Earlier today I noticed this post by Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In the post, Hoynes ranks the 40 man roster of the Indians and puts Shelley Duncan (a personal favorite) at #11.
So, I decided to rank the Yankees' 40-man roster based on contributions to the team in the regular season contributions only. I did not include the players that didn't play any games in the majors this year. The injured players bump the roster up to 39 players.
Feel free to argue with me on my choices and sway me towards switching it. (I will do so if you give me a good enough argument)
Here we go:
39. Nick Johnson- I picked Johnson for No. 39 because he failed to do what he was asked of, and while he probably isn't the worst major leaguer on the roster, he is an embarassment.
38. Javier Vazquez- You may notice he is way worse than A.J., but I put him here because of my disliking for 2004 Yankees that are on the current roster. Obviously not really worse than Moeller. (Update: This is a joke, he isn't really the 38th best player. Thought everyone would get that! If I ranked him where he should be I'd put him in the Aceves-Berkman range.)
37. Chad Moeller- Gotta love Chad Moeller! Defense is the only reason he is allowed to wear pinstripes.
36. Royce Ring- David Ortiz got a bunt hit off of him. He can tell his grandkids that.
35. Damaso Marte- Only pitched seven innings this season. Not very valuable.
34. Romulo Sanchez- I bet 50% of you don't know that he pitched 4.1 scoreless in two games this season.
33. Kevin Russo- Wasn't very good in his time in the majors.
32. Colin Curtis- Outside of his home run, pretty much the same as Russo, just a bit better.
31. Jonathan Albaladejo- If this was a Scranton list, he would be No. 2 after Montero.
30. Juan Miranda- If this was a Scranton list, he would be No. 3.
29. Austin Kearns- Wasn't much better than Miranda in his time with the Yankees.
28. Greg Golson- Has a nice arm and great speed, made a nice throw in Tampa.
27. Alfredo Aceves- It amazes me that in 10 appearances he still managed to get three wins. Another injured player.
26. Chad Gaudin- White flag Gaudin ate a lot of innings, so he makes the top 26.
25. Eduardo Nunez- Behind Pena only because he was with the team for less of the season. Less time=less value.
24. Ramiro Pena- Didn't give the Yankees much value outside of his defense this season, as expected.
23. Lance Berkman- I'm going to get some hate for this, but this is based on regular season stats with the Yankees. He hit .255 in 37 games with the club. I probably ranked him too high, if anything.
22. Francisco Cervelli- Maybe I ranked him too high, but he was a disappointment this year.
21. Ivan Nova- His stats are worse than his actual performances, if that makes sense. Pitched well in few starts.
20. A.J. Burnett- Toughest player to rank. Lost more games than won, and contract does come into play
19. Dustin Moseley- Was solid out of the pen and pitched well in a few starts.
18. Sergio Mitre- Mitre actually had a really good season and got little credit for it. Ate innings, pitched well enough to stay on the roster all year.
17. Joba Chamberlain- Joba pitched in 73 games and gave up almost exactly a hit per inning. 71.2 Innings Pitched, 71 hits allowed. Thought that was interesting.
16. David Robertson- 3.82 ERA on the year for D-Rob in 64 appearances. Started off very slowly.
15. Kerry Wood- If he was with the team for the entire year, he'd be in the top 5-10. A 0.69 ERA in 24 games with the Yankees.
14. Jorge Posada- His offensive struggles this season have yet to be analyzed. He probably is just getting old.
13. Curtis Granderson- I may be way off on this one, he was tough to place. Stepped it up at the end of the season.
12. Marcus Thames- After having an awful spring training, Thames surprised and hit the ball well. Stuck with the team the whole year, and even had an offensive outburst.
11. Derek Jeter- Jeter was surprisingly off this year. It was odd having to put him behind Logan.
10. Boone Logan- When the Yankees made the Vazquez trade, did they say "hey we just got our 10th most valuable player for the season in Logan" ?
9. Brett Gardner- He's gritty, he's gutty, he's gritty, gutty Brett Gardner!
8. Mark Teixeira- Struggled even more than usual at the beginning of the year, that cost him.
7. Andy Pettitte- If it wasn't for his injury, he would be ahead of Hughes.
6. Nick Swisher- Maybe ranked too high, but Swisher had a great season and has contributed way more than expected after being traded for Betemit and company.
5. Alex Rodriguez- If it wasn't for his injury, he would be ahead of Hughes.
4. Phil Hughes- Was the pitcher we all wanted and more. Outstanding season, and contributed all season long.
3. Mariano Rivera- It's Mo. He has to be in the top three!
2. Robinson Cano- Between him and Sabathia, I spent a while arguing who was the more valuable player for the Yankees. In the end I came to the conclusion that the Yankees offense was good enough on the days Cano didn't hit well, and the Yankees rotation was in ruins outside of CC.
1. CC Sabathia- Free burgers for everyone!
Thoughts?