I'll be doing the season review posts in the same format as the season previews. If you missed the lineup preview, or want an opportunity to refresh yourself on my takes and laugh at some of the stupid shit I said back in March, the 2011 Lineup Preview can be found here.
Heading into the season, the lineup was one of the few things we could all be confident in, and with good reason. There were All Stars, MVPs, and Gold Glove/Silver Slugger Award winners littered throughout the 1-9 spots and there was no reason to think that the Yankee lineup wouldn't be one of the best, if not the best, in baseball. And to everyone's credit, the Yankees as a team were arguably the best all-around lineup in baseball in 2011. They finished near the top of heap in traditional stats (1st in HR, 2nd in R, 2nd in RBI, 2nd in OBP, 4th in SB) as well as in the newer sabermetric categories that paint a more accurate picture of offensive strength (3rd in wOBA, 2nd in wRC+, 1st in BB%). They had power, patience, and speed, not a bad combination if you're looking to score runs in the American League. And as a compliment to that, the Yankees managed to play solid defense, finishing with the 7th-best team Fld % in baseball.
Surprisingly, though, the Yankees managed to stay at the top of baseball in a year where they experienced down years from some of their biggest offensive contributors. Here's what I had to say in my preview post about Teix... :
"I believe the opportunity is there for him to have a big year and re-establish himself as the best first baseman in MLB not named Pujols."
... and A-Rod:
"A-Rod has never looked better in Spring Training than he has this year, physically or at the plate, but it remains to be seen if he can translate the offseason workout regimen to a full healthy season of A-rodian production."
Those 2 were the biggest offenders in terms of production drop off in 2011. Teix officially crossed over the line he started to toe last year into full-on "pull happy Yankee Stadium hitter," dropping his standard line (.248/.341/.494) to its lowest point since his rookie year. He still had 39 HR and 111 RBI, improvements over his 2010 totals, but Teix's pull-happy tendencies dropped his BABIP down to .239, among the lowest in the league, and his BB and LD%'s dropped to their lowest points since early in his career. Teix still managed to rack up 4.2 WAR (1.0 more than 2010) thanks to his solid defense, and he is still clearly amongst the top 10 first basemen in baseball, but this year was a huge step back for him at an age where he is still in his prime and Teix has a lot of work to do to get back to being the .290/.390/.520-type guy he can be.
The Horse's problems weren't attributable to his on-field performance in 2011. When he played, A-Rod was still clearly the class of the field at the hot corner. Unfortunately, the trend of physical breakdown and nagging injuries that started a few seasons ago continued to progress this season and A-Rod only played in 99 games. Whether it was the hip, the knee, or the thumb, it seemed like there was always something preventing A-Rod from being at his best physically, something that is a much bigger factor in determining on-field performance when you're 36 and not 26. In his limited playing time, A-Rod was still productive (.276/.362/.461, 37 XBH, .361 wOBA, 125 wRC+, 11.0 Fld, 4.2 WAR in just 428 PA), but his numbers continue to trend the wrong way as his ability to stay healthy does the same. He's already talked about revamping his offseason workout plan again to come back stronger and healthier in 2012, but The Horse hasn't had more than 600 PA since 2007 and I think now we can state with confidence that we're witnessing the beginning of the end of Alex Rodriguez as an elite player.
The other aging superstar in the Yankee infield had a very interesting season. After working with Kevin Long in the offseason to re-tool his swing, Jeter ditched the new mechanics early and stumbled out of the gate to a .260/.324/.324 line on June 13. After that date, though, and after he recovered from the calf injury he suffered that day, Jeter was a new man. From his return on July 4 through the end of the regular season, Jeter looked like the Derek Jeter of old, hitting with more bat speed and more power than we've seen since '09, to the tune of a .331/.384/.447 line in 314 post-DL PA. The post-DL rebound led to a more than respectable final line of .297/.355/.388, .332 wOBA, and 104 wRC+. And to top that off, Jeter became the newest member of the 3,000 Hit Club on July 9 in the most "Disney movie ending cliche"-fashion possible by cranking a 3-2 slider from David Price into the left field seats. Jeter went 5-5 in that game and got the game-winning RBI on his last hit of the day. 2011 was a night-and-day season for Jeter, and at his age we once again will be left to wonder if he can maintain the level that he finished at in 2012, but you have to say that 2011 was a successful season for The Captain.
