Where's the Weakness?
by Brandon C. on Jan 29, 2010 8:00 AM EST
in Analysis
57 comments
What weaknesses do the Yankees actually have?
The Yankees lineup currently looks like this:
1. Jeter SS
2. Johnson DH
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Granderson CF
6. Posada C
7. Cano 2B
8. Swisher RF
9. Gardner/Winn LF
The rotation looks like this:
1. Sabathia
2. Burnett
3. Pettitte
4. Vazquez
5. Hughes/Chamberlain
The bullpen has many candidates trying out for a few spots. It can be upgraded but doesn't necessarily need to be.
The only weakness that I was able to find was the bench. The amazing Francisco Cervelli has the backup catcher position all to himself. The young group of utility infielders will fight for that spot. Winn is a solid player off the bench and the last spot will likely go to Jamie Hoffmann or Juan Miranda.
The Yankees are, and should be, considering signing one of Rocco Baldelli, Johnny Gomes, or Marcus Thames. That player would be signed to a minor-league deal and compete with Hoffmann and Miranda.
The utility spot is OK for now, but if the four candidates turn out to struggle in spring training, the Yankees may want to look for a more experienced player.
Ed Price recently tweeted this:
Would you trade Damon, Matsui, Melky, Coke for Granderson, Javy Vazquez, Nick Johnson, Winn?
Would you?
After thinking about it I decided that yes, I would make that trade. Javier Vazquez was a necessary upgrade that filled a glaring weakness. No matter what other players were involved the Yankees needed him.
So, the only weakness with the current Yankees MAY be the bench. Otherwise it seems they are set and ready to compete for the repeat.
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Age catching up to Posada, Jeter, Pettitte, and MO
is the only real weakness the team has. If they can stave off Father Time for another year we’ll be in the clear.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
Career yrs?
Jeter/Posada both had great yrs. While I dont expect them to fall apart, I also think there will be some drop off. Johnson 2 & Granderson 5 is a drop off from Damon 2 & Matsui 5.
Not exactly.
Gotta take into account the fact that Damon and Matsui had the benefit of playing in LH heaven last year.Granderson and Johnson are both very, very likely to see an increase in their stats just by playing in Yankee Stadium. The DH situation is a wash as Johnson gets on base at a much better clip than Matsui. I’m betting Grandy has a better year than Damon with the stick and throw in the fact that he is a very solid defender and not god awful like JD and you’ll see Damons production eclipsed by that of Curtis Granderson.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Jan 29, 2010 8:58 AM EST up reply actions
+1
Granderson is better than Damon.
Now go and cry and tell me I am wrong Damon lovers. You guys so easily ignore the fact that based on his arm he wouldn’t have started on my high school team.
Gardner for President
Granderson
is better than Damon, but Damon is far better than Winn.
"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will
Define "Far better"
Winns defense helps make up for his offensive shortcomings, and he played in a pitchers park. I would argue its closer to a wash and not far better when looking at the players as a whole
I'll bet you $50 that it's not a wash
You are going to tell me Winn is gonna’ slam 20+ homers and drive in 75+ steal 15+ bases, score 100+ runs …
If so take this bet. It would be the easiest money I’ve ever made.
"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will
Def will be better
I’m looking at the lineup Batting 2nd Damon>Johnson, Batting 5th Matsui>Granderson.
It is easy to think this way PI1166 becasue
both Damon and Matsui had a great post season. It is hard to let go of that bias.
Granderson will do better than Damon.
Gardner for President
at what point can we stop assuming
36+ year old players keep getting better year after year with with age? if you keep projecting damon upward, he’s going to play until he’s 65 and will hit 1000 HRs.
i don’t get why so many people are bullish on the 2010 versions of matsui and damon. i would be completely shocked if their production fell of a proverbial cliff, but it’s not unreasonable to expect a decline when they both had career years with the bats and with their health.
My expectations with Damon were regressed
as they should’ve been. He’s not hitting 24 homeruns again, even in Yankee Stadium. But putting up ~.350-.360 OBP in the 2 spot, great situational hitter? I’d have been up for that.
by FloridaownsFSU on Jan 29, 2010 8:27 PM EST up reply actions
Posada bout 40
Jeter 36 Arod 35 Pettitte 38 Rivera 41.. We should get rid of all of them, Right. Damon would have been fine for 2
In what context are you using "we"?
