The Yankees won 97 regular season games and two more in the playoffs, but their quest for a 28th World Championship fell short in the Bronx last night, as the Tigers beat them 3-2. Here are some links as the Yankees look ahead to another offseason…
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says retaining C.C. Sabathia is the most pressing task of the Yankees' offseason. If they let him slip away, the Red Sox could have interest, as Kepner points out.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com points out that the Yankees' biggest offseason need is once again starting pitching and runs through a number of other issues facing the Bronx Bombers this winter.
- Sabathia can opt out of the four years remaining on his seven-year, $161MM contract after the season and the left-hander says he can't wrap his head around the decision yet, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. However, Sabathia repeated that he loves it in New York.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post suspects that the Yankees will wait, instead of extending Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson this offseason. Both players are eligible for free agency after 2013 (assuming New York exercises Cano's two options).
- Alex Rodriguez told Sherman that the Yankees' season was a "major failure" though they finished with the best record in the American League. Rodriguez says he has a lot to prove and is looking forward to the challenge of "coming back with a vengeance."
- As Mike Vorkunov of the Star-Ledger explains, Jorge Posada may have played his final game in Yankee pinstripes and the catcher turned DH is emotional about the possibility.
- Brian Cashman reiterated that he wants to return to the Yankees, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger. The GM's contract expires after the season, but the Yankees want him back, so a new deal appears likely.
Congratulations to the Detroit Tigers! They earned that win last night and there was nothing cheap about it. This was not a major failure by the Yankees. In the end it wasn’t the pitching that got the better of them, it was just not coming through with the clutch hit in the moment last night. The Yankees simply got beat, the same way they got beat in 2010. They just lost to the better team and fairly, and there is nothing wrong with that.
The Yankees gave us fans a spectacular season full of HOF moments, record breaking, and watching players old and new, such as Garcia, Colon, Montero and Nova come up big throughout the season. Regarding Jesus Montero; I’m sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen with him in the next two months. In my mind, there is virtually no chance he with the Yankees next season and beyond. Every bit of him looks like the next Ramirez or Cabrera, he just doesn’t fit on the Yankee roster anyway you draw it up and it would be a horrible waste for Cashman to have someone that special have limited DH time. The Yankees are stacked at catcher for years. Next year it will be Martin, Romine and Cervelli. Year after 2013 and more likely 2014 we will see Sanchez.
So we begin; what top shelf pitcher does Montero get traded for?
I’m all for a Tigers and Brewers WS. I just hope the ratings are decent. …
and yeah, definitely bring Cashman back.
I don’t know. I think Posada had a few special moments at the end of the regular season. Virtually every night, every AB on that last homestand Posada received huge cheers from the fans. I don’t think there was much else that could have been done last night. The Tigers executed and took the fans out of it early..
uh, oh! aroid wants to come back with vengeance! that only means on thing; more “chit”!
Oh and I thought he meant he was going to give the money back so they could get rid of his sorry ass and replace him with someone who wasn’t a cheater.
The Yankees can’t extend Cano and Grandy yet. They have no clue what CC is going to cost them next year and with a few albatross contracts, and the rising value of both grandy and cano, it’s entirely possible that they won’t have the money to sign both, or atleast be willing to offer what each player is going to seek
“it’s entirely possible that they won’t have the money to sign both”
Seriously? This is the Yankees.
Pawsdeep, congrats on the win and something very cool for your city right now, especially with the Lions. Might have your own rivalry brewing with the Brewers.
That said, you do realize this is the Yankees? Just to put this in perspective. The Yankees could alone, absorb the Athletics and Rays organization and make them Triple A teams, their baseball equivalent to contraction. Not saying that in a pretentious way, but the Yankees could field a $400mm team if they so desired. People like to criticize the Yankees for spending too much, but I think a few fail to realize that they don’t “fully” take advantage of their available assets. They do use a lot of discretion not to overspend by too much compared to the league and Cashman is very good at allocating those assets and being thrifty elsewhere.
I recently relocated to south Florida and the place I’m renting doesn’t have TBS or TNT of all things. I can watch HBO, Encore and every single reality show but I couldn’t watch a single playoff game. Instead I had to follow it on line or from my phone. Sucks.
Very disappointed at the loss and frustrated because of all the things we do best, hit, we failed to do in close games. We either bash you in and score 10 or we struggle to piece together 3 or 4 runs. Our pitching was pretty good the whole series though.
