Marc Normandin from "Beyond The Boxscore," writes up his Yankee preview. I decided to let an outside pair of eyes weigh in here.
The New York Yankees have a stacked lineup. Their pitching is questionable, and injuries could certainly ruin their chances at October, but that lineup is a thing of beauty. The Yankees were relatively quiet this offseason comnpared to most years, but they still made a few moves:
- Acquired
- Kelly Stinnett
- Miguel Cairo
- Johnny Damon
- Gone elsewhere
- Mark Bellhorn
- Tony Womack
- John Flaherty
- Matt Lawton
- Tino Martinez
- Rey Sanchez
- Ruben Sierra
Most of the players lost were role players on a weak NY bench. There have been some improvements to the bench, mostly by adding Andy Phillips to it, and having the option of Bernie Williams off the bench on days he doesn't DH, but it is still a weak spot. The important acquisition is Johnny Damon for centerfield. In 2008 and beyond the Yankees may regret it, but in 2006 they will surely enjoy his presence.
The rules are the same as last time. I'm using Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA Cards in order to assess the projected AVG/OBP/SLG of the new players. I am also calculating positionally adjusted Net Runs Above Average. If you've read any of the previous team reviews posted here, or already are full of wonderful NRAA (and pNRAA) knowledge, feel free to skip down to the section labeled <u>Catcher</u>
NRAA of course measures offensive and defensive value together in rate or cumulative form, depending on whether or not I leave it in per 100 game form, or if it is adjusted for games played. The idea behind pNRAA is -- you guessed it -- to adjust for positional differences. My favorite example so far is Darin Erstad. Using the raw figures for Net Runs Above Average, Erstad is an above average combination of offense and defense. In fact, he is considered to be worth 2.51 NRAA per 100 games (which from now on, will not have a per 100 games after it; NRAA is in the per 100 game form). Using the positional adjustment, Erstad's value drops all the way to -9.90; first base was the position with the most offensive contribution in 2005, and Erstad's adjusted numbers suffer for that. In fact, if Erstad was a league average defensive player rather than 9 runs above average per 100 games, his pNRAA would be - 18.90, which is to say in my Boston speak, "wicked awful". With results like this for various players, I really enjoy what pNRAA brings to the table analysis wise.