Special points of interest:
Three Keys to Victory:
Productive Outfield
Replacing Damon & Matsui in the order
Mariano Rivera
The X-Factor: Nick Johnson / Javier Vasquez
Over Rated: Robinson Cano
Seasons End: 28 World Series Titles/
Contract Extensions for Jeter, Rivera, and Skipper Joe Girardi
1. Derek Jeter SS
2. Nick Johnson DH
3. Mark Teixeira 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Jorge Posada C
6. Curtis Granderson CF
7. Robinson Cano 2B
8. Nick Swisher RF
9. Randy Winn LF
SP) C.C. Sabathia LH
SP) Andy Pettitte LH
SP) A.J. Burnett RH
SP) Javier Vazquez RH
SP) Phil Hughes RH
RP) Joba Chamberlain RH
RP) Damaso Marte LH
RP) Mariano Rivera RH
The Captain
The Derek Jeter “3000 hits” watch begins with his very first at bat of 2010. Jeter, who currently stands at 2747 hits, is 49th on the MLB all-time list. Only Ken Griffey Jr. is ahead of Jeter in hits among active players. Jeter will likely accumulate 200 hits in 2010, which will leave him about fifty hits shy of 3000. Then, the 36 year old free agent will likely resign with the Yankees in the off season, and will have about five good years left in his career to compile as many hits as possible. When all said and done I predict that Jeter will finish just shy of 4000 career hits. That projection would put Jeter in third place on the all time hit list, behind only Ty Cobb and Pete Rose. Very very good company! Could Jeter beat Rose’s all-time hit record of 4256? Not likely. But it will be whole lot of fun watching Derek Jeter’s remaining baseball years in order to see where he finishes.
Free Agents
A combined 32-16 and a 3.70 ERA. A league leading 39 home runs, with 122 RBI’s and a 292 batting average. These are the combined statistics of the three most prized free agent signings prior to the 2009 season.
They are: C.C. Sabathia/A.J. Burnett /Mark Teixeira
Oh yeah! There is one more combination. A combined 62 million dollars paid by the Stienbrener family, and Yankee fans for their combined services last season. But few would argue that the money wasn't well spent. The players were available within the games system, the Yankees had the money within the games system, and the Yankees won the World Series within the system.
It hard to argue against the results. It’s likely the spending will continue, as will the winning. Next up another Championship.
“When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer."
