2009 MLB Breview: New York Yankees
Yankees set for big season in new playground
Three new high-priced free agents are in pinstripes and a new ballpark awaits the Yankees for 2009. Will it be the 'Summer of George/Hank/Hal' or will the big-spending Bronx Bombers just lay another egg?
We come to the end of our 2009 team-by-team previews, and some might say I’ve saved the best for last. That certainly wasn’t my intent when I simply decided to go in alphabetical order by team nicknames, and I’m also not so sure I have saved the best for last.
Best isn’t always the biggest payroll. Indeed the Yankees and their fans have found this to be the case the past eight seasons as they’ve chased World Series title No. 27 without success. The largest payroll was good enough to get them into the playoffs for 13 straight seasons from 1995-2007 before their streak ended a year ago. Their postseason streak, that is, not their giant, humongous, payroll.
New York came close to extending that run to 14 consecutive playoff appearances, finishing with 89 wins. One more win and it would’ve been just the third time since the current six-division alignment started in 1994 that a single division had three 90-game winners. The other two times it happened, in case you were wondering, was 2002 when both the AL West and NL West boasted a trio of 90-win squads.
Entering their new park this season, the two Steinbrenner boys opened up daddy’s checkbook over the winter and signed three huge free agents, committing over $400 million to Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. That threesome will no doubt be under the microscope in the Big Apple this season as anything less than a World Series title will be seen as a failure. The New York media will pounce on every 0-for-4 by Tex and every loss started by Sabathia and Burnett to no end. Having three other scapegoats for the press to pick on is probably ok with Alex Rodriguez.
The pressure to win in the new park with the new free agents and the new kids on the 161st Street block running things will be great. But perhaps no single person will endure more scrutiny than manager Joe Girardi after the club completely missed October in his first season at the helm. His job security probably depends on at least bringing home the AL Pennant.
OFFENSE / DEFENSE
The offense was pretty fair in the Bronx last year with the Yanks finishing fourth in the AL in homers (180), third in on-base (.342), fourth in average (.271) and fourth in steals (118). Those are numbers that you’d generally be proud of with good balance between power and speed. So how did they only wind up seventh in runs scored with 789?
Part of it may have been the 149 double plays they hit into, above the Junior Circuit average. Derek Jeter haters will be quick to point out that he was the team leader with 24 twin-killings from the batter’s box.
Another factor that contributed to the lower rank in runs was the injuries that created two huge holes in the lineup. In a lineup that featured A-Rod, Jeter, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Johnny Damon, you would think that a team could afford to lose a couple of players and still click right along. But that wasn’t the case for the Yankees in 2008 when they subtracted Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui from the lineup.
Posada and Matsui started just 23 games together for New York in 2008, with the Yankees going 13-10 (.565) and averaging 4.91 runs per game. In the other 139 games, the team went 76-63 (.546) and averaged 4.84 runs. And those two players are my focal points for this year’s club.
Word is that Matsui’s knee won’t allow him to play the outfield until late May at the earliest, and probably mid-June. That means the DH slot is filled, and in order for the Yankees to have both Godzilla’s and Jorge’s bat in the lineup together for the first 10 weeks or so of the season is for Posada to prove he can handle the daily catching chores. So far, Posada’s shoulder is holding up. With A-Rod out of the mix until mid-to-late May, the club cannot have either Posada or Matsui on their bench.
Speaking of Rodriguez being out, how much do you think the Yankees might rethink that deal that sent Wilson Betemit to the White Sox over the winter? Granted, getting Nick Swisher in return isn’t a bad thing, but being able to plug Betemit into third base for up to two months instead of Cody Ransom who, barring any last minute deals, is set to be the first glove at the hot corner at the Yankees’ new stadium.
At least New York has a solid cast to join Ransom on the infield with Teixeira at first, Jeter and short and Robinson Cano at second. Once A-Rod returns, Ransom obviously goes to the bench where he could find Angel Berroa and Ramiro Peña as his infield reserve buddies. It’s still unclear if New York will keep both Berroa and Peña, with both having pretty good springs to date.
With Damon in left, the other outfield corner will be Xavier Nady over in right. The centerfield job will apparently go to Brett Gardner over Melky Cabrera. Gardner has three dingers this spring to go with a .390 batting average (through Mar 30), while Cabrera has been no slouch himself this spring with a homer, 12 RBI and .351 batting average.
