A ball signed by Ruth and other members of the 1928 World Series champions, wire-to-wire winners who validated what essentially the same squad had accomplished the year before, is one of the highlights among the 400+ pieces available.  Slices of bricks from the Monument Park “retired numbers”  of Ruth and Gehrig, authentic bats and ball signed by DiMaggio and Mantle and game-used items by Jeter and Rivera in their record-setting games are also among the more interesting pieces.

There is even a full, game-used uniform of David Price, the Tampa Bay Rays hurler who surrendered Jeter’s 3,000th hit, for bidders looking for a less glamorous piece of history, but valuable in its own right.

The Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander was the most dominant pitcher in the game en route to 24 wins. Jose Bautista didn’t match his 54 home runs of a year ago, but had another 40+ home run season. Lance Berkman looked like his career was done in 2010, but he hit 30 home runs this season and is an NL MVP candidate. Jacoby Ellsbury was the king of the AL DL a year ago, but this season was a candidate for both the comeback player of the year and AL MVP awards.

Curtis Granderson had a bust out season, topping 40 home runs for the first time in his career. Teammate Derek Jeter picked up his 3,000th hit, while another, Mariano Rivera, broke the all-time record for career saves. Across town, Jose Reyes won his first batting title in what might be his last year as a Met.  Albert Pujols had an “off” year and still hit 35 dingers and Matt Kemp met and exceeded all expectations.  With all of that in mind, the finalists for the individual awards in each league should look something like this…

AL MVP – Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano (NY), Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Jose Bautista (TOR), Justin Verlander (DET)

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander (Det)

AL Rookie of the Year – Jeremy Hellickson (TB), Ivan Nova (NY), Eric Hosmer (KC), Mark Trumbo (LA), J.P. Arencibia (TOR)

AL Manager of the Year – Manny Acta (CLE), Jim Leyland (DET), Ron Washington (TEX), Joe Girardi (NY)

AL Comeback Player of the Year – Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Melky Cabrera (KC)

NL MVP – Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (MIL), Matt Kemp (LA), Lance Berkman (STL), Justin Upton (AZ)

NL Cy Young – Ian Kennedy (AZ), Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee (PHI), Clayton Kershaw (LA)

NL Manager of the Year – Kirk Gibson (AZ), Ron Roenicke (MIL), Clint Hurdle (PIT), Charlie Manuel (PHI)

NL Rookie of the Year – Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel (ATL), Danny Espinosa (WAS), Javy Guerra (LA)

NL Comeback Player of the Year – Carlos Beltran (NY,SF), Lance Berkman (STL)

But baseball isn’t about the individual, it’s about the teams.

Early on the Indians, Royals, and Pirates played beyond expectation. In fact the Indians held first place in the AL Central for 85 days. The three teams would eventually fade, but the Arizona Diamondbacks did just the opposite. They were six games under .500 in mid-May, but played at a torrid pace the rest of the season to win the division title. Meanwhile Boston and Atlanta entered the final month of the season as virtual locks to make the post-season only to be eliminated on the final night of the season.

The LA Dodgers and the Mets had ownership and money issues, the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds were huge disappointments, and the Baltimore Orioles, despite much promise, finished last in the AL East for the fourth straight year. In the end the Yankees, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Brewers, and Diamondbacks captured their divisions while the Rays and Cardinals entered the playoffs as wild card entries.

What’s that? How did the Baseball Digest team do at predicting the post-season teams? Let’s take a look.

Well it appears, ahem, one person knew what they were talking about with the AL East. Yes, that would be me. Michael Maher, likewise, was the only one of our bunch who had the insight to pick the Tigers in the AL Central. He was also the only one to pick the Rays to win the AL wild card. Four out of seven dentist, er writers, chose the Rangers correctly in the AL West, while none of us had the Diamondbacks sniffing a title in the NL West.

Bill Ivie stuck his neck out picking the Braves to win the NL East, while everyone else selected the Phillies. Needless to say, his neck hurts. Bill’s beloved Cardinals didn’t win the NL Central as he had selected, but he was brought joy on the night of Game 162 when they made the post-season. Meanwhile Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb, Kirk Verner, and Matt Wilson all correctly chose the Brewers for the Central crown, but just like the NL West, no one got the NL wild card correct either. So the finally tally of correct predictions..drum roll please…four writers with 3 right each. Meanwhile Josh Landsburg, Mark Healey, and Bill Ivie…um, better luck next year. (In fairness, Bill did get 2 playoff teams correct, just in the wrong spots)

Michael Maher 3
Drew Sarver 3
Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb 3
Matt Wilson 3
Shai Kushner 2
Kirk Verner 2
Josh Landsburg 1
Mark Healey 1
Bill Ivie 0

Please check back after the league championship series for updated standings, and be sure to bookmark Baseball Digest to view all of our post-season coverage.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

The campaign will feature the hit song “Written in the Stars” by Tinie Tempah as the backdrop to signature Postseason highlights and memorable moments from the 2011 season. The Postseason heroics of Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Roy Halladay, David Ortiz, Brian Wilson, Aaron Boone, Mariano Rivera, Luis Gonzalez and many more will be featured in the campaign.

“It’s an honor to have ‘Written in the Stars’ selected for the MLB’s Postseason campaign,” said Tinie Tempah. “The reception my debut album has received in America has been incredible. It doesn’t get any more American than baseball so what an honor to have my song be the soundtrack to the playoffs and World Series where legends are born.”

The first spot will debut on August 20 on FOX and Sunday, August 21 on TBS and ESPN and the series will continue with multiple TV and digital executions on FOX, TBS, ESPN, MLB Network, local MLB broadcasts, and in MLB ballparks through October.

The Postseason effort will have a major social media element designed to further engage fans. The hashtag #Postseason will be prominently displayed in the ballpark and on FOX, TBS and MLB Network throughout the Postseason.

Tinie Tempah

An infectious, message-driven song, “Written in the Stars” was Tinie Tempah’s debut single in the U.S. and went platinum before the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Disc-overy, making it clear that Tinie Tempah is on his way to becoming the first British rapper to achieve major stardom in the U.S. The charismatic 22-year-old artist is already a phenomenon in the U.K., where Disc-Overy debuted at number one, produced four Top Five singles, including two number ones, earned him two BRIT Awards, a Mercury Prize nomination and is the U.K.’s top-selling album by a British artist in 2010.

The campaign was created in a joint collaboration between MLB, Hill Holliday and Turner Sports. The 2011 MLB Postseason begins on Friday, September 30.

Today Steiner Sports and Modell’s, two longtime Yankees partners, are showing their appreciation for Lopez’s kind act.  Brandon Steiner, CEO of Steiner Sports will provide a portion of the proceeds to Lopez, with a minimum of $25,000, from a special Internet auction of Jeter-themed collectibles.  A limited number of baseballs signed by both Jeter and Lopez will be available as part of the auction.

Mitchell Modell of Modell’s has also pledged $25,000 to Lopez, representing 5% of the sale of all Yankees merchandise at all Modell’s stores.  Modell also gave Lopez his 2009 World Series Championship ring.

Derek Jeter (42 R, .270 AVG, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 8 SB)

Jeter’s perceived value in fantasy baseball has been declining over the past few seasons.  While it is true that Jeter has lost a step and is not the superb player he once was, he is still a good hitter and an elite fantasy shortstop.

Although Jeter had a slow start, his hitting steadily picked up as the season progressed.  Jeter recently delivered a five-hit game to become the 28th member (and first Yankee) of the 3,000-hit club; the five-hit game boosted his AVG from .257 to .270 on the season.  Jeter is currently on a 10-for-27 (.370 AVG) tear and is beginning to silence his critics.  Jeter appears poised for a turnaround in the second half of the season.  Playing in the New York Yankees lineup has its perks, as Jeter should continue to score many runs and see good pitches to hit.

Despite his age, it is plausible that Jeter may have a hot second half.  Jeter has a career AVG of .306 before the All-Star break and .320 after the All-Star break.

Ichiro Suzuki (46 R, .270 AVG, 1 HR, 23 RBI, 23 SB)

With the possible exception of Albert Pujols, no baseball player had spoiled us more over the past 10 years than Ichiro.  Ichiro’s career-lows are 146 games (2009), 206 hits (2005), .303 AVG (2005) and 26 steals (2009).  Ichiro is currently hitting .270 (below the norm for him) on the season; however, he has 100 or more hits at the All-Star break for the 11th consecutive season (a feat surpassed only by Pete Rose’s 12 consecutive seasons).

Do not be surprised to see Ichiro get hot and reach 200 hits for the 11th consecutive season.  Ichiro has a career AVG of .321 in July, .326 in August and .319 in September.

Lance Berkman (54 R, .290 AVG, 24 HR, 63 RBI)

To say that Berkman is having a fantastic season would be an understatement.  Surely, there are those who thought Berkman was still capable of big numbers; however, I doubt many thought Berkman would have these numbers at the All-Star break.

Each season, I pick players I deem to be players of interest and I write statistical projections for them.  I recently opened my 2011 season projection preview for Berkman to compare my projections to his actual numbers.  Here are the results:

my 2011 projections:  68 R, .279 AVG, 17 HR, 62 RBI
his actual numbers:  54 R, .290 AVG, 24 HR, 63 RBI

In my notes, I wrote, “I do not question the hitting ability of Berkman; however, his durability is questionable.  Look for Berkman to be a very productive on-base machine until nagging injuries hit him.  I believe Berkman can post all-star numbers if he stays healthy; however, he had not played as a full-time outfielder since the 2004 season.”

