Boston Sports Then and Now

A big part of every Red Sox season is, of course, the New York Yankees’ season.

Curtis Granderson is an important addition for New York.

Difficult though it may be to admit in our neck of the woods, the 2009 World Series Champions were the class of Major League Baseball last year and deserved their title.  The Yankees put their money where their mouths were (and in the pockets of Mark Teixeira, AJ Burnett, and CC Sabathia) and returned to the glory they’d known so often last century.

Here, we’ll explore the Sox’ arch-rivals in preparation for their title defense and baseball’s regular season at large.

Lineup

Though the team is strong at large, its success depends on its offensive output.  Apparently impervious to age, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada both put up fantastic numbers in 2009, and Teixeira Alex Rodriguez should continue to mash in the lineup’s heart.

Left-fielder Johnny Damon and designated hitter Hideki Matsui are gone to the Tigers and Angels, respectively, but in their stead the Yankees got younger.  Nick Johnson has returned to the club and will serve as the designated hitter the majority of the time; he is expected to hit second, where Damon hit last season, and his high on-base skills should fit well in that spot.  Curtis Granderson was brought in in a blockbuster trade to patrol between left and center-field.  The phenomenal athlete struggles against left-handed pitching, but he should prove quite valuable hitting 7th, where he will be able to run rather freely and should have plenty of men on base ahead of him.

The book’s still out on center-fielder Brett Gardner, but he put up a decent season in 2009 and should be a fine enough fit at the bottom of the lineup.  The Yanks’ backup plan for the quick youngster is the once-productive Randy Winn, but he is hardly a scary force.  Nick Swisher returns to play right-field.  He was productive last year, putting up an .869 OPS in 150 games.

Robinson Cano will hit fifth this season.

The true key to the lineup is how Robinson Cano takes to hitting fifth in the lineup.  Cano is undeniably one of the better hitting second-basemen out there and he did put up 25 home runs a season ago, but he doesn’t fit the profile of the basher that typically fills the spot.  Nonetheless, he is a very strong hitter and he should do well enough in the spot.

The Yankees may see some regression offensively but they’ll still likely be the best run-producing club in the Majors.

Starting Pitching

The Yankees spent big on Sabathia and Burnett last offseason and it proved smart.  Sabathia, with the World Series victory, has solidified himself as a legitimate ace and Burnett’s no slouch either.  Depth was an issue, so GM Brian Cashman bolstered the staff by bringing back formerly-failed Yankee Javier Vazquez.  With New York in 2004, Vazquez posted a 4.91 ERA and he’s had highs and lows since with three other organizations, but if he comes close to duplicating last season in Atlanta (219 IP, 2.87 ERA, 238 strikeouts, 15 wins, 1.03 WHIP), then the club has certainly improved their staff.  Andy Pettite is the Sox’ answer to Tim Wakefield and will serve as the fourth starter.  Philip Hughes and Joba Chamberlain are battling in Spring Training for the fifth spot; Hughes is said to have the early lead.  Both should see a number of starts throughout the year though.  The Yankees’ starting five likely doesn’t match the Red Sox’, but it’s a very solid rotation indeed.

Bullpen

Mariano Rivera is immortal and should be expected to post ridiculously fantastic season after ridiculously fantastic season as the closer until he gives reason not to.   The loser of the Hughes-Chamberlain competition will play an important role in relief and both have done well in such a role in their young careers.  David Robertson and Alfredo Aceves were effective in relief roles last year but neither was stellar.  Damaso Marte returns; he’s been a disappointment in New York but has a very impressive track record and could be a sleeper candidate for a big year in the ‘pen.  Chad Gaudin can spot start and pitch multiple innings.  At large, the bullpen is pretty solid but is not close to great.  When it really counts, though, the Yankees still have the guy you want to be able to go to.

Fielding

In a Red Sox offseason with such intense focus on fielding and run prevention, it may please fans to know that the Yankees’ defense will likely prove to be its weakest spot.  Posada’s 40 and Jeter’s 37.  Though age has yet to effect their offensive output, it should by now be taking a toll on their defensive abilities, though in fairness, new metrics say that Jeter put up one of his better defensive seasons last year.  Posada likely can’t be counted on to catch more than 115 games.

They have to get old eventually...right?

A-Rod hasn’t ever really looked comfortable at third base since moving to the position in 2004, and he’s been declining statistically for three years now.  He also is about to enter his age 35 season, believe it or not, and further decline in the field seems likely.  Opposite him, Mark Teixeira is a good, maybe great, defensive first baseman and is an asset in the field.  Cano rounds out the infield at second base.  He is young and athletic, but he has consistently ranked towards the bottom in terms of runs saved defensively amongst his fellow American League positionmates with the exception of 2007, wherein he oddly led the league.  There’s enough of a sample size at this point, though, to argue that he is below average at best defensively.

The outfield defense should be pretty good.  Gardner and Granderson are both very good in the field and Swisher is average, though he quasi-famously has only a mediocre arm.  All the same, he plays in a tiny rightfield and doesn’t hurt the team; balls in the air won’t be much of an issue for the Yankees.

The infield, though, is scary with the exception of Teixeira, and is likely to cost the team some runs.

Overall

The Yankees have a good lineup, a good rotation, and a decent bullpen, and, given the other assets, the defense won’t kill them.  Manager Joe Girardi will likely (again) do a few stupid things to lose a few games, but there’s too much talent for poor management to fail with this team.  Despite the additions of Vazquez and Granderson, I don’t think the team will be as good as last year’s edition, but they are, until proven otherwise, the best team in the AL East, at least from a regular season perspective, and I expect that they’ll win the division.  That’s alright, though; baseball’s seen time and again that success is hardly unattainable for a Wild Card winner.

-Adam Vaccaro can be followed on Twitter.