Nate Silver and his buddies over at Baseball Prospectus have looked into statistically what makes a good postseason team. The only 3 things that were above the noise were 1) power pitching, 2) elite closer, and 3) good defense. Observationally this makes sense.

Nate Silver called this combination "the secret sauce", and the rankings can be found here  http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=122718 . Well the 06 tribe isn't within a jet ride of the playoffs, but still as a team they are dead last in the overall secret sauce category. Dead last in defense, next to last in closer (they count Bob Wickman), and 2nd from last in K/9 of the staff. Yeesh! Almost a triple crown.

We all know that the tribe is trying to upgrade these areas, but this makes me think they are doubly important. Going forward, Sabathia looks like a great post season pitcher, but another hard thrower would help (this gives credence to the "don't trade Adam Miller for anybody" folks). Closer? Who knows? Defense? We'll see what happens this offseason. They were not bad last year, but pathetic this year.