2010 MLB Predictions: The New York Yankees’ Road to a Repeat and Title No. 28
March 2, 2010 · Calvin Niles · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
As spring training has begun, the defending World Series champion New York Yankees are positioned from top to bottom to repeat as World Series champions.
* A healthy Alex Rodriguez back for the entire season, hitting behind Mark Teixeira, as one of the best 3-4 combinations in baseball.
* The addition of 29-year-old Curtis Granderson in center field to provide power, speed, and defense, coming to Yankee Stadium and this lineup. Moreover, he leaves Comerica Park, where he is a weaker player his whole career.
Home: .260 AVG, .336 OBP, .445 SLG, .781 OPS, 38 HR, 138 RBI
Away: .284 AVG, 356 OBP, .522 SLG, .878 OPS, 56 HR, 141 RBI
* The added depth of Javier Vazquez to the rotation to provide 200-plus innings and 13 to 15 wins.
* The valuable experience Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes acquired in being contributing factors to success in 2009.
* The terrific batting eye and discipline at the plate of Nick Johnson, a lifetime .402 OBP player, in front of two power hitters in Teixeira and Rodriguez.
* The added defense and speed of Randy Winn and Granderson, to go along with Brett Gardner. Late in games the Yankees can replace Nick Swisher and have an outfield of:
Winn: Arm is 1.4 Runs Above Average, Range is 13.8 Runs Above Average, UZR is 16.5 Runs Above Average.
Granderson: Arm is -0.6 Runs Below Average, Range is 1.4 Runs Above Average, UZR is 1.6 Runs Above Average.
Gardner: Arm is 3.0 Runs Above Average, Range is 4.8 Runs Above Average, UZR is 7.2 Runs Above Average.
As things stand with this team, I have the utmost confidence in saying the Yankees will repeat as World Series champions in 2010.
This team has improved its outfield defense by adding speed and defense and still has Swisher and Granderson that can hit 30 HRs. They added speed to the lineup and bench with Granderson and the Winn/Gardner platoon.
All that to go along with the best offensive infield in MLB hands down.
My prediction for the lineup and staff:
Lineup
Derek Jeter – SS – R – .312 AVG, 15 HR, 65 RBI
Johnson – DH – L – .285 AVG, 13 HR, 76 RBI
Teixeira – 1B – S – .303 AVG, 40 HR, 125 RBI
Rodriguez – 3B – R – .298, 38 HR, 121 RBI
Jorge Posada – C – S – .272 AVG, 20 HR, 80 RBI
Granderson – CF – L – .268 AVG, 32 HR, 85 RBI
Robinson Cano – 2B – L – .315 AVG, 29 HR, 98 RBI
Swisher – RF – S – .251 AVG, 31 HR, 84 RBI
Gardner – LF – L – .276 AVG, 4 HR, 41 RBI / Winn – LF – S – .270 AVG, 6 HR, 48 RBI
Rotation
CC Sabathia – L – 20-9, 3.30 ERA
A.J. Burnett – R – 15-10, 4.01 ERA
Andy Pettitte – L – 13-9, 4.28 ERA
Vazquez – R – 14-10, 4.10 ERA
Chamberlain – R – 12-8, 4.45 ERA
The rest of the roster fills out as:
Bench
Francisco Cervelli – C – R
Ramiro Pena – IF – S
Jamie Hoffmann – OF – R or Marcus Thames – OF – R
Bullpen
Chad Gaudin – R – Spot Starter / Long Reliever
Chan Ho Park – R – Short Relief
Alfredo Aceves – R – Long or Short Relief
David Robertson – R – Seventh inning power arm to bridge to setup man
Damaso Marte – L – Primary Lefty
Phil Hughes – Setup Man
Mariano Rivera – Closer
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