10/25: 2005 Regular Season Yankees Grades
Posted by: YB Bloggers
As the 2005 regular season is over and all, we thought we'd rate the each Yankee on his own individual performance for the 2005 season. We rated players who ended the season with the Yankees (no Mike Stanton) and logged significant time over the entire year (no Melky Cabrera). The grades given are an average of the grade given that that player by James, Michael, Patrick and Seamus.
Hitters
C - Jorge Posada - C+
Michael: Posada had a very much average year. His batting average was down (the lowest since '99) almost 10 points. Posada left a lot of men on base this year, especially when they were in scoring position.
C - John Flaherty - C
Seamus: He didn't do much with the bat this year, hitting .165 with a .206 OBA, but Flaherty was still a valuable stopper for us as he was the personal catcher for Randy Johnson and did a good job behind the plate, spelling Posada on day-after-night games as well. The Yankees will likely look to improve in this area this offseason, but I wouldn't mind seeing him back if we can't find anybody.
1B/DH - Jason Giambi - B+
James: It’s funny how the baseball season works out, isn’t it? At the beginning of the season, these numbers were nothing but a dream in the eyes of most Yankee fans (including myself). A lot of people thought he was done. Many wanted the Yanks to void his contract (legally impossible as the Yanks found out). However, it seemed that most people were just hoping for some production at all from the 7 year, $120 million first baseman who became the poster boy for steroid abuse the previous winter. After an offseason of being vilified in the media, Giambi started out badly and stayed that way. Through the first 47 games (6/12/05), Giambi posted a .234/.383/.340 line with just 7 XBHs. Hardly a performance worthy of a former MVP. And then it all started to click.
6/14/05: NY starts a series with the Pirates. Jason goes 1 for 2 with a double and from this point until the end of the season, Giambi’s line was .290/.468/.634 with a HR every 9.86 ABs. The change was as extreme as those split stats show. He went from looking completely lost at the plate and hitting a few homers that just cleared the wall when he guessed correctly… to getting around on pretty much anyone and hitting some mammoth homers, both at the Stadium and away. While this was happening, Giambi also put together a hot streak and a month for the ages. In July, his line was .355/.524/.974 with 14 HRs (tied with Mickey Mantle for the most ever in a month by a Yankee). As it turned out, Jason finished the season leading the AL in walks and OBA while finishing 5th in OPS and 8th in slugging. He also helped his popularity by coming through when men were on base, batting .302 with RISP.
With Tino’s injuries and struggles, Giambi logged over 560 innings at 1B with seven errors. Overall, it wasn’t a great performance but he performed far better in the second half (though he did strain his back a couple of times stretching for a couple of errant throws from Jeter). This bears watching for next year and doesn’t look good if the Yanks can’t find another 1B to replace Tino and refuse to give Andy Phillips a shot at the job. Still, after Giambi’s bat woke up, his play at 1B was simply gravy as his performance enabled him to go from a pariah to being roundly cheered before his ABs. Truly a remarkable turnaround.
1B - Tino Martinez - C
Patrick: Tino was respectable in his role as the Yankees backup/late inning defensive replacement first baseman. He was an important offensive force early in the season when Giambi was struggling, hitting 10 home runs and driving in 23 in 72 at bats in the month of May. For the season, he finished with a .241 BA, .328 OBA, 17 home runs and 49 RBI in 303 ABs over 131 games. I'd like to see him back in the same role again this year.
2B - Robinson Cano - B
M: What a year for Cano. Called up to the biggies taking over for an inept Tony Womack, Cano took off and never looked back. He posted great numbers for a rookie 2nd baseman in NY (a position Womack couldn't handle under the big lights and big pressure). Cano had some suspect play in the field, but I imagine he will continue to get better as he is only 23.
3B - Alex Rodriguez - A+
S: Best all around player in baseball. For some reason, some people still liked to complain about his performance in the clutch, especially with runners in scoring position. But A-Rod wasn't THAT bad, with a .290 average with RISP, which went up to .302 with RISP and two outs. His 48 home runs were the most by any right handed batter in Yankees' history. He also played a Gold Glove caliber 3B, which should help him pick up his second MVP award. Yeah, he had a rough 5 games in October, but all things considered, it was a great year for A-Rod and the Yankees would not have even made it that far without him.
