Pitchers and catchers have reported. It is the offseason no longer. :metal: Should be an interesting season. The Yankees definitely improved the talent in their rotation this offseason, but they also got much better than expected performances last year out of Colon and Garcia, so it's hard to say whether the rotation will actually realize better results this year. The things I'm most curious to see (in no particular order): - Will Nova improve over last season or regress? - Can A-Rod rebound and have a healthy season with enough time at DH? - What the hell are the Yankees going to do with Hughes? (Hopefully start him.) - The obvious question... how will Pineda adjust to the AL East? - Was Jeter's second half rebound last year for realz? - Does Granderson's success continue? - Will the Yanks treat Cano as the best hitter on the team? (They probably should.) - Will Teixeira take his head out of his ass against RHP this year? (Probably not.) Ah, baseball season. Here comes an 86mph heater: "You want me to chase a ball to my left? What, is it 2003?"
And I know it's totally wishful thinking, but I hope they prep Joba as a starter. Why not at this point? He's rehabbing. Maybe (hopefully), he'll be in good shape and will have some of the old velocity back. If they don't need him to start or if he doesn't have the old stuff, fine... stick him back in the pen. I still just think back to this start... Link Last fastball in the seventh inning? 100mph. I might as well wish for Mo to become 30 again... which reminds me... I need to get my kids to a few games this year. I want them to be able to say they saw Mo pitch.
Wonder how the DH situation will resolve itself. Will we see A-Rod's eventual replacement develop in our system? (Hoping David Adams aka the guy who held up the Cliff Lee deal, stays healthy) Will we see a AAA payer challenge for a SP LR role (Kantos/Warren/Phelps/Mitchel)? I am not high on Nova.
My take at it... - It would be unrealistic to expect Nova to improve on last years numbers. I hope I'm wrong, but with a full year of tape on him and after seeing him, I expect his numbers to regress a little bit - Hopefully A-Rod can stay healthy, but I think we all believe his monster seasons are behind him. I think .280, 30 HRs is still realistic though. - I'm hoping Hughes regains his form and takes the 5th starters job and stays in the rotation for the future. I'm just not sure if they will put Garcia in the bullpen. Have to wish that Hughes doesn't give them the option and looks like he did when he was the top pitching prospect in baseball. - Pineda, who knows... I'm anticipating him to be a solid #3 this year, and working his way up to a #2/1a with Sabathia as his development continues - No reason to believe that Jeter's & Granderson's success isn't going to continue. - I believe that Cano will be hitting 3rd this year, thus treating him as the best hitter on the team Jeter Granderson Cano Rodriguez Teixeira Swisher Ibanez/Jones Martin Gardner - Apparently Teixeira has worked on closing up his lefty-stance in an attempt to work the whole field as opposed to the open-stance which promotes a dead-pull hitter
Were there any realistic options out there to replace him? I didn't follow the MLB off season that closely this year so I'm not sure who was/wasn't available.
Michael Cuddyer was just sitting there as an unrestricted free agent. He would have been a perfect fit.
Swisher and Cuddyer will probably have similar production. Swisher is well-liked by teammates and if the Jets' season taught us anything it's that that does have some value. One more year of Swisher in RF should be okay.
It was nice seeing Petitte at camp but does anybody feel he kind of screwed us over by retiring when he did? I respect that it's his decision to leave but I feel we could've won the World Series last year with him pitching well. I've always been a fan of Andy Dandy and regard him as a legend but between that and the steroid scandal I have him a few spots lower on my all time greats then he should be Anyways I'm optimistic on this years Bronx Bombers. We're as stacked as ever and finally have a good rotation. All eyes on A-Rod if he returns to form after his trip to Germany we should win the World Series while still being contenders if not
I agree with dwalsh for the actual lineup. However I wish they would go Jeter Grando A Rod Cano Teix Swish Jones/Ibanez Martin Gardy How about over/under Gardy stolen bases: 55
Excited to see what Hughes' fastball tops out at this spring training. Guy was all over the map last year.
Less Productive? Nick Swisher: Career - 3704 AB .254 AVG 185 HR 580 RBI Career Post-Season - 124 AB .169 AVG 4 HR 6 RBI Michael Cuddyer: Career - 4072 AB .272 AVG 141 HR 580 RBI Career Post-Season 74 AB .338 AVG 2 HR 8 RBI You lose a little power for 28 Points in average and get the same RBI's PLUS someone who has a proven track record in the post-season Yes, Cuddyer is older, but The Yankees are among the favorites to win it all this year. This team already has tons of power. A better average in RF might have put them over the top.
OBP is getting overrated now, and average is underrated. If a team walks 3 times an inning and strikes out 3 times, they have an OBP of .500 but will never score. There are tons of times that the old "walk is as good as a hit" is untrue. You need some hits once in a while if you want to score any runs. I'm not saying OBP isn't useful, but just as people used to go too far toward AVG, it's gone too far in the other direction now I think.
^Thats fair and a great example. Still, all things considered I'll take Swisher over Cuddyer for 2012. I've been told WAR is the best indicator of production. I'm sure Capster will let us know.
Swisher smells ass but Cuddyer does too.....Swisher's post seasons have been an out right embarrassment. But one good post season will make me forget all that
