A post by Dave Schoenfield at the SweetSpot Network caught my eye yesterday:
Using the top three rated outfielders for each club, here are the top five clubs in the AL:
1. Yankees (Curtis Granderson, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher): 7.8 WAR.
2. Royals (Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur): 5.6 WAR.
3. Blue Jays (Jose Bautista, Corey Patterson, Juan Rivera: 5.4 WAR.
4. Twins (Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel): 5.2 WAR.
5. Indians (Michael Brantley, Shin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore): 3.9 WAR.In the National League, the Diamondbacks (Justin Upton, Chris Young, Gerardo Parra) rate at 7.2 WAR, the Cardinals (Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus) at 6.8 and the Pirates (Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones and Jose Tabata) at 6.2.
While the total is inflated by Curtis Granderson’s fantastic start, it is similarly suppressed by Nick Swisher’s poor first few months. Overall, it seems fair to say that the Yankees have one of the best, if not the best, outfield in all of baseball. As a group, these 3 play strong defense, get on base, have some speed, and hit for power. One thing that struck me as interesting about this outfield is that its existence is really a credit to Brian Cashman, who made two strong trades to acquire Granderson and Swisher, while Gardner is a product of the Yankees’ farm system. While he’s made some pitching moves in recent years that clearly belong on the negative side of the ledger, the current Yankees’ outfield earns him a big gold star. Additionally, Swisher is the oldest of the group at 30, so Cash could have the Yankees set in the outfield for the foreseeable future if he chooses to re-sign Swisher and Granderson to long-term deals.
Feel free to use this post as your open thread for the evening.
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16 Responses to Open Thread: The Yankees’ Awesome Outfield
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TIQ IQ
Wow, great post.
Excellent post. My guess is signing Granderson long term is a no brainer depending on how he plays in 2012 and 2013 his option years. Swisher, I’m not as sure about the Yankees hold a 2012 option my initial thoughts are they may very well be showing for a RF if Swisher doesn’t kick it up a notch or 2. That’s just my opinion.
He has an option next year, and it’s not terribly expensive. The other RF options aren’t great, so I think they’ll pick it up.
I agree that they will in all likelihood pick up the option I was referring to resigning him come 2013. I’m not sure they will unless he like I said kicks it up a notch the second half of this season and 2012.
Yep. Unless there’s some no-brainer who becomes available via trade (ie Justin Upton) the move will be to bring back Swish.
You may look to rework that contract, however. The 10 mil may be a bit pricey coming off this year. Chances are they won’t, since it may result in a multi-year extension. Just overpay for the 1 year.
Mmm, Upton….
Now you’ve got me dreaming again.
Other interesting options come the 2013 FA class is Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Considering the Dodgers financial woes, who knows.
Again, if available.
Agree about the Cashman praise. Absolute steals in both cases.
http://riveraveblues.com/2011/06/monteros-early-june-benching-due-to-lack-of-energy-50994/
…and the remedy is to call him up? Reward him for lackluster effort in AAA? On the heels of him being benched last year in AA for the very same thing? What message would that send to the young man? That he could dog it, coaches will make excuses for him (he’s bored) and there will be no consequences. Actually, such half-hearted effort gets rewarded. Kevin Goldstien can say the Yanks don’t know what they’re doing with Montero all he wants, all he proves is how little he knows about him.
This is a glittering example of why it’s just as important to know a player as a human being as it is to know his splits and advanced stats. Part of being an elite player is working hard at your craft, and getting the most out of your God-given abilities. Lots of prospects have all the talent in the world, but fail because lack the drive to take it to the next level. Say what you want about Manny, everyone who ever coached him said he worked his ass off in the batting cage. Much of Montero’s “lack of energy” has been related to his fielding, but he’s not hitting this year either. And IIRC, he didn’t hit last year until after he was benched for not running out a ball and talk was swirling about him being traded.
I understand he’s 21, and lots of guys his age aren’t as mature as they will be. But to suggest he should be rewarded for playing like a dog is just lost.
I think it’s less about “rewarding” Montero “for playing like a dog” and more about what’s best for the team.
Would it be fair to say that the possibility exists that Montero might do better at the plate than Posada, Cervelli or Andruw Jones? If that possibility exists then the Yanks owe it to themselves to consider calling Montero up.
I’m not saying this is the only avenue the Yankees can take. They can clearly try to swing a trade similar to the Kearns/Berkman deals of last year in order to acquire a bat off the bench but calling Montero up is at least one way that the Yankees can improve their offensive depth.
It would do Montero some good to finally start mashing at SWB because that might either push him up to the Bronx or get him traded to a team that values him more than the Yankees seem to. But even in the absence of his best work, I don’t think we should look at a potential Montero call up as a “reward” since the tail doesn’t wag the dog. The Yankees would be calling Montero up because they want his help at the plate, not as a reward for something he has or hasn’t done.
Also, just referring to the Marchand article, it bugs me that he keeps on talking about Montero as “[t]he future of the Yankees.”
The Yankees have never referred to Montero in such a way and, as we all know, no one player — young or established — can completely dictate the direction of a franchise. It’s absurd to think that Montero can be the team’s future, even if he achieves everything that we hope and believe he is capable of.
Marchand pissed me off on that one.
next year swisher’s gone..andre ethier, or if kemps contract is up. in right field
Wow. Imagine if Swisher actually starts hitting.
The Jays are a lot less impressive when you see that Bautista is at 4.5 WAR
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