SS - Derek Jeter - A
J: Overall, Jeter had another very good year (amongst the top four at the position in the AL with Tejada, Young and Pheralta – you can pick the order). As a leadoff man, he did exactly what was asked of him, which was to get on base (6th in the AL) and score runs (2nd in the AL). The RBI numbers are somewhat artificially low as the Yanks #9 hitters were awful all year long (.247 AVG/.292 OBP) but Jeter didn’t exactly help himself with his batting with runners in scoring position. Also, it might be simply perception but it sure seemed like he was the last out in a lot of games. In my mind, some of that can be attributed to Jeter pounding the ball into the ground a lot more this year. Still, Derek was very even throughout the year and his splits before and after the all-star break are practically identical. However, the same can’t be said of his home and away splits. It looks like Derek has figured out how to use Yankee Stadium to the best of his abilities because he hit an amazing .354 at home and only .265 away from the Bronx. Honestly, I can’t really explain such an extreme split but it will be interesting to watch if this trend continues next year.
Defensively, Jeter arguably had a better year than his gold glove winning year last year and is probably in the running for another one this year. While he did pick up two more errors than the previous year, he seemed to get a lot more balls and made his fair share of highlight reel plays. Also, while I think that most people realize that Jeter plays regardless of his injuries, sometimes the correlation between those injuries and his play seems to be lost (example: some of his throwing yips later in the year were as a result of jammed thumb from a previous game). At this point in his career, Jeter is what he is: a certified HOF hit machine (barring injury, he will have 2,000 hits before his 32nd birthday) who is amongst the best at his position. He has some flaws but the Yanks, and we Yankees fans, can certainly be happy with the Captain at short.
LF - Hideki Matsui - A-
P: Godzilla had arguably his best season statistically as a Yankee. He set career highs for hits (192), doubles (45), triples (3), RBI (116), batting average (.306) and total bases (312). He failed to miss a game, playing the vast majority of the season in left. But, he also got some time in out in center, right and at DH. Hopefully we can get him re-signed quick and painlessly.
CF - Bernie Williams - C-
M: Bern's numbers have been gradually falling and falling. This year was no exception. He’s a fan favorite for his class on and off the field, but Bernie had a below average year. His average was down and he had only 12 homers for the season (the last time he had 12 HR was 1994 when he played in 108 games). Let's hope Bernie is back in pinstripes next year as he would be great coming off the bench.
RF - Gary Sheffield - A-
S: Gary's body is just a machine. With about three weeks left to play in the season, Sheffield pulled a muscle in his leg and it was concluded that he would not be able to play in right field for the remainder of the season. After a week or so of hobbling around, getting singles on balls hit to the wall, he was back out there looking like he didn't miss a step (not that he's all that spectacular in RF, anyway). At the age of 36, he still has probably the quickest bat in baseball. Luis Sojo coached third base from left field when he was up at bat. He hit .359 against lefties and .364 with RISP, both among the highest numbers in baseball.
OF - Bubba Crosby - C+
J: Bubba had pretty much one job, which was to man the outfield, and he did a pretty good job this year. He even threw in a little hitting in as gravy after the all-star break. I think all Yankee fans will remember his one and only home run this year, which came in the bottom of the ninth against Baltimore on September 19th in the Bronx. It was a great, clutch moment and a very important point in the season for the Yanks as it was that home run that tied the Yanks with the Red Sox in the loss column. Still, in the first half of the season, his hitting was non-existent and due to Yankee mismanagement, there were no other options on the major league roster. Unfortunately, rather than give Bubba some actual playing time which would have a) given him some time to get it going and b) taken Bernie’s glove out of center, the Yankee brass clumsily attempted the Melky Cabrera experiment which definitely did not pan out. However, it is a credit to Bubba that while he was on the bench, he kept working with Don Mattingly on his hitting and when Joe finally started getting him some playing time, he delivered. He showed that he has decent control of both the strike zone and the bat and it looks like he can be a decent slap hitter when he waits for his pitch. He also justified his reputation as a good defensive OFer by covering a good amount of ground and playing errorless ball in CF, which is all the Yankees really needed from him this year.
OF - Matt Lawton - D
P: Lawton's time in pinstripes was brief and unproductive. In 48 at bats over 21 games, he hit .125 with a .263 OBA. He scored 6 runs, hit 2 home runs and drove in 4.
UT - Tony Womack - D
M: Tony Womack had a terrible season. You can't really blame him as he didn't get consistent at bats and was shuffled from one position to the next. He lashed out at Torre on several occasions for his lack of playing time and moving to the outfield. But, he seemed to settle down in his attitude as the season wore on. He accepted his role and made some great (albeit minor) contributions late in the season.
