A huge Yankees win, Carl Crawford and Manny Ramirez - and there's a live chat today

See you at noon. We should have plenty to discuss.

So just a lightning round this morning:

--First, your updated playoff seedings:

AL: Yankees (1) vs. Texas (3), Minnesota (2) vs. Tampa Bay (4)

NL: Philadelphia (1) vs. Cincinnati (3), San Diego (2) vs. Atlanta (4)

Thoughts: The Padres have bounced back here, beating the Rockies in Colorado the past two nights.  But the Giants and Rockies are both still in the mix for the division and the wild card. The NL gives us better playoff races, year after year, it seems. The AL excitement has mostly been confined to races to win the mediocre AL Central.

--Off the Yankees game, I kept it pretty simple with the column: Huge win for the Yankees, with stars of the game aplenty, and the game served as a reminder that these old boys aren't dead yet.

I wish I hadn't described Greg Golson's throw as "perfect," because while it was amazing, I wouldn't agree with myself that it was perfect. It required a very nice grab and tag by Alex Rodriguez to complete the play. But to be fully honest, such laments come with the job. When you're firing off a column in about 25 minutes, you occasionally regret some word choices.

Does Golson have a chance to make the postseason roster as an outfield reserve, particularly if Nick Swisher's left knee leaves him at less than 100 percent? Probably not. Golson, Curtis Granderson (what a catch in the ninth!), Brett Gardner, Austin Kearns and Marcus Thames give them five outfielders already, although the Yankees will obviously try staying away from using Thames defensively.

Because the game ended late, I had to write an early column for Newsday's first edition, and I wrote about Joe Girardi, his tension and his bullpen philosophies. Girardi made a point before the game about not overusing his relievers, so he raised eyebrows during the game when he used both Boone Logan and Kerry Wood for the fourth time in five days.

Mark Feinsand asked Girardi what was up with that, and Girardi said that the 33-year-old Wood's veteran status and Logan's relatively scant usage (he faced just one batter Monday) left him comfortable with his bullpen patterns. In any case, the outstanding performances by Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson made Girardi and Dave Eiland look smart for resting them Monday night.

--Carl Crawford. He's having a very strong walk year, and he figures to do very well this winter. But with scouts swarming this Yankees-Rays series - both playoff contenders looking at them through the prism of October matchups and non-contenders contemplating winter moves, Crawford hasn't done well on the visceral level these two days.

On Monday, he got ejected by home-plate ump Tom Hallion in the ninth inning, after continuously arguing a third-strike call. Hallion, seeming to appreciate the gravity of this game, gave Crawford plenty of rope before finally running him.

And last night, Crawford made the last out while tagging up on Matt Joyce's flyout to Golson. Yes, Golson and A-Rod made great plays, but as many Yankees openly wondered, what did Crawford have to gain by going to third there? If the next hitter (Willy Aybar was due up) gets a base hit into the outfield, then Crawford scores the tying run whether he's on second or third. An infield hit? Sure, then it would make a difference, but that doesn't seem to justify the risk.

I'm not saying Crawford's pay day will be impacted dramatically by these two days. But I do think that scouts will remember these events when they're filling out their reports.

--Speaking of upcoming free agents, Manny Ramirez struck out three times in the White Sox's loss to the Twins, and he left six runners on base. In 13 games now with Chicago, Manny is getting on base (a .388 OBP), but he has neither an extra-base hit nor an RBI.

So now we know that Manny, at 38, can no longer magically turn it on when motivated by a pennant race and put into a situation (DH only) in which he should theoretically thrive. Remember that two years ago, Manny didn't generate much interest beyond the Dodgers because teams weren't excited about dealing with him. This winter, you'd think, it's going to be difficult for him to find any significant, guaranteed money.

--See you at noon.