Considering your a Boston fan.
by FloridaownsFSU on Jan 29, 2010 8:56 PM EST up reply actions
Froridaown
Your gonna out me. I’m A sox Fan,But try and look at things evenly.
huh?
You already said your a Boston fan before.
And people in general appreciate objectivity, so that wouldn’t be a problem…
by FloridaownsFSU on Jan 29, 2010 10:53 PM EST up reply actions
Damon haters
are just as bad as “Damon lovers”.
And I also never knew that wanting Damon back made one a “Damon lover”.
by FloridaownsFSU on Jan 29, 2010 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
Very true about the arm
But as we all know very rarely do they place much on arm strength when you get on base and hit the way Damon has in his career.Agreed that Grandy is better then Damon at this stage in there careers.
I feel like a clown without my funny nose
by cashman bashman on Jan 29, 2010 10:06 PM EST up reply actions
Lineup looks good
But so did the NY Giants defensive line coming in to the 2009 season, inc depth.
Some got hurt.
Some had almost career worst seasons.
They finished near the bottom in perf for the season.
It can happen anywhere.
Grandy will flouish in Yankee Stadium.
Swisher – not sure he can replicate 2009
Winn, Gardner will do OK but disappoint overall
Javier will be OK – no more. Lots of innings not lots of wins
If I am right that means big seasons are required of:
Jeter
ARod
Posada
CC
AJ
I am cautiously optimistic. It is a long season. But I think with a little luck the Yanks will be back in the WS.
obviously i look for some regression
from Jeter, he’ll probaly slip down closer to career norms
CC should be CC
AJ should be a bit better, but i think what we saw last year is typical AJ, shouldnt expect more than 15 wins from him
I agree Javier will obv regress, no way he posts sub 3 in AL east, i would be happy with sub-4 as the #4 pitcher, and 13-15 wins should do it from his spot
I think the big thing to keep in mind losing latsui and damon is there is no way they put up similar numbers in their new homes. They both lost their short porch and just got really lucky with health last year. Even back in pinstripes they would have been unlikely to repeat that performance.
Im putting the Yankees at 97-65, (Boston and O’s will steal a couple more wins) 1st place in division again, baseball prospectus be dammed
Not sayin Damon/Matsui will repeat
Looking at what they did last year. Can Johnson/Granderson repeat or better that? Getting Granderson was a good move. Younger, better D, solid Bat, but his Offense has regressed 3 yrs in a row
agreed
i would personally expect granderson to move back up a bit esp being in yankee stadium
johnsons OBP will ikely regress slightly, but his power should increase slightly to help cover that.
Overall we may have lost some HRs, but i think we make that up in defense
i think that they can.
you think that they cannot. that’s fine. agree to disagree.
however, include a full year of a-rod plus the addition of javy vasquez—you have to expect great things out of the 2010 team.
He rakes irregardless. I don’t think it takes a contract walk-year for Jeter to stay motivated.
by Scooby Snacks on Jan 30, 2010 11:37 AM EST up reply actions
+++
i appreciate someone who knows the difference between THERE and THEIR and (hopefully) THEY’RE!
by NYer in a strange land on Jan 31, 2010 1:39 PM EST up reply actions
No I would not make that trade
I like that Vasquez and Granderson deals. That filled a need in the starting rotation, and replaced Melky in center field with a guy who is better defensively, and offensively, and could have a big year. I like those deals. I admit that I wasn’t to fond of giving up AJAX at first, but the more I think about it the better deal it seems. I just hope AJAX doesn’t come back to bite the Yankees.