Whoever gets the bulk of the playing time, or even if Girardi platoons the pair, neither Gardner nor Cabrera should get too comfortable in a starting OF role for the Yanks. Once Matsui can play the field, he will likely take over in center. And by this time next year, if not sooner, New York will call up Austin Jackson to play the outfield meaning either Damon or Nady could find their days in pinstripes coming to an end.
Swisher will see some time all over the outfield this season, and also spell Teixeira every now and then at first.
PITCHING
While the offense was busy scoring the seventh-most runs in the American League, the pitching staff was hard at work allowing the sixth-most plate crossings. And like the lineup missing Posada and Matsui, the pitching staff really missed one arm that was lost for more than half the season.
Chien-Ming Wang got off to a great start last year, winning his first three starts and allowing just three earnies over his initial 22 innings of work while striking out 11 and walking just four. A complete game 2-hitter in his third start at Fenway seemed to point to a Cy Young caliber season for the righthander.
Instead, his season fell apart at that point. Hammered for eight runs and nine hits at home against the same Red Sox in his fourth start, it appeared to be just an aberration as he settled back into a short-lived groove for a few starts after that shelling. But by mid-May, it was obvious something was wrong with Wang Over a four-start stretch from May 18 to June 5, Wang was charged with 23 earned runs in 23.2 innings, and his final start of the season came on June 15 before he was shut down for good due to a torn tendon in his right foot. He’s looked ok in four of his five spring starts, with the best news being the foot trouble appears to be behind him.
Wang will likely pitch third in the rotation coming out of the gate behind Sabathia and Burnett. Behind him will be Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain. The southpaw Pettitte has been brought along slowly in Spring Training, winning two of his three starts and posting a 0.79 ERA along the way. Chamberlain has been awarded the win in four of his six starts, striking out 20 in 19.2 exhibition frames.
Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland saw 13 different starting pitchers work for them in 2008, with Pettitte and Mike Mussina the only arms to take the ball for more than 24 assignments. If the Yankees have to run another dozen or more arms in and out of their rotation this season, they’ll never even sniff the 89 wins they had a year ago.
The leading candidates to get the first call to take over a starting role is Phil Hughes who pitched well this spring. Alfredo Aceves and Brett Tomko might also figure into those backup plans.
Down in the bullpen Mariano Rivera is coming off one of his best seasons, which is saying a lot for a guy who should get his 500th career save around the time this year’s All-Star Game at new Yankee Stadium rolls around. He’s been an absolute horse the last six seasons, appearing in at least 63 games with at least 30 saves from 2003-08, and recording a sub-2.00 ERA five of those six campaigns. His most impressive stat in ’08 was the 77/6 strikeout-to-walk count he put up in 70.2 IP.
Now, if New York can just find the right guys to set Mo up. Despite some rough outings this spring, Damaso Marte and Brian Bruney appear to be the top setup arms at this time, with Marte slinging from the left side and Bruney from the right. Don’t discount Edwar Ramirez taking over a setup slot at some point.
Righthanders Jose Veras and Jonathan Albaladejo will handle middle relief jobs. Lefty Phil Coke will begin the season as the long man out of the pen.
SCHEDULE
The Yankees will have a test run on their new park this weekend when they host the Cubs and few familiar faces including Chicago manager Lou Piniella and outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Once the regular season cranks up next Monday, New York will spend the first nine games on the road. In addition, their first nine games against AL East foes will be away from the Bronx.
The AL East race has all the makings for a three-team contest down to the wire between the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. In two of the five simulations, New York finished on top of the division while averaging 91.8 wins over the course of the five mock runs.
The Greek currently lists their win break at 95½ with the Over priced at +100 and the Under sporting a -120 price. I’m on the Under for New York as I have been three seasons running.
Over at 5Dimes, betting odds show the Yanks at +110 to win the AL East and +270 to bring home their 40th AL Pennant. New York tops the list on the World Series board with a +475 price to win their 27th championship.
Three new high-priced free agents are in pinstripes and a new ballpark awaits the Yankees for 2009. Will it be the 'Summer of George/Hank/Hal' or will the big-spending Bronx Bombers just lay another egg?