DH/OF - Ruben Sierra - C-
S: This was probably Sierra's worst year in his latest stint with the Yankees, as he hit only .229 with 4 home runs. When the Yankees used him he was primarily used as a DH, as his greatest value as an outfielder is to the opposition. However, he still came up with some clutch and timely hits, and he does something that has almost become a lost art in the game of baseball, which is hustle on the base paths. He's not very fast, but especially considering his age, he is not a liability on the bases.
Pitchers
SP - Randy Johnson - B
J: There are probably a lot of people out there who would categorize Randy’s first season in pinstripes as a failure but at the end of the season, he did lead the Yankees starters in wins (4th in the AL), innings pitched (5th), Ks (2nd), WHIP (2nd) and batting average against (5th). Also, of the original five man starting rotation, he had the best ERA by far. I don’t know if that speaks to his doing well or to the rest of the staff being decimated by injuries. Still, while he wasn’t the dominant Big Unit that most people were expecting (at least, not for most of the season), he did actually have a very good season by practically anyone else’s standards. He allowed less than a hit an inning, walked very few batters and struck out quite a number of batters, all of which are recipes for success. However, home runs were an issue as he gave up 14 more homeruns than last year in 20 less innings (4 of those came in one spectacular meltdown of an inning against the White Sox) and while he did strike out a lot, his Ks per 9 innings were under 9 for the first time since 1990 (and under 10 for only the second time since 1990).
Still, there remains hope that Randy can be dominant in the AL as he pitched a lot better after the all-star break (ERA was almost a run better and his BAA went from .268 to .208). To be more specific, he pitched that well after sitting down with Joe Kerrigan and apparently fixing some flaws in his mechanics. From that point on, Randy was pretty much the Randy Johnson that the Yankees thought they were getting at the beginning of the year. Hopefully, Randy has figured out what those underlying issues were and permanently fixed them because there is major concern with him being 42 with bad knees, a bad back and a surly attitude. Since the Yanks are on the hook for two more years, we can only hope that the second half Randy is the real one.
SP - Mike Mussina - B-
P: In 2005, Moose logged a year that was a bit better than his work in 2004, but still was just a decent year overall. He had great games (2 shutouts, 5 starts where he failed to allow an ER) and he had bad games (7 starts with 5 or more ER) and his record finished at 13-8. All told, he ended the year with a 4.41 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and .284 BAA (the worst of his career - ouch).
SP - Chien-Ming Wang - B+
M: Wang was a pleasant surprise. It’s very hard to play in NY, but Wang seemed like he had been doing it for a while. He posted a 4.02 ERA and always seemed to excel in big games. I love Obi-Wang and look forward to seeing him in pinstripes for many years.
SP - Shawn Chacon - A+
S: Chacon is one of my new all-time favorite pitchers. This guy is just a rock. He isn't phased by anything. Shawn gave Yankee fans everywhere a pleasant surprise when the Yankees acquired him for two minor league pitchers. He finished the season with a 3.44 E.R.A. That's not a bad number anywhere, but take into account that includes his first four months of the season pitching with the Rockies. His ERA for his 14 games (12 starts) for the Yankees was 2.85. Note to George Steinbrenner: Hold on to this guy.
SP - Jaret Wright - D-
J: First off, let me just say that I wasn’t enamored with this signing to begin with. Signing a starting pitcher off of one good season (where he worked with Leo Mazzone) following a storied history of arm trouble is not exactly the smartest move and Jaret did his best to justify my initial criticisms. He only pitched 20 innings in April (with an ERA of 9.19!) before he had to be shut down because of shoulder problems. When he came back, he had one good start against Toronto (who slaughtered him the next two times they saw him) and one good start apiece against Seattle and Tampa Bay. Outside of that, he was awful and ended the season with three starts where he averaged 2 innings and 3 earned runs per start. I give Jaret credit for rehabbing and working hard to come back from his initial shoulder problems but I simply don’t think that he has the strength or the stuff to be a starting pitcher in the AL. His K rate was horrible (4.81 per 9) which is a problem if you’re not a groundball pitcher. Couple that with awful control (almost 5 men per 9 innings) and you have the explanation for an ERA over 6. Unless he comes back and surprises everyone with a good year next year, he could go down as one of the worst signings in Yankee history.
SP - Carl Pavano - D
P: Seemingly injured a majority of the year, Pavano was pretty much a non factor/mixed bag when he did pitch. He tallied a 4-6 record over 17 starts with a 4.77 ERA. He managed to throw a single shutout, but allowed 5 or more ER in 6 of his starts and failed to get to 6 innings pitched in 7 of them.