While the elder statesmen of the infield had their ups and downs, the one consistent in 2011 was, as he was in 2010, Robinson Cano. Cano came into this season with high expectations but tempered projections after his monster 2010 campaign, but 2011 served notice to everybody that the Yankees are Cano's team moving forward. He's the best hitter, the 2nd or 3rd best fielder, and undoubtedly the best all-around player on the Yankee roster. His 2011 stat line (.302/.349/.533, .375 wOBA, 133 wRC+, 81 XBH, 104 R, 118 RBI, 5.6 WAR) is almost right on par with his 2010 numbers, and only a regression in BB%, slight increase in K%, and a few errors here and there prevented him from exceeding those numbers. Cano's 2011 cemented the claim he made in 2010 as the game's best 2nd baseman and cemented him as the new most-feared hitter in the Yankee lineup. The move to put him 3rd in the batting order came way too late, but will more than likely be the standard in 2012.
Behind the plate, Russell Martin gave the Yankees everything they wanted and more in 2011. He stayed relatively healthy all year (125 G), was productive at the plate (.237/.324/.408, .325 wOBA, 100 wRC+, 35 XBH, 65 RBI, 10.5 BB%), and became the defensive anchor and staff leader behind the plate that the Yankees have not had since Jorge started to decline. Pitchers raved about working with him, he saved runs with his ball-stopping ability and arm to throw out runners, and he provided stability to the position that was the biggest question mark coming into the season. Martin's 2011 gives the Yankees the luxury of not having to throw Jesus Montero into the fire behind the plate in 2012, and if he continues to show that he stay healthy and productive, Martin could find himself a Yankee for more than just the 1-year rental that many thought he'd be this season.
Speaking of cementing, the Yankee outfield followed Cano's suit in continuing to prove that they're the best all-around group in baseball. In the corners, both Swish (.260/.374/.449) and Brett Gardner (.259/.345/.369) experienced decreases in production from their 2010 totals, but still registered as above-average offensive players thanks to some of their additional stats. Swish is still a walk machine (15.0 BB%) and postseason aside he generated good output from a run-producing 6th spot in the lineup (53 XBH, 85 RBI). And Gardner, despite his lack of pop that appears to be the norm moving forward, was still dangerous thanks to another solid BB rate (10.2%) and an AL-leading 49 SB. And in the field, both Swish and Gardner registered well above average; Gardner's 25.9 Fld and 29.5 UZR/150 should all but guarantee him a Gold Glove. When you can rack up 8.9 WAR from 2 guys, that's a good day at the office no matter how you get to it.
But if we're going to talk about Yankee outfielders, nobody earned more ink this year than Curtis Granderson. After his semi-disastrous inaugural year with the Bombers last year, when he had to be benched for 2 days to rebuild his swing from scratch, C-Grand hit the ground running in 2011 and never looked back. I said if Curtis could get back to his 2007-2008 self he could be a solid piece for the Yankees, and all he did was blow those numbers out of the water, entrench himself as the team's #2 hitter, become arguably the most dangerous left-handed hitter in the AL, and put up an MVP-caliber season. The numbers themselves (.262/.364/.552, .394 wOBA, 146 wRC+, 77 XBH, 136 R, 119 RBI, 25 SB, 12.3 BB%, 7.0 WAR) are impressive enough, and even more so when you consider that he had a pretty crummy September. But the way Granderson played made it even better. He was smooth, calm, seemingly effortless at the plate, and was out there almost every day. He still strikes out a bit too much (24.5%) and UZR still doesn't seem to like him for some reason, but 2011 was a career year for Curtis and he's already expressed desire to work on his faults to be even better in 2012. There's a scary thought.
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