10 Reasons the Yankees won’t win the World Series
Hold on there all you naive sportswriters and Yankee fans. I thought the Yankees tried this approach for the past five or so years where they went after every top player they could throw money at and/or trade their entire farm system to get? It didn’t work then, it’s not going to work now, and here’s why:
1. Only one team has won the World Series with the highest paid player in the last 80 years
Technically, no team has done it since the 1928 Yankees with Babe Ruth as the game’s highest player. George Foster was with the Mets during their 1986 World Series run, but was released in August, so he didn’t even play with them in the World Series.
I think it makes perfect sense why this has happened. Think about it: When you have most of your payroll tied up in one player, that usually means you’re neglecting some other part of your 25-man roster…even with the Yankees’ budget. Right now, their bullpen is a huge question mark, and that’s one of the most important ingredients to a championship team.
Not even the Yankees have an unlimited budget, and they have decided that tying up a large chunk of their payroll in a couple players is more wise than spreading that out to the remainder of the holes on their roster. History says the latter is the what gets you a ring.
2. Performance drops off in first year
Running through every major offseason signing or trade the Yankees have made during this recent 12-year run, I realized that nearly every one of them experienced a drop in production in their first year as a Yankee. Mike Mussina and Johnny Damon were the only exceptions that I came across that actually stayed consistent with their pre-Yankee numbers.
Here’s a list of the other folks that didn’t fare as well:
Chuck Knoblauch, acquired before the 1998 season
Knoblauch may be the prototypical example of what can happen to a perennial All-Star when the Yankees get a hold of them. He was the first of many acquisitions by the Yanks that either fell apart in their first year, or completely ruined their careers by the time they left the Bronx. Knoblauch won the Rookie of the Year with Minnesota in 1991 and was an All-Star in four of the next six seasons. He posted an .801 OPS in a down year with the Twins in 1997, but sunk even further the following year at .766 with the Yankees.
The rest, as they say, is history. For those of you unaware of the Knoblauch story, the second baseman inexplicably forgot how to throw to first and was out of baseball four years later.
Roger Clemens, acquired before the 1999 season
Clemens had two of the most dominant seasons in baseball history with the Blue Jays prior to his trade to the Yankees. Whether steroids had anything to do with it is still up for debate, but he was the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner, posting two 20-win seasons and a combined 2.33 ERA over the period. To put it bluntly, the Yankees had traded for the best pitcher in the game, and got a 4.60 ERA out of him the following year.
Jason Giambi, signed before 2002 season
Giambi actually had an MVP-type season in his first year with the Yanks, but his performance did statistically drop off (then again, they were so ‘juiced up’ that they had no place to go but down). Giambi won the AL MVP in 2000 and deserved the award in 2001, but finished second by eight points to a ‘rookie’, Ichiro Suzuki. Giambi posted a 1.137 OPS in 2001 with the Athletics, which fell to 1.033 in 2002 with the Yanks.
Of course, that was his first and last truly productive year with the Yankees. He may be the worst example of a player that dropped off in his first year in pinstripes, but one of the better examples of a guy that didn’t live up to expectations after a big contract.
Hideki Matsui, signed before the 2003 season
I won’t put too much emphasis on Matsui because no one could really tell how well he was going to do coming over from Japan. I still think it’s worth mentioning how much hype went on before the 2003 season about how great ‘Godzilla’ was going to be for the Yanks. He hit 50 homers in 2002 in Japan with a 1.153 OPS, but only 16 homers and a .788 OPS with the Yankees in 2003.
Gary Sheffield, signed before the 2004 season
Sheffield turned in two MVP-caliber seasons before injuries nearly wiped out his entire third season, and by then he had worn out his welcome anyway. Like Giambi, he had a great first season as a Yankee, but it simply wasn’t as good as his previous season with the Braves. He carried a 1.023 OPS into his contract negotiations with the Yanks, and gave them a .927 in his first year. Again, not bad at all, and he even finished second in the MVP voting that year, but it’s just further evidence that stars don’t shine quite as bright as they did before they put on the pinstripes.
Javier Vazquez, acquired before the 2004 season
I almost forgot about this guy and his one season in the Bronx. He was coveted by nearly every playoff contender in baseball when the Expos put him on the block, and the Yankees gave up two of their top prospects in Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera to get him. He struck out 241 guys with a 3.24 ERA with the Expos in 2004 and fell to only 150 Ks and a 4.91 ERA in only two fewer games.