SP - Kevin Brown - F
M: One word describes Kevin Brown and that word isn't really a word. It's more of a sound, "Urgh!" I tell you, every time he comes to the mound to take a start it is almost an automatic sound. 4-7 in 13 starts with a paltry 6.50 ERA. Need I say more? I've always said, after game 7 in 2004 ALCS, they should have escorted him from the stadium and banned him for life.
SP/RP - Aaron Small - A
S: One wonders where on Earth the Yankees would have finished without Aaron Small. He was first called up as an emergency starter and well, considering the performance of all of our emergency starters before him, it was hard to expect anything out of this guy. However, he was pretty solid in his first start in Texas and as he was given more chances, he showed that he belonged on the big league roster. Before you knew it, he was the first 10-0 pitcher in Yankees' history. A man we signed to a minor league contract ended up saving a rotation that was in shambles.
RP/SP - Al Leiter - C+
J: The Yanks picked up Al Leiter for the league minimum after the Marlins had tossed him away and immediately pitched him against the Boston Red Sox in a Sunday night nationally televised game. That night, he was simply amazing and pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball (3 hits, 8 Ks). The Yanks went to the well again when his next start came around and the Angels shelled him. Those two starts can pretty much sum up his season. Good start, bad start, decent appearance, awful appearance (capped by a two-thirds of an inning, 5 hit, 6 earned run performance against the A’s). He gave the Yankees some innings when they needed it but at this point in his career, Al has no business being a starter. He nibbles too much around the plate (98 BBs in 142 innings) when he needs to be precise and can’t get his fastball or cutter past hitters when he needs to (.282 BAA). If he were to come back, he should only do so out of the bullpen as lefties only hit .250 against him (righties had a .429 OBP). As a lefty specialist, he actually might make more sense than Alan Embree (lefties hit .317 against him) or Wayne Franklin (.286).
RP - Tom Gordon - B+
P: Flash had another great year in pinstripes. Not quite as great as last year, but great nonetheless. He was 5-4 with 2 saves, a 2.57 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .203 BAA in 80 2/3 innings over 79 games. I'd like to see him back in the setup role once again, if he can be convinced to return.
RP - Tanyon Sturtze - C
M: Tanyon came up big for the Yanks in 2004. He was a stopper and always dependable for stopping the bleeding. This year was another story. While effective early on, Torre decided he could be an emergency starter back in June. He was never the same afterwards. I do believe he had an injury of some sort that prevented him to pitch the way we know he could. While he did shine in some moments, for the most part he was ineffective down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if they bring him back in 2006.
RP - Scott Proctor - D
S: Proctor can be very effective when he hits his spots. His problem though of course is that he doesn't always hit his spots. Very wild, but overall Proctor wasn't our worst option when trying to give guys like Gordon and Sturtze a day off.
RP - Felix Rodriguez - D+
J: F-Rod was pretty much a failure this season and in my mind, the blame lies both with him and the Yankee coaches. By the end of the season, he was useless coming in from the pen and Scott Proctor was getting far more work than he was. How he got to this point is the debatable portion. Did he stink because he was underworked or was he underworked because he stunk? I think that he wasn’t great in the early portion of the season and Joe quickly (too quickly in my opinion) soured on him and stopped going to him. While Sturtze, Gordon and Rivera were being worked hard; Felix was sitting on the bench. Combine this with some DL time due to a torn meniscus in his left knee and you have a season where he only pitched 32 innings with an ERA of 5.01. This is a 33-year old pitcher who had pitched 60-plus effective innings every year since 1998 and had averaged a 3.57 ERA over the last three. It was proven that he could do the job but he wasn’t getting the opportunity to do it. Also, I don’t think that it helped that every time he took the mound, it seemed like he was auditioning for his job. The nervousness of that situation certainly could have contributed to his wildness (20 BBs in 32 innings!). Of course, this is simply speculation on my part and he could just have lost his stuff but in my mind, F-Rod just wasn’t given a fair shot in NY. Still, his time with the Yankees is done and I would be very surprised if he is in pinstripes next year.
RP - Alan Embree - D-
P: A lefty specialist who couldn't get lefties out - lefties hit .317 off of Embree. Righties "only" hit .278. He was 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in 14 and 1/3 innings over 24 games.
CL - Mariano Rivera - A+
M: I think Mo should be the AL Cy Young winner. Mo sported a fine 1.38 ERA - the lowest of his career. This came about with 78.1 innings pitched. 80 strike outs!?! He earned 43 saves, and I do think it would have been a whole lot more if it wasn't for the bad slump we had back early in the season. A no-brainer for the award. Rivera should be considered the best closer of all time. This should be the year for the sandman.