Frankly, I am impressed Berkman managed to stay healthy this season as an outfielder.  My 2011 projections for Berkman were based on what I thought would be an injury-shortened season; here we are at the All-Star break and he has already surpassed my projections for him in home runs and RBIs.

Berkman’s AVG had cooled off recently, as he only hit .225 in the past 28 days; however, he has eight home runs and 17 RBIs in that time.  Although it is unlikely that Berkman will hit .300 this season, he clearly demonstrated that he still has power.  Health permitting, look for Berkman to continue hitting with a respectable AVG and plenty of pop through the rest of the season.

David Freese (17 R, .336 AVG, 3 HR, 18 RBI)

The 2011 season has been a rough one for fantasy managers at the third base position.  David Wright (.226 AVG) of the New York Mets has been out since May with a stress fracture in his lower back.  Casey McGehee (.223 AVG) of the Milwaukee Brewers has disappointed after a stellar 2010 season.  Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay Rays) and Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals) both started out slowly as they struggled with injuries this season.  Now Chipper Jones (Atlanta Braves) and Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) are both on the DL with the same injury:  torn meniscus in the right knee.  Placido Polanco (Philadelphia Phillies) has a bulging disc in his back and is only hitting .216 in his past 57 games.

Those who need help at third base from the waiver wire should look at Freese (St. Louis Cardinals).  Although Freese himself has been an injury-prone hitter in his career (17 games in 2009 and 70 games in 2010), he has been a productive hitter this season and is surrounded by a strong lineup which includes Berkman, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.

Freese was sent to the DL with a hand injury in May (hit by pitch).  Since his return, Freese is hitting .295 in 13 games with one home run and four RBIs.  While Berkman, Pujols and Holliday remain healthy, you will likely see Freese batting fifth or sixth in the lineup.  A healthy Cardinals lineup should translate into more RBI opportunities for Freese through the rest of this season.

Freese is currently owned in only 40% of Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues.

Brett Gardner (43 R, .265 AVG, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 23 SB)

Like fellow Yankee teammate Jeter, Gardner started slowly this season with a .188 AVG and four steals in his first 23 games.  Over his past 64 games, Gardner hit .292 with 19 steals.  Over the past 30 days, Gardner scored 16 runs while hitting .278 with 10 steals.

Do not be fooled by Gardner’s slow start or his current .265 AVG; he is a disciplined hitter who can hit for an excellent AVG and swipe many bases.  Look for Gardner to play a large role in the Yankees’ lineup the rest of the way.  Gardner is currently owned in 74% of Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues.  If you see him on waivers in your league, add him before somebody else does.  Gardner will be an excellent source of steals and runs while improving your AVG through the rest of the season.

Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8, 4.14 ERA)

Jimenez had a brilliant 2010 season with the Colorado Rockies.  During the 2010 All-Star break, Jimenez was 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA.  At that time, he seemed like a lock for the NL Cy Young Award and for 20 wins; he failed to win the Cy Young Award and he failed to reach 20 wins.

While Jimenez started hot and cooled off later in 2010, his 2011 season thus far had been the opposite.  Jimenez started 0-5 with a 5.86 ERA in his first nine starts and saw a decrease in his velocity.  Fantasy managers should be excited about the second half of the 2011 season for Jimenez, as he is 4-3 in his past eight starts with a 2.52 ERA.  His velocity is back in the 95-97 mph range and he is keeping that velocity deep into games recently.

At his currently unimpressive 4-8 record and 4.14 ERA, you should try to trade for Jimenez if you can get him at a discount.  If you already own Jimenez, then do not sell him short in trade negotiations.  His past eight starts is a large enough sample size for you to claim that he has returned to form and has regained trade value.  Look for his strong play to continue as he helps the Rockies contend for the division title.

Vance Worley (4-1, 2.20 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)

During the preseason, there was no talk whatsoever of Worley joining the Philadelphia Phillies’ fabulous pitching rotation.  Just as many predicted, the rotation has been elite as Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels are a combined 31-13 with a 2.53 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 8.64 K/9 rate.  The surprises in the rotation have been injuries to Joe Blanton and Roy Oswalt, which led to Worley receiving a chance.

Worley has been impressive in his young career thus far.  In his four wins, Worley has a 0.69 ERA.  In one of his recent outings, Worley shut down the Boston Red Sox as he allowed one earned run through seven innings.

As Oswalt’s back woes threaten to possibly shut down his season, look for Worley to remain a fixture in the Phillies’ rotation and continue pitching well.  Worley is currently owned in only 14% of Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues.

Christopher Wenrich is a senior fantasy baseball contributor for BaseballDigest.com and can be reached at philliesmuse@yahoo.com.  You can follow him on Twitter @DuggerSports.

The Yankees had been playing well up to that point, but they hit a wall while facing the Sox. Many thought the Yankees were done, they wouldn’t survive, injuries had taken complete control of the team, but a rebound has been in order.

Since their crippling sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, the Yankees have won eight straight series, going 16-5 over the span, showing why they are among the best teams in baseball. It is a resounding message to the rest of the league for one reason — they are on this streak with replacement players.

The 27-Time World Series Champions have an MLB-leading 11 players on the Disabled List, many of them expected to be major players for the 2011 season. One of the said players is Bartolo Colon.

Colon, expected to be only an insurance policy before Spring Training, has been arguably the team’s best pitcher this season. His ERA of 2.88 is the lowest on the team, made possible with the appearance of a wiffle ball-like two-seam fastball thrown to the four quadrants of the strike zone.

When he suffered a hamstring injury, many expected the Yankees rotation to crumble, especially with the loss of Phil Hughes occurring earlier this season. However, that has not been the case.

As has been the case for everyone on the 25-man roster, others have stepped up when others have gone down. Replacing Colon in the rotation had been Minor League retread, Brian Gordon, plucked from the Phillies farm system.

Gordon, in front of his entire family and a sold-out N.Y. crowd, pitched the game of his life, only allowing one run in five innings of work.

Then, not too long afterwards, Yankees captain Derek Jeter also suffered an injury, this one to the calf, pitting him on the DL. Replacing Jeter in the shortstop role would be Eduardo Nunez, the player whom the Yankees would not part ways with to obtain Cliff Lee last season.

Nunez had more than admirably filled in for Jeter on the offensive end, even surpassing him for output, but the defensive side leaves a lot to be desired. His 14 errors have cost the Yankees some runs that he has had to make up for with his bat.

With Hughes, the former 18-game winner from last season, heading back into the rotation, the Yankees will gain even more reinforcements. The rest of the East better beware.
Standing at 18 games over .500 with replacements at the shortstop position, the pitching staff and bullpen, the Yankees are gaining reinforcements, and ready to take aim at the rest of the league.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for baseballdigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @RMLazo13.

Photo courtesy of Mike Ashmore

Not one hit closer to 3,000 mind you, but one step closer to his return to the New York Yankees lineup after injuring his hamstring June 13th.

“But I felt good. I did a lot of things…first to third, tagging up, ball to the left, ball to the right, I moved around quite a bit, so I’m happy with it.”

Jeter arrived from Tampa Friday and the plan was to get him in two games with the Thunder. In his first game with the Thunder on Saturday he went 1-2 with a walk.

“I was fine with [getting three at-bats], that was the plan going in.”

The Yankee captain’s arrival caused a bit of fun trouble for Trenton’s regular shortstop, Jose Pirela. Pirela had an important question for Thunder manager Tony Franklin.

“I asked him if Jeter was going to play second.”

When a reporter told Jeter about Pirella’s inquiry, Jeter replied with a laugh, “I’m still trying to figure out short…”

There was also the matter of his number. The #2 belongs to Thunder second baseman  Corban Joseph, but, again, fun trouble arose.

“I really didn’t have much choice,” said Joseph. “So I picked three for Babe Ruth.”

Jeter is aware of former Thunder player Eduardo Nunez making quite an impression in his absence. Nunez has come through for the Yankees, with seven hits in the last two games.

“He’s played well. I texted him and just told him to keep working. Anytime you’re a young player coming up, when you have some success it gives you confidence. And it seems like he’s very confident. One thing you have to realize about him is that he’s used to playing everyday. So it’s difficult for him not to play everyday, I would assume. He’s getting that opportunity to play.”

Yankees GM Brian Cashman acknowledged Nunez fine performance lately.

“That’s what they’re there for. We need to have depth. Championship teams are about not just the 25 guys you have out there, it’s also about what’s behind those guys. Nunez has done a tremendous job. That’s what he’s there for. He’s the big insurance policy.”

The Thunder players did not waste their opportunity to pick his brain (as well as ask for autographs, though Jeter wouldn’t say who).

“They ask a lot of questions. Anything you can do to help. They’re pretty inquisitive. I have a good relationship with a lot of them, knowing them from spring training in Tampa. These guys are YOUNG. I’m like fifteen years older than a lot of them. ”

All his experience aside, the fact that he hadn’t played in three weeks admittedly got to him.

“I was nervous,” Jeter admitted. “I didn’t sleep much last night.”

Perhaps helping him be less nervous: a cheering crowd of 9,002, the second highest attendance in Trenton Thunder history.

Jeter is expected to play at least one more game with the Thunder on Sunday, according to Cashman. “When Derek comes back, he’s in the leadoff spot.”

