDS in 1997, with Cleveland emerging as the victor in five games.

Here's a telling stat about the Yankees' season for you: On July 1, the Yankees were 9 games behind Detroit in the wild card standings, and then rallied back to take the wild card by seven games. That means that had the Yankees been 16 games out almost halfway through the season, they STILL would have been good enough the rest of the way to get in the postseason. This season was quite a roller-coaster ride for the Yanks, probably the most tumultous of the Joe Torre era, as the Yankees went 73-39 (.651) after a 21-29 start, basically emerging from their coffins and rallying back for their first wild card berth since 1997.

The Indians were more-or-less in it from Day 1, getting help from an MVP-caliber start to the season by Grady Sizemore, a career season for C.C. Sabathia, and a breakout year for sophomore hurler Fausto Carmona. The Indians battled back and forth with the Tigers for the A.L. Central throughout most of the season before pulling ahead for good by mid-August.

Here's a look at some of the matchups...

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Per Mark Feinsand, Joe Torre has set the ALDS Roster and posted the lineup for Game 1. Big surprise? No Ron Villone. Ross Ohlendorf and Jose Veras are there in his (and Edwar's) stead. I probably would have taken Britton over Veras (because of his control issues).

ESPN has posted their experts playoff predictions. Let's break it down.

Predicting, we've got Howard Bryant, Jim Caple, Jerry Crasnick, Peter Gammons, Pedro Gomez, Jonah Keri, Bob Klapisch, Tim Kurkjian, Keith Law, Amy Nelson, Rob Neyer, Buster Olney, Steve Phillips, Enrique Rojas, Jayson Stark, Jorge Arangure Jr., Sean McAdam, Peter Pascarelli, Phil Rogers and John Shea. That's 20 people in all.

Of the 20, 9 have us winning the in the ALDS. They are Bryant, Gomez, Klapisch, Kurkjian, Rojas, Stark, Arangure, Pascarelli and Shea. Of those 9, 5 have us winning the ALCS. Bryant, Klapisch, Kurkjian, Rojas and Pascarelli. All 5 of them have us winning the World Series, as well. They picked the following World Series MVPs: Robinson Cano (Bryant and Pascarelli), Alex Rodriguez (Klapisch and Rojas) and Melky Cabrera (Kurkjian).

Here is how that compares with everyone else. For the pennant:

1. Red Sox - 8 experts
2. Yankees - 5
3. Indians - 4
4. Angels - 3

And for the World Series:

1. Red Sox - 6
2. Yankees - 5
3. Angels - 3
3. Indians - 3
5. Rockies - 2
6. Cubs - 1

From the official site:

This is not recent (over 2 weeks old), but it is the first I've heard of it. Former Yankees prospect C.J. Henry, traded last season for Bobby Abreu, has left the Phillies and is mulling a college basketball career.

The article notes that he's also considering signing a deal with another MLB team and that the Yankees, Athletics and Orioles have contacted his agent. There doesn't appear to have been any updates in the story, so I'm guessing no decision has been made, yet.

Via Steve.

Apparently, LeBron James is a Yankees fan. I'm sure this is old news to some, but I hadn't heard (or maybe I did and simply forgot). Whatever the case, this seems to have upset a number of Indians fans (who are also Cavs fans, I suppose) because, well, he's Cleveland's huge star and he doesn't want Cleveland's baseball team to win. One blog commenter on Cavaliers Corner called him a sell out and a traitor, saying that he should wear his Yankees hat in the privacy of his home, only and that he should remember who pays his salary.

This strikes me as a little strange. As a fan of something, you have to respect fans of something else. In other words, let me put it out there like this: I was born a Yankees fan. I'll die a Yankees fan. It doesn't matter if they never win another World Series. It doesn't matter if the city of Boston decides to pay me $50 billion dollars a year to ... do something ... not sure what ... I'll die a Yankees fan. I won't die a closet Yankees fan, I'll die a Yankees fan. If the Yankees were an NBA team and the Cavs were trying to win, well, that's certainly wrong. But, they are not. Does your employer control what team you root for? Does your locale? No, of course not. Do you just stop being a fan of someone at the drop of a hat? That doesn't sound much like a fan, at all.

Via noMaas.org via Marcel Mutoni.

Kat O'Brien reports that Clemens threw his simulated game today in Tampa. It was 69 pitches and there was no bad news, apparently. So, it looks like he'll (hopefully) be ready to go game 3.

Here are the times for the Yankees ALDS series against the Indians:

Game 1: Yankees at Indians, October 4 at 6:30 PM
Game 2: Yankees at Indians, October 5 at 5:00 PM
Game 3: Indians at Yankees, October 7 at 6:30 PM
*Game 4: Indians at Yankees, October 8 at 6:00 PM
*Game 5: Yankees at Indians, October 10 at 5:00 PM (moves to 8:30 PM if Red Sox/Angels series has concluded)

* - if necessary. All times are Eastern. All games are on TBS.

Via Kat O'Brien.

Joe Torre is considering using Shelley Duncan in game 1 against C.C. Sabathia over Hideki Matsui. Honestly, unless Matsui is injured and requires the rest, I start him. He's a .311 postseason hitter. That said, I won't cry if Shelley starts.

Bronson Sardinha's dad told the The Honolulu Advertiser that he'll be heading to Cleveland with the Yankees.

Finally, Peter Abraham reports that the Yankees sent the following pitchers home on Sunday: Brian Bruney (who was, reportedly, shocked), Tyler Clippard, Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens, Sean Henn, Matt DeSalvo and Chase Wright. They also told Sir Ian Kennedy to report to Tampa and keep throwing, in case we need him later in the playoffs. Abraham notes that this leaves Britton, Ohlendorf, Ramirez, Veras and Villone for 2 final bullpen spots.

Via Steve.