What To Expect When You're Expecting (To Win): Playoff Edition.

Well, folks, we've finally arrived. Welcome to the 2010 MLB playoffs. Can you smell it in the air? That's the smell of pure emotion. 8 teams enter, all fighting for the single greatest payoff a baseball team can get any given year, but only 1 of those teams leaves victorious. Who will it be this season?

First, here are the 8 teams:

AL East - Tampa Bay Rays.
AL Central - Minnesota Twins.
AL West - Texas Rangers.
AL Wild Card - New York Yankees.

NL East - Philadelphia Phillies.
NL Central - Cincinnati Reds.
NL West - San Francisco Giants.
NL Wild Card - Atlanta Braves.


ALDS - Yankees vs. Twins, Rangers vs. Rays.
NLDS - Reds vs. Phillies, Braves vs. Giants.
ALCS - Yankees/Twins vs. Rangers/Rays.
NLCS - Reds/Phillies vs. Braves/Giants.
World Series - AL team vs. NL team (shocking, right?).

After 6 months of speculations, predictions, skepticism, hopefulness, laughter, tears, and the like, we're nearing the beginning of the end. It's certainly been a thrilling season: 5 no-hitters, two of which were perfect games by Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay, Alex Rodriguez joined the 600-homer club, living legend Ken Griffey, Jr. called it a career, Yankees commander George Steinbrenner passed away, Lou Piniella tearfully retired early, Bobby Cox announced his retirement effective whenever his season ends, David Ortiz won the Home Run Derby, there was an exciting race in both leagues for a Triple Crown, multiple impressive rookies made their mark, and some veterans showed there's still some steam left in the tank. But it's all come down to this. This is what we live for. This is what we want to see. This is where it all starts, and where it all ends. This is what players live and die for. This is the postseason.

First off, the Yankees and the Twins. This is an interesting matchup, probably moreso than it was last year. There's a few crucial differences on both sides this time around. For the Yankees, it's their starting rotation. Aside from CC Sabathia, no other starting pitcher is worth much. For the Twins, though, it's been DH Jim Thome. At 40, he's the baseball equivalent of Brett Favre: 20 seasons playing, and yet still performing at a level comparable to his much younger teammates, if not better. With Thome, Joe Mauer, and hopefully a healthy Justin Morneau in the lineup against New York pitching that a child could hit, things might turn out differently than in '09. However, you can never underestimate the Yankee spirit and magic, especially in October.

The Rays and the Rangers is a hard one to pick. Both teams have good, solid players, both defensively and offensively. Both have dominant pitchers: David Price and Matt Garza for Tampa Bay, Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson for Texas. Both have only one playoff appearance in the past 12 years. The only difference is that the Rays have a slightly younger defense, but there has been little indication that the older Rangers players can't keep up. I'd say this one may be too close to call. After game 1, I'd probably have a better idea of who could move on, but as of now, I think this one is pretty up in the air.

I think the Phillies are the worst team the Reds could have possibly faced in the very first round of the playoffs. There's no doubt that Cincy is on fire, but Philly is white-hot. You've got to like the chances of a team that's got Joey Votto, who could possibly be this year's NL MVP, and Jay Bruce, a third-year player who's been going the yard very often (when and if he plays), and their pitching is pretty solid as well. But Philadelphia's got Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and...as much as I hate to say it, Roy Oswalt. End of discussion.

As far as the Braves and the Giants go, this will definitely be a battle of the bats instead of coming down to the pitching. With Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, and Derek Lowe on Atlanta's side, and Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Matt Cain on San Francisco's end, you can see that defensively, they're pretty evenly matched. Plus, rookies Jason Heyward and Buster Posey, the two frontrunners for this season's Rookie of the Year, should be an interesting matchup to see.

So, there you have it. This year's initial matchups, all rolled into one nice little package. All signs point to this postseason being as nuanced, complex and interesting as the entire regular season was. Keep checking back for updates on what's going on throughout October.