Hitters
C - Jorge Posada - C+
Michael: Posada had a very much average year. His batting average was down (the lowest since '99) almost 10 points. Posada left a lot of men on base this year, especially when they were in scoring position.
C - John Flaherty - C
Seamus: He didn't do much with the bat this year, hitting .165 with a .206 OBA, but Flaherty was still a valuable stopper for us as he was the personal catcher for Randy Johnson and did a good job behind the plate, spelling Posada on day-after-night games as well. The Yankees will likely look to improve in this area this offseason, but I wouldn't mind seeing him back if we can't find anybody.
1B/DH - Jason Giambi - B+
James: It’s funny how the baseball season works out, isn’t it? At the beginning of the season, these numbers were nothing but a dream in the eyes of most Yankee fans (including myself). A lot of people thought he was done. Many wanted the Yanks to void his contract (legally impossible as the Yanks found out). However, it seemed that most people were just hoping for some production at all from the 7 year, $120 million first baseman who became the poster boy for steroid abuse the previous winter. After an offseason of being vilified in the media, Giambi started out badly and stayed that way. Through the first 47 games (6/12/05), Giambi posted a .234/.383/.340 line with just 7 XBHs. Hardly a performance worthy of a former MVP. And then it all started to click.
6/14/05: NY starts a series with the Pirates. Jason goes 1 for 2 with a double and from this point until the end of the season, Giambi’s line was .290/.468/.634 with a HR every 9.86 ABs. The change was as extreme as those split stats show. He went from looking completely lost at the plate and hitting a few homers that just cleared the wall when he guessed correctly… to getting around on pretty much anyone and hitting some mammoth homers, both at the Stadium and away. While this was happening, Giambi also put together a hot streak and a month for the ages. In July, his line was .355/.524/.974 with 14 HRs (tied with Mickey Mantle for the most ever in a month by a Yankee). As it turned out, Jason finished the season leading the AL in walks and OBA while finishing 5th in OPS and 8th in slugging. He also helped his popularity by coming through when men were on base, batting .302 with RISP.
With Tino’s injuries and struggles, Giambi logged over 560 innings at 1B with seven errors. Overall, it wasn’t a great performance but he performed far better in the second half (though he did strain his back a couple of times stretching for a couple of errant throws from Jeter). This bears watching for next year and doesn’t look good if the Yanks can’t find another 1B to replace Tino and refuse to give Andy Phillips a shot at the job. Still, after Giambi’s bat woke up, his play at 1B was simply gravy as his performance enabled him to go from a pariah to being roundly cheered before his ABs. Truly a remarkable turnaround.
1B - Tino Martinez - C
Patrick: Tino was respectable in his role as the Yankees backup/late inning defensive replacement first baseman. He was an important offensive force early in the season when Giambi was struggling, hitting 10 home runs and driving in 23 in 72 at bats in the month of May. For the season, he finished with a .241 BA, .328 OBA, 17 home runs and 49 RBI in 303 ABs over 131 games. I'd like to see him back in the same role again this year.
2B - Robinson Cano - B
M: What a year for Cano. Called up to the biggies taking over for an inept Tony Womack, Cano took off and never looked back. He posted great numbers for a rookie 2nd baseman in NY (a position Womack couldn't handle under the big lights and big pressure). Cano had some suspect play in the field, but I imagine he will continue to get better as he is only 23.
3B - Alex Rodriguez - A+
S: Best all around player in baseball. For some reason, some people still liked to complain about his performance in the clutch, especially with runners in scoring position. But A-Rod wasn't THAT bad, with a .290 average with RISP, which went up to .302 with RISP and two outs. His 48 home runs were the most by any right handed batter in Yankees' history. He also played a Gold Glove caliber 3B, which should help him pick up his second MVP award. Yeah, he had a rough 5 games in October, but all things considered, it was a great year for A-Rod and the Yankees would not have even made it that far without him.
