Yankees fans only....Please name your ideal Yankees lineup for 2007.?

Question

SP:
SP:
SP:
SP:
SP:
Closer:

C:
1B:
2B:
3B:
SS:
LF:
CF:
RF:
DH:

Manager:

Answer 1

SP: J. Santana
SP: C. Wang
SP: M. Mussina
SP: Barry Zito
SP: C. Zambrano
Closer: M. Rivera

C: J. Posada
1B: G. Sheffield
2B: R. Cano
3B: A. Rod (has the 2nd highest avg. for 3rd base in A.L.)
SS: D. Jeter
LF: H. Matsui
CF: J. Damon
RF: B. Abreu
DH: J. Giambi

Answer 2

Not a Yanks fan, but;

SP Wang
SP Zito
SP Schmidt
SP Moose
SP ????
CL Mo

C Posada
1B Sheff
2B Cano
3B Troy Glaus
SS Jeter
LF Matsui
CF Damon
RF Abreu
DH Giambi - and ONLY DH

Answer 3

This is a realistic not a fantasy line up
SP: Zito
SP: Wang
SP: Willis
SP: Hughes
SP: Rasner or Karten
Closer: Mo

c: Posada
1B: Phillips
2B: Cano
3B: Rodriguez
SS: Jeter
LF: Cabrera
CF: Damon
RF: Abreu
DH: Matsui

Manager: Lou Piniella

Answer 4

SP: Wang
SP: Moose
SP:
SP:
SP:
Closer: Rivara

C: Posda
1B: Ryan Howard
2B: Cano
3B: Not A-rod
SS: Jeter
LF: Cabrara
CF: Damon
RF: Abreu
DH: Matsui

Manager: Torre

Answer 5

Why not just let A-Rod play each position? He's getting paid enough......

Answer 6

The best team is never the team with the guys with the best indivual stats. So instead of Pujos I elected for team loyalty and somebody less flashy. No knock on Pujos the guy is one of the all time greats. The cost to get him would be too much.

So the keys I went with included potential availibility. Many of the players listed here are under appreciated. The core idea is to find hungry players who contribute value as all around players. Thus you don't see the Thome and Howard kind of hitters who are all or nothing HR/KO machines but produce far too few RBI relitive to the HRs and spot in the batting order. Lets face it, those guys don't win you very many games. They turn 7-4 games into 12-4 games. Occasionally they have put on a one man show during a game. However the late 90s Yankees dynasty won games. They didn't do it through all or nothing HR hitters. Neither has any team that has won the WS in the last decade. If you want to win the WS consistant solid RBI men are how you do it. That combined with scrappy get on base people for the RBI men to bring in. Pitching is even more crucial.

Loyalty to the guys already on the team is important. Especially those that have been here for a long time.

SP:Mark Buerhle - There are better aces out there but Mark is a free agent this year. That means not giving up somebody valuble or raiding the farm system to get an ace. 06 was a poor year for Mark but the first in his career. Considering the guy is only 27 you are talking about somebody who has a HUGE potential. Speculating about pitching is always difficult. Javier Velosquez looked like he was a future ace and flopped. Jeff Weaver (the one who pitched for the Yanks once, also looked like he had huge potential and flopped. I'd bet on Mark though. I think he has Schilling like potential or more) Weaver over with the Angels is another good cantidate. The Yanks need a quality ace who will be around for awhile.
SP:Wang - One of the best young pitchers in the game. Santanna will prob beat him out for Cy Young this year but who knows about next year.
SP:Mussina - Big part of why the Yanks even saw the post season. When the Yanks won early in the year it was when Mussina was pitching for the most part. Yes he faded a little down the stretch and had a poor playoff game. However he was invaluable to the Yanks year after year.
SP:Pettite - Not the same calibur clutch pitcher as Ford was. Pettite is a so so pitcher when the game means nothing. In a pennent race he is dangerous. He is one of the best in the game at breaking up losing streaks. Always keeps the team in the game. Has come up with some real gems at really crucial times.
SP:I would fill this with a combo of 2-3 pitchers. Woods if he will sign for an incentive laden contract is a good cantidate. While the odds are slim Woods will ever have a good year and if he does that he can stay healthy enough to have a second, whatever team gets that one good year will be glad they did. In the minors Darrell Rasner shows some real potential. Philip Hughes however is tearing the lower minor leagues up. He stopped at AA this year. He'll get a long look I think in spring training next year. Only 20 years old but 32 walks in 116 innings at AA. This guy has a future. Adam Miller if he can be pried away from the Indians is another prospect. Tyler Clippard looks like he is a year or two out but should get a look over at Spring training this year. So my ultimate 5th starter would be Woods with an incentive based contract and Rasner covering the starts Woods and anybody else misses. It usually takes a good pitcher a year or two to come up to speed. So by giving Rasner the luxory to learn but also giving him enough starts to get the experience he needs the Yanks might find themselves with a really good starter. Hughes will be in the mix by the end of the year and might win the 5th spot right out of spring training.
Closer: Rivera, who else? Only Hoffman and Gagne prior ot injury are even in same class. Until Rivera decides to call it quits or can no longer get people out the Yankees OWE it to him. Sides who are you going to get who can do better? Rivera in 06 was easily the best closer this year.

