This weekend some things became clear about this baseball season. Here are four observations after a big weekend of September baseball:

1. The Yankees will make the playoffs, but their fans should become Cleveland Indians fans if they want to last:

The Yankees can handle Boston. We’ve seen that time and time again. The rally on Friday night and Jeter’s home run on Sunday (a Jeterian moment if there ever was one), proved that the Yankees are built for the playoffs and can handle a second round showdown with the Sawx.

Unfortunately, that showdown simply will not happen if the Angels are the Yankees’ first round opponent. The 1927 Yankees would have trouble overcoming the rally monkey and winning at Edison Field, and even with all the accomplishments this team has this season, they still haven’t been able to beat the Halos.

The Indians are a different story. A very good young team, with a good mix of pitching and hitting, the Tribe’s going to contend for a while. But to put it bluntly, the Yanks own the Tribe. They always have. The second half sweep of the Indians at Jacobs Field was nothing new to the Bombers.

Right now Cleveland and L.A. have the same record, but the Angels have a very winnable schedule, while Cleveland has some speed bumps against Detroit and Seattle.

It’s time for Yankees fans to step up and support Chief Wahoo’s tribe on the Cayahoga.

2. Mets fans better hope the Phillies ‘ and the Padres ‘ don’t make the playoffs:

The Phillies proved once again this past weekend that they own the Metropolitans. They have the firepower to outslug the Mets, playing Mets baseball even better than the Mets do.

Like New York, the Phillies look to slug their opponents into submission and hope that it overcomes their suspect starting pitching, and as good as Jose Reyes, David Wright and the bunch are, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Aaron Rowand are even more dangerous. To make matters worse for the Mets, they were swept three times by Philly and seem to lose in the worst ways possible to them.

But there is a team that could give the Mets and everyone in the NL fits more than the Phillies, and that is San Diego.

The Mets are 2-4 against the Pads this season and are built for the playoffs perhaps better than any team in baseball.

Facing consecutive games of Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Met-killer Greg Maddux has to strike fear into the heart of even the most ardent Mets supporter.

If the Dodgers or Rockies somehow surge into the Wild Card, the playoffs could be much smoother for the Mets.

3. The Cubs are going to win the Central Division, and it’s not the feel-good story:

Every year that the Cubbies make a run, everyone rallies behind them and see it as the year that they finally make things right.

But the Cubs have become tired. This season, the Brewers were the story. Yeah, the Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908, but the Brewers have never won one.

With Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart all bringing faith back to the southwest shores of Lake Michigan, this seemed like the year for the Brew Crew.

Now a Cubs team, led by malcontents like Alfonso Soriano, has surged to the top of the division. With a very easy schedule remaining (Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Florida, Cincinnati), the Cubs don’t look like they’re going to lose this lead, and to their rivals 90 minutes up the lake, it will be another year of misery.

4. There’s a changing of the guard in the NL West:

Since the Randy Johnson/Curt Schilling Diamondbacks died out five years ago, the NL West might as well be called the California Division.

In fact, since 1994 when the divisions were realigned, aside from three years of D-Back dominance, a team from the Golden State has always won the West.

Those days are changing. San Francisco is a mess that doesn’t seem like it’s getting fixed anytime soon. The Dodgers and Padres are good, but the days of SoCal dominance are over. Arizona and Colorado feature two of the most exciting young teams in baseball. San Diego is going to make the playoffs this season, but there are some serious rivals in the West. Colorado has one of the best young lineups in recent memory and is finally gathering pitchers that can pitch in Coors Field. They’ll miss the playoffs this season, but the future is bright.

Yes, the West is changing. No longer will Barry Bonds, Brad Penny and Brian Giles decide how the West is won. It will instead be Brandon Webb, Stephen Drew, Matt Holliday and Jeff Francis.