So who is right?  Is Derek Jeter on the extremely short list of best shortstops of all time?  Or has his appeal been greatly exaggerated by his celebrity and other New York-centric factors?

In The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, longtime well-respected New York columnist Ian O’Connor presents a soup-to-nuts look at Jeter’s life, from his time as the scrawny kid from Kalamazoo (by way of New Jersey), to the most highly-rated high schooler in the MLB draft, to the overmatched first-year minor leaguer to Yankee rookie to Yankee icon.  O’Connor doesn’t try to answer the question of where Jeter fits, but it’s hard to get through the outstanding 400-plus pages without wondering if Jeter is, indeed, too good to be true.

That players’ poll is particularly interesting because, for a guy who is so hated by opposing fans (more a product of jealousy or anger at having been beaten so often by him), there are very few within the game who show any dislike for Jeter, even among principle rivals like the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets.

Most discussion regarding Jeter today revolves around his future spots in the Yankee lineup and field alignment over the next three or four years, and the diminished skills over the 2010 and 2011 seasons which are causing that conjecture.  But his imminent 3,000th hit should instead be a celebration of what he has meant to the franchise and the game; in a period replete with PED users and other bad actors, Jeter has remained the humble star he has always been.

The Captain shows that Jeter’s consistency has always been part of his personality.  The worst “human frailty” that O’Connor can cite is his failure to forgive:  it’s one-and-done with Jeter as far as crossing him.  Once out of the circle, former friends, even close ones like Alex Rodriguez, can find themselves eternally banned.

This fierce loyalty towards those in his circle comes through many times in the book, notably when O’Connor discusses Jeter’s refusal to help recruit Jason Giambi to replace his friend, Tino Martinez, being the lone significant Yankee to refuse to do so.

It’s that character trait that makes Jeter so complex.  He has the world by the tail — he’s been the starting shortstop for the World Champion Yankees, dates supermodels and has made millions of dollars.  But Jeter has been bound by duty to his parents, to the way they raised him, maintaining dignity and privacy in an era when that is almost impossible to achieve for someone even approaching his stature.

To focus on just the parts of the book regarding Jeter’s relationship with Rodriguez, while making great headline and tabloid fodder for a few days, misses the point that The Captain is as deep and interesting as The Captain himself.

Franchise Player- Babe Ruth

While there are concerns about how the Babe’s skill set would translate to today’s game (after all, he sometimes enjoyed doing a Happy Gilmore impression that likely wouldn’t translate against the Lincecums and Verlanders of the world), this is an absolute no-brainer. You know about his career totals: .342 career BA, an otherworldly .474 OBP and, of course, his 714 career home runs.

But even more impressive is the extent of his dominance over the era, when no one could even approach his gaudy statistics. From Ruth’s first season with the Yanks following his (curse-inducing?) sale from Boston to his last in 1934, he blew away the rest of the Major Leagues in almost every statistical category. Over that time span, Babe hit 659 home runs—311 more than the next closest slugger, teammate Lou Gehrig (who we shall get to very shortly). Third was Al Simmons, who at 240 career jacks fell 419 HR short of the Babe’s unparalleled greatness. His OBP with the Yankees (an eye-popping .484) was forty points higher than sidekick Gehrig, who was once again second in the league during the same era. Most impressive, his .711 slugging percentage combines with the aforementioned OBP to create an OPS that not only blows second-place Gehrig away by more than a tenth of a point, but also is the highest in the history of the game. He was, by all accounts, a player with talents far above any of his peers, the proverbial “man amongst boys.” Perhaps that’s why he was able to get by on a training regiment fully sponsored by Sabrett and Anheuser-Busch.

Sabermetrically, the Babe’s Yankee WAR destroys second and third place Gehrig and Frankie Frisch by 60.3 and 80 wins, respectively; his career WAR is still the highest ever. Even with all those statistics, it’s difficult to put the Babe’s sheer dominance over all of his contemporaries in perspective. How about this: during his time in pinstripes, the Babe was worth more WAR than two entire major league teams, with the Phillies’ and Red Sox’ complete rosters exhibiting less value than the corpulent, jovial outfielder. He also hit more home runs than four clubs, blasting 106 more out of the yard than the most power-starved team in the league—the same team that had essentially given him away 15 years prior. Babe Ruth may not have left a curse in his wake following his departure from Boston, but there’s no doubt the team was inexorably destroyed by its complete lack of offense.

1B-Lou Gehrig

The Yankees are a team whose history is littered with more great players than any other, which would make one think that it will tough to be wean out the true cream from the rest of the stellar crop. In some cases, that might be true. In this case, it’s not even close.

Yankees fans adore Donnie Baseball. They love Tino Martinez. At one point, they were fond of Wally Pipp. And there had to be some moment early on when they even liked Jason Giambi.

It would be a disservice to any of those players to compare their achievements to Gehrig’s. Their impressive careers would be diminished as a result.

With some legends, it’s not worth going into much of their back-story given its prevalence in the average fan’s lexicon. If you’ve ever set foot in a major league ballpark (or even a second-grade classroom), there’s a good chance you know plenty about Gehrig’s historic battle with ALS, his famous speech at Yankee Stadium and his final submission to a disease that took from him his health, his career, and his life.

So let’s throw sentimentality to the side for now and discuss his achievements in the Majors, many of which were staggering. While the Babe was miles ahead of his contemporary competition, Gehrig was the same way, blowing everyone in the era away other than his life-loving, beer-guzzling, hotdog-hoarding counterpart. His career line of .340/.447/.632 paled in comparison to his playoff line of .361/.477/.731, compiled over 34 games. From the time Gehrig took hold of the first base job from Pipp until his final full-season in 1938, Gehrig led the Majors in HR, RBI (by more than 300), runs (ditto) and hits. Among first basemen during the length of his career, Gehrig’s 125.5 WAR was worth 34.1 wins more than second place Jimmie Foxx, 64.5 more than third place Bill Terry and 90.6 more than not-so-immortal Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley, who ranked fourth.

For those who manned his position on the right side of the infield, his career WAR is second only to Stan Musial. Among all time 1B, he’s sixth in home runs, 10^th in hits—and first in RBIs. Even with stats diminished at the hands of ALS, Gehrig’s place in history remains remarkably strong.

2B-Joe Gordon

Contrary to the beliefs of a vast majority of Hall of Fame voters, there’s definitely something to be said about the notion that four or five years of excellence from a baseball player is more valuable than seven or eight years of great, yet unspectacular consistency (the case for Don Mattingly’s enshrinement in Cooperstown, however, is still not strong). So one might want to make a case, built upon a foundation of the aforementioned belief, that Robinson Cano is deserved of this honor over Tony Lazzeri. And it seems that they’d be right—Lazzeri is not the best second baseman in team history. But neither is Cano. Yet.

Perhaps down the road, Cano—with a pure swing that might be the most gorgeous in today’s game—may reach that rarified air. For now, Joe Gordon holds a firm grip on the title of best second baseman in the history of the franchise. And for all the same reasons that Cano’s candidacy seemed worthy of such a bestowment.

Gordon, who late in his career was the first of his Indians teammates to embrace Larry Doby, was known as much for his amiable personality as he was for his immense talents. Over Gordon’s five complete years in New York he posted WARs of 7.3, 7.0, 6.8, 9.3, and 8.0—one of the greatest five year stretches for any second baseman in the history of the game. By contrast, Cano has topped 5.0 WAR once so far in his career. Lazzeri, over 12 complete big-league seasons, only reached that figure twice.

As the direct successor to Lazzeri and a huge reason for the old guard’s release prior to the ’38 campaign, Gordon was best described as a slick fielding second baseman who had unusual power for the position. He hit at least 24 home runs four times for the Yankees, drove in 100 runs in three different seasons and 97 in one other. He also slugged over .490 four times. Yet despite this superior run production, Gordon won the 1942 AL MVP even as voters saw a decline in his previously gaudy home run totals. During that defining season, he posted a stellar .322/.409/.491 line, hit 18 HR, drove in 103 runs and continued to play an outstanding second base. By the end of this decade, we may be discussing Cano with similar reverence. For now, let’s try to not forget the man they called, “Flash.” Unless we’re talking about John Flaherty.

SS-Derek Jeter

Many kids grew up telling everyone they would one day roam the position of their choice in Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, Jeter appears to be the only fantasizing child whose dreams came to fruition.

There is a certain allure and romanticism to this idea for the average fan. As a kid who grew up dreaming about hitting a game-winning home run in the World Series as a shortstop for the Yankees—then fulfilled his daydreams and promises to the tune of five World Championships and a career almost without rival—Jeter has led the kind of life that keeps the usually futile American Dream afloat.

Enough sentimentality, time for pure facts: say what you want about Jeter’s current struggles—and there are certainly plenty of things to say—no shortstop in Yankees history can hold a proverbial candle to his achievements. Some longtime Yankee fans like to believe that Phil Rizzuto deserves similar acclaim, but in reality their nostalgia appears to be particularly rose-colored; the facts not only don’t support this argument, they completely obliterate it. Yes, Jeter has appeared in almost 700 more games than the Scooter with more than 4000 more plate appearances, but his achievements are nonetheless extremely impressive.

