A new stadium and three new big name free agent acquisitions have put the Yankees right back where they’ve been for the last decade: on the fast track to the playoffs. The Yankees roster is a brilliant amalgam of young homegrown talent, old homegrown talent, and overpaid veterans, all drawn to a franchise that promises to spend big bucks to compete every single year. And here they are this year:
New York Yankees
76-45
AL EAST (1st place out of 5)
LINEUP
SS Derek Jeter
LF Johnny Damon
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
DH Hideki Matsui
C Jorge Posada
2B Robinson Cano
RF Nick Swisher
CF Melky Cabrera
BENCH
C Jose Molina
RF/3B Eric Hinske
UT Jerry Hairston, Jr.
ROTATION
A.J. Burnett
C.C. Sabathia
Joba Chamberlain
Andy Pettitte
Sergio Mitre/Chad Gaudin/???
BULLPEN
Mariano Rivera (CL)
Phil Hughes
Alfredo Aceves
Phil Coke
Brian Bruney
Manager: Joe Girardi
General Manager: Brian Cashman
Owner: The Steinbrenners (George, Hank, Hal)
Payroll: $208,097,414 (1st out of 30 teams)
First the old guard, the guys who came up with the Yankees and have stuck with the team through thick and thin. Well, the Yankees never actually had a thin period while most of these players were on the team, but they're such stand-up guys that they presumably would have stuck with the team through thin as well.
First is shortstop Derek Jeter, the Yankee captain and face of the franchise. He’s never won an MVP, but he was Rookie of the Year in 1996, but has been voted to nine All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves, and three Silver Slugger trophies since then. His reputation as a great fielder is based on very little fact, but he more than makes up for it with his bat and with his intangibles. He’s 35 and shows no signs of stopping (at least not hitting; a move to left field might very well be in his future).
Next is catcher Jorge Posada. He’s a switch hitter with power and was one of the league’s most durable and consistent backstops until a strained shoulder ended his 2008 season in July. He’s 37 and spent 22 games this season on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Everyone’s heard of Mariano Rivera, one of the elite closers of our time (or perhaps all time). At 39 years old he leads the league in Saves, has an ERA under 2 (1.94), and has been striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings (10.1). Nothing but good things to say about Mo, especially since he’s one of the few bright spots of my 2009 fantasy draft.
Andy Pettitte is somewhat of a prodigal son to the Yankees. He was a homegrown star and their ace for much of the late 90’s, won four World Series titles with the Yanks, but took off to follow his close friend (and steroid buddy?) Roger Clemens to Houston in 2004. He stayed with the ‘Stros for three years (one of them stellar, one of them serviceable, one of them halved by injuries) before seeing the light and resigning with the Yankees in 2007. They have since strung the 37-year-old along with a series of one-year deals; apparently those in the Yankees organization do not lightly give job security to those who have betrayed them in the past.
Now for the young talent, youngest to oldest. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes have followed very similar career paths, with the former having a bit more luck and showing a bit more promise than the latter. Both were highly touted starting pitching prospects and it was decided for both of them that their careers would be served best by spending some time in the bullpen. Chamberlain dominated as a reliever in his first season (2007), then dominated as a starter in 2008 before some tendonitis forced him to return to the bullpen. As a starter this year, he has struggled with his control a little bit, but at 23 still shows tremendous promise.
Hughes, on the other hand, began his career by struggling as a starter in his first two years (2007-08), and was finally moved to the bullpen in 2009. Many Yankees officials and fans alike believe that he may still develop into the star starter everyone expected – like Chamberlain, he’s only 23 years old – but right now he’s excelling in the role of 8th inning setup man for Mariano Rivera.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves and LOOGY Phil Coke both took rather circuitous routes to the majors, but nevertheless found themselves on the Yankee’s list of top ten prospects, as measured by Baseball America. I don’t know if anybody is hearkening back to the glory days of Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson just yet, but they’re serviceable players who play an important, if unheralded, role.
Melky Cabrera has taken his rightful place as Yankees center fielder after being ostensibly relegated to the bench before this season in favor of promising youngster Brett Gardner (despite Gardner being one year older than Cabrera). But now Gardner’s injured, Cabrera’s been playing very well, and, congratulations, he’s the starter once more.
Jeter’s double-play partner at second base, Robinson Cano, 26, has fixed whatever problem with his swing caused his batting average to dip 35 points below his career norm last year. This year he’s batting .321 with no loss of power and a noticeable decrease in strikeouts. He probably plays a better defense than his reputation suggests, but if you combine his underrated glove work with Jeter’s overrated glove work, it probably all cancels out.
That’s it for the youngsters. Now for what makes the Yankees the Yankees: their cadre of mercenaries who flock to the highest payroll in all of sports. The three newest additions need no introduction. Mark Teixeira: switch-hitting first baseman who propelled the Angels into the playoffs after being acquired at the trade deadline last year. C.C. Sabathia: very consistent lefty starter who showed occasional flashes of brilliance, and propelled the Brewers into the playoffs after being acquired last July. (Is there an echo in here, or what?) A.J. Burnett: hard-throwing righty who never really reached his full potential with the Marlins or the Blue Jays due to injuries that limited his production. Each of these three are performing relatively close to their projected level.