No one expected us to go this far and in whole we learned a lot about some of our younger players and what they are capable of. Certainly some good story lines to build off of and the Yanks should be in a good position to make some moves if they deem them neccesary. What I hope we DON’T do is panic.
Let’s bring back Cashman who has done a very good job this year. I would bring Colon back as well as I think his 2nd half faltered a little to fatigue from pitching Winter Ball and then 150 IP this year. I would not trade Nova, Montero or Nunez but certainly their stock has risen.
Overall, any season that doesn’t end in a WS title is a disappointing one but I am proud to call myself a Yankee fan and proud that this team didn’t listen to the media and bow down to the Red Sox this season.
Congrats to Jeter for showing he had something left in the tank. Congrats to Grandy for having a comeback player of the year type MVP season. Congrats to Swish for battling thru a tough 1st half. Congrats to David Robertson for a breakout season. Congrats to Mo for fighting back Father Time. Congrats to Posada on a fine career which I hope gets you to Cooperstown.
“No one expected us to go this far”
Completely untrue, in fact, quite the opposite: not many expected them to be eliminated so soon. While there were plenty saying the Rays could potentially challenge them for the Wild Card if, I’d have to say about ninety percent of the baseball community fully expected a Red Sox/Yankees ALCS this year.
“Congrats to Grandy for having a comeback player of the year type MVP season”
He’s a legit MVP contender, but comeback player? He’s not even close to the comeback player on his team (Colon’s got him beat by a mile on that one), much less overall. I’d peg the winner of comeback player as a lock for either Colon or Ellsbury. He had a mediocre 2010, but Colon was out of baseball for like two years and pitched extremely well and Ellsbury put up an MVP potential performance after playing like eighteen games last year.
Both Colon and Ellsbury were out because of injury. If that’s your criteria then they are in the running. However, Grandy flat out turned things around from 2010.
Runs +60 over 2010
Hits +38 …..
Hrs +17
Rbi +52
OPS +124
Slg +84
SB +13
vs LHP in 2010: .690 OPS
vs LHP in 2011: .989 OPS
Those are tremendous improvements…
And no one can claim he was a productive of the ball park as his h/r splits are almost identical:
.921 vs .911
21 hrs vs 20 hrs
Ellsbury biggest difference in 2011 vs 2009 was that he moved from being a run producer (-31 sb) to a run producer (+24 hrs). Tremendous season and worthy of MVP consideration but his 2010 campaign was off because of injury not performance.
“Both Colon and Ellsbury were out because of injury. If that’s your criteria then they are in the running. However, Grandy flat out turned things around from 2010.”
It’s not MY criteria, look at history. The award’s been around since3 2005 and in that time, only one of twelve players (Lidge) to win across both leagues didn’t miss significant time the prior year. Last year’s winners, Hudson and Liriano, both missed significant time in 2009 due to TJ recovery.
Granderson turned around a thoroughly mediocre 2010 to become an MVP candidate. Ellsbury turned around an entirely lost 2010 to become an MVP candidate. This isn’t even close to a contest, Ellsbury by a mile there. Even with Colon, Colon was out of the game for like two years and turned in a solid performance. I’d say it could go either way between Ellsbury or Colon, Granderson shouldn’t even be in the discussion.
Tremendous improvements indeed, worthy of recognition. But neither Ellsbury or Granderson “came back”. Neither have been in MVP territory before and both well exceeded expectations coming into the season. If anything both players broke out. Colon is a former Cy Young winner. Remember the thread on this site when Colon signed with the Yankees? 90% of comments were jokes on how awful he was. (I was guilty myself). If anyone truly came back, its Colon.
“Tremendous improvements indeed, worthy of recognition. But neither Ellsbury or Granderson “came back”.”
As with YFS78, this is historically irrelevant. Cliff Lee, Carlos Pena and Aaron Hill all have Comeback player awards under their belts and not a one of them ever produced anything remarkable before winning.
Historical trends peg that Ellsbury will probably win, but Colon’s got a very good shot.
Thats fair. I just think Colon was in more of a situation with the odds against him.
Hey Buddy, sorry to hear about your predicament in Florida. As always, your opinion comes with sound examples to back up your case, but I have to respectfully disagree. Obsessions’ got it right. Colon has come back from light years behind compared to both Grandy and Ellsbury.
As I see it,Granderson started putting it together late last year after his adjustment work with Kevin Long and finally getting comfortable to life in the Bronx. I believe he just carried it over this season, at the bat and on the field.
