* Congratulations again to the Yankees on winning yet another AL East title. For all those baseball experts and Mets fans who envy the Yankees’ success and say payroll is everything in determining who wins in baseball, why don’t you look at what actually happened this year? Some of the worst or most disappointing teams were the Cubs, Red Sox, Mets, Phillies, Dodgers and Angels — all big-spending, big-market teams. On the other hand, teams like the Nationals, Reds, Athletics, Braves and Orioles made it to the playoffs with medium or low payrolls. The Yankees needed a great September finish (19-8) to get in, but at least they made it. They could have collapsed like last year’s Red Sox and Braves, or the 2007 and 2008 Mets. So to those “experts” and angry or envious Met fans I’d like to say: If you actually make good personnel decisions and spend wisely you can win.
STEVEN ALENGAKIS
Brooklyn
Atlanta idiots
* While I agree with The Post’s Kevin Kernan that the new format for the MLB playoffs is a winner, I am appalled by the whining Braves fans at Turner Field on Friday night. They should be happy their team had been given the opportunity to compete in postseason play.
T. KING
Manhattan
Same ‘old’ Knicks
* If the last 50 years or so of NBA history has taught us anything, it’s that basketball is a young man’s game. Over the course of 82 regular-season games and two months of playoffs, younger, fresher legs generally will win out in the long run. So, the Knicks, who seemingly change the direction of the franchise every six months, have decided they are going to combat this by filling out their roster with Marcus Camby (38), Jason Kidd (39), Rasheed Wallace (38) and Kurt Thomas (40) while letting younger players like Landry Fields and Jeremy Lin walk? Get ready for another eighth-seed finish and a first-round dismissal by a legitimate NBA team. I always thought it would be hard for the Nets to replace the Knicks as the No. 1 basketball team in the New York metro area, but as long as Jim Dolan keeps driving the MSG bus into a ditch, anything is possible.
MIKE MANZI
Sparta, N.J.
Capping the Jets
* I’m not a Jets fan so it’s really immaterial to me, but I’m not surprised they find themselves in the impossible predicament they’re in. General manager Mike Tannenbaum was originally hired by Bill Parcells because he was a salary-cap guru. All of the fans of this petty organization are freaking out because they lost two of their top players and have no meaningful depth at those, and other, positions. That’s what happens when you have a salary-cap guru as your GM. In 2007, the Giants lost two of their top players, Jeremy Shockey and Mathias Kiwanuka, and what happened to their season? Oh yeah, they won the Super Bowl.
LOUIE REY
East Meadow, N.Y.