The 2012 New York Yankees have a team that is built to win the World Series, and offer plenty of everything for opposing teams to be very afraid about.
And here are the three reasons why:
1) MOTIVATION.
From CC Sabathia to Mark Teixeira to Alex Rodriguez, if the Yankees have made one thing very clear this offseason it is how unhappy they were with their 2011 ALDS early exit. I saw first hand back in December how hard Sabathia was training by his evident weight loss.
Tex is throwing out the BSOHL card, Best-Shape-Of-His-Life. He recently tweeted about his 14-pound off-season weight loss, and told the NY Post that he plans to be laying down some bunts this season, which would be a first for the switch hitter. With the way defenses shift over when Tex bats lefty, it could really be a difference maker even if he only bunts 10 times all season. The first basemen also tweeted “One of the greatest thrills of my life…the victory parade down the “Canyon of Heroes”, while watching the New York football Giants parade on February 7th. It is safe to say that Tex wants to stroll down the parade route in NYC once again.
A-rod went as far as Germany; on the advice of NBA star Kobe Bryant to have experimental procedures on his knee and shoulder. A-rod is doing everything possible to make sure he stays healthy this season, and regardless what some critics say, the Yankees are better all around with A-rod active.
And the NY Post confirmed that Spring Training has already started for the Captain, who has been hard at work at Steinbrenner Field for well over two weeks already. This is standard for Derek Jeter, who is always the first to arrive at camp, and is happy to help 19-year old shortstop Cito Culver who is taking full advantage by shadowing the Captain. Jeter is already in the batting cage, as he wants to start 2012 the way he ended 2011.
2) FLAWLESS.
Ok, reality is that no team is flawless but on paper you would be hard pressed to find many holes on the 2012 Yankees roster.
GM Brian Cashman worked with what he had to fill in the gaps by adding starting pitching, while building for the future. Trading star prospect Jesus Montero to Seattle Mariners for young pitchers Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campos will be seen as genius especially if Pineda continues to get better. And adding a veteran innings eater like Hiroki Kuroda only solidifies the rotation as one of the top.
The New York Yankee Captain...Derek Jeter.
The bullpen is tops in baseball, as the one-two punch of David Robertson to Mariano Rivera proved dominate in 2011.
And the Yankees line-up will once again be a top-to bottom nightmare for opposing pitchers. Yesterday, ESPN’s Buster Onley tweeted that if the Yankees sign Raul Ibanez the projected line-up would likely be Jeter, Granderson, Cano, A-Rod, Teixeira, Swisher, Ibanez, Martin, and Gardner. That sounds pretty lethal to me.
Still, winning 97 games gets done on the field but there is no reason for Yankee fans not to be excited by what is written on pre-season paper.
3) A PERFECT MIX.
The Yankees have a perfect blend of star veterans and promising rookies, which is the textbook recipe for baseball success. Now it is up to Skipper Joe Girardi and his coaching staff to mélange the perfect cocktail by making good choices. I have total confidence in Girardi as a manager, but when he plays musical pitchers it does drive me crazy. That might have been due to his favoritism of keeping Sergio Mitre in, while pulling everyone else out. Mitre is a name I pray never to hear in Yankee Stadium again, unless he is on another team.
1. Los Angeles Angels of AnaheimThe Angels not only added the biggest name hitters on the market in Albert Pujols, they also added one of the biggest name pitchers in CJ Wilson. The Wilson signing also was a bullet in the kneecap of their divisional rival Texas Rangers, who responded by adding Japanese import Yu Darvish. But that wasn't all for the Angels. Their first move has been overshadowed by those two big signings, but it could impact them even more than either the Pujols or Wilson signings: the acquisition of catcher Chris Iannetta from the Colorado Rockies. The Angels brought in Iannetta for the low cost of a spare arm in Tyler Chatwood, and his presence on the team this year is a massive improvement over their defensive-minded, yet offensively challenged, former catcher in Jeff Mathis. And then just for the hell of it, the Angels inked reliever LaTroy Hawkins, who had a 2.52 ERA for the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers last year, to a one year deal. Combine all of that with the four year extension signed by second baseman Howard Kendrick and the impending beginning of the Mike Trout era, and the Angels look to be in great shape for 2012.
3. Cincinnati RedsOverpriced and underperforming closer Francisco Cordero's contract expired, and the Reds showed absolutely no desire to bring him back. They replaced him with one of the top relievers on the market, former Phillie Ryan Madson, for just a one year commitment for a lower salary than Cordero was making. The Reds also had a relatively ho-hum rotation coming into the year. They took care of that by adding former San Diego Padres ace Mat Latos in exchange for four prospects. The Latos deal is a large risk, but given that they're getting four years of control for him, and that the two best prospects in the deal are blocked in Cincinnati, the deal looks a lot better. Just for the hell of it, they traded a package highlighted by occasional starter Travis Wood to the Chicago Cubs to pick up elite setup man Sean Marshall. With the rest of the subtractions in the NL Central, the Reds look like the favorite coming into the year after the moves they made this winter.
4. Washington NationalsThe Nationals did lose out on the major piece they were chasing in Prince Fielder. But the team "settled" for upgrading its pitching staff immensely. Gone from the rotation are Livan Hernandez and Jason Marquis (who combined for 3.5 fWAR last year with Washington, though Marquis was traded in July to Arizona) and in are Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson (who combined for 7.3 fWAR last year). Instead of eating innings in the middle of the rotation, strikeout-avoidance monsters John Lannan and Chien-Ming Wang will instead fight for the fifth starter's spot between the two newcomers and the two incumbents in Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann. The Nationals also added an interesting piece to their bullpen in Brad Lidge, who didn't look bad when healthy for the Phillies last season. The Nats can seriously contend in the NL East in 2012 with just a little more health, as their corner infielders (Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche) combined to miss 180 games last year. Full seasons from both of them, along with 2011 breakout star Michael Morse in left field every day, should dramatically improve their offense.
5. Toronto Blue JaysI had issues filling out the fifth spot in these rankings, so I went with the Blue Jays, who were pretty much in "tweak mode" all offseason. They've got a young team that doesn't really need a lot of talent, but their major issue is that they play in the toughest division in baseball. General manager Alex Anthopolous went about his offseason with a goal of improving his bullpen, and that he did. Toronto's top two relievers last season, Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, both left via free agency (ironically, both to the Mets), and Anthopolous replaced the duo with some veterans, and some youngsters. He re-acquired reliever Jason Frasor from the Chicago White Sox after dealing him there last summer. He signed former Reds closer Francisco Cordero to set-up, and also brought in former Rangers set-up man Darren Oliver. But his best move was getting young, cost-controlled closer Sergio Santos from the White Sox, in exchange for just one mid-level prospects. The rest of Toronto's offseason was filled with re-signing and extending players, like Kelly Johnson and Brandon Morrow. It wasn't the sexiest offseason, but the Jays' offseason will really help them in 2012.