Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Don’t forget to email your questions for our weekly call to pinstripealleyblog (at) gmail (dot) com.

The idiot who said “Harper is coming” asks: After last night’s ALDS win, do you think this is the season where we finally take home number 28? Can you rate your self-confidence on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most confident and 1 being the least?

Congratulations on pre-submitting the confident question that the Yankees would win on Thursday (even if you guessed the score wrong, no one is perfect). New York is headed to the ALCS and as such is just one step away from the Fall Classic and a shot at their first championship since 2009. They didn’t look like world beaters against the Royals, scoring more than three points just once. in the four-game set, but their pitching was effective, with the bullpen in particular seeing the lights out. Additionally, they got key contributions from their second-string hitters that they need to go far, and while their superstars didn’t do much damage, Juan Soto was a current threat and Aaron Judge looked to be on his way in the finals. Overall, there are many indications that they could get off to a much stronger start in the ALCS than they did in the ALDS.

How does that translate into trust? Let’s take a look at the rest of the field. I think no matter who comes out of the Guardians-Tigers series, you’d favor the Yankees, with a heavier tilt if Detroit were to pull off the upset. Even though they have been one of the hottest teams overall over the past two months, the postseason has shown that they are very similar to the definition of a Wild Card if Tarik Skubal doesn’t pitch and has to take him out for the Game. 5 on Saturday means he will get a maximum of two chances to impact the ALCS. On the other hand, it’s a little more complicated, with the Dodgers, Padres and Mets all still in the game – and all three look dangerous. Without having played the next round of games to compare them, I’d hesitate to pick favorites, but at least the Yankees could follow them all and only one of them will make it, so overall I’d say my confidence in the team currently stands at 7.5/10. There is certainly still room for them to be defeated, but they have a stronger chance than they have had in recent history.

DeHomeRunDispenser asks: Who is responsible for the ‘continue contact’ rule that seems to be sending more runners to their doom than not on 3B? It is the epitome of madness to keep sending them no matter what happens when we know that lazy grounders to the infield (and we make plenty of them!) are a certainty at home.

The contact game remains an endless source of frustration for myself and the rest of the staff, and it is highlighted every time we see it happen. The results seem to speak for themselves that they should probably deviate from it, but still it all remains the same. I’d say it wouldn’t be so bad if they were indeed running on soft contact that would give them room to at least get further, but in an ironic twist, the Yankees’ lineup is so conducive to hard Contact: Hurt them in this category when hit on the ground. There just isn’t that much time to react, so acting on instinct leads to more stupid outs on the board than not. That does not mean that their intentions at the plate is wrong – the change should happen on the base paths – but it seems like this is also an institutional part of their offensive game plan, and they’re just willing to roll the dice even if they’ve gotten snake eyes often enough to wondering if they have been weighed.

Hal’itose asks: Jon Berti won’t be a free agent until 2025. Do you think Cashman is counting on him to play an important role in next year’s squad?

I don’t know how important it is, but in the same vein as the acquisition of Jazz Chisholm Jr. the fact that Berti is here for another year gives the team considerable depth to build the squad. With Gleyber Torres’ future still unclear (and he’s making a case to return stronger and stronger every day he’s been in the top spot) and Anthony Rizzo’s impending free agency also on the horizon, the infield carousel will that the team may consider taking effect in 2025 have been expanded. Berti could take the third spot if Chisholm returns to center infield, could be the backup if the team signs a contract, or could even compete to keep first base himself with a full offseason workout underway the position after picking it up for the postseason. It’s better to have the options than not, and that’s just part of the value Cashman saw when trading for him.