However, I HATE losing both Matsui and Damon, especially the way they lost both of those guys. Matsui signs across the country with the team that can never decide on a name for 6 million, and the Yankees turn around and sign Nick Johnson, whos only real skill is getting on base, for the same price. I hated that move. If they were going to spend 6 million on a LH hitter who will only DH, why not sign Matsui? You may bring up that he could be injury prone, but then again, isn’t Nick Johnson? Johnson is the hitting version of Carl Pavano when it comes to injuries. Matsui is proven in NY, clutch, has power, and obviously still had a bat worthy of the #5 spot and worthy of protecting A-Rod in the order. Getting rid of him and putting Nick Johnson in his spot with the same price makes little sense to me.
On Damon, he should have been a Yankee all along. Boras and Damon deserve a lot of fault for him not being a Yankee, but at the same time, Damon was a great player last year, and the Yankees could have gotten him at a baragin. They just let one of the key components of the 2009 championship walk away because they didn’t want to dish out an extra 2-3 million. You are the NY Yankees. I have never heard of “budget” being an issue for this team. And then bringing in Randy Winn, and having a platoon with Gardner be his replacement? Thats a big loss, and for an extra 2-3 million it wouldn’t have been a loss at all.
The Yankees lost a lot of offense. They became stronger on the pitching side, but they lost 2 very productive hitters that were clutch, NY proven and playoff proven. It’s going to be tough to replace what they gave.
i partially agree
The yankees may have lost the 2009 offense of damon and matsui, but you cant expect the same high level performance two years in a row. I agree we lost a few HRs in 2010 because of that, but i dont think its enough to prevent #28. Plus its not like yankees tied themselves up for years with all the new aquisitions, thats also key
true
next year they probably will make a huge run at Crawford, which will lock them up in LF for years if they can get him.
And it’s true that Matsui and Damon will will probably not repeat their numbers from last season. But at the same time, I think Matsui in 2010 will be better than Nick Johnson in 2010. And I think that Johnny Damon in 2010 will be better than his replacement, Winn/Gardner. So overall, if they had brought Matsui and Damon back instead of signing Winn and Johnson, they would be a better team right now. Defensively? No, but Damon, aside from the arm, didn’t kill the Yankees in LF last year. He could still run down the ball, and has decent range. But offensively, Damon makes a big difference. And Matsui, I think, makes a big difference.
I say that Winn/Gardner replaced Damon because he is playing the same position as those guys. Thats really it. Granderson in all likelihood will play center field, so I have him replacing Melky (which is a huge upgrade there). The Yankees are still favorites to win in my mind, but I think that the race is a bit closer than it would be if they held on to Matsui and Damon.
NJ and Pavano ...
That’s abit harsh…. but aside from that, I couldn’t agree more. The loss of both is going to hurt in ways that aren’t going to be seen in stats. These guys were great clubhouse guys … well respected leaders… That’s not easily replaced.
"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will
Randy Winn had the worst season of his career
and he still had a better WAR than Melky did last year. I’m pretty sure we did alright with Melky in CF we’ll be alright with a combo of Winn/Gardner in LF. Winn isn’t replacing Damon, Winn is replacing Cabrera. Granderson is replacing Damon. Granderson also had the worst year of his career and he was still more valuable than Damon because of how bad JD is in the field.
2009 WAR
Melky- 1.6
Winn- 1.7
Damon- 3.0
Granderson- 3.4
N. Johnson- 2.4
Matsui- 2.4
All together it is a .5 win improvement. That’s not even taking into account the bounce back years from Winn and Granderson, nor is it taking into account the effect Yankee Stadium will have on Granderson,Johnson and Winn to a smaller extent.
And please, all this stuff about leaders and clubhouse guys. Granderson is one of themost respected guys in the majors. Dude was starting his own charities while he was still in the minors. Johnson and Winn are standup guys too. The whole leadership/ class void will be filled aptly.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Jan 29, 2010 9:40 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
good stuff
i think the huge defensive upgrade we have gotten this offseason helps cover any losses in the HR column.
Its not like we brought any randy johnson personalities on board this offseason either.
The one thing the Yankees really need is a good power hitter off the bench
Hinske was great at that role, but I see little power between Hoffmann, Pena, Cervelli, and Winn. From this Miranda might be a better option than Hoffmann, as he can relieve Tex on days off and hit for Gardner if needed, but I’m just speculationg. If Gardner can return to close to his AAA stats, he wont need an help.
