Tuesday, April 1, 2008

New York Yankees 2008 Preview

Guest Post: AJ


Without injuries in the first half last year, the Yankees would have cruised on their way to the AL East crown and wouldn’t have played in the bug infested confines of the Jake. They were 73-39 in their last 112… that’s .652 for those of you without a calculator handy.

Coaching

Joey G. is not Joe Torre. He is not going to let opposing pitchers get away with hitting his players and he’s not going to put up with whiners. He is a fierce competitor, whereas Torre was more of a ‘manage the attitudes of the players’ kind of guy. He will mix in more small ball and grit than we have seen in the last decade or so. Who knows if he will get along with Hank? If he can… it may mean great things for the Bombers.

Dave Eiland may be more important for the Yankees success than Girardi. He comes up from the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees where he coached and played a key role in the development of both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. He will have his hands full and should expect to see a lot of the familiar faces as the Yankees try to figure out their bullpen.

Infield

The left side of the infield needs no mention, it may be top 5 best ever. Cano is poised to have an MVP type season. He’s going to have about 200 hits this year with a batting average around .340. He makes plays look easy with his range and his cannon. As for first base, you can expect to see Giambi there for much of the season. However, with more options at DH, you can expect to see a lot of Shelley Duncan and Wilson Betimit on 1B… heck, Morgan Ensberg is even an option this year.

Outfield

Melky isn’t going to wow anyone with the bat in his hands but he should make up for his average offense with solid D in center. Damon and Matsui will probably split a lot of time in left field with Damon moving over to center on occasion. Unfortunately, at this point in Damon’s career, he doesn’t have the athleticism to cover the ground he once did. Bobby Abreu doesn’t have much to worry about as far as competing for the starting job in RF. From time to time, Duncan’s going to be out there for his right-handed bat in the lineup.

Catcher

Jorge’s old body is bound to give him some troubles as the season progresses. He defied the aging process last year somehow and had a career year, don’t expect that again though. He is probably going to begin to show the signs of the wear-and-tear that catching takes on one’s body. Luckily, there are 9 Molina’s and one named Jose plays for the Yankees. He will need to produce and be reliable enough to keep Jorge from being worthless come October.

Pitching

The biggest question mark for the Yankees in the last 10 years is this team’s pitching staff. Pettitte has already shown that health may be an issue with his aging arm and back. Mussina may be in the minors on April 16th unless he gets his location back and can get in the head of the batters he faces. Chien-Ming is solid and should provide 17-20 wins for the third consecutive season. How will Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy fair? Will Joba be starting? Is the Princeton grad (Ohlendorf) going to stick around or is it going to be a new face every few weeks in the bullpen? Can Billy Traber be reliable enough to shut down opposing lefties? The answers to these questions will undoubtedly indicate where the Yankees are come July. If there are some holes, don’t be surprised to see Hank and Cash making moves at the deadline.

Prediction: 94-68

6 comments:

  1. haha cano gonna get .340 hilarious

    i love it that matsui damon and giambi are still on this team.. can't wait for cheter to hit .280 and realize he is soon to be 34

    -steve

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  2. Not only are there 9 Molinas but all of them are catchers

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  3. hey janis, you think cano hitting .340 is less likely than the brewers and tigers being in the series? the tigers might get last in the central... let's see, verlander... then who? according to you, you shit aces better than kenny rogers, and he is their #2. embarrassing. jeter at 34 is still 4 times better than reyes at 24 so i'm not too worried.

    it's too bad the mets aren't going to put themselves in position to have a late-season collapse this year cause they will be out of it at the break.

    -aj

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  4. you lose credibility the more you type.. jose reyes has won more playoff series in the past two seasons than jeter, and he is better in basically every statistical category tough argument

    steve

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  5. cano is hot right now, he might get up to .100 soon!, sweep comin from the rays, 2007 all over again baby
    -steve

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  6. first of all... everyone knows cano starts poorly cause he plays better in warm weather. second, the yankees had a winning record vs. the rays last year.

    nice points, they are almost good as the tigers are so far this season... watch out for detroit... they are only three back in the central after 5 games. tigers in the series? what a prediction. good thing you write a blog. embarrassing.

    -aj

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