As for Ellsbury, while it is a somewhat of a surprise, I for one am not. I’ve always liked Ellsbury and his talent. The numbers he put this year, I have always felt that he was capable of doing just that. In my mind I projected him to reach those numbers as he matured and filled out. When Sox fans called for him to be traded last year, calling him a faker and soft, I really hoped they would. That he did come back from injury and put together a fabulous season does indeed merit consideration, but the contrast in numbers has to do more with missing time last year than anything else, as I see it.
As for Bartolo, he was out of baseball for two years and his two years prior to that were at best mediocre. Some will say that it owes it to the wonders of modern medicine, but he should be given his due for getting better as the year progressed.
I saw him play in February in DR, and pitching againist AAAA and low level ML’ers, he looked awful. When I heard Cashman signed him to that Minor league contract, I was demoralized about the state of the Yanks pitching situation.But to his credit, he lost some weight and for brief time, he was the best pitcher behind CC on the staff.The fact that he was bad 2 years ago and re-habed from a surgery and put together a stand-out return to the bigs gets my vote.
An aside, now that you’re in S. Florida, you may have better access to winter Beisbol from the caribbean come this January. Good luck with that!
You expected Ellsbury to hit 30+ home runs? Aside from Ellsbury himself you seriously may be the only person in the world who expected that.
I think you’re wrong.
Not even Ellsbury expected himself to hit 30 bombs.
Actually after hitting #30 Ellsbury said “I know what I’m capable of doing. I know everybody has been surprised by the power numbers, but it’s always been there. It just hasn’t translated to the game, but every year, I’ve consistently gotten better. This is kind of what I was looking for last year.”
I was a little surprised when Ellsbury said it, and until about an hour ago he was the only person I had heard/seen say it.
Again, I didn’t think it would be almost over night. My thinking on Ellsbury is that he’s still young and ‘growing’. I don’t think he would have put up the numbers last year that he just posted, but would have had better numbers than the previous year. There by making this year’s season look less startling. I’ll admit I didn’t think he would do what he did so soon after last years’s debacle, but as I said before, this guy’s got real talent.
I go back to when Bernie Williams was a rookie on those god awful Yankees teams and predicted he would be a star. My friends and colleages thought I was crazy, well we know how that turned out. Ellsbury, to me, fits the same mold.
I’ll give you another guy the Sox have that looks like that to me- Lowrie. His problem is staying healthy, but I like the way he plays and hits. He’s not as graceful or quick as Ellsbury, but he’s smart, a grinder, mentally tough and has some pop with the bat. Let him stay healthy and mature a bit and watch the guy shine.
Yeah, I get the whole young and still growing thing, and I thought he would probably hit 20ish during his peak while maybe touching mid 20s a couple of times, but I never thought he would hit over 30.
How come nobody is talking about the possibility of Ellsbury juicing? He had a Brady Anderson-like rise in HRs this season and nobody even suspects? Well, I do.
Yeah, I’m shocked that someone from New York would think that Ellsbury is on Steroids. I wonder if you suspect Granderson is on ‘roids too?
How come nobody is talking about the possibility of Ellsbury juicing? He had a Brady Anderson-like rise in HRs this season and nobody even suspects? Well, I do.
Depends on when they were saying this. At the start of the season, everyone pegged the Sox as champs, and Yanks as wildcards maybe. A few even had them missing the post season altogether. And if you remember how bleak our future was after Cliff Lee rejected us and Cashman went on a binge washed up veteran spending spree at the .99 cent store last offseason, it’s clear why they thought as much.
At midpoint though, expectations changed thanks to the stellar performances of Nova, Colon, and Garcia. But still, we were never the favorites this year. Boston and Philly were, and for good reason – they had better teams.
As much as I hate Philly, I do think Doc deserves a title more than anyone else in baseball.
I’m kind of torn on this one too. I do believe that Roy Halladay above many others is very deserving of a title, but the other part of me wants to the see the Phillies lose.
I’m not debating who the favorites were, I’d be insane to claim that anyone picked the Yanks to go all the way. My point of debate was with “no one expected us to go this far,” which is untrue, most experts expected them to go even further. People were uneasy about the Yanks’ pitching, but most experts and fans agreed that their offense would probably be plenty to get them into the playoffs, barring injury, and past whoever snuck through the Central or a Lee-less Rangers squad in a short series.
