Joe Girardi shifted from uniform No. 27 to 28, and the organization’s mandate shifted right along with him. The Canyon of Heroes is now a lifetime memory. But for the championship-or-failure Yankees, it also is now in the rearview mirror. Can the Yankees repeat? Sure. They are loaded with talent and now with even more postseason-tested toughness. Here are 28 reasons to believe a 28th title is very possible for the Yankees:
1. The Core Four (Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera) will have to retire some day; just it doesn¹t look like any time soon based on last year.
2. No one is going to ask again if Alex Rodriguez or CC Sabathia can thrive in the postseason.
3. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett and Nick Swisher all did well in the transition year to New York. Now they are fully comfortable.
4. Arguably the best infield of all time — Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Jeter and A-Rod — is in its second year together.
5. A-Rod led the majors in homers (30) and RBIs (100) among players who missed a month of the season after hip surgery. So can you imagine what a healthy and happy (remember that postseason) might mean in 2010?
6. Jeter hardly needs motivation to achieve, but there is the expiring contract. He obviously wants to further build the case for the Yankees signing a shortstop long term who will be 36 when this season is complete.
7. Posada remains an elite-hitting catcher, producing 22 homers last year, which marked the eighth time he has reached 20. The only catchers to do it more are either in the Hall of Fame (Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra and Gary Carter) or not yet eligible (Mike Piazza).
8. The best postseason weapon has remained Rivera. There were 12 blown saves in last year¹s postseason (three by pitchers in Yankees camp: Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Chan Ho Park). None was by Rivera, who was 5-for-5, while producing three of the postseason¹s four saves of three outs or more.
9. Rivera has seven seasons of 40 saves and an ERA below 2.00 (minimum 60 innings), or as many as every other active pitcher on a 40-man roster combined. And it isn¹t as if he did this in the Paleolithic Era. He has done it in five of the last seven years, including each of the past two.
10. There are few greater weapons than an ace in his prime, and over the last three years CC Sabathia is 55-25 with a 3.08 ERA while leading three different teams to the playoffs.
11. The pitcher who led the AL in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.98 (minimum 40 innings), David Robertson, would be the primary set-up man for many teams and will be pitching mainly in the seventh inning for the Yankees.
12. Among current AL outfielders, the only two who hit more homers last year than Curtis Granderson (30) and Swisher (29) were Texas¹ Nelson Cruz (33) and Minnesota¹s Michael Cuddyer (32). New Met Jason Bay led AL outfielders in homers last year with 36 for the Red Sox.
13. Yeah, Nick Johnson is injury prone. He also is an on-base machine. Here are the only players who had a higher on-base percentage than Johnson in 2009: Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer. They are otherwise known as the reigning NL and AL MVPs.
14. Girardi’s gravitas has risen by winning a championship in a year in which he made difficult and not always popular decisions, such as hitting Jeter leadoff, having Jose Molina catch Burnett in the playoffs and restraining Chamberlain¹s innings.
15. Whatever his role, Chamberlain — and the whole Yankees team — will not be distracted by those pesky Joba Rules.
16. Hal Steinbrenner might have ordered GM Brian Cashman to curtail spending in the offseason, but these are still the Yankees. If they need something to improve their playoff/championship stock, then money will be no impediment come July.
17. Six players in the starting lineup are in what should be the prime years between 26 and 31: Brett Gardner, Cano, Curtis Granderson, Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Nick Johnson.
18. Nothing prepares you for the rigors of playing in the postseason like surviving the AL East gauntlet. It is not a stretch to say the best three teams in the majors — Yankees, Red Sox, Rays — reside in the division. The division winner has reached the World Series in each of the last three years and won it all in 2007 (Red Sox) and 2009 (Yankees).
19. If that clutch gene ever does strike Robinson Cano, he really will elevate from a very good player to part of the MVP debate. He was fifth in the AL in extra-base hits last year (75).
20. The Yankees are the only team in the majors that can acquire the pitcher who finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting to be their No. 4 starter. Javier Vazquez returns to New York with more maturity and greater faith in his off-speed stuff.
21. Over the last three years, Rodriguez has a .995 OPS and Teixeira is at .957. Among players who are currently on AL teams, that ranks 1-2.
22. The Yankees have four pitchers (Burnett, Pettitte, Sabathia and Vazquez) who won at least 13 games last year. Only one other team has even three: The Angels with Joel Pineiro, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver.
23. At 57-24, the Yankees had the majors¹ best home record. Would anyone really be surprised if they did so again?
24. The Yankees were seventh in the majors in Baseball Prospectus¹ defensive efficiency measure in 2009 and, in their only significant positional alteration, exchanged Johnny Damon for the more defensively sound Granderson.
25. It is hard to match up late against a lineup with good switch-hitters, and the Yankees have three of the eight switch-hitters in the majors who had an OPS above .850 last year (minimum 400 plate appearances): Teixeira, Posada and Swisher.
26. With A-Rod healthy, Brett Gardner playing regularly, Granderson in the everyday lineup and Randy Winn as a bench player, the Yankees very well could add 25-plus steals in 2010.
27. Rodriguez and Sabathia were not the only players who shucked the reputation for not being able to handle postseason pressure. Damaso Marte (right) retired the final 12 batters he faced in the postseason, becoming a force and salvaging what had until then been a lost 2009. It augurs well for a successful 2010.
28. Francisco Cervelli is No. 29, and he surely would not mind giving that uniform number up to Girardi.
joel.sherman@nypost.com