Alex Rodriguez, acquired before the 2004 season
A-Rod won the 2003 AL MVP the year before being traded to the Yanks, and while he actually put up better numbers in 2002, he finished second to yet another undeserving MVP, Miguel Tejada. Rodriguez posted a .996 OPS in 2003 with the Rangers and fell to .887 with the Yankees in 2004.
Randy Johnson, acquired before the 2005 season
Johnson is another example of the Yankees going after one of the best pitchers in the game that turned into an average pitcher the following year. He won four straight NL Cy Young Awards from 1999 to 2002, missed most of the 2003 season with injuries and came back in 2004 to post a 2.60 ERA and 290 strikeouts. The next year with the Yankees, he dropped to a 3.79 ERA and allowed nearly twice as many home runs as the previous year.
Carl Pavano, signed before the 2005 season
If you know anything about baseball, I shouldn’t even have to mention Pavano in this discussion. He went 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA with the Marlins in 2004 and signed a 4-year deal with the Yankees before the 2005 season. He then proceeded to pitch in 26 total games…not in 2005, but through the entire course of his contract and left as a free agent this winter with a 5.00 ERA as a Yankee.
Jaret Wright, signed before the 2005 season
I just want to go on the record that as a former Braves fan, I saw this train wreck coming when the Yankees signed him to a 3-year $21 million deal. This guy made a name for himself in the 1997 World Series as a 21-year-old rookie, pitched horribly in the Indians rotation for the next two seasons, barely sniffed the majors at all for the next three, signed with the Padres in 2003 and gave them an 8.37 ERA in 39 games, finished the year with the Braves and managed to work his way into the rotation with them in 2004 where he magically went 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA…and the Yankees decide to throw $21 million at the guy to pitch in the Bronx? Needless to say, this story ends with Wright battling injuries most of the season, but he managed to post a 6.08 ERA in 13 starts.
3. The ’someone else will do it’ effect
I’m sure there’s a technical term to describe this, but I can’t remember it at the moment. Whatever it is, it’s a good explanation for why teams like the Yankees and the 2008 Tigers never live up to the hype: There’s a point where you actually can have too much talent on your team and it actually begins to drag individual talent down.
I’m no psychologist, but it just makes sense that when you have other superstars in your lineup, the individual burden of producing at such a high level is lifted and you sort of lean on the other players to contribute. It may not be as important to knock that guy in on second because you know there’s a capable guy behind you to do it if you don’t. Or maybe you think that you’ll have four more innings to come back from that 5-2 deficit, and with a lineup like that, there’s no way you won’t, right?
There’s a problem when everyone is leaning on the other guy to produce because nothing ever gets done. In a lineup with two or three superstars, you know you’re going to be the go-to guy and realize that if you don’t get it done, it probably won’t.
4. Bullpen
The Yankees have no bullpen help to set up Mariano Rivera. Joba Chamberlain is set to join the rotation next season, which leaves a gaping hole in their eighth inning plans. Yankees.com lists Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney, Jonathan Albaladejo and Jose Veras in their bullpen as of now, and they wouldn’t scare too many little leaguers at this point.
5. Pressure of a must-win-it-all season
Every team in baseball is going to lose at least 40 to 50 games next year, including the Yankees. It just so happens that this organization is one that expects to win all 162, and when they don’t, all hell breaks loose.
When this much money is being spent, you expect nothing less than a championship, but any number of things can get in the way of that through the course of a season. At the first sign of a slump–which are unavoidable in baseball–the front office and NY media are going to lose their minds.
Baseball is a sport where prolonged failure is inevitable, and the microscope you’re under as a Yankee makes it that much harder to overcome a losing streak or a personal slump. When you make $18 million a year, people expect you to be perfect (and for that money I can’t blame them), and that’s just not realistic in this sport. The fans don’t care what you did on another team or even last week, but as soon as you leave five runners on base or lose two consecutive starts, it’s game over until you pull a game-winning home run out of your ass or pitch a no-hitter.
