Hello, you need to enable JavaScript to use this network.

Please check your browser settings or contact your system administrator.

SportProjections.com

New York Yankees

SportProjections.com group pages provide an all-in-one forum for your favorite team. Check out the latest headlines and rss feeds about your team. Use the message board to comment on, speculate about, agonize over, or praise the team.

New York Yankees Members (3)

Chris Fry Chris Fry created this group on SportProjections.com.

 

2008 New York Yankees Preview and Predictions

Contributor: Brent Nycz, mvn.com/mlb-yankees

2007 Record: 94-68

2007 Summary: The 2007 New York Yankees got off to a rocky start, falling as far back as 14.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox on May 29th. However, the Yankees forged a comeback to get as close to the division lead as a game and a half back in September. When all was said and done, despite not being able to overcome the Red Sox's division lead, the Yankees won the Wild Card over the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers.

The Yankees' offense was propelled by Jorge Posada's career year and Alex Rodriguez's MVP season. Despite Johnny Damon's decline, Jason Giambi's diminishing health, and both Bobby Abreu and Melky Cabrera's offensive streakiness, the Yankees still lead the league in runs scored with 968 runs.

The Yankees had 14 different pitchers start a game during the 2007 season, including 6 rookies. After beginning his season on the DL, Chien-Ming Wang earned 19 wins (while pitching a 3.70 ERA) for the second straight season. Andy Pettitte came back "home" and became the Yankees' stopper with 6 of his 15 wins coming after Yankee losses. Mike Mussina was anything but consistently great, posting a 5.15 ERA with a declining fastball. Roger Clemens gave Yankee fans the ability to see the 7 Cy-Young winner one last time. However, his last pitched game saw him limp off the mound on October 7th with Phil Hughes taking the ball and helping pitch the Yankees to their only postseason victory against the Cleveland Indians.

2008 Key Additions: The Yankees mostly stayed with the same team they had last year. The only real key additions the Yankees got were RHP LaTroy Hawkins and RHP Jonathan Albaladejo (on a trade for Tyler Clippard), and IF Morgan Ensberg. On the coaching side, the Yankees signed Joe Girardi to replace Joe Torre. Other new coaches are Dave Eiland (pitching coach), Rob Thomson (bench coach), and Bobby Meacham (3rd base coach).

2008 Key Losses: 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, reliever Luis Vizcaino, and 1B Andy Phillips. On the coaching side, manager Joe Torre as well as half the coaching staff (bench coach Don Mattingly, pitching coach Ron Guidry, and 3rd base coach Larry Bowa) left. All but Guidry left for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2008 Starting Lineup:
1. Johnny Damon LF
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. Bobby Abreu RF
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Hideki Matsui DH
6. Jorge Posada C
7. Jason Giambi 1B
8. Robinson Cano 2B
9. Melky Cabrera CF

2008 Starting Rotation: Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy

2008 Closer: Mariano Rivera

2008 MVP: Though many have said he WON'T have the same numbers again, there isn't a player like Rodriguez in baseball who is fully healthy (i.e Albert Pujols) and so devastating with the bat.

The Yankees will be successful if: the Yankees find stability in both the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Yankees hope that a recipe of Wang, Pettitte, an aging Mussina, and the Trip Aces will bring the Yankees better consistency in the rotation than last year. If the rotation starts to go haywire, the Yankees will look to their developmental depth in the minors to provide better results than the likes of Chase Wright, Matt DeSalvo, and Tyler Clippard last year. Though the "bullpen by committee" provide Girardi and Cashman many arms to work with, there is little telling and great uncertainty of what to expect from the bullpen.

2008 Season Prediction: Despite going through the Trip Aces in the rotation, the Yankees still have a playoff-contending team. If Hughes, Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain provide the Yankees great pitching and if the bullpen provides consistency, the Yankees are playoff and pennant-bound. However, those are two big ifs. The Yankees will contend for the AL East, but will ultimately fall short, taking 2nd place and winning the Wild Card for the second straight year.

Standings Prediction:
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles

nypost.com

Yanks: Swisher staying put

The Yankees denied a published report they have let teams know right fielder Nick Swisher is available. According to a club official, the switch-hitting Swisher, who played a big part in the Yankees winning the AL East and struggled in the posts...

Pettitte hits free-agent market

Andy Pettitte was among the last two of the 171 eligible players to declare for free agency yesterday. It was a foregone conclusion the veteran lefty would file and a strong indication the 37-year-old hurler isn't ready to retire. The belief in th...

nydailynews.com

Contract showdown looms for Yanks, Jeter

If Brian Cashman thinks he's got his hands full figuring out what to do with free-agent fan favorites Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Andy Pettitte, imagine what he'll face next year when Derek Jeter's contract expires.

Agent: Japan isn't option for Matsui

Hideki Matsui may or may not return to the Yankees next season, but according to his agent, the World Series MVP won't be heading back to his native Japan to play in 2010.

Boras sees Damon as one for ages

Although Johnny Damon has told friends that he would take a shorter deal to remain in pinstripes, agent Scott Boras didn't sound intent on settling for a one- or two-year contract.

newsday.com

Mature Hughes dominates as Yankees reliever

There is something almost middle-aged about Phil Hughes.

Yankees' Swisher redeems himself in Nick of time

An error that nearly started an Orioles rally became a joke and a movie reference four batters later when the culprit, rightfielder Nick Swisher, redeemed himself with a fine play.