We come to the end of our 2009 team-by-team previews, and some might say I’ve saved the best for last. That certainly wasn’t my intent when I simply decided to go in alphabetical order by team nicknames, and I’m also not so sure I have saved the best for last.
Best isn’t always the biggest payroll. Indeed the Yankees and their fans have found this to be the case the past eight seasons as they’ve chased World Series title No. 27 without success. The largest payroll was good enough to get them into the playoffs for 13 straight seasons from 1995-2007 before their streak ended a year ago. Their postseason streak, that is, not their giant, humongous, payroll.
New York came close to extending that run to 14 consecutive playoff appearances, finishing with 89 wins. One more win and it would’ve been just the third time since the current six-division alignment started in 1994 that a single division had three 90-game winners. The other two times it happened, in case you were wondering, was 2002 when both the AL West and NL West boasted a trio of 90-win squads.
Entering their new park this season, the two Steinbrenner boys opened up daddy’s checkbook over the winter and signed three huge free agents, committing over $400 million to Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. That threesome will no doubt be under the microscope in the Big Apple this season as anything less than a World Series title will be seen as a failure. The New York media will pounce on every 0-for-4 by Tex and every loss started by Sabathia and Burnett to no end. Having three other scapegoats for the press to pick on is probably ok with Alex Rodriguez.
The pressure to win in the new park with the new free agents and the new kids on the 161st Street block running things will be great. But perhaps no single person will endure more scrutiny than manager Joe Girardi after the club completely missed October in his first season at the helm. His job security probably depends on at least bringing home the AL Pennant.
OFFENSE / DEFENSE
The offense was pretty fair in the Bronx last year with the Yanks finishing fourth in the AL in homers (180), third in on-base (.342), fourth in average (.271) and fourth in steals (118). Those are numbers that you’d generally be proud of with good balance between power and speed. So how did they only wind up seventh in runs scored with 789?
Part of it may have been the 149 double plays they hit into, above the Junior Circuit average. Derek Jeter haters will be quick to point out that he was the team leader with 24 twin-killings from the batter’s box.
Another factor that contributed to the lower rank in runs was the injuries that created two huge holes in the lineup. In a lineup that featured A-Rod, Jeter, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Johnny Damon, you would think that a team could afford to lose a couple of players and still click right along. But that wasn’t the case for the Yankees in 2008 when they subtracted Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui from the lineup.
Posada and Matsui started just 23 games together for New York in 2008, with the Yankees going 13-10 (.565) and averaging 4.91 runs per game. In the other 139 games, the team went 76-63 (.546) and averaged 4.84 runs. And those two players are my focal points for this year’s club.
Word is that Matsui’s knee won’t allow him to play the outfield until late May at the earliest, and probably mid-June. That means the DH slot is filled, and in order for the Yankees to have both Godzilla’s and Jorge’s bat in the lineup together for the first 10 weeks or so of the season is for Posada to prove he can handle the daily catching chores. So far, Posada’s shoulder is holding up. With A-Rod out of the mix until mid-to-late May, the club cannot have either Posada or Matsui on their bench.
Speaking of Rodriguez being out, how much do you think the Yankees might rethink that deal that sent Wilson Betemit to the White Sox over the winter? Granted, getting Nick Swisher in return isn’t a bad thing, but being able to plug Betemit into third base for up to two months instead of Cody Ransom who, barring any last minute deals, is set to be the first glove at the hot corner at the Yankees’ new stadium.
At least New York has a solid cast to join Ransom on the infield with Teixeira at first, Jeter and short and Robinson Cano at second. Once A-Rod returns, Ransom obviously goes to the bench where he could find Angel Berroa and Ramiro Peña as his infield reserve buddies. It’s still unclear if New York will keep both Berroa and Peña, with both having pretty good springs to date.
With Damon in left, the other outfield corner will be Xavier Nady over in right. The centerfield job will apparently go to Brett Gardner over Melky Cabrera. Gardner has three dingers this spring to go with a .390 batting average (through Mar 30), while Cabrera has been no slouch himself this spring with a homer, 12 RBI and .351 batting average.
