2009 Yankees: What's Changed From 2008

Last night was an off day and there's only so many articles you can post about Derek Jeter before the man starts to bore you. So, in an effort to find something to write about, I'm throwing together a comparison of this year's team offensively to last year's team. Yes, I know, the season isn't over yet.  We're just going to go off of percentages for now.  Numbers in blue are how much better the 2009 did in that category.  Numbers in red are how much worse they did in that category.

It's not hard to figure out that the Yankees missed Jorge Posada in 2008, who only managed 195 plate appearances and then finally succumbed to a shoulder injury.  The brilliant battery trio of Jose Molina, Chad Moeller, and Ivan Rodriguez couldn't get their OBP above .300, even with Jorge's .364 contribution in limited duty. This year, Jorge is posting an OPS of .899, once again brought down by Molina, Kevin Cash, and Francisco Cervelli.  They're backups so it's not reasonable to expect much, but it highlights just how valuable Jorge's bat is to this lineup.

Jason Giambi didn't have a terrible season in 2008 (113 games, .844 OPS).  His replacements, like Richie Sexson, Wilson Betemit, and Morgan Ensberg were not so good.  Disregarding the boost in defensive value Teixeira has brought to first base, having a solid bat there for 150 games this year is a huge upgrade in production.

Cano has had a very good bounce back year, even if he is only batting .211 with runners in scoring position.  Cano's OBP has always been driven by his average, and this year won't be much different.  He's drawing a few more walking in 2009 but not near the 39 he drew in 2007, which still isn't a lot.  Still, an .862 OPS from your second baseman is pretty good (For comparison's sake, Dustin Pedroia had an .869 OPS during his 2008 MVP season and currently sits at .812 for 2009).

And on your left, the effect Cody Ransom can have on your roster... ARod, despite not having one of his great seasons, is still posting a .920 OPS.  His replacements for the first 39 games of 2009, Cody Ransom and Angel Berroa, had .585 (!) and .356 (!!!!!!!!!!) OPS respectively. If you were one of those people who thought the Yankees were better off without ARod this spring, please go out back and give yourself a stern talking to.

It's been a very good year for Jeter.  This is his second best season so far since 2000, when he had a .896 OPS (in 2006, he had a .900 OPS). A lot of Jeter's troubles over the last few years have been attributed to leg problems.  Indeed, Jeter's stolen base attempts this year are much higher than '07 or '08 and his success rate is better, too.  He's also walking a bit more and striking out a bit less, possibly an adjustment he has made in his approach since taking over the lead off position (I don't normally buy into those things but I have a pretty good feeling Jeter does). Whatever his approach, it's working.

Most of the time in left field this year has been Johnny Damon's (118 our of 141 games).  Damon only started 87 games in left in 2008, with some starts going to Melky Cabrera, Xavier Nady, and Hideki Matsui. Damon hasn't exactly impressed defensively this season, although his defensive metrics for 2007 and 2008 were surprisingly good.  Damon has also thrived in the new Yankee Stadium, giving the Yankees reason to consider bringing him back on a short term deal.

The tandem of Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner have been almost exactly league average, with Melky carrying a little bit of Brett's weight.  What's interesting is that many Yankee fans were disgruntled with Melky Cabrera last season after his third year of offensive decline at the age of 23.  Looking at these comparisons, the low batting average on balls in play (BAbip) may mean bad luck played as much a part as anything else.  The differences between 2008 and 2009 would appear to be not so great if bad luck was the case.

Bobby Abreu got most of the starting time in right field in 2008.  Many fans lamented why the Yankees didn't resign him, wondering what we could expect from Xavier Nady and occasionally Nick Swisher. Well, Nady will probably never wear pinstripes again due to injury and Swisher has taken the job.  He's done a pretty good job, too. The OPS listed above for 2009 includes Nady, Melky, and Jerry Hairston, Jr.  Swisher's OPS is actually .881. Consider this: Bobby Abreu has been called a steal for the Angels this season, making $5 million with an .830 OPS.  Swisher has an .881 OPS and is making $5.3 million. Do you miss Bobby Abreu now?

Jason Giambi shared in some of the DH duties in 2008 which helps raise the OBP a little bit.  Even with that, Hideki Matsui, who has had the majority of DH at-bats, has had a strong season with an OPS of .866.  It's a bit surprising as Matsui has been battling knee problems for the last two years, making him essentially a one tool player.  Heis a free agent at the end of the season and likely will not be returning to the Yankees because of that, but he obviously still has some pop in his bat. Strangely (or maybe not so much), the DH position, a slot devoted to

hitting,

ranks sixth in offensive production for the team.  DH's just aren't what they used to be. Quick and dirty math tells us something pretty revealing out the 2009 Yankees compared to 2008: out of the 54 categories listed above, the 2009 Yankees are better in 43 of them.  OPS can be a bit redundant when SLG and OBP are involved, so removing that still makes the 2009 team better in 35 out of 45 categories. There is some evidence of luck on the 2009 team based on their BAbip, but the offensive output of the infield has been truly remarkable.  If you factor in just ARod's slash stats to the infield, they have produced an OPS of .623 higher than the 2008 team.  Across five positions, that's an average of 104 points per position.  That's pretty impressive.