6. Age
The 2009 Yankees are a lot older than people even realize. Alex Rodriguez will turn 34 next season, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui will be 35, Jorge Posada 38 and Mariano Rivera will be 39. That’s the core of their team, and they’re all past their prime years in this (presumably) post-steroid era–meaning we probably won’t see too many more Clemens’ or Bonds’ putting up incredible numbers past their prime.
This leads perfectly to my next reason…
7. Injuries
With age comes wisdom…and several trips to the DL. It’s almost guaranteed that the Yankees won’t make it through the season without a major injury, or at the very least, an injury that lingers and adversely affects someone’s performance the entire year.
A.J. Burnett has been a serious injury risk in his career and only seems to want to play a full season in a walk-year: In 10 seasons, he’s started 30 games only twice; once with Florida in 2005 (before signing with the Blue Jays) and last season with the Blue Jays (before signing a his fat deal with the Yanks).
8. Replacing Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi
In all of the Mark Teixeira talk, people are forgetting that the Yankees lost two key players from their 2008 lineup in Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. Even if Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher have excellent years (which is improbable with regard to Swisher), it’s not like they’re an addition to the team…they’re just the guys being brought in to replace the guys they lost. Any production they get out of these guys will have to be significantly better than what Giambi and Abreu gave last season, and that’s not as easy as some may think.
Both players had respectable OPSs (Giambi at .876 and Abreu at .843) and while Teixeira’s .962 OPS from 2008 is a step in the right direction, Swisher’s .742 just drags the pair’s production down.
9. Replacing Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte
There’s talk of Pettitte re-signing with the Yankees, and even if he does, the Yanks still have to replace Mike Mussina before they can talk about improving on last year’s outcome.
Mussina went 20-9 last season with a 3.37 ERA while A.J. Burnett went 18-10 and a 4.07 ERA with Toronto, so it would take Burnett to improve on his 2008 campaign to replace Mussina. That’s just to make sure that the Yanks are at the point they were last year, so it would take Sabathia to pick up any slack to actually have the Yankees improve on their record.
10. Tampa Bay Rays
Don’t count out that the Tampa Bay Rays are the reigning American League Champions…and they’re returning with the same young lineup and rotation that got them to the World Series last year. Carlos Pena (who will turn 31 next season) is the eldest regular Ray in their lineup, and James Shields (who just turned 27 on December 20) is the old fart of their starting rotation.
There is no reason why the Rays won’t naturally improve on their performance from last season as each of their young players progresses. They’ll get a full season out of Evan Longoria and David Price, and a healthy B.J. Upton.
They don’t have any of the issues I listed for why the Yanks will tank next season and are looking like one of the most well-constructed teams ever, from top to bottom, built almost entirely from their farm system. Of course, after years of sitting in the basement and lining up first or second overall draft picks, they’d better have a team like this. Could you imagine what this team would look like if Rocco Baldelli didn’t have those health issues and if Josh Hamilton left the crack pipe alone a couple years sooner?
I’m not saying that it’s out of the question for the Yankees to go all the way in 2009, but there are a lot of factors against that happening that people are overlooking just because the Yankees are throwing money out there again. Don’t let the smooth taste of these big moves fool you. The Yankees may have made a couple big moves so far, but in all reality, that only brings them back up to the level of the other top teams in the league. It doesn’t make them the ‘team to beat’…Mr. Neyer.
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UGH! This list is so terrible.
I don't even know where to begin dismantling you. Let's start with your only real, tangible item.. the bullpen. The Yankees had a very good bullpen this year, with Marte and Bruney playing huge roles. They have a stockpile of arms in the minors to throw in there… PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! For starters, try the opinion of real experts and not hacks like yourself.
From an article by Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus, http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?art...
"Moreover, the Yankee bullpen was surprisingly effective, and while Mariano Rivera made $15 million to pitch the ninth inning, it was the development of Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras, as well as low-profile pickups such as Dan Giese and Brian Bruney, that made the sixth through eighth innings a strength. They don't need to look elsewhere for pitching help, and they certainly don't need to gild the lily with a certain hard-throwing righty[Joba Chamberlain] better-suited for more work."
Hey shant, thanks for the post.
Since you only covered the bullpen, I'll just take them one pitcher at a time.
Damaso Marte pitched in 25 games for the Yanks last season with a 5.40 ERA. He's got a 3.29 career ERA which is pretty good (but only three sub-3.00 seasons in his 9-year career),and I would trust his Yankee numbers at this point rather than looking at how he did with the White Sox or Pirates. The guy has serious control issues averaging a walk every other inning. Not someone I'd call solid.
