As the Yankees await their Division Series opponent, the playoff previews are in full swing. Most of them are less-than-impressive, but over at the Worldwide Leader, friend-of-RAB Keith Law delivers the goods. Since his is an Insider-only piece, I’ll bullet-point it.

Yankee Strengths

• The Yankees’ offense is very good.
• CC Sabathia is very good.
• Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes and the rest of the bullpen are very good.
• With all of their walk-off wins, the Yanks’ MAORP was 3582.7. A pat on the back to the first non-Insider subscriber to figure out just what that stands for.

Yankee Weaknesses

• A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte can be inconsistent, and we don’t know what to expect out of Joba Chamberlain.
• The defense remains suspect. While the team is fairly strong up the middle and even Derek Jeter has increased his range, the corner outfielders remain problematic, and Jorge Posada’s defense has generated countless comments among Yankee fans of late. If the team though can bludgeon their opposition, the defense won’t matter as much.
• Will Joe Girardi make a costly mistake? From showing too much faith in Brian Bruney to calling for too many bunts, we’ve seen Girardi over-strategize on numerous occasions this season. I know many fans and analysts are expecting Girardi’s managerial decisions to cost the Yanks a game at some point this October, and Law believes it will come from his trust in Bruney or Phil Coke.

Law, as you can see, offers up a compelling analysis of both the Yanks’ weaknesses and, while I gave them short shrift, their strengths. This team could be very, very good indeed come October and has the potential to run through the playoffs. As we’ve learned in the past, though, we can’t count our World Series chickens before they hatch.

There is but one spot where I disagreed with Law’s take. In discussing Joba Chamberlain and the Yanks’ fourth starter, Law writes, “[Joba] might not even make the postseason roster, in which case, the fourth starter could be Sergio Mitre (bad) or Alfredo Aceves (better, but maybe not what you’d expect of a $200 million team).”

Besides the fact that I’m more likely to pitch in the ALDS than Sergio Mitre is, the Yanks’ right-hander is combating bicep tendinitis. If his pitching hadn’t knocked him out of playoff consideration, this injury definitely does. As for Aceves, the Yanks don’t have the time to stretch him out into a starter, and his value currently lies in the bullpen. Chad Gaudin is currently one of two pitchers under consideration for the fourth spot, and if the Yanks don’t trust Gaudin — Law rightly notes his struggles against lefties — Joba will be the fourth starter for better or worse.

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Finally, in other Division Series news, the Yanks have umpires before they have an opponent. Noah Coslov tweeted the umpires for the ALDS earlier today, and manning the Yankee game will be Tim Tschida as crew chief, Chuck Meriwether, Mark Wegner, Paul Emmel, Jim Joyce and Phil Cuzzi. As expected, Marty Foster is stuck at home this October, and Joe West along with CB Bucknor are both working the Angels/Red Sox series.

Yankee fans may remember Jim Joyce as the umpire in the middle of last month’s Jorge Posada/Jesse Carlson tiff. He is, however, a fair umpire, and as crews go, this is a decent one.