2009 Preview: New York Yankees

2007 was the start of the Joe Girardi era for the New York Yankees and it did not start off so great. The Yankees finished 3rd in the division and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. They were plagued by injuries and poor pitching. On the bright side, Mike Mussina had a brilliant year by winning 20 games for the first time in his career and Alex Rodriguez even though he did not play the whole season still put up great numbers. Outside of those two, everyone else on the team was pretty average and that led to their 89 - 73 record last season.

Projected Lineup:
C - Jorge Posada
1B - Mark Teixera
2B - Robinson Cano
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
LF - Johnny Damon
CF - Brett Gardner
RF - Xavier Nady
DH - Hideki Matsui

Projected Rotation:
#1 - CC Sabathia
#2 - Chien-Ming Wang
#3 - AJ Burnett
#4 - Andy Pettite
#5 - Joba Chamberlain
Closer - Mariano Rivera

Postion Battles:
CF - Brett Gardner won the spot in spring training but that does not mean that it is his all season. If he starts to falter, then Melky Cabrera will be eager to get in and prove that he is the starting center fielder.

2009 Outlook: This past off season the Yankees did what they do best, which is spend money. They went out and get CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Texiera in hopes of another return to the playoffs and another World Series Championship.

The offense looks as if it will be really good as long as everyone can stay healthy. They have a fairly old lineup and Alex Rodriguez is the first person to go down with an injury. A-Rod's injury should hurt them at the beginning of the season, but when he comes back he will put up the number that he always does. Jorge Posada is healthy and is hoping to improve on his awful 2008.

The pitching on paper looks as if it should be one of the best, but it is definitely the weakness of the Yankees. AJ Burnett is known for not staying healthy and so nobody knows how he will do. CC Sabathia started off really slow in the AL last year with the Cleveland Indians and then turned it on when he moved to the NL. So it should be interesting to see how he does back in the AL, in a very tough AL East. Joba Chamberlain has not proven to be a consistent solid starter yet, but he is still young. This could be the year that he turns it around and becomes the stud starter than everyone is expecting him to be. Finally, Mariano Rivera is old and skills are dimenishing, but he can still get the job done. If he can stay healthy, then the Yankees will be fine in the late innings.

Overall, this team could be really good or they can be an average team, but it really depends on players staying healthy and the consistency of the starting rotation. They will definitely be in the race for a playoff spot, but I do not know if they will actually make it.

Projected Finish: 3rd Place, AL East

The New York Yankees and Their Minor League System

Happy New Year!

The New York Yankees have always been known for spending money to get the big named players. This off-season is no different. They went out and signed C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Texeira, neither of who was cheap by any means. Even though the Yankees spend and spend and spend, lately they have been using their minor league system more extensively than in previous years.

The turnaround of the Yankees' notoriously bad farm system started in 2005 when Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, and Chien-Ming Wang started to play everyday for the Yankees. All three of them were signed internationally and worked their way up through the Yankees minor league system. Cabrera and Cano have been regulars since 2005, and Wang has developed into a solid innings-eater.

2007 was their next year of really showing off the talent that they had in the minors, when they introduced the baseball world to Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Edwar Ramirez. Joba was tremendous in his 24 innings pitched out of the bullpen, when he struck out 34, walked only 6, and had an ERA of 0.38. Hughes, Kennedy, and Ramirez pitched well in the few games that they started for the Yankees late in ’07. All four pitchers have extreme talent and if they can overcome injuries that have plagued them early in their pro careers, then watch out!

In 2008, more players were called up from the minors, though not as well known as Joba, Hughes, Wang, etc, they are key role players for the Yankees. They include: Justin Christian, Brett Gardner, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Chase Wright, and Juan Miranda. These players may never turn into superstars, however they will develop into solid role players--something the Yankee teams of this decade have been short of . These players are the ones that lead the Yankees' AA team (Trenton Thunder) to two straight Eastern League Championships (’07 and ’08). They are talented and can perfectly complement the free agent talent that their parent club has acquired.

The Yankees have a couple big named prospects in the minor leagues right now in Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero. Austin Jackson could be up at some point next year, but if not he should definitely be seeing regular playing time in 2010. He possesses incredible speed which will help him patrol center field and hit at the top of the lineup. Jesus Montero is an absolute monster. He has extreme power and is just a stud hitter. He is a catcher right now, but his defense is not very good, so a move to 1B or DH is more likely. Montero is 19 years old, so he is probably a couple years away from the majors, but when he does get the call up he is going to be a great hitter for the Yankees.

The Yankees are still spending the big bucks on big named free agents, but now they are using international signings and the draft to build a more complete team. We also cannot forget that the Yankees drafted both Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and its definitely safe to say they turned out pretty good. The 2009 Yankees will need their minor league system players just as much as their big free agent signings, if they are going to be successful and fight for another World Series Championship.