THE END OF THE DECADE
I don’t know how these last 10 years have been for you, but there have been a lot of changes for me. When 2000 began I had no children. Now I have two. I had two working eyes. Now I have one. This feature was running at MLB.com. Now it’s at YES. On the whole, I’d say I’ve come out ahead. I hope that the decade was as friendly to you, though I know that for many it has been rough going. The Yankees have been through a lot of changes as well. With this first 10 years of the 21st century coming to a close, some Yankees top 10 for the years 2000 to 2009:
Games played
1 Derek Jeter 1500
2 Jorge Posada 1302
3 Bernie Williams 980
4 Hideki Matsui 916
5 Jason Giambi 897
6 Alex Rodriguez 891
7 Robinson Cano 734
8 Johnny Damon 576
9 Melky Cabrera 569
10 Alfonso Soriano 492
Williams and Soriano seem so long ago now that it’s hard to believe they show up on this list, but Bernie was around until 2006, Soriano until 2003. There were rumors at the time that it was the Yankees rather than the Rangers that insisted that Soriano be included in the trade for Alex Rodriguez. Given Soriano’s several weaknesses, they didn’t miss out on too much; his 2006-2008 (.285/.345/.552) were very good, but the rest has been unexceptional. If you’ve been haunted by the idea that the Yankees could have had both, it’s probably best to let it go. The only real penalty was a year of Miguel Cairo and Enrique Wilson at second base, and as weak as that combination was offensively (Cairo was as good as he can be that year, but so was Wilson, and that dragged things down), there would have been a defensive penalty for keeping Soriano that the Yankees didn’t have to pay.
Another note on this list: When your catcher has played the second-most games on the team in a 10-year span, you know you’ve either had a lot of turnover or he’s been exceptionally durable. In this case, the latter is the correct answer. Until recently, Posada never had anything more than a minor injury, an amazing thing given that all it takes to get hurt while catching is to get your fingers in the way of the wrong foul tip.
Home runs
1 Alex Rodriguez 238
2 Jason Giambi 209
3 Jorge Posada 208
4 Derek Jeter 161
5 Hideki Matsui 140
6 Bernie Williams 136
7 Alfonso Soriano 97
8 Robinson Cano 87
9 Johnny Damon 77
10 Gary Sheffield 76
Alex Rodriguez didn’t even show up until 2004. Let’s look at the triple-slash stats, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. The second column is the number of plate appearances the player had.
Batting average (1000 PA)
1 Derek Jeter .317 6923
2 Robinson Cano .306 3036
3 Alex Rodriguez .300 3924
4 Bobby Abreu .295 1631
5 Hideki Matsui .292 3816
6 Gary Sheffield .291 1525
7 Bernie Williams .288 4128
8 Johnny Damon .285 2525
9 Alfonso Soriano .285 2142
10 Jorge Posada .283 5227
Paul O’Neill is at No. 11 with .275. It’s been a long 10 years.
On-base percentage (1000 PA)
1 Jason Giambi .404 3693
2 Alex Rodriguez .401 3924
3 Derek Jeter .387 6923
4 Jorge Posada .386 5227
5 Gary Sheffield .383 1525
6 Bobby Abreu .378 1631
7 Bernie Williams .372 4128
8 Hideki Matsui .370 3816
9 Johnny Damon .363 2525
10 Chuck Knoblauch .351 1057
Score one for the much-maligned Giambi and the formerly maligned (probably still maligned in some quarters) A-Rod.
Slugging percentage (1000 PA)
1 Alex Rodriguez .567 3924
2 Jason Giambi .521 3693
3 Gary Sheffield .515 1525
4 Alfonso Soriano .502 2142
5 Jorge Posada .492 5227
6 Hideki Matsui .482 3816
7 Robinson Cano .480 3036
8 Bernie Williams .466 4128
9 Bobby Abreu .465 1631
10 Johnny Damon .458 2525
It bears repeating that although the Giambi signing is looked upon as a failure in some quarters, wrapped up as it was in the steroids mess and miserable defense, but he actually put a great many runs on the scoreboard, even when at less than his best.
One last one in the hitting department, stolen bases. The second column is caught stealing.
Stolen bases
1 Derek Jeter 219 47
2 Alfonso Soriano 121 35
3 Alex Rodriguez 120 23
4 Johnny Damon 93 21
5 Bobby Abreu 57 21
6 Chuck Knoblauch 53 16
7 Melky Cabrera 44 14
8 Bernie Williams 41 21
9 Brett Gardner 39 6
10 Paul O'Neill 36 12
The Yankees don’t run a lot, hence Brett Gardner making this list in very little playing time, but generally run well; with their usual capacity for power, there’s just no justification for taking bad gambles on the bases. This list does underscore what an unusual weapon Gardner is for them, and how he would give the opposition something different to think about.
A HAIRSTON NOTE
Speaking of Gardner, I see via MLBTraderumors that Jerry Hairston, Jr. could be re-signed to play some left field. Hairston is versatile, which is a nice thing to have in a bench player, but: he’s a career .256/.331/.367 hitter against right-handers. You know who hits right-handers better than that? Everybody. He’s also a career .264/.323/.386 hitter against left-handers. You know who hits left-handers better than that? Everyone who is right-handed. There is no point. If you’re the Cincinnati Reds or the Houston Astros maybe you have to consider insane options like this. If you’re the Yankees, even if you’re operating on a (relatively speaking) tightened budget, you’re not obligated to do anything so dramatically self-defeating.
