The Yanks recent signing of Berroa isn't really big news. The SS and 2B position for the Pinstriped Ones are not in jeopardy. The role as utility IF, though, is shaping up to be an interesting battle. After bringing in Berroa, it looks like the utility job will be held by some combonation of Berroa, Cody Ransom, or Wilson Betemit. This job is of course, the who gets to back up Cano and Jeter battle.

This is where it gets fun. Jeter's defensive struggles at SS are well documented despite the hardware he has collected. In fact, Chone's defensive projections have Jeter pegged as -13 run defender at SS. So, the Yanks signing of Berroa should represent an increase in fielding savvy. It does, to the tune of 4 runs. That's right, Angel Berroa projects as a -9 defender at SS.

It doesn't end there, however, as the Yanks other two options at SS are even worse. Ransom checks in at a pedestrian -12 runs at SS compared to Betemit's impressive -15. So, in summation the Yanks have 4 options to man the SS position (although we know there is really only one), and of the 121 SS that are projected they rank 91st (Berroa), 103rd (Ransom), 107th (Captain), and 113th (Betemit). If you are keeping track, they have 4 of the 25 worst defensive SS in baseball.

I guess the Tex signing didn't illustrate a newfound belief in defense.

EDIT: Betemit is no longer a Yankee, but it's still funny.

The Yanks recent signing of Berroa isn't really big news. The SS and 2B position for the Pinstriped Ones are not in jeopardy. The role as utility IF, though, is shaping up to be an interesting battle. After bringing in Berroa, it looks like the utility job will be held by some combonation of Berroa, Cody Ransom, or Wilson Betemit. This job is of course, the who gets to back up Cano and Jeter battle.

This is where it gets fun. Jeter's defensive struggles at SS are well documented despite the hardware he has collected. In fact, Chone's defensive projections have Jeter pegged as -13 run defender at SS. So, the Yanks signing of Berroa should represent an increase in fielding savvy. It does, to the tune of 4 runs. That's right, Angel Berroa projects as a -9 defender at SS.

It doesn't end there, however, as the Yanks other two options at SS are even worse. Ransom checks in at a pedestrian -12 runs at SS compared to Betemit's impressive -15. So, in summation the Yanks have 4 options to man the SS position (although we know there is really only one), and of the 121 SS that are projected they rank 91st (Berroa), 103rd (Ransom), 107th (Captain), and 113th (Betemit). If you are keeping track, they have 4 of the 25 worst defensive SS in baseball.

I guess the Tex signing didn't illustrate a newfound belief in defense.

EDIT: Betemit is no longer a Yankee, but it's still funny.

Yesterday, after the Burrell signing, I took a look at how the position players should project offensively and defensively. We came away with a projection of +31 WAR from the position players alone. Today, I'll take a look at the pitchers and see where that leaves us.

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With the signing of Burrell, we have a fairly good idea about how the at-bats should shake out. I looked at Marcel's projections for the 15 players I see getting the majority of the plate appearances and tried to guess how I thought they might shake out. Then I used their wOBA projections and the CHONE's defensive projections to figure their value.

This puts us at about 31 wins above replacement with replacement level pitching. That's about an 80 win team. Tomorrow I'll look at the pitching staff to see where we are as a whole.

In honor of this news, let's take a look at the 10 "best" seasons by someone age 43 or older (Bonds' age):

Our old buddy Julio Franco is an absolute machine. I am unsure about where I would rank Bonds on my FA DH wishlist. I think it goes something like this: Burrell, Dunn. Bonds, Abreu, Giambi.

Use this thread to discuss whatever you like throughout the weekend.

With all the talk around the baseball world about the Yankees most recent spending spree, I decided to see how winning games in baseball tied to either age or payroll (and how the two related).

Use "wide-view" to see the entire tables.

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This is the first of many off-season open threads. In them we discuss whatever we want: whether it be the latest news and rumors in baseball or Selgy's feelings about the sobriety of the blogosphere. I will normally start it off with an interesting baseball factitude, but in honor of this exciting holiday I'll offer a New Year's Eve themed fun fact:

The famed New Year's Eve in Times Square (pictured below) is a grand tradition most well-known for the large ball that drops to bring in the new year. This tradition began in 1907 and has been carried out every year but 1942 and 1943 (due to wartime lights "dimouts").

So, what does everyone see in the upcoming year for our favorite team? Anyone have any grand plans for the evening?