Coming in with the 3rd overall ranking is none other than the evil empire. It wasn’t the typical off-season for the Yanks as they didn’t really spend the big bucks, except on making Rafael Soriano the highest paid reliever in the game to be a backup closer. Apart from that, the Yankees bring back the same star studded roster that actually features a couple of underrated commodities and should find themselves back in the ALCS competing against a familiar foe.
No. 3 New York Yankees
Projected Rotation
- C.C. Sabathia-LHP
Mariano Rivera // Photo: tcnj.edu
- Phil Hughes-RHP
- A.J. Burnett-RHP
- Ivan Nova-RHP
- Sergio Mitre-RHP
Projected Bullpen
- Mariano Rivera-RHP
- Rafael Soriano-RHP
- Joba Chamberlain-RHP
- Pedro Feliciano-LHP
- Boone Logan-LHP
- David Robertson-RHP
Projected Lineup
- SS Derek Jeter
- CF Curtis Granderson
- 1B Mark Teixeira
- 3B Alex Rodriguez
- 2B Robinson Cano
- RF Nick Swisher
- DH Jorge Posada
- C Russell Martin
- LF Brett Gardener
Analysis
It’s no familiar that the Yankees appear to have a video game roster for their batting order once again. Of course they still have this millennium’s murderer’s row in Jeter, Teixeira, and A-Rod, but most people don’t recognize that Robinson Cano is the team’s best player.
Yup I said it, there’s a proven formula: Cano> A-Rod+Tex+Jeter. Nothing against the older guys but Cano is one of the best players in baseball and will make things happen for the Yankees in 2011. Cano established himself as the best 2B in baseball last season with a batting average of .319, 29 homers, and 109 RBI.
Derek Jeter // Photo: askmen.com
After that it does get frightfully thin. Granderson didn’t play anywhere close to the way he did in his Tiger years. Posada’s not getting any younger, who knows if Swisher’s performance last year was for real, and the acquisition of the injury prone Russell Martin will hardly make a difference. At any rate the saving grace of the Yankees is outfielder Brett Gardener. Gardener accompanies Jeter as the only starting position player for the Yankees, who was also drafted by the Yankees (that’s two more than you might expect). Gardener was a pleasant surprise last year hitting .277 and robbing 47 bases.
Supplementing the lineup is a stacked bullpen of Yankee relievers. If you feel that I need to share any information about Mariano Rivera please stop reading, move to a country where baseball doesn’t exist, and never contact our baseball-loving nation ever again. Rivera is the God of closing and Soriano is his apprentice. So if Mo ever needs a day off New York has the next best closer in the league readily available. Hopefully Job the Hut proves he’s not completely worthless and can actually pitch with some relevance this year; and the supporting cast of Robertson, Logan, and Feliciano make the Yankee pen one tough matchup.
My hesitation with declaring the Yankees a potential champion is the lack of depth in their rotation. They’ll be fine initially with Sabathia and Hughes leading the way, but current number three man A.J. Burnett is about as useful as a hangnail on your eyeball. Mitre and Nova provide nothing to write home about and it’s going to take a breakout year from somebody to make this rotation solid.
Negative jokes and utter hatred aside the Yankees will dominate yet again, and probably make it to the ALCS (why do they have to get matched up with the Twins in the first round every effing year?!?!?!) but I don’t think this team has anywhere close to the necessary starting pitching to win a title. At some point they’ll turn it on at the drop of a hat and make a run at it, they just won’t be running away with it.
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