The Yankees fought hard to earn the AL's best record in 2006, overcoming serious injuries and flattening the Red Sox when it mattered most. They were stunned to be bounced in the first round by Detroit but kept most of the team intact for another run at the playoffs. Expect the Yankees to prevail again and take their chances with an aging rotation in October.
Rotation As they fought for their playoff lives last October, the Yankees turned to Jaret Wright in game 4 of the ALDS. He didn't make it out of the third inning. It was no surprise then during the ofseason when, as prices soared for seemingly mediocre free-agent pitchers, the Yankees signed Andy Pettitte, an old reliable. Pettitte will join Chien-Ming Wang, the sinkerballer who tied for the MLB lead with 19 wins, at the front of the rotation. Like Pettitte, Mike Mussina must hope his elbow holds up. Japanese star Kei Igawa slides into the No. 4 spot in the rotation while Carl Pavano will get another shot to prove he's worth his big contract after missing a year with minor injuries. A lurking presence is Roger Clemens, who seems likely to sign with New York if he decides to continue his Hall of Fame career.
Bullpen The Yankees shivered late last season when Mariano Rivera felt tightness near his elbow that caused him to miss three weeks down the stretch. Rivera was healthy by the playoffs, but the Yankees' starting staff gave him only one lead to protect in the division series. At 37, Rivera remains as vital as ever to the team's chances and is still an elite closer. Setup man Kyle Farnsworth impressed with his fastball but was frequently unavailable with back spasms. The emergence of Scott Proctor and, later, Brian Bruney solidified the bridge to Rivera and gave the Yanks four hard-throwing righties. Left-hander Mike Myers struggled in the second half but can still trick hitters in the right situations.
Middle Infield It would be hard to find a team happier with its middle infield than the Yankees. Derek Jeter had the finest season of a Hall of Fame career, nearly winning the MVP award while batting .343 with 97 RBIs, and Robinson Cano made his first All-Star team. Jeter won another Gold Glove at shortstop, and Cano made great strides at second by working closely with coach Larry Bowa. Jeter and Cano also finished second and third, respectively, in the AL batting race. As Cano matures, look for his doubles (41 in 2006) to turn into homers as he establishes himself as a force in the middle of the order.
Corners It was painful, at times, to see a player of Alex Rodriguez's skills fight himself so badly in 2006. Even before his annual playoff disappearance, Rodriguez endured long slumps in the field and at the plate and seemed to be unnerved by nearly constant criticism from fans and media. His chilly relationship with Jeter is a pressing issue for many fans, but probably overblown. Rodriguez showed in his MVP season of 2005 that he can handle New York. He must simplify his approach and let his skills take over. Across the diamond, the Yankees have finally determined that Jason Giambi should be a nearly full-time designated hitter. They signed former Gold Glove winner Doug Mientkiewicz for a defensive upgrade and could platoon him with Andy Phillips or Josh Phelps.
Outfield The Yankees traded Gary Sheffield for prospects in November, comfortable with Bobby Abreu as their solution in right field. Abreu fit in seamlessly with the Yankees after a trade on July 30, running deep counts and seeming oblivious to any pennant-race pressure. His speed and arm also opened eyes in the Bronx. Center fielder Johnny Damon settled the lineup as the leadoff man and took advantage of the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium for a career-high 24 home runs. He has a weak arm but played through a broken bone in his toe to cover a lot of ground in the outfield. In left, Hideki Matsui is poised to rebound after a broken wrist cost him four months and stopped a consecutive-games streak that stretched for 1,768 games, to his teenage years in Japan.
Catching Logic says that Jorge Posada, at 35, should start to decline very soon. Yet Posada was a rock for the Yankees. Despite turnover at the backup spot, Posada ended the year strong and carried his surge into the playoffs, when he hit .500. The Yankees will rely on him heavily again -- their backup options are the well-traveled Raul Chavez and their Class AAA catcher, Wil Nieves, whose last big-league hit was in 2002.
DH/Bench Giambi has long maintained that he hits better when he plays in the field, and the numbers prove his point. He batted .224 when he was the DH last year and .289 when he wasn't. But those numbers matter more to Giambi than the Yankees, who plan to keep him off first base this season. A wrist injury sapped him of his power late last year, and playing in the field aggravated the condition. When healthy, Giambi is still an elite power hitter with an exceptional eye. The DH transition should keep him in the lineup. Joe Torre will need to find at-bats for Melky Cabrera, who sparked the Yankees repeatedly as a regular player last summer when filling in for injured starters. Miguel Cairo, a heady player with sound fundamentals, can back up any spot on the infield.
Management Torre enters the season as a lame duck, with no contract for 2008 and no firm sign that he wants one. In the Yankees' world, there are two outcomes: championship or failure. If Torre wins a fifth title, he can retire on top. If he doesn't, the front office might be ready for a change, anyway. Torre turns 67 in July and never expected to manage 12 seasons in New York. He's a certain Hall of Famer with the full backing of increasingly powerful general manager Brian Cashman. But with Don Mattingly clearly being groomed as his successor -- and National League Manager of the Year Joe Girardi in the Yankees' broadcast booth as another option -- it's hard to see Torre coming back for 2008.
Final Analysis The Yankees believed they were much better than the Tigers last season, and their playoff failure left them frustrated -- and hungry. Most Yankees have never won a World Series ring, but to do it this year, they need more from their starting rotation. They have high-end depth at Triple-A for the first time in a while, and if one of the veterans goes down don't be surprised if the Yankees dip into their farm system. Their veteran rotation will be hailed for its experience, but that won't matter much if injuries sabotage the team's chances. The Yankees have always found their way to the playoffs under Torre, and the lineup is too talented not to lead them back. But with the ultimate burden on their creaky rotation, the Yankees could fall short again.
Beyond the Box Score
Fiscal responsibility More and more in their decision-making, the Yankees are considering the impact of the luxury tax, which costs them an extra 40 cents for every dollar they spend on payroll. They liked free agent starter Ted Lilly, for example, but for them, his four-year, $40 million contract would have cost $56 million. At that price, the Yankees shied away and signed Japanese star Kei Igawa, whose posting fee ($26 million) was not subject to the tax.
Missing pitch When the Yankees signed Chien-Ming Wang out of Taiwan in 2000, Wang did not throw a sinker. When the Diamondbacks scouted the Yankees farm system in 2004, trying to find pieces they liked in a Randy Johnson trade, Wang had not quite perfected the pitch. But he was working on it with minor league coach Neil Allen and the Class AAA catcher, Sal Fasano, and now he is a master. Wang seems to induce ground balls at will, keeping his infielders alert and his pitch count low. "It's like hitting a shot put," Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry says. "It's harder than most sinkers, and it's got late movement."
We need some help If anyone needed symbolism to show the difference between the old-guard Yankees and the new breed, it was there in the stat sheet from the division series loss to Detroit. Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada both hit .500. The combined average of the rest of the team was .173.
He belongs Melky Cabrera looked overmatched in a week-long trial in 2005, but he was so confident in his future that he had a red-and-blue Major League Baseball logo tattooed on his right shoulder blade. Cabrera showed that he belonged in '06, rescuing the Yankees after injuries to outfielders Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui. His consistency gave GM Brian Cashman the luxury of waiting for a Bobby Abreu trade to materialize instead of rushing into a deal and giving away top prospects.
