Hot Stove: A rundown of each team in the offseason
and what they are looking to improve in 2012.
New York Yankees: Staying
in the AL East, we look at the next team alphabetically, which is the New York
Yankees.
Projected Starting
Lineup:
1B Mark
Teixeira
2B Robinson
Cano
SS Derek
Jeter
3B Alex
Rodriguez
LF Brett
Gardner
CF Curtis
Granderson
RF Nick
Swisher
C Russell
Martin
DH Andruw
Jones
Projected Starting
Rotation:
C.C. Sabathia
Michael Pineda
Hiroki Kuroda
Ivan Nova
Phil Hughes
Projected Batting
Order:
LF Brett
Gardner
SS Derek
Jeter
1B Mark
Teixeira
3B Alex
Rodriguez
2B Robinson
Cano
CF Curtis
Granderson
RF Nick
Swisher
C Russell
Martin
DH Andruw
Jones
The Yankees had a good year in 2011. They won the toughest division in
baseball with a 97-65 record, 6 games better than the second place Tampa Bay
Rays. And they were able to win
that division, with a patchwork pitching staff made up of an ace (C.C.), a
rookie (Nova), the old (Freddy Garcia) and the infirm (Bartolo Colon). However, the Detroit Tigers stood them
up in the divisional round of the playoffs. Detroit’s strong performances on
the mound were a major reason behind their win. The Yankees knew that while their hitters were fantastic, pitching
is what failed them this offseason.
After facing a similar issue last offseason and failing to adequately
address it, they decided to make trades and really shore up their pitching
staff.
The Yankees’ hitters were, predictably, fantastic. They have the best that money can buy. The Yankees essentially had two MVP
candidates on their team last year, and they probably robbed each other of
votes. Robinson Cano led the team
with a 302 AVG last season. With
that, he chipped in 28 HR, 118 RBI and 104 R. He was the Home Run Derby champion last year and continued
on his strong season from 2010.
Cano is making a name for himself in the best offensive second baseman
in baseball category. That’s a
plus because second base if often a place where you don’t get much
offense. Cano is a massive
exception to that rule. The other
MVP candidate on this team last year was Curtis Granderson. The centerfielder struggled in
2010. He plays a pretty good
defensive center, and has good speed and power. But he always struggled against lefties, and never hit for a
great AVG. But he greatly improved
last season. Granderson hit 265
with 41 HR and 119 RBI. He led the
team in HR, RBI, R (136), Hits (153) and was second in SBs (25). Those numbers are silly. The only part of his game that wasn’t
All Star Caliber was his AVG, which was still strong enough to not hurt the
team. But he did contribute in OBP
(364) after drawing 85 walks.
Granderson went from a high upside player, to a leader on this
team. And he improved his AVG
against lefties to 272 last year.
If Granderson can even come close to contributing like this in 2012,
then the Yankees will be in great shape.
While the Yankees had no more hitters in the MVP discussion, they did
have other strong offensive performances.
First baseman Mark Teixeira slumped a bit last year, hitting only
248. But he still performed at a
high level slugging 39 HRs and driving in 111. He also scored 90 times. Teixeira generally performs well at every level of offense
(except speed), so that’s why a 39, 111, 90 line is considered a slump. He still played Gold Glove caliber defense
at first, and contributed heavily with the bat. If he can get back a little of that AVG, which should be a
return to his usual form, then it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t approach those
power numbers again. He’s a potential
All Star every season. We’ve
covered the top 3 in HR for the Yankees, so let’s just keep going down the
list. Nick Swisher was fourth on
this team with 23 HR. Swisher
generally isn’t considered a big power threat, and Yankee stadium’s friendly
home confines probably have a lot to do with that number. But he did hit 11 dingers on the road,
and had a strong season outside of the power hitting 260 with 85 RBI and 81
R. He’s not one of their big
boppers, but he is an important part of this team and I think any team would be
happy with 23 “bonus” home runs.
