Post by 4th and Maine on Apr 6, 2009 11:30:04 GMT -5
The New York Yankees were for a very long time the dominant team of the American League East. It seems like not that long ago that the team filled with clutch players such as Scott Brosious, Paul O'Neil, and Bernie Williams were winning three championships in four years. But in reality it has been a decade since the Yankees have won a World Championship, and has now been six years since they have even appeared in the World Series. In fact since the last time they were there the Red Sox have been twice and the Tampa Bay Rays have now been once. Despite those facts, the Evil Empire is still spending money hand over fist to try and change their playoff results, and they hope that ringing in the new stadium in 2009 will provide extra motivation.
Most of that money they are spending, about 400 million dollars, went into three players in the off-season: Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett. Their main goal was to shore up what was a very shaky rotation last year, while adding some additional support to Alex RoIdriguez (Yes, I'm aware of the typo) since they lost Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreau to a couple of teams out west. That was the plan anyway, suddenly A-Roid has a bad hip and will be out until late April or early May. He will then try to return and fit into a quite aging Yankee lineup. With Alex out, their projected opening day lineup will look a little something like this:
Derek Jeter SS
Johnny Damon LF/DH
Mark Teixeira 1B/DH
Hideki Matsui LF/DH
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Xavier Nady RF
Cody Ransom 3B
Brett Gardner CF
Now if Jeter and Damon can revert back to their old form and be consistently getting on base and scoring a ton of runs, then this lineup may fare better then last year. I just don't know how much of that is going to happen. Damon is another year older and has declined a bit since going to the Bronx. Jeter, well he's their captain, and he will get his numbers. Teixeira, good addition. They may have overpaid slightly, but that's what the Yankees do. He will play fairly and hit 30-35 home runs. Matsui and Posada are additional question marks, as both have battled injuries in recent years and are approaching the closer side to 40. Cano and Nady should be solid and serviceable players at their positions, very underrated and appreciated by mass media and many Yankee fans I'm sure. Ransom and Gardner are garbage and just fillers at the bottom of the lineup.
So the lineup has a large cloud over hits head and frankly doesn't look very Yankee-link. Your next argument would well, insert Alex RoIdriguez in there behind Teixeira and then it will be a whole lot stronger. Will it? Alex is going to be coming back from an injury where he elected to have minor surgery rather then a more serious procedure that would of had him out nearly if not all year in order to cure the problem. When he does come back, will he be able to hold up for the rest of the year? If he doesn't their cooked. If he does, how long will he take to get his timing and rhythm down? Will he be able to overcome all the other distractions of the steroid revelations and be able to put up big numbers? How is he going to handle sharing the spotlight with Teixeria? What is Mark comes in and plays great and the fans love him, while still hating A-Roid? There are a lot of distractions and potential story lines here, and I think he is going to be more of a problem then a help to this club in 2009.
The starting rotation appears to be the strong point to this team this year. Which is a plus since it was probably their biggest weakness in 2008. They added the two big free agent arms and they also resigned Andy Pettitte, allowing him to get closer to finishing his career in pinstripes. Their projected 2009 starting rotation looks a little something like this:
C.C. Sabathia LHP
Chien Min Wang RHP
A.J. Burnett RHP
Andy Pettitte LHP
Joba Chamberlain RHP
Now the rotation looks very strong on paper, but it has it's question marks and holes just like the lineup. Sabathia was an animal last year for the Brewers down the stretch, but he threw more pitches then any other pitcher in the game. He also is stepping into the pinstripes with a huge contract and gigantic expectations. He was in Clevleand, but that is no market like New York. This is going to be a whole new animal, and we will see how he responds. A.J. Burnett? I think we know what we are going to get with him. He has a history of injury problems, and I think will be another Carl Pavano or Matt Clement, a huge bust. He will probably be only a factor in about ten decisions going 6-4 or 5-5 and being out most of the year. Wang and Pettitte will be classic Yankees and give the Sox and Rays fits and probably win between 15-20 games each. Joba? The young stud has fizzled out a little bit since moving into the rotation and by all indications his speed his down in the spring. Maybe arm fatigue already, as he pitched many more innings last year then he was use too. Another whole year of that, who knows if his arm will hold up. Even if it does, him being in the rotation still takes away from a very important spot.
The bullpen. Mariano Rivera is back to do the closing duties in the new stadium, but after that, there isn't much. In fact there are little in name recognition and bridging the gap to the closer will be tough this year. They are going to need their rotation to go long innings and pitch well for extended periods of time if they are going to be successful. Their lineup is aging and will not score as many runs as in years past. I don't think the rotation has the reputation to hold up. Sabathia threw a ton of innings last year and is a big guy. Wang is coming off of injuries. Pettitte is another year older. Burnett could be out for a month is he breaks a nail. Joba is already down in velocity and arm fatigue could be around the corner. This team could look a lot different by July, and not in a good way.