SS - Derek Jeter - A
J: Overall, Jeter had another very good year (amongst the top four at the position in the AL with Tejada, Young and Pheralta – you can pick the order). As a leadoff man, he did exactly what was asked of him, which was to get on base (6th in the AL) and score runs (2nd in the AL). The RBI numbers are somewhat artificially low as the Yanks #9 hitters were awful all year long (.247 AVG/.292 OBP) but Jeter didn’t exactly help himself with his batting with runners in scoring position. Also, it might be simply perception but it sure seemed like he was the last out in a lot of games. In my mind, some of that can be attributed to Jeter pounding the ball into the ground a lot more this year. Still, Derek was very even throughout the year and his splits before and after the all-star break are practically identical. However, the same can’t be said of his home and away splits. It looks like Derek has figured out how to use Yankee Stadium to the best of his abilities because he hit an amazing .354 at home and only .265 away from the Bronx. Honestly, I can’t really explain such an extreme split but it will be interesting to watch if this trend continues next year.
Defensively, Jeter arguably had a better year than his gold glove winning year last year and is probably in the running for another one this year. While he did pick up two more errors than the previous year, he seemed to get a lot more balls and made his fair share of highlight reel plays. Also, while I think that most people realize that Jeter plays regardless of his injuries, sometimes the correlation between those injuries and his play seems to be lost (example: some of his throwing yips later in the year were as a result of jammed thumb from a previous game). At this point in his career, Jeter is what he is: a certified HOF hit machine (barring injury, he will have 2,000 hits before his 32nd birthday) who is amongst the best at his position. He has some flaws but the Yanks, and we Yankees fans, can certainly be happy with the Captain at short.
LF - Hideki Matsui - A-
P: Godzilla had arguably his best season statistically as a Yankee. He set career highs for hits (192), doubles (45), triples (3), RBI (116), batting average (.306) and total bases (312). He failed to miss a game, playing the vast majority of the season in left. But, he also got some time in out in center, right and at DH. Hopefully we can get him re-signed quick and painlessly.
CF - Bernie Williams - C-
M: Bern's numbers have been gradually falling and falling. This year was no exception. He’s a fan favorite for his class on and off the field, but Bernie had a below average year. His average was down and he had only 12 homers for the season (the last time he had 12 HR was 1994 when he played in 108 games). Let's hope Bernie is back in pinstripes next year as he would be great coming off the bench.
RF - Gary Sheffield - A-
S: Gary's body is just a machine. With about three weeks left to play in the season, Sheffield pulled a muscle in his leg and it was concluded that he would not be able to play in right field for the remainder of the season. After a week or so of hobbling around, getting singles on balls hit to the wall, he was back out there looking like he didn't miss a step (not that he's all that spectacular in RF, anyway). At the age of 36, he still has probably the quickest bat in baseball. Luis Sojo coached third base from left field when he was up at bat. He hit .359 against lefties and .364 with RISP, both among the highest numbers in baseball.
OF - Bubba Crosby - C+
J: Bubba had pretty much one job, which was to man the outfield, and he did a pretty good job this year. He even threw in a little hitting in as gravy after the all-star break. I think all Yankee fans will remember his one and only home run this year, which came in the bottom of the ninth against Baltimore on September 19th in the Bronx. It was a great, clutch moment and a very important point in the season for the Yanks as it was that home run that tied the Yanks with the Red Sox in the loss column. Still, in the first half of the season, his hitting was non-existent and due to Yankee mismanagement, there were no other options on the major league roster. Unfortunately, rather than give Bubba some actual playing time which would have a) given him some time to get it going and b) taken Bernie’s glove out of center, the Yankee brass clumsily attempted the Melky Cabrera experiment which definitely did not pan out. However, it is a credit to Bubba that while he was on the bench, he kept working with Don Mattingly on his hitting and when Joe finally started getting him some playing time, he delivered. He showed that he has decent control of both the strike zone and the bat and it looks like he can be a decent slap hitter when he waits for his pitch. He also justified his reputation as a good defensive OFer by covering a good amount of ground and playing errorless ball in CF, which is all the Yankees really needed from him this year.
OF - Matt Lawton - D
P: Lawton's time in pinstripes was brief and unproductive. In 48 at bats over 21 games, he hit .125 with a .263 OBA. He scored 6 runs, hit 2 home runs and drove in 4.
UT - Tony Womack - D
M: Tony Womack had a terrible season. You can't really blame him as he didn't get consistent at bats and was shuffled from one position to the next. He lashed out at Torre on several occasions for his lack of playing time and moving to the outfield. But, he seemed to settle down in his attitude as the season wore on. He accepted his role and made some great (albeit minor) contributions late in the season.
DH/OF - Ruben Sierra - C-
S: This was probably Sierra's worst year in his latest stint with the Yankees, as he hit only .229 with 4 home runs. When the Yankees used him he was primarily used as a DH, as his greatest value as an outfielder is to the opposition. However, he still came up with some clutch and timely hits, and he does something that has almost become a lost art in the game of baseball, which is hustle on the base paths. He's not very fast, but especially considering his age, he is not a liability on the bases.