Brian Bruney is more of the same. Put up solid numbers last season in part time work, but ha worse control issues than Marte. In a full season with the Yanks in 07, he put up a 4.68 ERA in 58 games. Had a 1.82 in 32 games this season. I don't expect him to be as bad as 07, but thinking he'll be anywhere near a 2.00 ERA isn't reasonable. He's definitely got some promise, but he would have a lesser role on Tampa Bay or Boston, and that's saying a lot more about where their bullpens are.
I actually like Edwar Ramirez. He put up great minor league numbers, but got shelled in 07, and put up a 3.90 ERA last year which is a step in the right direction, but there's no way you can say the guy RIGHT NOW is "very good". His potential tells us he should be, but there's no way you can say he gives the Yankees a good bullpen when he's got a 5.07 ERA in 76 games so far with the Yanks.
Jose Veras was an average bullpen pitcher in his first full season. He's not a young guy (28 next year) and while he very well may improve on his 08 performance, his minor league stats aren't very impressive (3.91 ERA and 1.42 WHIP). He's another guy with control issues that has put up either average or below average stats with the Yanks.
Dan Giese is yet more of the same. He's actually worse since he's a career minor leaguer who just got his first cup of coffee at 30 in 2007. He was an average bullpen pitcher last year with a 3.53 ERA. He did well in the minors and has really nice control numbers, but there's no reason to think that he's going to turn into Papelbon, Okajima, Balfour, or J.P. Howell.
All of these guys have been average to below-average so far in their Yankee careers and while there's a lot of potential, given that they haven't been studs off the bat, that makes their bullpen a major question mark going into the season, and I wouldn't even try to call them "very good" right now based on the numbers they've put up so far. Just what criteria are you using to call this bullpen "very good"?
You posted a link to Baseball Prospectus as if whatever they say is gospel when Joe Sheehan is speculating just like any other Joe Schmo out there right now. No one knows how the Yankees bullpen is going to be. All we can do is speculate based on past performance and current data. There's no reason to believe that the Yankees will have a "very good" bullpen at this point, and definitely not any better than the Rays or Red Sox.
> Only one team has won the World Series with the highest paid player in the last 80 years
Irrelevant.
> Performance drops off in first year
> Chuck Knoblauch
He was an old 30 years old when the yankees traded for him and a possible steroid user.
> Roger Clemens
Age 37, now known as a steroid user.
> Jason Giambi
Age 31 and another steroid user. Jason was actually good when he was healthy, he just wasn’t healthy very often.
> Hideki Matsui
You actually expected Matsui to hit as well as he did in japan? He might have “only” hit 16 HRs, but he also drove in 106 runs, pounded out 42 doubles and only struck out 86 times. His problem was getting used to the extensive use of the 2 seamer sinking fastball in the Majors compared to the Japanese leagues, so he grounded out a lot. Once he got used to that, he hit 31, 23, and 25 HRs in healthy/semi healthy years.
> Age 35 and another possible steroid user. And he actually did fine the first 2 years here. 35~ HRs, 121 RBIs is NOT bad. Sure his BA went down, but did again how can you expect a player to keep up production as he hits hes late 30s? its historically not likely
… fuck it, why am I replying to this obvious troll.
Joe,
It’s very relevant that teams that spend money like the Yankees have don’t win the World Series. It’s very relevant if the Yankees are doing something that prevents them from winning a World Series, and historically, teams that do that don’t win it. Saying it’s irrelevant doesn’t make it so.
What does the three of those guys’ steroid use have to do with the fact that their production dropped in their first year as a Yankee? To my understanding, they were still using steroids when they came to the Yanks, so how does that even come close to meaning anything?
About Matsui: It’s pretty obvious that you’re not reading the post since you missed my statement: “I won’t put too much emphasis on Matsui because no one could really tell how well he was going to do coming over from Japan.” I, nor anyone else I could recall ever thought he was going to hit 50 homers, but the fact still remains that there was a lot of fanfare over the signing, and I’m sure they expected more than just 16 homers in 623 at bats and a .788 OPS. That’s my point…that most of these high-profile acquisitions experience a drop in production and don’t live up to expectations.