Going into the season, the Rays were considered the closest competition for the Yanks and most pegged the loss of Crawford as indicative of a transitional period where they’d miss the playoffs while Jennings got up to speed. The big surprise of the playoffs was the Rays making it at all.
That all makes sense. Nonetheless it was one heck of a good season to watch and if a team is going to lose, the Yankees lost the right way, if that makes sense and to a good team.
But if the Red Sox were the favorites to win the AL East, that would make the Yanks as the wildcard or out of the playoffs, yes? Which means the Red Sox would play the weaker AL Central winner, and they Yanks would play the Lee-less Rangers. So going by that logic, I think you’re wrong, that no, not a lot of people expected the Yanks to go past the Rangers given similar offenses, and the glaring holes in the NYY rotation.
I think everyone, fans and experts, expected the offense to carry them into the playoffs, but the lack of pitching would be a downfall once IN the playoffs. At least, that’s what I read/heard.
I was among those saying that the Yanks wouldn’t last long in the playoffs, citing their pitching (Though, yes, timely hitting is what killed them), but as I noted, a lot of people were expecting, going into the season, that the Yanks could take the Rangers once Lee signed in Philly (The Rangers’ rotation was just as big of a question mark going in as NY’s), heck, there were plenty of people saying that the Rangers were far from a given for the playoffs with the Angels’ pitching. Even after the season started, most people were calling for a Sox/Yankees ALCS. Given, no one expected them to advance past the ALCS as their pitching was far from prepared for a best of seven, but most knew the Yanks had a very good chance of winning a short series with just Sabathia and whatever else they may have had available (Also noting that almost everyone expected them to pick up a pitcher at the deadline too).
In either case, at best, the Yanks ended up where many expected them: playoff bound, but a quick exit. At worst, they came in below expectation as many pegged them as a potential ALCS team.
In either case, the statement of “no one expected them to get this far” is still VERY much wrong. Almost everyone expected them to make the playoffs. Even YFS78, who made the remark in the first place, has yet to make any defense of said remark.
I’d say that’s correct. They were expected to make the playoffs, and maybe into the ALCS, but given their pitching, understandable if out in the first. So, they fall pretty much exactly where they were supposed to – one Derek Jeter almost homerun out of the ALCS. =(
Obsess, I disagree. The overwhelming number of prognosticators said the Red Sox would finish first in the AL East, win the ALCS and the World Series. If I remember something I saw last week correctly, something like 32 of 44 national columnist/writer types picked the Red Sox to win the World Series. So when “YanksFanSince78” says “No one expected us to get this far,” I think he’s talking about winning the division and finishing with the best record in the American League. Like it or not, those are fairly significant accomplishments.
After what the Rays lost in free agency, not many (if any) predicted they’d get to the postseason, so that “No one expected…” phrase would suit them better, but to say that the Yankees didn’t “overachieve” somewhat this season is not being fair to the Yankees and the supposed “Greatest team of All-Time” that the Red Sox were supposed to be. The Yankees were predicted to be second-class citizens this season. Instead, order was restored and Boston was second-class citizens once again. At least something went right this season. 🙂
If you are in Florida old friend.. Brightouse (part of Road Runner/Time Warner) has all and the YES Network… We have it in central Florida, but they blackout Yank games due to the Rays/Fish most of the time.
Just FYI…
Wow. If CC opts out after what he did in this series and these last two months i will hate this guy forever. i just feel like he owes the team, the fans and the city of NY ! where’s the damn dignity and owning up to your actions, don’t ask for money you don’t deserve dude ! but anyway, Of course he’s opting out !
Yeah shame on guys wanting to make more money. I’m sure you’d go in and ask for a massive pay cut right?
Sabathia has been nothing but great. What does he owe? 3 months ago there were arguements for CC for Cy Young. He had 1 mediocre start which he battled through. Its not like this opt-out snuck up on the yankees, they agreed to the contract too.
What did CC say that makes you think for a second that he wasn’t accountable?
One WS title and 3 great seasons makes me think he’s earned his pay.
Impressive season considering we started with no pitching after CC. It’s all good, just wasn’t our year. Next year is looking the same as this one. 2013 though, watch out!
You sound like a lot of Sox fans I knew 10 years ago. Just sayin’.
He sounds like the Sox fan I am sitting next to right now with the bottle of Jack D at 11:00AM.