First-place Yankees complete sweep of Orioles

A.J. Burnett called it a "friendly competition" among the starters.

mlb.com

Inside the pinstripes: Part four

Inside the pinstripes: Part four

Yankees finalize 40-man roster

Yankees finalize 40-man roster

Fall Classic memorabilia at Hall of Fame

Fall Classic memorabilia at Hall of Fame

riveraveblues.com

Open Thread: Accessing RAB

At midnight last night, the Hot Stove League officially kicked off it’s season. The 15-day exclusive negotiating window has ended, so free agents are now able to talk to any team about gainful employment. There will be more rumors than you could ever possibly desire, and even though the vast majority of them are either [...]

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Accessing RAB

Jackson, Nova among 40-man additions

The Yankees have announced seven additions to the team’s 40-man rotation in advance of December’s Rule 5 draft. Among them are Austin Jackson and Ivan Nova. What a difference a year makes for Nova, who was selected and then returned to the Yanks in 2008. To go along with this move, the Yanks also outrighted [...]

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Jackson, Nova among 40-man additions

Girardi named March of Dimes Sportsman of the Year

While CC Sabathia is up for SI’s Sportsman of the Year award, his manager took home some honors of his own. The March of Dimes named Joe Girardi their Sportsman of the Year (Venus Williams was Sportwoman) because of his achievements with the Yankees in 2009, and will honor him 26th annual March of Dimes [...]

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Girardi named March of Dimes Sportsman of the Year

philhughes.wordpress.com

Update

The link for my new blog over at yardbarker is… yardbarker.com/users/philhughes

Yardbarker.com

Hey everyone. Over the last couple months i’ve had a plan in the works to switch my blog over to yardbarker.com. They will help a lot with maintaining the blog, which has been my biggest headache. I’ll be back later with the exact details. On another note, I have been pain free for about a week [...]

Hey

Hope everyone is doing well. Not too much to report lately from Tampa. I was in shock when I found out the extent of my rib injury. Not the best way to start off the season to say the least. I will post more when there is more news. I didn’t get a chance to watch [...]

mvn.com/mlb-yankees

Guzman added as stolen base threat

Joe Girardi has just announced that Freddy Guzman, the speedster added to Triple-A in September, will replace Eric Hinske on the ALCS roster.

Some say that Guzman was added to counter the Angels' running threat. I disagree with the move.

Hinske didn't even get an at bat in the ALDS. He was a fine power option off the bench down the stretch too.

Brett Gardner showed off the value of his speed in the ALDS, which I love. Having him off the bench as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner option gives the Yankees a great edge. Having a second pinch-runner option doesn't make much sense to me.

In game 2 of the ALDS, Gardner pinch ran in the 10th inning and did his part. Unfortunately, Johnny Damon lined out into a double play, but Gardner couldn't do anything about that. With Jose Molina starting that game, that left Jerry Hairston Jr. and Eric Hinske as options in the 11th. Hairston isn't as fast as Guzman, but he does bring speed to the table. Having Hairston and Guzman on the bench for the 11th makes no sense. Poor Hinske.

This article is also featured on lenNY's Yankees.

ALCS Preview: Part I

So far, we know the times of all seven games, and now we know the starting pitchers for the first three and most likely the fourth.

Here they are (via Sam Borden):

Game Angels starters Yankees starters
Game 1 (@NY) John Lackey (11-8, 3.83) CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.37)
Game 2 (@NY) Joe Saunders (16-7, 4.60) A.J. Burnett (13-9, 4.04)
Game 3 (@LA) Jered Weaver (16-8, 3.75) Andy Pettitte (14-8, 4.16)
Game 4 (@LA) Scott Kazmir (10-9, 4.89) Sabathia (probable)


It came as a surprise to most people that Joe Saunders would start game 2, as well as the fact that the Angels would announce their plans of a four-man rotation so early. Joe Girardi has said he is "definitely considering" using a three-man rotation, but nothing is set in stone.

Something to be aware of: The weather. It's going to be awful for the series opener, and it may not even happen tomorrow night. I'll have a breakdown of the pitchers and lineups posted tomorrow.

This article is also featured on lenNY's Yankees.

ALCS Preview: Part I

So far, we know the times of all seven games, and now we know the starting pitchers for the first three and most likely the fourth.

Here they are (via Sam Borden):

Game Angels starters Yankees starters
Game 1 (@NY) John Lackey (11-8, 3.83) CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.37)
Game 2 (@NY) Joe Saunders (16-7, 4.60) A.J. Burnett (13-9, 4.04)
Game 3 (@LA) Jered Weaver (16-8, 3.75) Andy Pettitte (14-8, 4.16)
Game 4 (@LA) Scott Kazmir (10-9, 4.89) Sabathia (probable)


It came as a surprise to most people that Joe Saunders would start game 2, as well as the fact that the Angels would announce their plans of a four-man rotation so early. Joe Girardi has said he is "definitely considering" using a three-man rotation, but nothing is set in stone.

Something to be aware of: The weather. It's going to be awful for the series opener, and it may not even happen tomorrow night. I'll have a breakdown of the pitchers and lineups posted tomorrow.

This article is also featured on lenNY's Yankees.

New York Yankees Forum

Amy Domestico

Save The Gate!!

Started by Amy Domestico Jun 30

An assembly of people from around the country will be on hand at Foley's NY to "Save The Gate", a grass-root effort to save Gate 2 of the old Yankee Stadium to house a museum and parkland. http://b... Read More »

 
 

SportProjections.com Top Predictions

 

SportProjections.com brought to you by Chris Fry © 2009 Report an Issue | Feedback | Privacy | Terms of Service

Spread the word. Get your own SportProjections.com badge