He has almost 1500 more hits than Rizzuto, 200 more home runs, nearly 600 more RBI and, for good measure, 175 more stolen bases. His career WAR is more than 30 wins greater than Rizzuto’s. He’s also posted nine seasons of an over 4.0 WAR, something Phil did six times. In terms of qualitative stats in which Jeter’s advantage in longevity is nullified, Derek’s .313./.383/.450 line towers over Rizzuto’s fittingly diminutive .273/.351/.355.

Fangraph’s “Batting Value” stat involves a complicated formula that doesn’t warrant mention as the numbers speak for themselves: Rizzuto posted a 35.7 mark in that category over his entire career. Jeter has eclipsed that number in three separate seasons; more impressively, his career tally stands at 376.0, more than 10 times anything the Scooter could boast—or even dream—about.

Detractors will point to Jeter’s generally porous defense, and they do have a legitimate gripe. But Jeter’s place in the history of the game is no less impressive. His career WAR is tenth among all-time shortstops—even with defense factored in. His “Batting Value” stat is fourth all-time for shortstops and is the second-highest since the forties—with only a certain hot corner-manning teammate surpassing him…

3B-Alex Rodriguez

Some Yankees fans may lament this choice, deriding A-Rod for his solipsistic personality and his lack of true “Yankee-ness.” But in terms of sheer production, A-Rod is far and away the best player in Yankees history at a position that is surprisingly shallow.

There’s something to be said about Rodriguez’s steroid allegations. He claims that his PED usage ended prior to being dealt to the Yanks, but feel free to take such a claim with any size grain of salt that you wish. Steroid allegations will not be a deciding factor in this piece (and thus, A-Rod probably won’t be the last PED-tainted player on this list), so it’s particularly hard to even consider any other third baseman for this honor.

The player many baby-boomer Yankee fans would argue for would be Graig Nettles, a wizard with the glove who spent 11 seasons in the Bronx in the 70’s and early 80’s.  There is no arguing Nettles’ defensive capabilities, but his bat, while respectable, often left a bit to be desired. He posted a 46.8 WAR over his Yankees career, a figure that Alex will almost certainly pass by the end of 2011, his eighth year in pinstripes. A-Rod has been a six-win player four times during his Yankee career while Nettles only was that valuable twice; moreover, A-Rod’s two best Yankee seasons (9.4 and  9.2 WAR, an MVP trophy in both) are far better than his predecessor’s (8.3 and 6.4). Nettles had a decent but hardly Ruthian .253/.329/.433 line over his Yankee career. By comparison, A-Rod’s .295/.392/.556—well there really isn’t much comparison, is there?

C-Yogi Berra

Lawrence “Yogi” Berra received his endearing nickname from childhood friend Bobby Hofman, who remarked that his companion maintained a striking resemblance to an Indian snake charmer he had seen in a movie.

While Yogi’s status as the best catcher in team history may be a forgone conclusion for some, his candidacy receives a strong challenge from 11-time All-Star and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Dickey. Dickey is hardly a forgotten footnote in this history of the team, but he hasn’t gotten the fairest of shakes with what should be an enduring legacy. Beside his 11 All-Star appearances, he finished in the top eight of the MVP balloting on five different occasions and in the top 20 nine times. His career .313 average is third all-time for backstops; his .382 OBP ninth; his .486 SLG fifth; his 63.8 career WAR ninth all-time and the highest of any catcher who played before Berra.

So it’s not very difficult to make a case for Dickey, but Yogi is still the best catcher in the history of the franchise.

Berra played in over 300 more games than Dickey with about 1300 extra PAs, so his advantages in quantitative categories over Dickey should be taken with his longevity in mind. However, his 358 career homers constitute the fourth highest total in the history of the position. His 1175 runs are fifth and his 1430 RBI the most ever. His career .285/.348/.482 is quite impressive for any position, let alone for a catcher (a historically weak offensive position). According to Bill James’ “win shares” stat, Yogi is the most valuable catcher in the history of the game and the 52nd most valuable offensive player ever. His 71.4 WAR is fifth all-time amongst catchers (just 3.0 behind second ranked Carlton Fisk and 10.2 behind top-ranked Johnny Bench), joining Ted Simmons and Dickey as the only players in the top ten who started their careers prior to 1950.

Yogi’s greatness is often overlooked when one considers his numerous accolades. Berra won the AL MVP three times, finished in the top five seven times and in the top 30 in each one of his healthy seasons. He was so beloved by fans at the time that he made the All-Star team in 1962, despite the fact that he appeared in only 86 games and posted an anemic .224/.297/.388.

But Yogi more than earned that charitable contribution from the fans when one considers the “philanthropy” he accomplished over 18 marvelous and memorable seasons with the team. Beside his patented and now clichéd “Yogi-isms,” Berra contributed to endow the New York faithful with 13 World Championships, earning his status as baseball’s “De Facto Russell” in the process. Had Yogi had any success as a manager, writers would have jumped at the rare chance to update one of their most overused phrases: “This year with the Mets, Yogi will try to win one for the third thumb.”

LF-Charlie Keller

This isn’t an All-Star balloting, and thus there’s not going to be three greatest generic “outfielders.” If you want to claim the title as the best leftfielder in team history, you better not have spent too much time in center or right. Yes, Nick Swisher inexplicably managed to roam centerfield for Ozzie Guillen while with the ChiSox, but that certainly doesn’t make him a centerfielder. Ditto for Ruth, DiMaggio, Maris—and exactly why there may be outcry why a certain franchise icon won’t make this list.

For a team with a rich history of great outfielders, from all of the aforementioned HOFers to Bernie Williams and a pre-Steinbrenner-feud Dave Winfield, few great players have spent a large portion of their careers manning left field in the Bronx. So Charlie Keller’s name may come as a surprise; but in reality, there isn’t all that much competition. The only full time left fielder in the history of the franchise who had a WAR anywhere near Keller’s 49.2 was Roy White, who put up a 47.2—even though he played over 700 more games and had 3000 more PA than Keller.

Keller is a classic example of the value of a few great seasons over 10 or 11 solid ones. He managed to top White’s career WAR even though he only played 130 games five times in a season. White played in twice as many 130-game seasons, but his .271/.360/.404 line is wholly unimpressive when put against Keller’s .286/.410/.528.

Charlie Keller started his career marvelously, posting a WAR over 5.0 in each of his first five seasons, including a ‘41 season where he had an exemplary .298/.416/.580 line with 33 HR and 122 RBI, finishing fifth in the MVP balloting. He finished in the top-25 in the MVP and was an All-Star in four of those five seasons. But following the ’43 season, Keller was called on to serve with the United States Merchant Marines in World War II, and missed all of the 1944 campaign before returning for 44 games in ’45.

When he returned full-time in 1946, it appeared as if Keller had taken up just where he left off, belting 30 HRs and driving in 101 RBIs with a .275/.405/.533 line. However, perhaps as an omen of things to come, Keller became the first player in Yankees history to strike out 100 times in a season. He had never before struck out more than 65 times in one year.

Three injury-plagued years later, in which Keller appeared in just 43, 85 and 60 games, the Yankees cut ties with the player the papers referred to as “King Kong Keller.” He would never appear in more than 55 games again, and retired after one AB with the Yankees in 1952.

RF-See Ruth, Babe

CF-Joe DiMaggio

Surprised? Probably not.
Now think for a second…who’s missing from this list? (Waiting…Waiting…)

Now your brow is starting to furrow, no?

Let me take this space to preempt your outrage. There’s little debating Joe DiMaggio’s place in the Pantheon of Yankeedom. But leaving out Mickey Mantle—a man who was the favorite player of an entire generation of fans; whose performance at his peak may have had no rival in the history of the game—is bound to incur some rage from someone, somewhere, right?

Mantle’s legacy precedes him: his rare pre-injury combination of top end speed and raw power; his .298/.421/.557 line; his reputation as an all-time great who might have been the all-time great had one of his innately debilitated knees not exploded after a run-in with a drainpipe in the Yankee Stadium outfield. Choosing between him and Joe D—kind of like deciding between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis—is the kind of decision that will confound and divide: based entirely on personal taste and preference, it has no single right answer. That’s why I’m going to take this space to elevate DiMaggio’s achievements—not diminish the Mick’s.

In fact, let’s elevate the Mick’s first. In 1956, he put together what may be the greatest all-around season in the history of the game: 52 HR, 130 RBI, 132 R, 10 SB, a .353/.464/.705 line and a 12.2 WAR. He preceded that with a 10.1 WAR in ’55, and followed his Triple Crown ’56 season with a 12.0 WAR the next year. For good measure, he had an additional 11.1 WAR campaign in 1961.

To put that in perspective, six-time combined MVP winners Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols have never once posted a single season that topped 10.0 WAR.

But Joe D did, posting a 10.1 WAR in an insane 1937 sophomore season (46 HR, 167 RBI, .346/.412/.673) and a somehow-higher 10.6 in ’41. And while he may not have possessed the All-American Golden Boy mystique that Mantle did, his achievements may be even more impressive.

Forget the hitting streak, which carries a whole legend (or song, or article, or book) with it. It may be one of the most impressive feats in the history of American sports, but 56 games of one season does not define a career; nor does it distinguish one career from another.

Instead, DiMaggio’s longevity is both what he should be most known for and what separates him from Mantle. As for the aforementioned of value short-lived excellence over long-run consistency, DiMaggio is the rare exception. He not only had those two 10+ WAR seasons, but he remained a remarkably consistent and valuable player until the day he retired.

