FanGraphs recently did a post on the worst defenses of the win values era, and felt it necessary to post a second article about the incredible ineptitude of the 2005 Yankees:
That season, the aggregate UZR in the Bronx was -130 runs. -130! Despite a tremendous offense worth +139 runs, only nine runs remained due to defensive ineptitudes.
How were they that bad? Not only is it the worst team defense of playoff teams, it is the worst team defense of anybody since at least 2002. The next worse mark belongs to the 2003 Brewers at -75 runs. Essentially, the Yankees defense in 2005 fell 5.5 wins below the next worse defense in the same seven year span….
Everyone is quick to point fingers at A-Rod or concoct other reasons for their dearth of recent championships, but perhaps much of it has to do with how offensive production looks sexier than defense, and the Yankees have trotted horrible defenders out, time and time again.
I think the last point is the one that we can extrapolate to make a relevant observation about this season’s team. Defense is really important, and you can make the argument that poor defense cost the Yankees in the 2005 ALDS (remember Bubba and Sheff running into each other in Game 5?). Comparing this season’s team to last year’s, the Yankees are likely to be significantly better at 1B and RF, and may be better in CF as well. This may also support starting Melky or Gardner in CF rather than going with a more offensive alignment while sacrificing defense. The Yankees improvement on defense is something that we do not hear a lot about, but it is likely to play a major role in them returning to the postseason in 2009.
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[...] thought for sure the 2005 team — generally acknowledged as one of the worst fielding teams of all time — would’ve taken the cake for lowest tallies in both of these metrics, but sadly they [...]