C: Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer or Brian McCann. All young, can hit and can field. They also can DH when not behind the plate.
1B: Jorge Possada - Every year Possada comes out the gate hitting well. Every year the tools of igonorance wear him down and the pennent stretch just wears him out. He usually rises to the occasion in the post season. I'd love to see what he could do offensively if he played 10-20 more games and played most of those games at 1b. I think it'd be 30+ HRs and a .300 BA. I would still use Possada as the primary backup catcher and pencil him in for 40-50 games a year behind the plate.
2B: Cano is doing a great job here. Cano should improve his defense which is good but could be excellent. Cano needs to learn how to run.
3B: A-Rod - Come on people are actually complaining about
.290 w/35 HRs 121 RBI 113 runs scored and 15-4 in the SB dept??? That's a wicked season for anybody. There isn't a 3b out there that can touch those numbers. More so A-Rod is probably the best defensive 3b in the game right now. 05's numbers were even better. This guy belongs. As for clutch hitting, that's not what he's there for. Sheffield and Giambi for example are even worse in the clutch.
SS: Jeter of course. As long as he can play and wants to play he's earned the right to wear pinstripes.
LF:Godzilla is PERFECT. Consistant, hits well, doesn't cause a fuss in the dugout, dangerous at all times. Good defense. Zilla is one of the most underated players in the majors right now.
CF:Damon is as good as any other CF out there right now. Good defense, hits well, steals bases. There is a guy named Justin Christian stealing 50+ games a year every year in the minors. His BA is a bit low and lacks power. He's getting to be a little too old to be a prospect but am curious why he's in AA not AAA where there's nothing but ancient washed up vets and failed prospects.
RF:2 years ago I'd picked Abreu no problem. The big concern is his numbers have dropped 2 years in a row. He was a huge lift for the Yanks when he came aboard. If he plays the way he did for the Yanks in 06 all year next year then the Yanks are set in Right. Abreu will make folks forget all about Sheffield in a hurry. The concerns are that the Yanks are already too old and that Abrue has declining numbers. Ideally the Yanks would be better off with somebody like Matt Holliday 26, Jason Bay 28, Miguel Cabrera 23 (I know he plays 3b now but not a hard switch), Jeff Francoeur 22, Matt Murton 25 or Brian Anderson 24. The Clippers have a void of outfielders. Only Christian in AA shows any real hope so the future RF needs to come from outside or Abreu needs to babysit the spot until he is found. The Abreu of 99-04 would be great. One of the most underated players of that time period. The crux is getting younger. At 32 Abreu at least isn't ancient.
DH:Frank Catalanotto - Can hit and when needed can play anywhere on the field almost. Not flashy production but steady production. Hard nosed fighter. Just the kind of spirit the Yankees need. I think Frank Catalanotto would give the Yankees more value than if say Thome or Howard just dropped in their laps. The Yankees have offense but not timely offense. The Yanks need spirit. Giambi was supposed to provide that and flopped badly. With Cattolonatto I'd pencil him in at 5-7 games at 2b, use him 5-7 games a year in both left and right as well as 5 games at 3b. DH about 90-100 games. 1b a good 10-12 games and of course the primary backup for all of these posisitions. That leaves alot of time at 1b especially if Possada catches 50 some odd games and DH when Cattolonotto is spelling other players. The Yanks need youth and these guys look to have very bright futures and are young. Mark Teixeira, Justin Morneau, Chris Shelton, Conor Jackson, Mike Jacobs, Ryan Garko. Wouldn't be hard to find 150 games worth of playing time for one of these guys at 1b/DH. Bernie Williams if he comes back in 07 would be in the mix also. Bernie really came through for the Yanks when first Zilla then Sheffield went down.

Manager:Torre - He has the trust and respect of Stienbrenner. So he isn't forced to accept too many Strawless kinds of players.

Answer 7

how ever it goes the dodger's will bet them again hahahahaha