Just saying…
Ha, fair enough
haha I mean, I’m an optimistic-realist. It’s delusional to think that you can actually win it every year. We just didn’t have the best team this year, and free agency is not going to help that much for next year’s team. Whether we get him or not, I just don’t see CJ Wilson being an impact pitcher – he’s capitalizing on a weak market. Let’s call it the Jason Bay syndrome. I really really hope we pass.
By 2013, hopefully the farm matures that Betances, Banuelos are in the rotation to complement CC, Nova and some top free agent pitcher we sign in the 2012-2013 off season (Greinke, Cain, or Hamels… barring any of them sign extensions before that – I’m really hating that trend lately)
Of course none of this matters if the world ends in 2012. Thanks Mayans. #lame
Oh God, don’t even get me started on the Mayan calendar crap.
Of course CC is a great pitcher. i did not say he wasn’t . also CC is not getting a paycut, he will still receive 20 Million + for what the next 4 years ? idk. guys, don’t make this a bigger deal than it already is. This is just a fan releasing the anger the best way i can.
Thanks,
Can the Yankees please get Kate Hudson on the payroll? We were rolling pretty good when that chick was with Arod….
The Yankees were prepared to give Cliff Lee 7 years, they should be prepared to give Sabathia the same. All of the sudden weight is an issue?
I wouldn’t be comfortable with giving 7 years to Lee, and I wouldn’t be comfortable giving 7 years to Sabathia (and yes, I’d say even more so because of his weight).
Call me crazy, but I seriously wonder if the Yankees wouldn’t be better served to let CC walk and go after 2-3 other guys, like maybe CJ, Darvish, and Buehrle/Jackson/trade for someone.
Your right if they were comfortable with it this opt-out wouldn’t be an issue. I think Darvish is a huge risk as well. For the yankees, you can count on Nova and Hughes for next year. Adding Wilson and another solid guy wouldnt be the worst thing in the world.
I’m not certain that they can count on Hughes at this point honestly, he may end up in the ‘pen.
Darvish is a risk, I agree, but one that the Yankees can afford to take, and while it’s a different kind of risk it really isn’t much more of a risk than CC for 7 more years.
Hughes is definitely not a guarantee but his velocity seems to be back. And now he has a full offseason to make a recovery. Have to like him more than Burnett next year. I have never seen Darvish pitch so im not going to make a judgement on him but i think paying big money for him and expecting him to be a FOR pitcher his first season in MLB, and especially NY, is a bit of a stretch. Not unrealistic though.
No, I wouldn’t expect him to be a front of the rotation guy his first year, or even ever necessarily, but (in this hypothetical situation) if he is a good #2, along with CJ, Buehrle/Jackson, Burnett, and Nova, I think the Yankees would have a really solid rotation 1-5, which would be better than CC, Nova, Burnett, ??, ??. That’s not to say that they couldn’t bring CC back and still get CJ (and heck, Darvish too) I mean, it is the Yankees, but I don’t think that that is very likely.
I’ve seen Darvish pitch, in the World Baseball Classic, and in Japan for the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters. Dude is SICK! I’m not a scout or anything, but I can see Darvish adjusting to the mlb talent. I honestly can’t see him in the Dice-Kei category .
(see what I did there?)
well done i appreciated it
Dice-K was supposed to be beastly, it turns out it wasn’t his stuff that couldn’t hold up it was his arm. I truly believe that Dice-K can be quality pitcher in the majors he just has to be able to pitch every five days for season’s length
I just heard a caller on WFAN suggest Clayton Kershaw to the Yankees. I just shook my head in disgust.
The problem with most Yankees fans is that they think the baseball world revolves around their team, so other teams should do their part by helping restock the Yanks every season. Other teams should be honored that we will accept your best player(s).
Not just Yankee fans but news too. Not once did ESPN give ANY credit to the Tigers for winning. It was just all about the Yankees losing and what they are going to do in November. Not how Verlander is going against CJ Wilson in game 1
Regardless of what you all think about “typical Yankee fans” and their insistence on trading for the best players… At this point in time they have one of the best farm systems in baseball and could land any prospect/pitcher/hitter they want…
I’m not saying the Yanks should do this but any team in MLB would take this trade for anyone on their team…
Montero (regarded as the next Victor Martinez)
Banuelos (#1-2 starter in a year or so)
Nova (immediate rotation help)
Nunez
“The problem with most Yankees fans…” that may apply to MOST 20 something year old Yankees fans, but not all. These fans have had the good fortune to have a winning legacy and don’t know REAL failure and DO believe that baseball revolves around their team. When you make a statement like that, it perpetuates that myth, even as you try to dispel it.Keep in mind that MOST Yankees fans are past their 20’s.