Prediction: 87-75
Most of that money they are spending, about 400 million dollars, went into three players in the off-season: Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett. Their main goal was to shore up what was a very shaky rotation last year, while adding some additional support to Alex RoIdriguez (Yes, I'm aware of the typo) since they lost Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreau to a couple of teams out west. That was the plan anyway, suddenly A-Roid has a bad hip and will be out until late April or early May. He will then try to return and fit into a quite aging Yankee lineup. With Alex out, their projected opening day lineup will look a little something like this:
Derek Jeter SS
Johnny Damon LF/DH
Mark Teixeira 1B/DH
Hideki Matsui LF/DH
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Xavier Nady RF
Cody Ransom 3B
Brett Gardner CF
Now if Jeter and Damon can revert back to their old form and be consistently getting on base and scoring a ton of runs, then this lineup may fare better then last year. I just don't know how much of that is going to happen. Damon is another year older and has declined a bit since going to the Bronx. Jeter, well he's their captain, and he will get his numbers. Teixeira, good addition. They may have overpaid slightly, but that's what the Yankees do. He will play fairly and hit 30-35 home runs. Matsui and Posada are additional question marks, as both have battled injuries in recent years and are approaching the closer side to 40. Cano and Nady should be solid and serviceable players at their positions, very underrated and appreciated by mass media and many Yankee fans I'm sure. Ransom and Gardner are garbage and just fillers at the bottom of the lineup.
So the lineup has a large cloud over hits head and frankly doesn't look very Yankee-link. Your next argument would well, insert Alex RoIdriguez in there behind Teixeira and then it will be a whole lot stronger. Will it? Alex is going to be coming back from an injury where he elected to have minor surgery rather then a more serious procedure that would of had him out nearly if not all year in order to cure the problem. When he does come back, will he be able to hold up for the rest of the year? If he doesn't their cooked. If he does, how long will he take to get his timing and rhythm down? Will he be able to overcome all the other distractions of the steroid revelations and be able to put up big numbers? How is he going to handle sharing the spotlight with Teixeria? What is Mark comes in and plays great and the fans love him, while still hating A-Roid? There are a lot of distractions and potential story lines here, and I think he is going to be more of a problem then a help to this club in 2009.
The starting rotation appears to be the strong point to this team this year. Which is a plus since it was probably their biggest weakness in 2008. They added the two big free agent arms and they also resigned Andy Pettitte, allowing him to get closer to finishing his career in pinstripes. Their projected 2009 starting rotation looks a little something like this:
C.C. Sabathia LHP
Chien Min Wang RHP
A.J. Burnett RHP
Andy Pettitte LHP
Joba Chamberlain RHP
Now the rotation looks very strong on paper, but it has it's question marks and holes just like the lineup. Sabathia was an animal last year for the Brewers down the stretch, but he threw more pitches then any other pitcher in the game. He also is stepping into the pinstripes with a huge contract and gigantic expectations. He was in Clevleand, but that is no market like New York. This is going to be a whole new animal, and we will see how he responds. A.J. Burnett? I think we know what we are going to get with him. He has a history of injury problems, and I think will be another Carl Pavano or Matt Clement, a huge bust. He will probably be only a factor in about ten decisions going 6-4 or 5-5 and being out most of the year. Wang and Pettitte will be classic Yankees and give the Sox and Rays fits and probably win between 15-20 games each. Joba? The young stud has fizzled out a little bit since moving into the rotation and by all indications his speed his down in the spring. Maybe arm fatigue already, as he pitched many more innings last year then he was use too. Another whole year of that, who knows if his arm will hold up. Even if it does, him being in the rotation still takes away from a very important spot.
The bullpen. Mariano Rivera is back to do the closing duties in the new stadium, but after that, there isn't much. In fact there are little in name recognition and bridging the gap to the closer will be tough this year. They are going to need their rotation to go long innings and pitch well for extended periods of time if they are going to be successful. Their lineup is aging and will not score as many runs as in years past. I don't think the rotation has the reputation to hold up. Sabathia threw a ton of innings last year and is a big guy. Wang is coming off of injuries. Pettitte is another year older. Burnett could be out for a month is he breaks a nail. Joba is already down in velocity and arm fatigue could be around the corner. This team could look a lot different by July, and not in a good way.
Prediction: 87-75