Pitchers
SP - Randy Johnson - B
J: There are probably a lot of people out there who would categorize Randy’s first season in pinstripes as a failure but at the end of the season, he did lead the Yankees starters in wins (4th in the AL), innings pitched (5th), Ks (2nd), WHIP (2nd) and batting average against (5th). Also, of the original five man starting rotation, he had the best ERA by far. I don’t know if that speaks to his doing well or to the rest of the staff being decimated by injuries. Still, while he wasn’t the dominant Big Unit that most people were expecting (at least, not for most of the season), he did actually have a very good season by practically anyone else’s standards. He allowed less than a hit an inning, walked very few batters and struck out quite a number of batters, all of which are recipes for success. However, home runs were an issue as he gave up 14 more homeruns than last year in 20 less innings (4 of those came in one spectacular meltdown of an inning against the White Sox) and while he did strike out a lot, his Ks per 9 innings were under 9 for the first time since 1990 (and under 10 for only the second time since 1990).
Still, there remains hope that Randy can be dominant in the AL as he pitched a lot better after the all-star break (ERA was almost a run better and his BAA went from .268 to .208). To be more specific, he pitched that well after sitting down with Joe Kerrigan and apparently fixing some flaws in his mechanics. From that point on, Randy was pretty much the Randy Johnson that the Yankees thought they were getting at the beginning of the year. Hopefully, Randy has figured out what those underlying issues were and permanently fixed them because there is major concern with him being 42 with bad knees, a bad back and a surly attitude. Since the Yanks are on the hook for two more years, we can only hope that the second half Randy is the real one.
SP - Mike Mussina - B-
P: In 2005, Moose logged a year that was a bit better than his work in 2004, but still was just a decent year overall. He had great games (2 shutouts, 5 starts where he failed to allow an ER) and he had bad games (7 starts with 5 or more ER) and his record finished at 13-8. All told, he ended the year with a 4.41 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and .284 BAA (the worst of his career - ouch).
SP - Chien-Ming Wang - B+
M: Wang was a pleasant surprise. It’s very hard to play in NY, but Wang seemed like he had been doing it for a while. He posted a 4.02 ERA and always seemed to excel in big games. I love Obi-Wang and look forward to seeing him in pinstripes for many years.
SP - Shawn Chacon - A+
S: Chacon is one of my new all-time favorite pitchers. This guy is just a rock. He isn't phased by anything. Shawn gave Yankee fans everywhere a pleasant surprise when the Yankees acquired him for two minor league pitchers. He finished the season with a 3.44 E.R.A. That's not a bad number anywhere, but take into account that includes his first four months of the season pitching with the Rockies. His ERA for his 14 games (12 starts) for the Yankees was 2.85. Note to George Steinbrenner: Hold on to this guy.
SP - Jaret Wright - D-
J: First off, let me just say that I wasn’t enamored with this signing to begin with. Signing a starting pitcher off of one good season (where he worked with Leo Mazzone) following a storied history of arm trouble is not exactly the smartest move and Jaret did his best to justify my initial criticisms. He only pitched 20 innings in April (with an ERA of 9.19!) before he had to be shut down because of shoulder problems. When he came back, he had one good start against Toronto (who slaughtered him the next two times they saw him) and one good start apiece against Seattle and Tampa Bay. Outside of that, he was awful and ended the season with three starts where he averaged 2 innings and 3 earned runs per start. I give Jaret credit for rehabbing and working hard to come back from his initial shoulder problems but I simply don’t think that he has the strength or the stuff to be a starting pitcher in the AL. His K rate was horrible (4.81 per 9) which is a problem if you’re not a groundball pitcher. Couple that with awful control (almost 5 men per 9 innings) and you have the explanation for an ERA over 6. Unless he comes back and surprises everyone with a good year next year, he could go down as one of the worst signings in Yankee history.
SP - Carl Pavano - D
P: Seemingly injured a majority of the year, Pavano was pretty much a non factor/mixed bag when he did pitch. He tallied a 4-6 record over 17 starts with a 4.77 ERA. He managed to throw a single shutout, but allowed 5 or more ER in 6 of his starts and failed to get to 6 innings pitched in 7 of them.