I’m going to assume you were talking about Sheffield with the last part of your comment, and yet again you missed what I said: “Again, not bad at all, and he even finished second in the MVP voting that year, but it’s just further evidence that stars don’t shine quite as bright as they did before they put on the pinstripes.” How is it that I can say that Sheffield was an MVP-caliber player with the Yanks and you bring it up as if I’m trying to say that Sheffield stunk or something? Again, MY POINT was that players’ production typically drops when they come to the Bronx….some a lot, and some a little….but most of them have dropped lately.
And no, a troll is someone that shows up on various websites calling people names and refuting people’s arguments by saying that they’re retarded or an idiot…i.e. you and your boy shant.
If you want to have a reasonable discussion about this, I’m always open to it, otherwise I won’t waste any more of my time responding to you.
You keep wanting to have a reasonable discussion, but I find that impossible. You really don’t know much about baseball or the Yankees. I don’t think you’ve even watched the Yankees at all in 2008.
Check out the reddit comments on how badly you’ve been destroyed.
http://www.reddit.com/r/sports/comments/7mp2m/10_reasons_the_yankees_wont_win_the_world_series/80cr?context=3
Nice comeback…I can see you have no intention of actually discussing this, but just to bash anyone that doesn’t get on their knees for the Yanks.
By the way, there’s a reason the post has more up votes than down.
It doesn’t have upvotes because it’s a good story, the comments are what are bringing it up.
Funny that you haven’t responded to any of the real baseball discussions on reddit. I guess you just can’t have an intelligent baseball discussion at all.
I’m bashing YOU because you have no business writing about baseball or the Yankees. You have zero knowledge of either subject.
I’ve thoroughly proved you wrong using statistics and you aren’t man enough to admit it.
You’re right, I have no business writing about baseball. Are you done trolling now?
You are an idiot. You mention Knoblauch and Clemens. The Yankees won 3 WS with Knobluach, and nearly a 4th. He was a major factor in the in 1998 and 1999. They one 2 with Clemens, and almost a 3rd.
Then in #2, you list Jason Giambi as a reason, and then in #8 you list that they have to replace him. Duh.
You list performance dropoffs after year, and use AROD as an example. Did you see his 2007? Duh
You are an idiot.
Vinnie,
Do yourself a favor and re-read WHY I mentioned these people: “Running through every major offseason signing or trade the Yankees have made during this recent 12-year run, I realized that nearly every one of them experienced a drop in production in their first year as a Yankee.”
I didn’t see anything I wrote about these folks causing the Yankees to be a horrible team or that it was a bad idea to sign or trade for any one of them.
My point was that a good number of guys that the Yankees got with high expectations (like CC, AJ, and Tex) experienced a drop in production in their first year as a Yankee. Anything else you got out of that information is an incorrect assumption on your part.
Thanks for the comment though. I enjoy the easily refuted criticisms.
Who’s trolling? I’ve proved you wrong on all your bogus points and you’re too scared to admit it…
Yes, you’ve proved me wrong on all of my bogus points, good job. Done trolling?
1. “Performance drops off in first year”
So you bring up Giambi’s second year and Sheffield’s third year, but you only mention A-Rod’s first year and not his two MVP seasons?
2. “The ’someone else will do it’ effect”
There’s no proof this exists, let alone that it will affect the 2009 Yanks.
3. “Bullpen”
The 2008 Yankees bullpen:
1st in MLB in strikeouts
3rd in MLB in opponent’s average against
4th best in opponent’s OPS
4th best WHIP
6th in MLB in BP’s “Fair Run Average” for Relief
9th best in MLB in Inherited Runs prevented
12th best in MLB in runs charged during appearance.
What was that about little leaguers?
4) Replacing Abreu/Giambi and Moose/Pettitte
a)You’re assuming Swisher will repeat his sub-100 OPS+. However, Peter Bendix wrote: “Evidence suggests that Swisher was plagued by a lot of bad luck in 2008. His line-drive percentage was 20.9%, leading to an expected BABIP* of .329. However, his actual BABIP was .248 – the fourth lowest in the American League, and the lowest of his career. His isolated power, walk rate, and strikeout rate remained essentially unchanged from 2007 to 2008. Finally, in an upcoming study I co-authored on hitters’ BABIP, I found that Nick Swisher had the largest split of anyone in baseball between his expected BABIP (derived from a formula that includes many more variables besides just LD%) and his actual BABIP. The White Sox sold him incredibly low, and he’s a great bet to bounce back in 2009.”
