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We began our 2008 team-by-team previews with the Red Sox,
so it’s only natural we follow Boston with its hated AL East
rivals, the New York Yankees.
And much like in Boston, Johan
Santana looms over the Big Apple. The decision not to
trade for Santana was a calculated gamble. The Yankees chose
not to give up two young starting pitchers (Phil
Hughes and Ian Kennedy) and center-fielder Melky Cabrera
to get Santana, though none of that trio is firmly established
at the major-league level. Now the Yankees (tied for second
in the AL behind Boston at +500 to win the World Series at
WagerWeb.com) need Hughes, Kennedy and fellow 2007 rookie
Joba Chamberlain to be solid performers to make Joe Girardi’s
first year as manager a success.
The Yanks also need Mike Mussina to return to 2006 form,
Andy Pettitte to shake off the human growth hormone distractions
and Chien-Ming Wang to remain one of the better starters in
the majors.
Wang has quietly won 19 games in each of the past two seasons
for the Yankees. In each season, he has posted an ERA below
3.75. He’ll win a bunch of games again this season, but the
low strikeout totals are what keep him from being in the upper
tier of starting pitchers. And he was blistered in last year’s
playoffs.
Pettitte considered retirement before agreeing to return
for one more year, and who knows how focused he will be with
all this Mitchell Report/Roger Clemens stuff hanging over
him. He did go 15-9 with a 4.05 ERA in 34 starts (36 appearances)
last year, ranking ninth in the AL with 215 1/3 innings pitched.
"They're bringing me back not to be a fifth starter,
but to try to help lead that staff," Pettitte said. "I
knew I needed to make a decision, for the organization's sake
and mine."
Projected No. 3 starter Mike Mussina was 11-10 with a 5.15
ERA in 27 starts (28 games). Opponents batted .311 against
the veteran, who lost his spot in the rotation after a series
of poor outings in August but returned to log three consecutive
victories in September duty.
Kennedy and Hughes are expected to start the year in the
rotation, with Chamberlain (all of them under 25) retaining
his set-up role early in the year to save his arm for starting
around June.
Kennedy made just a few big-league starts last year and Hughes
finished 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA in 13 starts before logging the
Yankees' only victory of the playoffs in ALDS Game 3, relieving
Roger Clemens.
At least the youngsters still will have Mariano Rivera around
to close out games.
"You can never go into Spring Training with too many
pitchers, especially too many quality guys," pitching
coach Dave Eiland said.
Meanwhile, the New York lineup is basically intact from last
year, with the team re-signing Alex Rodriguez to that mammoth
deal after it appeared he was a goner. Jorge Posada also re-signed,
so this team will score plenty of runs again. But it’s also
aging, with Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi especially
becoming injury-prone.
And the Yankees do need to decide who will play first base:
They are considering Shelley Duncan, though he struggles against
right-handers. Supersub Wilson Betemit and Damon will get
some work there, and DH Giambi might be forced to dust off
his glove. But he’s awful defensively.
The 968 runs the Yankees scored in 2007 were the 15th-highest
total by a team in a season since 1900, the third-highest
since 1950. And they think they can match that.
"You look at the guys we have, I mean, it's ridiculous,"
Giambi said. "You could arrange the lineup any way you
want, and we're going to score runs."
But can they pitch?
Projected lineup
1B-LF-DH Johnny Damon/CF Melky Cabrera
SS Derek Jeter
RF Bobby Abreu
3B Alex Rodriguez
LF Hideki Matsui
C Jorge Posada
DH-1B Jason Giambi
2B Robinson Cano
CF Melky Cabrera/1B Shelley Duncan
Projected rotation
Chien-Ming Wang
Andy Pettitte
Mike Mussina
Phil Hughes
Ian Kennedy/Joba Chamberlain
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