Let's Look At The Roster: New York Yankees

[Scotty]

This is the first in what I hope turns into a plentiful series of threads. Basically I will take a look at the teams roster and state what I think of the players and what makes the team successful.

Jorge Posada: The 38 year old catcher is showing some signs of age, but is still a valuable asset to this years New York Yankee team. He has 9 home runs and 28 RBI's and only bats .267, but he has somewhat of a calming presence to me. He seems to always come through in the clutch. I would still prefer to see him take over the DH role and somewhat mentor Francisco Cervelli in the ways of the game, but Cervelli is young and a very talented prospect. He will have his time to shine.

Mark Texeira: Somehow he has a unusually low batting average, yet still manages to produce runs. He is what I consider one of the few keys to a successful playoff run for the Yankees. If he gets hot the Yankee's are the definite front runner to repeat this year.

Robinson Cano: Wow. What a year he is having. He is only 9 home runs away from a career high with 80 games still to go. He is on pace to drive home around 110 RBI's which is 13 more then his career high. He is drawing more walks then he ever has, and he is having a Gold Glove year. Their have been stretches when he carries the Yankees and that is a feat alone. He is definitely one of the reasons the Yanks have the best record in baseball.

Alex Rodriguez: The power numbers are down, but he is still driving in a good amount of runs. He is still able to handle the "hot corner" and does it pretty well. Not really to much more to say that hasn't already been said about A-Rod.

Derek Jeter Again here is another Yankee whose average is considerably down. I have yet to decide if I think it is age catching up with him or just a down year. His doubles have been up, his RBI's are up, and he still has that beautiful jump and spin throw. They also don;t call hin Captain for nothing.

Brett Gardner: My personal favorite Yankee has really proven the haters wrong. He is the main reason why the guys at the top of the order have more RBI's. His speed makes him a constant thread to steal, and he always seems to find a way on base. I really haven't heard to much about his fielding and I consider that a good thing. It shows he is consistent, you either hear about the fielders who make the crazy highlight catches or are always making errors. Brett Gardner is the guy I consider the breakout star of the position player on the Yankees to me.

Curtis Granderson: He has been hurt this year but when he has played it has not been very good. He is batting a measly .228 with only 23 RBI's all year. He has been covered by good play by both of the corner outfielders. He has a good glove in the outfield and that is really the only thing that he brings to the Yankees right now in my opinion.

Nick Swisher We have all seen the Sens Swish ads trying to get Swisher sent to the All-Star game. I really don't think he deserves to go this year. He hasn't the kind of year that a player that Konerko has. He has a good amount of home runs and all, but he hasn't really carried his team. Konerko is the sole reason why his team is even in the race right now.

CC Sabathia: CC is having a good year with an 11-3 record before the All-Star break. He also has 103 strikeouts which in nothing to shake a stick at. The opponents are batting .227 against him which is good, his ERA is lower than last year by about .20 points, and has a pretty good WHIP.

AJ Burnett: He is not having a very good season. A 6-7 record with an ERA hovering around 5, and less than 80 strikeouts in 100+ innings pitched. He is one of the only two kinks in their starting rotation.

Javier Vasquez: He showed last year in Atlanta what he is capable of....in the National League. He had an outstanding year last year and showed why I feel he is more suited for facing a National League lineup than an American League lineup. The AL bolsters better batting orders than the National League, and he is a NL type of pitcher. He has floundered in the AL the last two seasons he has been there (2008 and this year)

Andy Pettitte: Somehow he seems to get better every year. He is having a miraculous season for a 38 year old man. He looks like he may become the next Jamie Moyer, still getting productive year all the way to his late 40's.

Phil Hughes: Another one of the Yankee's future pitching greats. he impresses me every time he takes the mound and I don;t see it changing any time soon. Phil Hughes could be the Yankee's ace for a very long time.

Mariano Rivera: He has shown this year why he is probably the greatest closer of all time. He has 19 saves and only has a 1.08 ERA. That is almost unheard of for a man that is 40 years old. There is discussion on these here forums of Rivera vs Hoffman. My take is that if the roles were reversed that Rivera would have way more saves. The Yankees always score a lot of runs and that has taken a big cut out of Rivera's save numbers. Whereas the Padres have relied on close games and pitching while Hoffman was the closer there.




Reason why they are in first place: Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, CC Sabathia, and Brett Gardner.

What will push them "over the top": Key players such as Mark Texeira, Derek Jeter, and Javier Vasquez needs to get hot.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Jorge Posada: The 38 year old catcher is showing some signs of age, but is still a valuable asset to this years New York Yankee team. He has 9 home runs and 28 RBI's and only bats .267, but he has somewhat of a calming presence to me. He seems to always come through in the clutch. I would still prefer to see him take over the DH role and somewhat mentor Francisco Cervelli in the ways of the game, but Cervelli is young and a very talented prospect. He will have his time to shine.

Posada is good when he isnt out of the lineup with an injury. I see what you're talking about with Cervelli. The only thing that worries me is the fact that we have 2 other prospect catchers in the farm system, in Romine and Montero. Once Posada retires, which will be sooner rather than later, you have to figure that one of these young catcher will be traded.

Mark Texeira: Somehow he has a unusually low batting average, yet still manages to produce runs. He is what I consider one of the few keys to a successful playoff run for the Yankees. If he gets hot the Yankee's are the definite front runner to repeat this year.

He is starting to get hot. He has brought his B/A close to .250 since falling to .228, and recently, he has been a very pesky out for opposing teams. Hopefully he heats up even more after the All Star Break because if he does, like you said, the Yankees will become the front runners.