He never once posted a WAR under 6.0 in a full season, with his “lesser” seasons coming in a 1949 season in which he was a five win player despite only playing 76 games, and a career-culminating ’51 campaign where he still was worth 3.2 WAR. He only once twice batted less than .300 in a full season—with a .290 and a .263 in injury-plagued years. His career .325/.398/.579 line speaks words in and of itself.

Some remark at his relatively unimpressive home run totals, but this is somewhat of a moot point. DiMaggio played in the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium, where left-handed batters were given the gift of a short porch and righties received the death sentence of cavernous left and centerfields. Mantle, who was a switch hitter but batted primarily from the left side, received many of the benefits of the latter. DiMaggio was forced to cope with playing half of his games in a ballpark that would swallow up anything but his most crushing blast.

DH-Jason Giambi

It’s hard to be fan of Giambi, let alone a proponent of the idea that he belongs on a list with names such as “Ruth,” “Berra” and “DiMaggio.” But in reality there’s no one who even qualifies for this spot besides, as John Sterling so annoying referred to him as, the “Giambino.”

Here’s the top five (in reverse order) in WAR for any Yankees player who spent at least one season in pinstripes as a primary DH:

(WAR is for full Yankees tenure, NOT just DH)

5) Danny Tartabull: 7.8 WAR.

Spent just three and a half seasons with the team, never appeared in more than 140 games, single-season high WAR of 4.3.

4) Ron Blomberg: 9.5 WAR

The original “Boomer” and the original DH, Blomberg only appeared in 225 games with the Yanks after the DH was instituted in 1973.

3) Oscar Gamble: 11.7 WAR

By the time he made his second go around with the Yanks in the early 80’s as the not-so-primary DH, Gamble appeared in 384 games over five seasons, or about 77 games per year. 242 of those games were as an outfielder.

2) Hideki Matsui:12.8 WAR

The best player of the bunch, but only appeared as a DH in 248 games for the Yankees—with 116 of those games coming in 2009.

1) Jason Giambi: 24.4 WAR

Giambi appeared more frequently as a DH than as a first baseman over a single season only three times as a Yankee, and those were his final years before being jettisoned back to Oakland. But he spent 367 games in the DH hole, far more than any other candidate. That, by default, essentially makes him the winner of this dubious honor.

It’s not as if Giambi’s stats are that unimpressive. His 209 Yankee home runs, 604 RBI and .260/.404/.524 line with the club are hardly anything to scoff at. They’re also hardly anything to get excited over, especially considering Giambi’s inability to stay healthy, his nine-figure contract, his lucky golden thong, and the fact that he handled his steroid allegations with all the grace of a twelve-ton elephant in lead shoes.

This dearth of anything resembling competence out of the DH spot is quite a testament to how the Yankees management has handled the team over the last four decades. The Yankees have always seemed to be content throwing whatever they can find into the batter’s box as a DH. Whether that is a washed-up veteran, a mediocrity who was never good enough to have the “washed-up” moniker attached to him, or—in recent years—as a landing spot for overpaid veterans on their days off, the team has never committed to having a full-time DH who could give them consistent production. Most teams seem to subscribe to this mentality, treating the idea of a full-time DH as nearly taboo—which is why the Royals have constantly tried stone-handed Billy Butler at first base despite repeatedly poor results. It’s also partly why the Yankees are reluctant to admit that Jesus Montero will likely never pan out as a catcher and thus stick him at DH for his entire career. Ask the Mariners whether they regretted having Edgar Martinez in the lineup every day for the better part of a decade. Then ask the Yankees if they really want to have an 82-year old Giambi representing the DH position at the 2053 home opener, when they celebrate the best players in the 150-year history of baseball’s most storied franchise.

RHSP-Red Ruffing

For a team with 27 World Championships, 20 of which came before the free agency era, the Yankees haven’t had many all-time greats take the mound in the Bronx for an extended period of time. In fact, the team has only three 200 game winners, with Andy Pettitte joining the surprisingly exclusive club last season.

Strangely, of the top six winningest pitchers in the history of the club, only Ruffing and Bob Shawkey threw right-handed. That’s not to say there haven’t been quality righties in New York over the last century: Mel Stottlemyre, Herb Pennock, Allie Reynolds, Waite Hoyt, Jack Chesbro, Mike Mussina—among others—all won 100 games with the Yanks (or in Chesbro’s case, the Highlanders), but it’s hard to compare their achievements to those of Ruffing.

Red Ruffing started his career off extremely poorly, pitching under the strenuous conditions of the offensively anemic (yes, that’s a double entendre) post-Ruth Red Sox, who perennially finished last in the league in batting and averaged 35 HR a year during Ruffing’s tenure. He led the league in losses twice and finished with an ERA over 4.50 five times.

Yankee manager Miller Huggins saw potential in the fledgling hurler, and orchestrated a massive heist rivaling anything out of a George Clooney “Ocean’s” movie: the Sox agreed to sell Ruffing to the Yankees for the immortal Cedric Durst (15 career home runs, no relation to Fred) and a meager $50,000. Essentially, the Yankees ended up paying $216 for every one of Ruffing’s 231 wins. By contrast, they paid nearly $4.5 million for each of Carl Pavano’s nine victories.

The rest is, as they say, history. After a difficult ’31 debut season when Ruffing had a 4.41 ERA with the team, he settled in with his new team. Over the next 15 seasons, he would win 18 games six times, never once post an ERA over 3.95 and finish below 3.55 nine times.

Those aren’t necessarily mind-blowing statistics for an era in which ERAs were much lower than they are today, but Ruffing exhibited uncanny consistency over a decade and a half with the club. He would also win seven pennants and six titles in New York, setting a since-broken pitching record of seven World Series wins.

There’s also the case of military service. After a 1942 season in which Ruffing finished 14-7 with a 3.21 ERA, he spent the better part of three years away from the game. When he returned from the Army in 1945, he was never the same. He posted ERAs of 2.89 and 1.77 in 1945 and ’46, respectively, but made just 19 starts over those two seasons. By 1947 he was out of baseball.

In an interesting factoid that has little relevance to this debate, Red Ruffing was also one of the greatest hitting pitchers of all-time. Ruffing had a .269 career average, hit over .300 eight times, and had 36 career home runs. He also finished with a positive offensive WAR in twelve different seasons, despite the fact that he never had more than 150 PA in one season.

LHSP-Whitey Ford

Yes, most of the best starters in Yankees history were southpaws, but Whitey Ford undoubtedly reigns supreme over all of them. Andy Pettitte, Lefty Gomez and Ron Guidry were all successful in their very different respective eras, but it’s not even worth comparing them to the “Chairman of the Board.”

Ford, who grew up in a 1930’s Queens yet to be infected by the Mets, made his Major League debut in 1950, but lost the entire ’51 and ’52 seasons to military service during the Korean War. Unlike Keller and Ruffing, Ford came back from the military healthy and physically unimpeded.

As both Mickey Mantle’s resident wingman following the departure of Billy Martin and the Yankees’ ace for well over a decade, Ford endured a career without rival by any starting pitcher in the history of the franchise. His 236 wins and 1,956 K’s are the most in franchise history, as are his career innings pitched and total shutouts. Of the impressive club of Yankees pitchers who have tossed 1,500 innings with the team, Whitey’s 2.75 career ERA is second only to Jack Chesbro’s 2.58 with the dead ball era Highlanders. Only four times in his career did Ford post an ERA above 3.00, with the high-water mark of 3.24 coming in 1965, his fourteenth and final healthy year as a starter with the team. His career winning percentage is third all-time for qualifying Major League starters.

It’s hard to talk about Whitey Ford without mentioning the words “World Series,” considering his record-setting 10 wins on baseball’s biggest stage. He was also a six-time Series champ, had a 2.71 career World Series ERA and was an All-Star 10 times.

Closer-Mariano Rivera

Considering this is probably the least surprising decision since Donald Trump decided to continue running his own companies into the ground instead of attempting to be in a position to do the same to the country, this examination is going to take a bit of a different angle than previous ones.

Mariano Rivera has 572 career saves, obviously ranking first on the Yankees all-time list and fast-approaching Trevor Hoffman’s all-time mark. Second place for the Bombers belongs to Dave Righetti with 224 saves. It’s not worth wasting breath, time, or dexterity typing out 500 words on how Mariano is better than Dave Righetti.

How ‘bout the fact that he’s better than anybody?

The notion of Mo’s closing supremacy has gained credence in recent years, ever since the outrage over SI’s proclamation that Hoffman was the best closer in the relatively short history of the position. But here are a few quick statistics that should come damn close to solidifying this argument as “fact,” an attribute that is inherently paradoxical to the divisive notion of a debate.

Among relievers with at least 200 saves, Mariano’s 2.06 ERA is by far the best; ditto for his 0.71 postseason ERA and his 94 career playoff saves. For good measure, his 4.12 K:BB ratio is second only to Dennis Eckersley’s otherworldly 6.29 mark and his 0.97 career WHIP is the best of all-time.

Oh, and his career WAR is 32 percent higher—and rising—than any closer in the history of the game.

Manager-Joe Torre

“What, what, WHAT! Torre over Stengel? Joe Torre over the same guy who took the Yankees to 10 pennants and seven titles in just 12 years? That Joe Torre?!”