* batting average on balls put in play
b) You can’t cite aging players in one statement, then ignore that the new players are younger than the older ones. Which is more likely to decline – the group averaging 36.5 years, or the group averaging 28.3 years? Or regarding the pitchers, the two w/ K/9IPs of 6.74 and 6.97, or the two w/ K/9 IPs of 9.39 and 8.93? (Bill James wrote that strikeout rate is the best indicator of future performance.)
5) Every team has injuries. Dusty Baker manages to have least two pitchers suffer arm injuries. Wang didn’t get hurt because of age. Joba and Hughes didn’t. The Yanks had injuries throughout their minor league system; those had nothing to do with age. Age can be a contributing factor, but it’s not the only factor.
Thanks eb. So nice to have a well-thought comment on this topic.
1. The entire heading was “Performance drops off in first year”. I demonstrated that too many of these high-profile players have had their performance drop in their first year as a Yankee. Anything else I mentioned was an aside. Just because I mentioned the rest of Giambi’s Yankee career doesn’t mean I’m trying to make a point that all Yankees continue the trend through their entire career. I mentioned that Giambi was one of the few guys to have an excellent year in his first season, but we obviously know what happened after that. That doesn’t take away from the original point of the heading.
2. I’m not saying this is definitely the case at all, but it could be a derivation of Social Loafing
3. It seems everyone continues to miss what I wrote about the bullpen. I guess it would serve a better purpose if I changed the label to “Getting to Rivera”. I specifically said that Rivera’s help was the issue, and not the entire bullpen. A large portion of those numbers you listed come from Rivera and Chamberlain. Try removing Rivera and Chamberlain from those numbers and you’ll get a better picture of what I’m talking about when I say Rivera’s help is a question mark going into this season.
4. I’m very aware of Swisher’s potential but I temper that with the fact that not everyone can play in the Bronx. That’s not the best place to be if you’re trying to work out the kinks from an unproductive season. I think he can improve, and probably will, but it’s just as likely that one of the other studs that the Yankees signed could actually turn into 2008 Swisher.
b) Sure, the new players are younger, but I’ve already explained why expectations shouldn’t be all that high for them given new Yankees have had a hard time recently. Add that to the existing group of aging Yankees and it could get ugly pretty quickly next season.
5) Of course every team has injuries. I only listed it as one of the reasons since the Yanks dealt with so many last season. I’m not saying that the Yankees are the only team at risk of injury, but I think it would be pretty foolish to think the Yankees are going to go the entire year with their entire team intact. It’s kind of stating the obvious, but it’s definitely a contributing factor to a team’s ability to win a championship depending on who goes down and for how long, so I had to include it.
Again, all of this is based on history, and I realize that each of my points could go the opposite way, but this was simply a list of 10 things people may be overlooking when formulating their expectations for this season. Take it or leave it.
I commend your reasoning, it’s right on the money.
People don’t realize how difficult it is to play in the Bronx. Being on the biggest stage in the world, as proven time and time again, effects athlete’s performance in an adverse manner.
I think Joba should be in the pen. The bridge to Mariano is so important and the reason why they won. Plus, not having proven veterans like Farnsworth, Hawkins or even Scott Proctor, hurts the Yankees. Their barren system isn’t producing arms, that’s why they buy players.
These Yankee fans are such hard ons! They just don’t like hearing how it is.
Thank you so much for the comment Brett. The pro-Yankee bias was coming on pretty strong.
Some people struggle to adjust, and others like Paul O’Neill actually become better players under the spotlight. He’s the anti-Pavano where the guy was about a .260 career hitter and blossomed into one of the better hitter in the game while with the Yanks. He’s the exception though, not the rule.
I think Joba’s best use depends on how well either part of their staff performs: They may have enough starting pitching to get by at this point with CC, AJ, and Wang, so he might actually be better suited for the pen like you said. If the younger guys like Ramirez, Veras, and Bruney are solid, then the Yanks are in good shape. That’s a big IF at this point though.
Thanks again for the comment.
LOLZ