Our bench is fine
We have no “glaring weakness”. The only way we miss out on number 29 is with some extreme regression and/or severe injuries to 3-4 star players. But since that’s not happening, I think we can safely say that we’re a lock to win it all again. We’re not the 2009 Giants, who’s bad season was by and large due to bad coaching. This isn’t the case here.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
Win one get one free?
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Jan 29, 2010 10:17 AM EST up reply actions
oops yea I meant 28
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
Expos would have won it that year and still have a team in Montreal if it wasn't for that strike!
(Canadian rant over)
As for the Yanks, i feel much better at this point this year than i did last year just because of two things:
1. We got AROD from the get-go
2. We are set with pitching 1-4 with proven, durable guys.
I can’t wait!
I think the bench
is marginally weaker since there is no power or clutch bat for pinch-hitting. Starting pitching is better, the bullpen about the same but in my opinion would be better if Joba becomes the set-up guy for Mo.
The only weakness? Age
7 of the 15 players listed are over 30. 4 of them will be 35 or older this season. That’s the only weakness.
This
And that’s with the team already getting younger thanks to Cashman’s offseason moves. Cash is trying the nifty trick of turning over an aging roster while still competing for championships. The team’s roster is going to turn over a LOT in the next 2-3 years.
far from it
posada-CAnt throw
burnett/pettite-“if” whenever they pitch
vazquez-big question mark
swisher-inconsistent, cant hit in yankee stadium
bench
gardner and winn cant hit
ORLY?
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Jan 29, 2010 4:35 PM EST up reply actions
Posada’s actually got a good arm. Its the whole glove thing that’s the problem.
Burnett and Pettite are due. But kinda like the fool that predicted the Yanks win 80 games….you can pencil AJ and Pettite for 30 or so starts.
Vazquez is probably the most consistent pitcher on the team aside from CC. The only questionmark is does he strike out 210 or 225? Guy’s a machine.
…people COMPLETELY OUT themselves as an unknowledgeable fan when they think that Vazquez is a questionmark because of how he did in NY 6 years ago. The guys’ a different pitcher.
Swisher, if he ‘really can’t hit in NY’…well, that’s a GREAT thing. Having guys that rake on the road is HOW YOU WIN 100+ games!!
and Gardner and Winn are the 9th place hitters.
I swear…the 9th place hitter has never raised a bigger stink in the history of the Yankees. Absolute JOKE to go and worrky about our NINTH PLACE HITTER.
If the NINTH PLACE HTTER…has a PULSE…its a PLUS. It doesn’t matter.
You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there
by FreeBradshaw on Jan 30, 2010 9:57 AM EST up reply actions
the trade of
damon matsui melky and coke for granderson vazquez n. johnson and winn you definitely MUST do that deal. its a no brainer. first of all you’re getting a good starting pitcher which is VERY difficult to come by. you’re unloading 2 old outfielders who are near their end…and i havent even gotten into curtis granderson, who brings some youth and athleticism to the outfield. anyone who thinks we shouldnt have done that 4 player swap is blind to our needs
How about Montero?
I’m particularly intrigue on Jesus Montero’s development. If he continues to be spectacular then he might see some playing time in the majors in the 2nd half of the season.
Question is, what position will he be playing?
He's playing Catcher in Scranton
until catastrophic injury hits the MLB club OR until September callups.
I’m hoping it’s not until September.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Jan 30, 2010 1:08 AM EST up reply actions
i think we can go far this year agian.
if they are lucky enough to not get injured, and no one happens to have a terrible year, i think Joe G might need to change his number next year, cause they have the best lineup, a top rotation a great closer and good bullpen. it is a long season so anything can happen but im am really loking forward to defending the title this year. GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!! 65 days till baseball is back!!!!!!!!!!!!
by donnybaseball23 on Jan 29, 2010 9:56 PM EST reply actions
Yes we will repeat as WS champions in 2010
Our biggest competition to get to the WS will be the Red Sox.
My prediction for 2010 WS is Yankees over Cardinals in 6.
If we stay healthy, we will repeat.
by YANKEES FOREVER on Jan 30, 2010 4:02 PM EST up reply actions
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