Review of the New York Yankees Off Season

By Bob Ruffolo
Updated: February 4, 2009

new_york_yankees_logo1 To start, I want to thank Peter Schiller, Baseball Reflections, and you, the readers for allowing me to provide you with the breaking news, rumors, and information regarding the New York Yankees. This is my first post here at Baseball Reflections, and I hope you like what you read.

I would like to start by reviewing the Yankee’s Hot Stove to date. It’s been an interesting offseason here in Yankeeland and the Bronx Bombers have made some headlines. After watching the Yanks sit tight last year, resigning our own players and not making any ground shaking acquisitions, it was back to their old ways. By Signing CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees proved they were out to sign all the top talent available. Brain Cashman and the Steinbrenner Juniors literally fixed every problem that their baseball team has by utilizing their dominating financial advantage. On paper, the Yanks have a great offense, above average defense, a reputable bullpen, and the most dominating rotation in baseball. Will it translate to a ring?

The Lineup:

Mark Teixeira boosts the team’s offense and defense and he should be a significant upgrade over Jason Giambi. It appears that he will be the team’s #3 hitter in front of Alex Rodriguez. That’s a pretty dangerous combination in the middle of the order and hopefully will give
opposing pitchers the same feeling as they had when they had to face David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez back-to-back. I guess the real question here will be how will they perform in the playoffs? But for now, let’s just get there first. As for the rest of the lineup, look for Damon
and Matsui to put up serious numbers and both are in their walk years. And then there is the captain, who will have another Derek Jeter year.

The Rotation:

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It’s a totally different rotation this year for the bombers. The days of Sidney Ponson and Carl Pavano are gone, now welcome CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. Add that with Chen Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, and Joba Chamberlain, again, it’s the best rotation on paper. Every pitcher in the rotation has injury questions, but that issue has been addressed as well with the plethora of talent in their system. Phil Hughes, Phil
Coke, and Alfredo Aceves will see plenty of innings this year, and all could be productive #4 and #5 pitchers on any major league staff.

The Bullpen:

At the end of the 2008 season, the Yankee’s bullpen really started to take form. Brian Bruney put up tremendous numbers last year and has all the talent to be one of the best set-up men in baseball. Beyond Bruney, look for Damaso Marte, Jose Veras, and Edwar Ramirez to pitch productively, and of course, you have the great Mariano Rivera closing
out games. Rivera is now up there in age, but has not shown any signs of a slide. So until he shows he can’t be the player he was, expect another dominating year from the Yankee’s all-time great.

Bob also writes at Yankees Rumors. Please follow the link provided to read his work there.