There’s a pretty good chance that was a rough paraphrasing of your thoughts when you saw Torre’s name in this article instead of the manager whom most consider the greatest in the history of the game. Perhaps it’s crazy, and perhaps it’s biased as a result of fresh memories of Torre’s tenure and an obvious lack of firsthand experience with the Stengel regime. But it would be remiss if it wasn’t recounted in gruesome detail why Torre’s achievements with the Yankees were more impressive than Stengel’s.

Torre certainly had his shortcomings as a manager, most notably his reliance on veterans and his propensity to ride any reliable middle reliever until they were so far underground there was no discernable chance of reemergence (see: Proctor, Scott; Gordon, Tom; Quantrill, Paul), but it’s quite likely that Stengel would have gotten his fair share of criticism had he played in this era of sabermetrics, super “Slo Mo,” and microanalysis.

At first glance, Torre’s .602 Yankees winning percentage and his six pennants and four World titles don’t appear comparable to Stengel’s .623 mark and his 7-3 World Series record. But Torre’s victories were compiled in a much different era. And while that may not seem important to some, era analysis is a crucial component to the evaluation of any baseball player, manager or executive.

Stengel managed in an era in which there were only eight teams in each league. All teams played an equal 22 games against each other every year.

Torre’s time in New York began after the inception of interleague play. At the beginning of his tenure (before unbalanced schedules) with the Yankees, teams played 12 games against each team in their respective division, 11 games against other teams in the same league and three or four games against four interleague teams.

For the sake of argument, let’s nullify the marginal difference of games against divisional and league teams. In Torre’s 114-win regular season of 1998, the Yankees’ average American league opponent (against whom they played 146 games of their season) had a combined winning percentage of .485. In Stengel’s winningest regular season (a ’54 campaign in which the team won 103 times but finished second), opponents had a combined .475 winning percentage.

This may not seem like a huge difference, but it does have a significant impact over a six-month regular season. The bigger change in circumstance with the two skippers, however, is the rise of parity in the Majors over the last few decades. In 1954, Stengel’s Yankees played 110 of their regular season games against teams that had a combined 308-462 record. This means that the Yankees played more than 70 percent of their games against five teams that won less than 70 games each and had a combined winning percent of just .400.

By comparison, Torre’s 1998 Yanks played just 39 games total against sub-70 win opponents.

If that’s not enough, there’s the institution of the entire playoff system, which was completely non-existent in Stengel’s day. When Casey managed in New York, he simply was required to finish ahead of the other seven teams in his league (with as many as five of them being complete non-factors) and the Bombers were catapulted to the World Series.

Torre first had to finish ahead of everyone else in the usually ultra-competitive AL East, then was required to win at least seven of 12 games against two of the best teams in the league. Then he was able to stake his claim at the top of the World Series, but not before his team knocked off the National League Champs despite carrying the burden of playing over 170 games in a seven-month span on their collective backs.

One last thing to keep in mind: the biggest knock on Torre’s success with the Yankees was that, as his detractors so eloquently put it, “Anyone can win with a nine-digit payroll and a roster full of superstars.” There may be a smidgen of truth to this (at the very least, talent certainly makes a manager’s job easier), but it’s quite easy to make the same damaging claim towards Stengel’s achievements. After all, this is the same man who managed the likes of Berra, Mantle, DiMaggio, Ford and many other all-time greats.

It may make sense then to look at Torre and Stengel’s respective managerial records with other teams. Like Torre, Stengel had little success with two different teams (the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves), compiling a 581-742 record and a .435 winning percentage before becoming a Yankee.

Over 14 seasons with the Mets, Braves and Cardinals prior to taking over in New York in ’96, Torre was 894-1003, good for a much better .471 winning percentage (and posted in a much more difficult era, no less). After leaving the Yankees, Stengel had just a .302 winning percentage with the admittedly unsalvageable expansion Mets, while Torre won more than 53 percent of games with the Dodgers. Take those records as you wish, as far too many variables are involved to put them directly against each other; nevertheless, they certainly are eye-catching.

There’s no doubt that both managers had exceedingly impressive tenures with the Yankees; it’s simply a matter of the eras in which each coached. Stengel may have had a higher winning percentage and more World Series appearances and titles than Torre, but he did so in an undoubtedly much easier era for long-run success.

Some may choose to adhere to their long-gestating biases and ignoring all of the aforementioned facts. But it appears that those same facts paint an exceedingly clear picture of one exceptional manager’s dominance over another.

Jesse Golomb researches and writes for BaseballDigest.com. He is also the creator and writer of SoapBoxSportsByte, a blog that incorporates statistical analysis as well as fan perspective into pieces on the MLB, NFL and NBA.   He can be followed on Twitter @SoapBxSprtsByte, or contacted by email at golombjesse@gmail.com.

There comes a time in every players career where they no longer produce at the levels they are accustomed to. A player only has a few short years in what is deemed as their prime and often there is a tumultuous fall once it ends.

During the 1960s, the Yankees were the surest thing in baseball — they were almost assured of winning pennants and championships each year. They rode on the backs of some of the games legends: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Elston Howard.

However, as these players aged, their skills diminished, leaving them as shells of their former selfs. The Yankees knew the day would come, but they didn’t expect it to come at the same time.

By 1965, it happened. The Yankees were losing, but the team and its fans did not worry — they expected their stars to continue hitting, they thought it was a slump. It wasn’t. It was the start of their decline and the Yankees demise.

Needless to say, the Yankees did not hang another banner during the ’65 season nor in the seasons to come. Their core had aged to the point of no return and the product on the field suffered. Fast forward to 2011 and it seems as if history may be starting to repeat.

The Yankees have had slow starts in years prior and they have been frustrating for a team that is always ranked near the top in payroll. In fact, for three consecutive seasons — from 2005 to 2007 — the Yankees would end April with losing records.

Holes would be dug, yet no one panicked — their players had track records. Everyone knew Derek Jeter would hit, Alex Rodriguez would hit along with every other superstar that filled the roster. And the fans would be right.

The Yankees would make the playoffs every year after a hot second half, yet lose in the first round of the playoffs which infuriated ownership. This season, however, is different.

Superstar players continue to fill the lineup on a nightly basis. Some are even Hall of Fame caliber. The production from these players — non-existent. Jeter hits an astounding 70 percent of balls on the ground, easily the highest in the Majors, Jorge Posada has the lowest batting average in the Majors.

It had gotten so bad for Posada that when dropped to the ninth spot in the order, in the heat of the moment, he asked for his release and refused to play. Posada may not be the captain, but he has been the heart and soul of the Yankees championship teams, he’s a proud man who strives for greatness, but he may be scratching for nothing.

The facts are out in front for everyone to see: Posada’s bat speed is gone, Jeter has had one good day at the plate, and Rodriguez is lost.

Pitchers no longer fear the man who most expected to relinquish Barry Bonds claim as baseball’s home run king. They challenge him, throw their best fastball, and unlike during his prime, the 36-year-old swings through them.

He won’t be the last one to be a shell of his former self. The Yankees are locked into contracts with players who will not be the same at the back-end of their deals.

Mark Texiera has been everything the Yankees could have hoped for: He’s played Gold-Glove defense at first, hit in the clutch and helped bring a championship back to New York.

As he ages, the range will decrease, the Gold-Glove will be a distant memory and hitting will be non-existent.

C.C. Sabathia signed a seven-year deal. He’s an ace, a horse, a pitcher every team wants on their roster. Fast forward another four seasons, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound lefty, at 36 years of age — will not be the same.

The former Cy-Young Award winner has already needed surgery on his knee because of his big frame, and there is no precedent to know how long he can continue to pitch.

The 1980s were a dark-age for Yankees baseball, they had the most wins of any team during the decade but never once made the playoffs. Their core began to age and only when they developed younger players did they win again.

Long-term contracts with players who are passing their prime are setting the Yankees up for disaster. Sure, these players have track records, but no one knows when they will reach their expiration date.

History repeats itself in cycles, the Yankees are hoping their time has not yet arrived.

Around the division:

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles young pitching and hitting have become more consistent as of late and the wins that have been eluding them — are now numbers in the right column. The O’s may have lost a game to the suddenly hot Red Sox, but as long as their pitchers keep them in the game, wins are sure to follow.

Boston Red Sox: The weekend series with the Yankees not only renewed the rivalry, but also issued a Sox resurgence. The team that could not do much right over the first month of the season, hit all the right buttons in the Bronx. The Red Sox will look to continue the good vibes for the rest of the season

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays demise was clearly a bit rushed as they have stormed out of a 1-8 start to take hold of the A.L. East division. They received great pitching, timely hitting and solid defense which should help make them legitimate contenders for the rest of the season.

Toronto Blue Jays: Not many people know what to make of the Jays thus far on the season. They have a pitching staff that is extremely talented, but has not pitched to expectations, an offense that has underwhelmed and a record that screams mediocre. The Jays need to be consistent in order to contend with the big boys and thus far they haven’t.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

All of these nicknames pay homage to perhaps the most impressive clutch player in baseball history.  While there is a debate about the overall truth of ”clutch’ performances, there is no doubt that “Mr. October”, Reggie Jackson, ranks as one of the greatest postseason players in history.

In an October 1980 issue of Baseball Digest, John Kuenster wrote about Reggie Jackson putting up Hall of Fame numbers. Click here to read the full article!