Robinson Cano: Wow. What a year he is having. He is only 9 home runs away from a career high with 80 games still to go. He is on pace to drive home around 110 RBI's which is 13 more then his career high. He is drawing more walks then he ever has, and he is having a Gold Glove year. Their have been stretches when he carries the Yankees and that is a feat alone. He is definitely one of the reasons the Yanks have the best record in baseball.

He is one of the best second basemen in the game at the moment, and can become one of the best players in all of baseball if he stays this hot. He pulled out of the HR Derby, which is a good thing because the HR Derby has been known to bring hitters down.

Alex Rodriguez: The power numbers are down, but he is still driving in a good amount of runs. He is still able to handle the "hot corner" and does it pretty well. Not really to much more to say that hasn't already been said about A-Rod.

After last night, I dont really agree with you. He hit 2 homeruns last night including a Grand Slam to help the Yankees win. He hasn't been a big power hitter since the Yankees had Long as their hitting coach. However, he is now able to hit the ball for extra base hits, and that is another reason why The Yankees have been so good.

Derek Jeter Again here is another Yankee whose average is considerably down. I have yet to decide if I think it is age catching up with him or just a down year. His doubles have been up, his RBI's are up, and he still has that beautiful jump and spin throw. They also don;t call hin Captain for nothing.

They say that everyone is entitled to one bad year, and I think this is Jeter's "bad" year. While his average his been down significantly from previous years, he still is able to hit the ball, and is still a very dangerous threat to other teams.

Brett Gardner: My personal favorite Yankee has really proven the haters wrong. He is the main reason why the guys at the top of the order have more RBI's. His speed makes him a constant thread to steal, and he always seems to find a way on base. I really haven't heard to much about his fielding and I consider that a good thing. It shows he is consistent, you either hear about the fielders who make the crazy highlight catches or are always making errors. Brett Gardner is the guy I consider the breakout star of the position player on the Yankees to me.

I'm calling him the next Ricky Henderson, and with good reasoning, he is very dangerous on the basepaths. However, its not just his running that makes him good this year, it's also his hitting.

Curtis Granderson: He has been hurt this year but when he has played it has not been very good. He is batting a measly .228 with only 23 RBI's all year. He has been covered by good play by both of the corner outfielders. He has a good glove in the outfield and that is really the only thing that he brings to the Yankees right now in my opinion.

The Yankees should have never traded Austin Jackson for Granderson. However, in addition to his defense, when he does get a hold of a pitch, he can hit a homerun, or spray the ball to where the outfielders are not.

Nick Swisher We have all seen the Sens Swish ads trying to get Swisher sent to the All-Star game. I really don't think he deserves to go this year. He hasn't the kind of year that a player that Konerko has. He has a good amount of home runs and all, but he hasn't really carried his team. Konerko is the sole reason why his team is even in the race right now.

Konerko is the White Sox's Nick Swisher, however, the only reason Konerko is keeping the team alive is because the White Sox are doing horrible everywhere else, and get lucky that the other teams in their division lose some games. Swisher is having a career year, and if he doesnt make the team this year, he probably never will. Cut the guy some slack.

CC Sabathia: CC is having a good year with an 11-3 record before the All-Star break. He also has 103 strikeouts which in nothing to shake a stick at. The opponents are batting .227 against him which is good, his ERA is lower than last year by about .20 points, and has a pretty good WHIP.

CC has been very dominant this year, and in the games that he did lose, most of the time it was the bullpen that lost it for him. He has been very valuable to the team this year.

AJ Burnett: He is not having a very good season. A 6-7 record with an ERA hovering around 5, and less than 80 strikeouts in 100+ innings pitched. He is one of the only two kinks in their starting rotation.

[/facepalm]

Javier Vasquez: He showed last year in Atlanta what he is capable of....in the National League. He had an outstanding year last year and showed why I feel he is more suited for facing a National League lineup than an American League lineup. The AL bolsters better batting orders than the National League, and he is a NL type of pitcher. He has floundered in the AL the last two seasons he has been there (2008 and this year)

For what it's worth Scotty, your Braves arent getting what we got out of Melky Cabrera. Vasquez has been a lot better as of late, and I'm sure you Scotty, as a Braves fan would much rather have Vasquez than Melky.

Andy Pettitte: Somehow he seems to get better every year. He is having a miraculous season for a 38 year old man. He looks like he may become the next Jamie Moyer, still getting productive year all the way to his late 40's.

Pettite is very valuable to the team, since he rejoined a few years ago, he has been stellar. If it werent for him, and his ability to play in the post-season, I dont know how far the Yankees would have gone last year.

Phil Hughes: Another one of the Yankee's future pitching greats. he impresses me every time he takes the mound and I don;t see it changing any time soon. Phil Hughes could be the Yankee's ace for a very long time.

He has been very good this year, while in his last couple of starts, he hasnt been "dominant" he still has been able to put hitters away and get the Yankees a win. I was very surprised that Hughes would start being this good so early in his career.

Mariano Rivera: He has shown this year why he is probably the greatest closer of all time. He has 19 saves and only has a 1.08 ERA. That is almost unheard of for a man that is 40 years old. There is discussion on these here forums of Rivera vs Hoffman. My take is that if the roles were reversed that Rivera would have way more saves. The Yankees always score a lot of runs and that has taken a big cut out of Rivera's save numbers. Whereas the Padres have relied on close games and pitching while Hoffman was the closer there.

Rivera is a hell of a lot better than Hoffman. Hoffman played longer than Rivera. As for Mo himself, what year isnt he good? I could easily see Rivera pitching until he's 50, because he is showing absolutely NO signs of slowing down.