Jorge Posada finished with Yankees?

Realizing he likely played his final game in pinstripes, an emotional Jorge Posada cut short his media session after the New York Yankees lost Game 5 of the ALDS, 3-2, to the Detroit Tigers. Tears came to Posada's eyes when he was asked about what the fans have meant to him.

"They have been awesome," Posada said. "The fans have been unbelievable to this team and to me."

The 40-year-old Posada spoke for 3½ minutes before he welled up and politely walked away.

In the Game 5 loss, Posada went 2-for-4. During the playoff series, he finished 6-for-14 (.429), which was the best on the Yankees. He had a .579 on-base percentage.

"He was awesome," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who also got emotional when talking about Posada. "He's had a tremendous career and I'm sure he's going to play, and I don't know what's to happen."

Posada declined to answer whether he thought this was his last game as a Yankee. Several times this year, he has said he would consider playing for another team if the Yankees don't want him.

Posada, 40, completed his four-year, $52.4 million contract. Last winter, the Yankees moved Posada from behind the plate, making him a part-time DH. Posada had his fewest at-bats in a non-injury season since 1997.

In his 344 regular-season at-bats, he finished with 14 homers and 44 RBIs. In a game in May, he removed himself from the lineup against the Boston Red Sox when Girardi had him batting ninth. Later in the season, Girardi benched him, but each time Posada fought back to earn some playing time. He ended up picking up the game-winning hit in the Yankees' AL East-clinching win against the Red Sox last month.

"I'm not prepared to talk about the winter right now," said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. The GM's contract is also up, but he's expected to return.

With the Tigers featuring righties, Posada started each of the five playoff games.

"What he gave us in the postseason, I don't think there is a prouder moment that I've had of Jorgie," Girardi said.

Girardi later added, "The heart that he showed during this series, that's why Jorgie has been a great player."

With the Yankees wanting to open up the DH position as a place to rest Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and others -- and with Jesus Montero's emergence -- the expectation is that Posada will not be offered a contract for 2012.

"Next year is all going to wait for all of us," Cashman said earlier in the week.

Cashman appreciates what Posada has meant over a Yankees career that really began in full force in 1997.

"He is definitely one of the premiere catchers of this generation," Cashman said. "He is a borderline Hall of Famer and he is one of the best catchers in Yankee history."

If Posada is indeed finished in New York, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will be sad to see his longtime friend and teammate go.

"I definitely will miss him, definitely will miss him," Rivera said.

Meanwhile, Yankees ace CC Sabathia is facing a decision on whether to return to the Bronx next season. Sabathia, 31, has an opt-out clause in his seven-year, $161 million contract that he can use to make himself a free agent. Since spring training Sabathia has refused to say if he will use the opt-out or not. Sabathia has four years and $92 million remaining on his current contract.

After the Yankees' loss, in which Sabathia pitched in relief for the first time in his career, he said "a lot" will go into his decision, starting with his family and "everything that matters."

"We just have to wait and see," Sabathia said.

Cashman has already pegged keeping Sabathia as a top priority.

"He is our ace," Cashman said. "He ranks highly."

Sabathia finished the regular season at 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA. In his 1 1/3 innings in relief on Thursday, he allowed a run, which raised his ERA for the series to 6.23 in 8 2/3 innings.

Sabathia has been worth his money thus far. In 2009, his first season with the club, he led the Yankees to the World Series title by pitching on three days' rest throughout the postseason. Over his three seasons, Sabathia is 59-23 with a 3.18 ERA.

"I love it," Sabathia said when asked about playing in the Bronx. "I've loved this since day one that I got here."

The Yankees originally gave Sabathia the opt-out clause to ease any fears that he had in coming to the Bronx.

The team and Sabathia could work out an extension before Sabathia can negotiate with other teams after the World Series. A glum Sabathia slouched in his clubhouse as he contemplated the season's finality.

"It's stunning," Sabathia said. "It's always tough when you lose."

The Tigers will beat the Yankees, no kidding!

The Detroit Tigers are set to tangle with the New York Yankees starting Friday night in New York. The game 1 pitching matchup is off the chain as Justin Verlander (24-5) will oppose CC Sabathia (19-8).

Initial market research indicates that Yankee fans think their team will win the series simply because they’re the Yankees. Tiger fans have the luxury of falling back on a team that is not only playing better, but stacks up favorably in every aspect.

I will take some choice comments from my initial ALDS preview posted last night (click here) and use them as my paragraph headers:

From Guest – 10 hours ago “Dear Joe White, GO HOME.”

First of all, very creative, and second of all, I was already home when I wrote it so sorry but I can’t help you out there.

Speaking of home, the Tigers are heading to New York with unwavering confidence. Not only can the Tigers fall back on their ALDS success from 2006, when they started off in New York, split games 1 and 2, and then returned home and closed it out, but Detroit has also been dynamite on the road in 2011.

The one thing above all else that kept Detroit from contending in 2010 was their paltry 29-52 road record. In ’11, the Tigers are tied for 2nd with 3 other teams (including the Yankees) with a 45-36 road record. The environment of an entitled Yankee Stadium audience will do little to intimidate the Tigers.

So, to Guest, I say it will ultimately be your Yankees who are going home empty-handed, once more, at the collective hands of the Detroit Tigers.

From Bertch – 10 hours ago “Wow. hahaha you must be kidding Joe White.”