Born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania in 1946 to a former Negro League player, Jackson wasted little time making his mark on the baseball world. Drafted by the Kansas City Athletics as the second overall pick in the 1966 Amateur Draft, he spent parts of just two seasons in the minor leagues before reaching the major leagues on June 9th, 1967.  For the 1968 season, the Athletics moved to Oakland and Jackson became an every day player, slugging 29 homers.

For the player and the team, the pairing proved to turn things around permanently for the franchise.  Coming off a 6th place finish in their first season in Oakland, Jackson’s 1969 season was a breakout year, when he slugged 47 home runs and at one point kept pace with the record setting 61 home runs hit by Roger Maris in 1961.  The 1969 season was the first of seven times he finished in the top 10 for Most Valuable Player.

After a down year in 1970 when Jackson hit 23 homers, he embarked on a terrific five year stretch that changed baseball in the Oakland, California area.  Between 1971 and 1975, he led the American League in home runs twice, and averaged more than 30 home runs a year.  He earned Most Valuable Player honors for the 1973 season, which capped off a tremendous stretch of success that included five straight trips to the postseason, including three straight World Series victories.  Though he missed the 1972 World Series with a torn hamstring, his presence was felt in the subsequent Series, which earned him MVP honors.  For his career, Reggie Jackson had a .357 batting average in 5 World Series.

On the heels of their 1975 ALCS loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Athletics shipped Jackson(along with two other players) to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell. The Baltimore Era of Reggie Jackson was short lived, as the New York Yankees signed the outfielder to a five year deal worth nearly $3 million dollars in November of 1976.

Jackson’s impact on the Yankees lineup was immediate, as the team reached the playoffs in four of his five seasons in The Bronx. The back to back World Series wins in 1977 and 1978 were the first for the franchise in 15 years.  After homering in Games 4 and 5 of the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yankee captain Thurmon Munson famously told reporters to speak with “Mr. October” during the series.  This came before the three homer game, which confirmed the name that would forever link the slugger among the greatest Yankees of all time.

Reggie Jackson’s best season in The Bronx was during the latter end of his tenure with the team. In 1980, Jackson slugged 41 home runs and hit .300, finishing second in the MVP voting.  His worst season as a Yankee came in 1981, which also happened to be his final season  with the team. Despite reaching the World Series for the third time in five years, Jackson clashed with George Steinbrenner and signed a five year deal with the California Angels during the off season to return to the west coast.

Though the Angels reached the ALCS twice with Jackson, he was unable to regain the mystique of “Mr. October” that he had garnered earlier in his career.  For his final season in the big leagues, 1987, Jackson signed with the Oakland Athletics.

Reggie Jackson retired with 563 home runs, good for 13th all-time. He also ranks first all-time in career strikeouts with 2,597. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993 on his first ballot, and wore a Yankee cap for his induction.  In addition to being a central figure  of The Bronx Zoo in the 1970′s and being the namesake for the “Reggie!” bar, Jackson has remained a part of American culture with appearances on various television programs and cameos in films.  He threw out the first ceremonial pitch at the new Yankee Stadium, and remains a special advisor to the New York Yankees.

Also Celebrating A Birthday:

Brooks Robinson(b.1937), spent his entire Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Orioles and ranks as arguably the greatest third baseman in MLB history.  Robinson earned sixteen consecutive Gold Glove awards between 1960 and 1975 to go along with eighteen All-Star team selections.  In addition to his 1964 American League Most Valuable Player Award, he also earned series MVP honors for his role in the 1970 World Series and the All-Star Game MVP nod in 1966.  His number 5 was retired by the Baltimore Orioles at the end of his final season in 1977, and in 1983 he became one of just sixteen players to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Michael Maher is a senior writer for BaseballDigest.com and he can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @BD_Maher.

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In recent weeks Derek Jeter has been front and center of many articles and video segments which documented his extended slump to begin the season. They analyzed his swing and critiqued it so thoroughly because of one number — his age. Jeter is now 37 years old and it’s an age where most athletes begin to break down.

Jeter happens to be the shortstop, the most critical position on the field, and captain of baseball’s premier franchise. Jeter not performing up to the lofty standards he and others have set for him is clearly big news.

The captain changed the news this weekend with a huge series against the Texas Rangers in which he hit two opposite-field home runs in one game. The spotlight that had been placed upon him since the beginning of the season began to fade, but it shines a light on the Yankees biggest issue — their age.

The Yankees have a mission statement of a World Series title or bust. The 27-time World Series Champions speak of their goal from the moment they step onto the field in Spring Training, but relying on players of advanced age has a way of limiting the success a team can have.

Just last season the Red Sox were victims of the injury-bug among their older players who are more susceptible to injuries. The Sox could not overcome the devastating injuries and finished in a disappointing third place in the American League East.

If the injury-bug attacked the Yankees, it is quite possible the same fate can befall them. The rotation as currently comprised has an ace at the top, one that can and has thrown a lot of innings over his Major League career which can come back and haunt the Yankees at some point during the length of his contract.

Following C.C. Sabathia in the rotation is A.J. Burnett who has finished three-consecutive healthy seasons after having at least one stint on the disabled list each year of his career. However, the real question marks are found at the end of the rotation.

The rotation had been expected to include the youngster Phil Hughes along with either Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon rounding out the fifth spot. An unknown injury to Hughes spoiled the plan and the Yankees have to rely on both Garcia and Colon to give them a chance to win every five days.

Colon, who had not pitched in the Majors in two seasons, has performed well beyond the expectations that were placed on him prior to the season. The 38-year-old has a 2-1 record while pitching to a 3.86 ERA.

Garcia on the other hand has continually logged plenty of innings during his career as the workhorse he is. The 35-year-old right hander has been masterful thus far this season. The change in speeds and locations have left American League hitters wondering what’s next. His 2.88 ERA heading into last night’s start is second amongst Yankees starters which shows how great he has been.

However, the Yankees should be concerned about how long these two can keep up the numbers they are posting. Colon is not in the best of shape and combined with age, ineffectiveness can occur with fatigue. Garcia has suffered arm problems throughout his career and with his over reliance on breaking-balls, he is at a higher risk to suffer an injury.

The concerns don’t stop in the rotation. Jorge Posada, the Yankees everyday DH, has yet to find a groove, totaling only 15 hits in 99 at bats. Posada’s bat is noticeably slower and he has been dominated by pitchers with high velocity.

Alex Rodriguez has cooled significantly after his hot start to the season. In fact, heading into last night’s game, A-Rod was in the midst of a 9 for 55 swoon. One has to wonder if it’s related to the health of his hip or even his advanced age.

The Yankees may be in first-place and look to the best team in the division, but the age factor can have a negative effect before the season concludes.

Around the Division:

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles pounded out 20 hits last night in an extra-inning win against the Seattle Mariners. The Orioles youngsters have gained valuable experience this season and have incorporated a never say die attitude in the late innings.

Boston Red Sox: The Boston Red Sox were able to come from behind last night behind the strength of two Adrian Gonzalez home runs before the Jays walked off with the win. The Red Sox have yet to gain their footing in the 2011 season and it may be getting late early in Boston.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays have welcomed back their slugging All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria this week as he has supplied the offense with a boost. His clutch hitting is a welcome addition for an offense that struggles to score enough runs to win on a daily basis, yet sits atop the division.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays inched a little closer to .500 after earning the victory over the Red Sox last night. The Jays problems have arisen because of their pitching staff which has yet to pitch up their capabilities. Expect the Jays to go on a roll once their pitching gets into shape.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13 @gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

Jeter, the Yankees’ captain, struggled mightily at the plate last season, seemingly showing a dramatic sign of decline. Most looked past it as a blip on the radar screen of an extraordinary career, but when it came time to negotiating a new deal — the Yankees let it be known they were concerned.

The 17-year-veteran came off of a season in which he posted the lowest batting average of his career — .270 — along with career lows of on base percentage and slugging percentage. Jeter also grounded into numerous double plays, struggling to hit the ball in the air.

General manager Brian Cashman brought up all of these factors in negotiations and even went as far as stating the Yankees reserve the right to change his position if he is no longer adequate. Jeter did not like the public nature of the negotiations, but signed anyway vowing that this season would be different.

Spring Training unveiled a difference in Jeter noticeable to all. He had changed his batting stance, most notably his stride. He stride was non-existent in an effort to get the bat through the zone quicker to compensate for his lost bat speed.

However, two weeks into the season results did not change. Jeter struggled to hit the ball with any authority nor did he have the ability to get around on a good fastball. The changed batting stance was immediately scrapped and he went back to his old one — a stance that has him on the path to Cooperstown.

Sure, Jeter has had an extraordinary career and has been a true-professional — a great ambassador to the game of baseball — but his days as an impact offensive player seems to be numbered.

The Yankees were weary of this happening, but even they did not expect it to happen as soon as this season. Jeter currently possesses a slugging percentage of only .260 and has not been able to hit a ball with any authority to the outfield.

Every swing he takes has resulted in a ground ball, some of which hit so softly that he reached base on infield singles. The best hitters have to be at the top of the order and Jeter no longer should be in the No. 2 hole, no matter what his past credentials are.

The Yankees are a win-now team and in order to have the best chance to win on a daily basis, Jeter should hit lower in the order. It is a situation manager Joe Girardi may not want to deal with, but Jeter being the professional he is should ask for the change to benefit the team.