Whoever gets the bulk of the playing time, or even if Girardi platoons the pair, neither Gardner nor Cabrera should get too comfortable in a starting OF role for the Yanks. Once Matsui can play the field, he will likely take over in center. And by this time next year, if not sooner, New York will call up Austin Jackson to play the outfield meaning either Damon or Nady could find their days in pinstripes coming to an end.
Swisher will see some time all over the outfield this season, and also spell Teixeira every now and then at first.
PITCHING
While the offense was busy scoring the seventh-most runs in the American League, the pitching staff was hard at work allowing the sixth-most plate crossings. And like the lineup missing Posada and Matsui, the pitching staff really missed one arm that was lost for more than half the season.
Chien-Ming Wang got off to a great start last year, winning his first three starts and allowing just three earnies over his initial 22 innings of work while striking out 11 and walking just four. A complete game 2-hitter in his third start at Fenway seemed to point to a Cy Young caliber season for the righthander.
Instead, his season fell apart at that point. Hammered for eight runs and nine hits at home against the same Red Sox in his fourth start, it appeared to be just an aberration as he settled back into a short-lived groove for a few starts after that shelling. But by mid-May, it was obvious something was wrong with Wang Over a four-start stretch from May 18 to June 5, Wang was charged with 23 earned runs in 23.2 innings, and his final start of the season came on June 15 before he was shut down for good due to a torn tendon in his right foot. He’s looked ok in four of his five spring starts, with the best news being the foot trouble appears to be behind him.
Wang will likely pitch third in the rotation coming out of the gate behind Sabathia and Burnett. Behind him will be Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain. The southpaw Pettitte has been brought along slowly in Spring Training, winning two of his three starts and posting a 0.79 ERA along the way. Chamberlain has been awarded the win in four of his six starts, striking out 20 in 19.2 exhibition frames.
Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland saw 13 different starting pitchers work for them in 2008, with Pettitte and Mike Mussina the only arms to take the ball for more than 24 assignments. If the Yankees have to run another dozen or more arms in and out of their rotation this season, they’ll never even sniff the 89 wins they had a year ago.
The leading candidates to get the first call to take over a starting role is Phil Hughes who pitched well this spring. Alfredo Aceves and Brett Tomko might also figure into those backup plans.
Down in the bullpen Mariano Rivera is coming off one of his best seasons, which is saying a lot for a guy who should get his 500th career save around the time this year’s All-Star Game at new Yankee Stadium rolls around. He’s been an absolute horse the last six seasons, appearing in at least 63 games with at least 30 saves from 2003-08, and recording a sub-2.00 ERA five of those six campaigns. His most impressive stat in ’08 was the 77/6 strikeout-to-walk count he put up in 70.2 IP.
Now, if New York can just find the right guys to set Mo up. Despite some rough outings this spring, Damaso Marte and Brian Bruney appear to be the top setup arms at this time, with Marte slinging from the left side and Bruney from the right. Don’t discount Edwar Ramirez taking over a setup slot at some point.
Righthanders Jose Veras and Jonathan Albaladejo will handle middle relief jobs. Lefty Phil Coke will begin the season as the long man out of the pen.
SCHEDULE
The Yankees will have a test run on their new park this weekend when they host the Cubs and few familiar faces including Chicago manager Lou Piniella and outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Once the regular season cranks up next Monday, New York will spend the first nine games on the road. In addition, their first nine games against AL East foes will be away from the Bronx.
- Open with nine games on the road with their first game in their new park on Apr 16 vs. the Indians
- First nine AL East games on the road; 15 of first 19 AL East games away from New York
- 25-27 (Home-Away) through May; 67-66 through August
- 6-3 (Home-Away) vs. A’s and Rangers; 3-7 vs. Mariners, 4-6 vs. Angels
The AL East race has all the makings for a three-team contest down to the wire between the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. In two of the five simulations, New York finished on top of the division while averaging 91.8 wins over the course of the five mock runs.
The Greek currently lists their win break at 95½ with the Over priced at +100 and the Under sporting a -120 price. I’m on the Under for New York as I have been three seasons running.
Over at 5Dimes, betting odds show the Yanks at +110 to win the AL East and +270 to bring home their 40th AL Pennant. New York tops the list on the World Series board with a +475 price to win their 27th championship.