SP - Kevin Brown - F
M: One word describes Kevin Brown and that word isn't really a word. It's more of a sound, "Urgh!" I tell you, every time he comes to the mound to take a start it is almost an automatic sound. 4-7 in 13 starts with a paltry 6.50 ERA. Need I say more? I've always said, after game 7 in 2004 ALCS, they should have escorted him from the stadium and banned him for life.
SP/RP - Aaron Small - A
S: One wonders where on Earth the Yankees would have finished without Aaron Small. He was first called up as an emergency starter and well, considering the performance of all of our emergency starters before him, it was hard to expect anything out of this guy. However, he was pretty solid in his first start in Texas and as he was given more chances, he showed that he belonged on the big league roster. Before you knew it, he was the first 10-0 pitcher in Yankees' history. A man we signed to a minor league contract ended up saving a rotation that was in shambles.
RP/SP - Al Leiter - C+
J: The Yanks picked up Al Leiter for the league minimum after the Marlins had tossed him away and immediately pitched him against the Boston Red Sox in a Sunday night nationally televised game. That night, he was simply amazing and pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball (3 hits, 8 Ks). The Yanks went to the well again when his next start came around and the Angels shelled him. Those two starts can pretty much sum up his season. Good start, bad start, decent appearance, awful appearance (capped by a two-thirds of an inning, 5 hit, 6 earned run performance against the A’s). He gave the Yankees some innings when they needed it but at this point in his career, Al has no business being a starter. He nibbles too much around the plate (98 BBs in 142 innings) when he needs to be precise and can’t get his fastball or cutter past hitters when he needs to (.282 BAA). If he were to come back, he should only do so out of the bullpen as lefties only hit .250 against him (righties had a .429 OBP). As a lefty specialist, he actually might make more sense than Alan Embree (lefties hit .317 against him) or Wayne Franklin (.286).
RP - Tom Gordon - B+
P: Flash had another great year in pinstripes. Not quite as great as last year, but great nonetheless. He was 5-4 with 2 saves, a 2.57 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .203 BAA in 80 2/3 innings over 79 games. I'd like to see him back in the setup role once again, if he can be convinced to return.
RP - Tanyon Sturtze - C
M: Tanyon came up big for the Yanks in 2004. He was a stopper and always dependable for stopping the bleeding. This year was another story. While effective early on, Torre decided he could be an emergency starter back in June. He was never the same afterwards. I do believe he had an injury of some sort that prevented him to pitch the way we know he could. While he did shine in some moments, for the most part he was ineffective down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if they bring him back in 2006.
RP - Scott Proctor - D
S: Proctor can be very effective when he hits his spots. His problem though of course is that he doesn't always hit his spots. Very wild, but overall Proctor wasn't our worst option when trying to give guys like Gordon and Sturtze a day off.
RP - Felix Rodriguez - D+
J: F-Rod was pretty much a failure this season and in my mind, the blame lies both with him and the Yankee coaches. By the end of the season, he was useless coming in from the pen and Scott Proctor was getting far more work than he was. How he got to this point is the debatable portion. Did he stink because he was underworked or was he underworked because he stunk? I think that he wasn’t great in the early portion of the season and Joe quickly (too quickly in my opinion) soured on him and stopped going to him. While Sturtze, Gordon and Rivera were being worked hard; Felix was sitting on the bench. Combine this with some DL time due to a torn meniscus in his left knee and you have a season where he only pitched 32 innings with an ERA of 5.01. This is a 33-year old pitcher who had pitched 60-plus effective innings every year since 1998 and had averaged a 3.57 ERA over the last three. It was proven that he could do the job but he wasn’t getting the opportunity to do it. Also, I don’t think that it helped that every time he took the mound, it seemed like he was auditioning for his job. The nervousness of that situation certainly could have contributed to his wildness (20 BBs in 32 innings!). Of course, this is simply speculation on my part and he could just have lost his stuff but in my mind, F-Rod just wasn’t given a fair shot in NY. Still, his time with the Yankees is done and I would be very surprised if he is in pinstripes next year.
RP - Alan Embree - D-
P: A lefty specialist who couldn't get lefties out - lefties hit .317 off of Embree. Righties "only" hit .278. He was 1-1 with a 7.53 ERA in 14 and 1/3 innings over 24 games.
CL - Mariano Rivera - A+
M: I think Mo should be the AL Cy Young winner. Mo sported a fine 1.38 ERA - the lowest of his career. This came about with 78.1 innings pitched. 80 strike outs!?! He earned 43 saves, and I do think it would have been a whole lot more if it wasn't for the bad slump we had back early in the season. A no-brainer for the award. Rivera should be considered the best closer of all time. This should be the year for the sandman.