Acquired during the same offseason (although via trade rather than free agency) is outfielder Nick Swisher. He was one of the centerpieces of the Moneyball draft, and has shown his stuff, as he currently leads the league in walks. He also, so I’ve heard, leads the Yankees in laughs and goodtimes, as his jovial nature has injected a little life into a robotic and sterile Yankees clubhouse.
Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid player in the sport, plays third base for the Yanks. Acquired prior to the 2004 season for then-second baseman Alfonso Soriano, A-Rod famously shifted from shortstop to third, so as not to ruffle Jeter’s feathers, and changed his number from 3 (retired by the Yankees in honor of Babe Ruth) to an ominous 13. Rodriguez has embodied the stereotypical Yankees acquisition: he makes the big bucks ($120,389,252 from 2004-08 with the Yanks), hits the big home runs (229 so far with the Yankees), wins the MVP awards (two so far in pinstripes), but also makes the big splashes, whether steroid related, girl related, or … guy related? Some say that the 28 games he missed this year due to hip surgery really helped him settle down and forced him to focus on proving himself as a player. He’s still kind of gimpy and will require more surgery in the offseason, but still provides some good production for his team.
Johnny Damon, their left fielder signed as a free agent in 2006 after departing from the rival Red Sox, is having a career year, on pace to shatter his career-high 24 home runs (set during his first year with the Yanks). He’s apparently stopped trying to steal bases, tailoring his slappy swing to the embarrassingly short right field fence at the new Yankee Stadium. This is the last year of his contract, and it’s not clear whether or not the Yankees want to go younger next year. He’s definitely working on building an impressive resume with this season.
Rounding out the lineup is Japanese power hitter Hideki Matsui. Signed in 2003 after hitting 50 home runs for the Yomiuri Giants, “Godzilla” played mostly left field for the Yankees until knee issues forced him to the DH role exclusively this season. He is sitting out a few games to have his knee drained of fluid, but as he has not hit the DL yet, I’ve left him in the lineup for this overview.
And that’s about it. They don’t have a fifth starter at the moment, having given Chien-Ming Wang every shot imaginable short of making him part owner of the team, but their lineup (somehow) shows no signs of slowing down, and barring a late season collapse or a barrage of injuries, I think the Yankees are the team to beat this October. At least in the American League. Look for Girardi’s Yankees to go far this year.
PREDICTION: World Series contenders. Only the collective will of every Red Sox fan in the Nation will keep them from winning it all.
New York Yankees
76-45
AL EAST (1st place out of 5)
LINEUP
SS Derek Jeter
LF Johnny Damon
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
DH Hideki Matsui
C Jorge Posada
2B Robinson Cano
RF Nick Swisher
CF Melky Cabrera
BENCH
C Jose Molina
RF/3B Eric Hinske
UT Jerry Hairston, Jr.
ROTATION
A.J. Burnett
C.C. Sabathia
Joba Chamberlain
Andy Pettitte
Sergio Mitre/Chad Gaudin/???
BULLPEN
Mariano Rivera (CL)
Phil Hughes
Alfredo Aceves
Phil Coke
Brian Bruney
Manager: Joe Girardi
General Manager: Brian Cashman
Owner: The Steinbrenners (George, Hank, Hal)
Payroll: $208,097,414 (1st out of 30 teams)
First the old guard, the guys who came up with the Yankees and have stuck with the team through thick and thin. Well, the Yankees never actually had a thin period while most of these players were on the team, but they're such stand-up guys that they presumably would have stuck with the team through thin as well.
First is shortstop Derek Jeter, the Yankee captain and face of the franchise. He’s never won an MVP, but he was Rookie of the Year in 1996, but has been voted to nine All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves, and three Silver Slugger trophies since then. His reputation as a great fielder is based on very little fact, but he more than makes up for it with his bat and with his intangibles. He’s 35 and shows no signs of stopping (at least not hitting; a move to left field might very well be in his future).
Next is catcher Jorge Posada. He’s a switch hitter with power and was one of the league’s most durable and consistent backstops until a strained shoulder ended his 2008 season in July. He’s 37 and spent 22 games this season on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Everyone’s heard of Mariano Rivera, one of the elite closers of our time (or perhaps all time). At 39 years old he leads the league in Saves, has an ERA under 2 (1.94), and has been striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings (10.1). Nothing but good things to say about Mo, especially since he’s one of the few bright spots of my 2009 fantasy draft.
Andy Pettitte is somewhat of a prodigal son to the Yankees. He was a homegrown star and their ace for much of the late 90’s, won four World Series titles with the Yanks, but took off to follow his close friend (and steroid buddy?) Roger Clemens to Houston in 2004. He stayed with the ‘Stros for three years (one of them stellar, one of them serviceable, one of them halved by injuries) before seeing the light and resigning with the Yankees in 2007. They have since strung the 37-year-old along with a series of one-year deals; apparently those in the Yankees organization do not lightly give job security to those who have betrayed them in the past.