You’re right. I should have said SOME, not MOST.
I am pretty sure that any real fan of a team focuses slightly on what is going on around the league and focus themselves around their actual team….I mean that is why their called fans isn’t it.
Why? They’re getting him and Felix because the fans think they should. It’s practically a done deal.
Anyone else think the Yankees should trade Grandy? I know it’s unrealistic but it makes sense, plenty of teams would be interested and he would extract some pitching.
Such as?
Pitching such as Jurrjens, Gonzalez (A’s), and Danks.
Perhaps the Giants are interested in some offense.
It’d be difficult to see any of them do a deal like that unless the Yankees pay a big chunk of his salary. Plus it would take a big chunk out of their offense and create holes in the outfield that would need to be filled.
Guy’s expensive and only under contract for two more years. The only team in the MLB that would trade pitching for him is the Yankees. Plus, if they trade him, they’re outfield takes a huge offensive dip.
Brett Gardner, on the other hand, could provide a much better return. Younger, cost controlled and under contract for a long time.
Alex Rodriguez told Sherman that the Yankees’ season was a “major failure” though
they finished with the best record in the American League. Rodriguez
says he has a lot to prove and is looking forward to the challenge of “coming back with a vengeance.”
Is “Vengeance” a new untraceable form of PED?
Under HIS own admission he said he felt the pressure of his contract to start taking PED’s….this was in the “No Pressure Texas”…..he has to be pulling his hair out trying to figure out how to not show his age and fulfill the expectations of his HUGE MAJOR Pressure in NY contract…..
CC re-signed
Montero, Banuelos etc for the King
A-Rod to DH
Nunez/Chavez at 3rd
Don’t put Jeter at leadoff
“Montero, Banuelos etc for the King”
When does it stop?
2015
Once upon a time the Dodgers played in Brooklyn and would face the Yankees regularly and lose in the WS. The Yankees fans would taunt the Dodger fans and the Dodgers fans would always come back with a vow to change the results next time. “Wait til next year!” was the saying.It became a running joke to Yankees fans. “Coming back with a vengeance” is the 21st century’s version of “wait til next year”. We’ll see.
As far as A-Rod feeling pressure over the contract, that’s not true anymore. He’s lived with the contract long enough and has learned that it’s a no win situation. When he produces, it’s expected and he receives no credit, when he fails, he gets crushed for not living up to the contract.
His team mates get huge money also, so he really doesn’t stand out anymore. The feeling he may be feeling is the pressure of expectations to carry out the so-called “Yankees legacy”. The Yankees mantra is the WS or bust, so when they don’t win it all, it’s a failed season. He’s been a Yankee long enough time, so it may be weighing on him, especially after this poor post season.
My feelings about the yankees are as follows. Let me start out by saying that my expectations for this yankee team was to win 88 games at the absolute maximum, with Phil Hughes pitching as well as he did at the beginning of 2010, throughout the whole season. If someone told me this team would win 97 games, the division and homefield throughout the playoffs, but lose in game 5 of the ALDS, I would have gladly taken that. This was considered by most yankee fans to be a bridge year, and then the team would be set for next season (2012) by trading for an ace.
Considering there was no Hughes and Arod basically throughout, and Jeter was terrible the first half, I wouldn’t have expected any more than 80 wins. Forgetting the fact that AJ, Jorge, Martin, Gardner, and Teix all had disappointing seasons, this team was an absolute surprise. Considering our staff was CC, Nova, Garcia, Colon, Hughes, Aj this team more then overachieved.
Going into next year, I would like to see them retain Swisher, CC, and Jorge. Maybe non tender or trade Martin, and let Montero catch next season. 2012 in my mind will be the bridge year, where the yankees don’t make the playoffs. The real goal should be to find some sort of consistent pitcher mid season. If not, go all in after 2012 and get Kemp and hamels/danks.
Montero – C
Teix – 1b
Cano – 2b
Arod – 3b
Jeter – SS
Granderson – LF
Gardner – CF
Swisher (2012) Kemp (2013) – RF
CC
Nova
Hughes
AJ
B’s/Noesi
Edit: Cut girardi too, he’s benefited from a good team the past 4 seasons, its time for the Francona era now.
Arod was the best 3rd baseman in baseball for the entire first half…
I would go crazy if the Sox were able to land Sabathia, but I’m 99.99% sure it will not happen.