When you think of the Yankees, Derek Jeter is generally the first name
that comes to mind. And Jeter had
another strong season last year, hitting 297 with 6 HR, 61 RBI, 84 R and 16
SBs. It wasn’t a traditional Jeter
season, but he is getting up there in age. I think expecting a 300+ AVG, 20+ SBs and 100+ R is
unreasonable at this point in his career. He did get to 3,000 hits. And he accomplished all of last season’s stats in only 130
games. He’s been solid for years
in New York, and looks to be coming back for another season at short. They’ll need a plan for the future, but
that future isn’t here yet.
Staying on the left side of the infield, we find the highest paid player
in baseball, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod
played in only 99 Games last year, as injuries continue to plague him. He hasn’t’ played in 150 games since
2007. That, coupled with the
amount of money that he makes, has drawn him the ire of many New York
fans. But he’s only one year
removed from a 30 HR, 125 RBI season, and, when healthy, he’s a threat to do
that every year. He hasn’t hit
over 300 since 2008, but when you get that power, you are happy with 270+. And while
his stolen bases have essentially disappeared, every other part of his game is
still well above average. In his
limited time he hit 276 with 16 HR, 62 RBI and 67 R. If he can have a healthy season, another All Star caliber
performance is almost guaranteed.
To finish up the infield discussion we have Russell Martin, who was an
All Star in his first season in New York.
Being in New York probably had a lot to do with that selection as he hit
237 when the year was over. But he
did play well behind the plate, taking over for Jorge Posada. And while the AVG wasn’t great, he did
slug 18 HR, drive in 65, score 57 R and steal 8 bases. He wants to play better, but he was
still pretty solid behind the plate.
The team leader in steals was left fielder Brett Gardner who hit at the
top of this order. His AVG wasn’t
where he wanted it (259), and his OBP was a little below where he wanted it
(345). But he did steal 49 bases
and score 87 R. When he wasn’t
getting on, Jeter or Granderson were.
The last offensive player to talk about is Andruw Jones. Right now, he is the front-runner to be
the DH. In 77 games last season,
he hit 247 with 13 HR and 33 RBI.
He can also fill in at the corner outfield spots. After Jones, there has been speculation
about free agent veterans getting signed and seeing DH time. One of those guys is Eric Chavez,
who hit 263 with 2 HR and 16 RBI in 58 games last season with New York. There has also been speculation that
Johnny Damon or Raul Ibanez could be brought in to play DH, and both would
bring something interesting to this club (Ibanez’s power, especially in Yankee
stadium, and Damon’s AVG and still above average speed). But the Yankees are pretty set
offensively, and at best any free agent they pay to DH for them will hit no
higher than 6th in the order and possibly lower. The point is, the Yankees are one of
the best offensive clubs in baseball.
Possibly the best. And
while injuries can hurt them as much as any team (not much talent sitting on
the bench) they are expected continue to be one of the best offensive clubs in
the game.
The Yankees Achilles heel last season was their
pitching. After their ace C.C.,
things were hairy. Ivan Nova was a
pleasant surprise as a rookie. In
27 starts, he went 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA.
He wasn’t overpowering (258 BAA, 1.33 WHIP 135 Ks in 165 IP), and that
strong Yankee offense should probably receive a large amount of credit for
their part in his 16 wins.
However, if the Yankees want another championship, he can’t be the
number 2 starter. A.J. Burnett,
the man who was supposed to be the number 2 starter, was truly frightening last
season. He went 11-11 with a 5.15
ERA. He gave up a hit an inning
(190 of both) and 109 ER. But he’s
been sent off to Pittsburgh in a move that was essentially a salary dump. Phil Hughes was supposed to be a big part
of this rotation last season after an All Star effort in 2010 that saw him win
18 games. But injury limited him
to 14 starts last year, with a 5-5 record and a 5.79 ERA. The Yanks hope that injury was partly
to blame for those numbers, none of which looked good. (1.49 WHIP, 283 BAA) New York needs him to come back strong
and play much better this season.