Again, very creative, and with a sound backing for why his Yankees might be victorious…The good news is that night classes are still open if you are looking to grab up that GED.

And no, I’m actually not kidding. Oddly enough, I believe that the team with the 2 hottest pitchers in all of baseball has a legitimate chance to come into your house and not only win 1 game, but possibly both. I know, craziness right?

In case you missed the news flash, Justin Verlander just won the pitcher’s version of the Triple Crown. He was tops in the AL in ERA (2.40), strikeouts (250), and wins (25). JV also set the pace in WHIP with a 0.92 mark. He has won 12 of his last 13 starts and is the exact kind of horse that can take his team straight through to the World Series.

Oh, and then there’s that unknown commodity, Doug Fister. You know, the guy who has gone 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA since escaping purgatory in Seattle. The liberated Fister gives the Tigers the deadliest 1-2 punch this side of Philadelphia.

Sorry Bertch, you wish I was kidding.

From Mabm113 – 10 hours ago “are you kidding me with this?”

I thought we’ve been over this? But seriously, thank you for backing up your stance with concrete data and reason. I’m beginning to notice a trend in these Yankee fans.

But if you must know, I do take some comfort in knowing that the Tigers have the 2 best clutch hitters in all of baseball. On the off chance that you’ve been sleeping for the past 162 games, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez have formed an untouchable dynamic duo in the middle of Jim Leyland’s lineup.

Not only is Cabrera a top 5 MVP candidate and the American League batting champion (.344), but he hit .393 with runners in scoring position this year. And if that doesn’t provide you with enough evidence that I’m not kidding, then maybe the fact that he hit .390 in August and .425 in September will do the trick.

VMart was 4th in the AL with his .330 average but, like Cabrera, does his best work when the pressure is on. Martinez hit .394 with runners in scoring position, driving in 87 of his 103 RBI’s in such situations.

So in the playoffs, when the lights shine brightest, and the collar grips tightest, the Tigers have the best this game has to offer.

Mabm113 will have to join the ranks of the disappointed. I’m just not in a kidding mood right now.

From Jmralph1 – 10 hours ago “Does this guy actually believe what he writes lol 27 time
World champions, biggest hitting machine on the planet and he’s making them sound like they are the orioles. What happens of verlander loses game 1??? Lol”

At least this guy had something to say, the only problem is it was the same blabber that every Yankee fan spews without equivocation.

History is something that happened in the past and will remain there. Did the Marlins and Diamondbacks fall back on history when they won championships shortly after coming into the league as expansion teams? 27 World Series titles is utterly awesome, and it means absolutely nothing in the 2011 playoffs.

Proclaiming the Yankees as the “biggest hitting machine on the planet” is equally irrelevant and uninformed. The Yankees finished 2nd in the AL in runs scored, the Tigers 4th. Since August 1st, when the Tigers were close to becoming the team they are now after the trade deadline and prior to their waiver-wire acquisition of Delmon Young, New York has outscored Detroit 303 runs to 301.

If Verlander loses game 1 to CC, which is entirely possible, then I guess Detroit will end up winning 3 of the final 4. Fister goes in game 2 against the rookie Ivan Nova and Verlander again in a potential game 5, also against Nova. I like the Tigers’ chances in both of these matchups.

Game 3 is a toss-up with Max Scherzer and Freddy Garcia scheduled to face off. Both are as likely to pitch a 1-run gem as they are to cough up 5 or 6. On paper, game 4 is a clear advantage for New York as Sabathia will go against Rick Porcello. Don’t sleep on Porcello though. In game 163 back in 2009, he pitched arguably his best game ever. I’m anxious to see what he does this time around.

I hate to say it Jmralph1, but overall, the starting pitching, if that’s what we’re quarreling over, favors the Tigers.

From donnybaseball03 – 3 hours ago “Verlander and Fister are both unproven in post season play. I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’m a Yankees fan and fear this match up but to count out Nova because he has no post season experience in favor of two studs that have little to no post season experience is a bit premature. I hope for a 5 game series either way… Go Yanks!”

Finally! A Yankee fan who can string a sentence together. The problem with this argument is that it assumes Sabathia’s dominance against the Tigers.

In 7 starts against Detroit over the past 4 years (a fairly substantial sampling that encompasses all 3 of his years as a pinstriper), CC is just 2-4 with an ERA right around 5.00. Dating back to his days with Cleveland, the Tigers have never had much trouble with the powerful lefty. In fact, ask any Tiger fan worth their weight in Old English D’s and they’ll tell you it’s Garcia who we fear the most, not Sabathia.

In fact, the aforementioned Cabrera and Martinez fare quite well against Sabathia. Cabrera is 9 for 16 with 2 homers and VMart is 6 for 25 with 2 bombs. That’s a .366 combined average with 4 homers in just 41 at-bats.

I’ll tell you this donnybaseball03, Detroit hits power pitching with the best of them.

All of this banter is good for the moments leading up to game 1’s first pitch at 8:37 on Friday night. As I’ve said recently, the playoffs are a crapshoot, anything can happen. It’s easy to say one thing or another will happen, but until it unfolds, we are all just innocent bystanders (unless you’re Jonathan Papelbon, who isn’t so innocent).

Let it be clear that Tiger fans have every reason to believe that their team can not only hang with the Yankees, but can and should beat them. And we’re not kidding!