Now for the young talent, youngest to oldest. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes have followed very similar career paths, with the former having a bit more luck and showing a bit more promise than the latter. Both were highly touted starting pitching prospects and it was decided for both of them that their careers would be served best by spending some time in the bullpen. Chamberlain dominated as a reliever in his first season (2007), then dominated as a starter in 2008 before some tendonitis forced him to return to the bullpen. As a starter this year, he has struggled with his control a little bit, but at 23 still shows tremendous promise.
Hughes, on the other hand, began his career by struggling as a starter in his first two years (2007-08), and was finally moved to the bullpen in 2009. Many Yankees officials and fans alike believe that he may still develop into the star starter everyone expected – like Chamberlain, he’s only 23 years old – but right now he’s excelling in the role of 8th inning setup man for Mariano Rivera.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves and LOOGY Phil Coke both took rather circuitous routes to the majors, but nevertheless found themselves on the Yankee’s list of top ten prospects, as measured by Baseball America. I don’t know if anybody is hearkening back to the glory days of Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson just yet, but they’re serviceable players who play an important, if unheralded, role.
Melky Cabrera has taken his rightful place as Yankees center fielder after being ostensibly relegated to the bench before this season in favor of promising youngster Brett Gardner (despite Gardner being one year older than Cabrera). But now Gardner’s injured, Cabrera’s been playing very well, and, congratulations, he’s the starter once more.
Jeter’s double-play partner at second base, Robinson Cano, 26, has fixed whatever problem with his swing caused his batting average to dip 35 points below his career norm last year. This year he’s batting .321 with no loss of power and a noticeable decrease in strikeouts. He probably plays a better defense than his reputation suggests, but if you combine his underrated glove work with Jeter’s overrated glove work, it probably all cancels out.
That’s it for the youngsters. Now for what makes the Yankees the Yankees: their cadre of mercenaries who flock to the highest payroll in all of sports. The three newest additions need no introduction. Mark Teixeira: switch-hitting first baseman who propelled the Angels into the playoffs after being acquired at the trade deadline last year. C.C. Sabathia: very consistent lefty starter who showed occasional flashes of brilliance, and propelled the Brewers into the playoffs after being acquired last July. (Is there an echo in here, or what?) A.J. Burnett: hard-throwing righty who never really reached his full potential with the Marlins or the Blue Jays due to injuries that limited his production. Each of these three are performing relatively close to their projected level.
Acquired during the same offseason (although via trade rather than free agency) is outfielder Nick Swisher. He was one of the centerpieces of the Moneyball draft, and has shown his stuff, as he currently leads the league in walks. He also, so I’ve heard, leads the Yankees in laughs and goodtimes, as his jovial nature has injected a little life into a robotic and sterile Yankees clubhouse.
Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid player in the sport, plays third base for the Yanks. Acquired prior to the 2004 season for then-second baseman Alfonso Soriano, A-Rod famously shifted from shortstop to third, so as not to ruffle Jeter’s feathers, and changed his number from 3 (retired by the Yankees in honor of Babe Ruth) to an ominous 13. Rodriguez has embodied the stereotypical Yankees acquisition: he makes the big bucks ($120,389,252 from 2004-08 with the Yanks), hits the big home runs (229 so far with the Yankees), wins the MVP awards (two so far in pinstripes), but also makes the big splashes, whether steroid related, girl related, or … guy related? Some say that the 28 games he missed this year due to hip surgery really helped him settle down and forced him to focus on proving himself as a player. He’s still kind of gimpy and will require more surgery in the offseason, but still provides some good production for his team.
Johnny Damon, their left fielder signed as a free agent in 2006 after departing from the rival Red Sox, is having a career year, on pace to shatter his career-high 24 home runs (set during his first year with the Yanks). He’s apparently stopped trying to steal bases, tailoring his slappy swing to the embarrassingly short right field fence at the new Yankee Stadium. This is the last year of his contract, and it’s not clear whether or not the Yankees want to go younger next year. He’s definitely working on building an impressive resume with this season.
Rounding out the lineup is Japanese power hitter Hideki Matsui. Signed in 2003 after hitting 50 home runs for the Yomiuri Giants, “Godzilla” played mostly left field for the Yankees until knee issues forced him to the DH role exclusively this season. He is sitting out a few games to have his knee drained of fluid, but as he has not hit the DL yet, I’ve left him in the lineup for this overview.
And that’s about it. They don’t have a fifth starter at the moment, having given Chien-Ming Wang every shot imaginable short of making him part owner of the team, but their lineup (somehow) shows no signs of slowing down, and barring a late season collapse or a barrage of injuries, I think the Yankees are the team to beat this October. At least in the American League. Look for Girardi’s Yankees to go far this year.
PREDICTION: World Series contenders. Only the collective will of every Red Sox fan in the Nation will keep them from winning it all.
You forgot to mention the all-important 6th man - the Yankee Universe and it's earth-mother, the YES network. I think they demand recognition as part of the team.
ReplyDeleteAlso I hope Joba Chamberlain spends his most of his sleepless nights haunted by a large swarm of swamp flies.