The final two pitchers who took in a majority of 2011 starts were Freddy
Garcia and Bartolo Colon. Garcia
had the better season, going 12-8 in 25 starts. His 3.62 ERA was solid as was his 1.34 WHIP. And while his 268 BAA wasn’t great, he
was able to pitch through it and not give up too many runs. He pitched well enough to be re-signed
as starter insurance, and to be a long inning reliever out of the bullpen. The other starter didn’t play as
well. Bartolo Colon came back to
the majors and pitched pretty well, considering his arm was essentially glued
back into his shoulder with stem cells.
He went 8-10 with an ERA of 4.
He essentially had the same season as Garcia, but with less luck (268
BAA, 1.29 ERA). However concerns
over his health and arm strength didn’t get him another year in
pinstripes. Coming in to take the place of Colon and
Garcia are Hiroki Kuroda (free agent from the Dodgers) and Michael Pineda, who
they acquired in a trade with the Mariners. Kuroda comes to the Yankees as a control specialist. He went 13-16 with the Dodgers last
season, with a sparkling 3.07 ERA.
His BAA was 249 and his WHIP was 1.21. He doesn’t strike out a lot of guys (161 Ks) but he threw
over 200 IP. He logs innings and
gets groundballs. He’s not a star
but he’s a consistent veteran who gets groundballs and helps give the bullpen
some rest. I doubt he’ll have the
same success in NY that he did in LA, but as long as he’s able to avoid the
long ball and keep the ball on the ground, he should chip in a low ERA, 180+ IP
and double digit wins. And with
that strong offense behind him, he could see a winning record this season. After going out and getting a seasoned
veteran to fill one rotation slot, the Yankees went the other way to fill the
other. They traded offensive
weapon Jesus Montero to Seattle for young pitcher Michael Pineda. The 6’7 righty has quite the
ceiling. He’s been compared to a
right-handed C.C. Sabathia. Having
both on the team will help New York better understand that comparison, but they
are more interested in how he stacks up to major league hitters. His rookie year saw a 9-10 record with
a 3.74 ERA. While that’s not
great, he had a miniscule 211 BAA and an impressive 1.10 WHIP. He struck out 173 batters in 171 IP. The sky is the limit for this
youngster. There are a couple
things to be wary of. His ERA
could rise after leaving the pitcher friendly Safeco Field and moving to the
best home run park in the majors, Yankee Stadium. But he is a power pitcher, and he’s still very young. He’s learning how to pitch to major
leaguers, and he’ll continue to improve.
I think he could be good for double digit wins, even if that ERA creeps
over 4. If he can keep it below
4.50 and stay healthy, a power pitcher with his stuff and the Yankees’ offense
behind him could win 15 games pretty easily. In a few years, he could be pitching like C.C. did last
season (C.C’s 2011: 19 Wins, 3.00
ERA, 230 K, 237 IP and 3 CGs).
That’s the new starting rotation that looks to get the Yanks into the
postseason and beyond. That group
of starters will hand things off to the best closer in history (Mariano
Rivera), and a strong bullpen that includes All Star David Robertson, former
closer Rafael Soriano, veteran Pedro Feliciano and Joba Chamberlain. This is a good-looking team that is
looking to get some new rings this season.
2012 Prediction…The Yankees had one of the best offenses in
baseball and a subpar pitching staff last season. They were able to win the best division in baseball with
essentially one good pitcher last year.
They’ve got at least three this season, and the same strong offense returning
for 2012. They’ve got to be
considered the favorites for the division this year, especially with this re-vamped
pitching staff. If the hitters
play like they have the past few years, and the pitchers can take care of their
business effectively, then this team should be postseason bound. They just hope that this season they
can make it a little further into October.
Up next…Tampa Bay Rays.
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