Today’s New York Times post-mortem of the Yankees season and immediate future has a couple of good nuggets that explain where the organization finds itself. The keys here are health and youth.

The Times notes that the Yankees went 16-20 after Joba Chamberlain got injured in early August. He of course wasn’t the only starter to have injury problems.

The Tampa Bay Rays, surprise champions of the American League East, were the only team in the majors with five pitchers who each made 25 starts. The Yankees, who will finish third, had two pitchers make 25 starts. They were the only team in the majors that did not have three pitchers throw at least 115 innings.

Now that wasn’t all injuries. Some of it was pitchers not reaching 115 innings because they were healthy enough but not good enough to stay in the rotation. But injuries (to position players like Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui as well) certainly were a big factor.

Where to from here? Wherever it is they need to draft better.

A study by ESPN.com showed that only one position player drafted by the Yankees from 1997 to 2005 — the departed Andy Phillips — has amassed even 200 at-bats in the majors.

Restocking the farm system takes time, and the Yankees are excited about the Class AA center fielder Austin Jackson and the Class A catchers Jesús Montero and Austin Romine.

Yet there have also been crucial mistakes when evaluating position players in the draft. In 2004, the Yankees took pitcher Brett Smith with the 42nd pick. Later in the second round, Boston took Dustin Pedroia. A year later, the Yankees had the 17th pick and took shortstop C. J. Henry. Six picks later, the Red Sox grabbed Jacoby Ellsbury.

You just can’t draft like that.