However, Jeter did not achieve 2,945 hits in his career without knowing how to hit nor did he just forget how to hit. The problem is his body is no longer coinciding with what his mind wants him to do. This is what happens with age — a natural progression for ballplayers prior to the steroid era.

Jeter has never once been linked to performance-enhancing drugs and his slowly deteriorating skills are evidence of this fact. However, the Yankees signed Jeter to a three-year contract with a player option and need him to perform at peak levels.

For the Yankees to contend this season and in the future, Jeter needs to reconfigure his swing to compensate for his age.

The Yankees legend’s career is coming to an end, but Jeter and the Yankees are hoping he goes out with a roar and not a whimper. There’s nothing in Jeter’s stellar-career that suggests he won’t be able to do just that.

Around the division

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles ended their recent woes with a victory over the Red Sox last night. The Orioles sit in last place in the A.L. East, but are only 3.5 games behind the Yankees who reside in first.

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox had been on a roll before falling to the Orioles last night. The Red Sox sent a message to the rest of baseball that they are back with their series sweep against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The panic that has surrounded Red Sox nation has subsided and the Sox will be playing meaningful baseball all season.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Tampa Bay Rays were rained out last night, but will continue their series against the Minnesota Twins tomorrow night at Target Field. Sam Fuld, the Rays young wonder kid, currently is one of the top Rays vote getters for the All-Star game.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays offensive attack has come alive as of late and it has produced some stability for the up and down team. The Jays out-slugged the Rangers at their own game last night, earning a 10-3 victory.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

The Baltimore Orioles started out like gangbusters winning their first four games and six of seven. The media quickly jumped on the bandwagon, “The Orioles have turned things around”; “Buck Showalter is a genius”. Well hold on to your crab cakes, the O’s have lost eight straight. Teams live and die with their pitching- during the losing streak the Orioles’ staff has given up nearly seven runs a game. Let’s all hold off on considering the O’s AL East contenders. Mm, k?

Speaking of fast starts, the AL Central leaders squared off last night. Twins? Tigers? White Sox? Forget it; it was the Indians and Royals. Yes, Cleveland and Kansas City entered Monday night’s play as the only two AL Central teams above .500. The Tribe won in extra innings and are a remarkable 12-4. The Indians rotation has been bolstered by their #3 and #4 starters, Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin, who have gone a combined 6-0, 2.03 in their six starts. The Indians have also gotten big time offensive production from an unexpected source- their middle infield. Second baseman Orlando Cabrera and shortstop Asdrubel Cabrera have combined for 25 RBI. And could it be that Travis Hafner’s shoulder is finally healthy? “Pronk” has a 1.061 OPS through 14 games. The Indians also turned the season’s first triple play- you can check it out here.

The Indians built most of their record without the services of center fielder Grady Sizemore who returned on Sunday with a home run. In two games, Sizemore is 5-9 with a pair of doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored.

Will Troy Tulowitzki break Barry Bonds’ home run record? No, but the star shortstop is healthy (and hopefully he stays that way), which should mean a huge offensive year. The Rockies have won 12 of their first 16 games in no small part because of Tulo’s 1.259 OPS, 7 HR, and 14 RBI. 2010 NL MVP contender Carlos Gonzalez has also picked up where he left off with 12 RBI. The Rockies are getting contributions from everywhere and at this rate I am going to have to eat my words for saying the Rockies wouldn’t make the playoffs. I get some redemption for talking about how overlooked Jhoulys Chacin was as a rookie last season. He’s off to a 3-0, 1.64 start and has picked up the slack for the injured Ubaldo Jimenez.

It looks like someone has finally gotten through to Matt Kemp, the Dodgers’ Mr. Inconsistency. Who better than new manager and hitter extraordinaire Don Mattingly? Kemp has always had the ability, but has been knocked for his inability to produce. Hello .459 batting average. Throw in 3 HR, 13 RBI, and 8 SB, and you have a monster season in the making. No expects Kemp to keep the average going, but a .325-30-100 line sure would be appreciated by the Dodger faithful.

The Twins are the consensus pick to repeat as AL Central champs, but they better wake up soon, especially their bullpen. Off to a 6-10 start and in last place, the Twins bullpen, a supposed strength is crumbling. Joe Nathan, a year removed from Tommy John surgery, returned to his closer role and last year’s closer Matt Capps became the 8th inning guy. Great 1-2 punch, right? Someone forgot to tell the two of them. Perhaps he’s not at 100%, but whatever the reason Nathan is out at closer after two blown saves, a loss, and five earned runs allowed in 5.1 IP. Capps struggled in the set up role, but has saved both games he entered as the new closer (he did blow one save prior to that in extra innings after Nathan had blown the lead in the ninth inning.)

Monday night the Tigers’ Ryan Raburn became the first player to hit a ball off the roof in Seattle’s Safeco Field. The ball was foul the entire time and fell between third baseman Chone Figgins and catcher Miguel Olivo in foul territory.

Ryan Franklin’s days as St. Louis’ closer are close to being over (they should have been already). The guy with the creepy goatee has blown four saves already in just 16 games. With the competitive NL Central, you just can’t be giving games away. At least someone hold him down and shave that thing off.

Some Q & A between me and me.

Should Yankees fans be worried about Derek Jeter and Phil Hughes?

Worry is probably too strong of a word, but if you follow the Pinstripes you should be concerned. Some fans and media (e.g. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan) have already pushed the panic button and feel Jeter should be batting eighth or ninth. While Jeter struggled for most of last season and hasn’t hit too many balls out of the infield this season, this season has only consisted of 14 games. Jeter’s reputation, at the very least, has earned him a full month or more before a move should even be considered.

Hughes is the bigger concern for manager Joe Girardi at the moment and rightly so. In his three starts, last year’s 18-game winner’s velocity has been missing in action. Normally throwing 92-93 mph, Hughes isn’t hitting 90 on the radar gun this season and has been battered around the ballpark. He’s now on the DL with a “dead arm”, which he at first didn’t want to own up to (perhaps he’s not really injured), and will work on long tossing to strengthen his prized right arm.

Are Josh Beckett and John Lackey for real?

Good question. Beckett has had back to back dominate performances, one of them against an impressive Yankees lineup. While I don’t believe he’ll continue throwing 2-hit ball for seven innings, it does give Red Sox Nation some hope.  Lackey on the other hand could be a real problem. The 215 innings Lackey threw last year concerned me since he his numbers have steadily declined since he topped 200 innings in 2006-2007. He’s won one of his two starts this season, but has an ERA of 15.88 and has had his turn skipped once. Manager Terry Francona: “A lot of his pitches, it didn’t seem like he finished them, [he] left them in the middle. He had two walks, a hit batsman, and all three scored. Against that (Yankees) lineup, you got to make them earn everything they get, because they’re that good.”

Is Zach Britton the real deal?

Though he got knocked around in his last start, you bet he is. While Britton, the Orioles number one pitching prospect wasn’t expected to contribute until later in the season, he won his first two games and posted a 0.69 ERA. ESPN’s Buster Olney feels that Britton could generate as much buzz this year as the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg did last season.

Will Jose Bautista pop 50 home runs again?

Not a chance, but Bautista should hit 30-35.  He’s hit three already and is slugging at a .510 rate, but a lot will depend on how much protection he gets in the order. At the moment that responsibility falls to Adam Lind; after a quick start, Lind is hitting just .230 as he tries to recapture his 2009 season (.305-35-114).

Biggest surprise and disappointment

Teams – If Tampa Bay hadn’t just won 7 of 10 it would have been them, but the Red Sox 2-10 start (now 5-10) is the winner for losing/disappointment. 2-10? Incomprehensible. I have to go back to the Tribe for the surprise. 12-4? Get out of here.

Players – Alex Gordon, KC. The uber-prospect may finally be reaching the heights expected of him. He’s batting .353 so far and is playing like someone with confidence. Finally. (Matt Kemp gets honorable mention) The biggest disappointment, hands down, is Boston’s Carl Crawford. The big free agent signee is already being vilified in Boston for his .133/.175/.167 splits. And when you don’t get on base, you don’t steal. Crawford has just two thefts in three attempts. (Phil Hughes gets honorable mention)

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Castro has been projected to be a slick fielding shortstop with a strong arm that will make good contact at the plate.  He has struggled a bit defensively at times, but should be able to excel once he comes into his own.  Through the minors and his 135 games in the majors thus far, he has displayed a nice eye only striking out around 15% of the time.  The other thing working for Castro is his 20-30 SB potential.  It’s Castro’s play that has allowed the club to deal a strong shortstop prospect named Hak-Ju Lee to the Rays (with others) for Matt Garza.

Starlin is off to a hot start through the seasons first 11 games.  He shares the Major League lead for hits at 18 with fellow teammate Marlon Byrd.  Manager Mike Quade has already seen enough to hand the lead off spot over to him.  Perhaps the only knock on Castro is his lack of power.  His 6-0/190 frame does not bode well for huge spurts of power growth but for now, Castro knows his game is to hit the ball on the ground, or on a line, and set the table for the rest of the lineup.

Some project Starlin Castro to be a player similar to Edgar Renteria.  Both entered the majors at about the same age.  They have similar build, similar fielding abilities, similar speed and similar plate discipline.  If the Cubs shortstop does develop some double digit home run power, then that might be the match.  If the power really develops, his ceiling might be more like Derek Jeter (as noted by Jim Callis from Baseball America). If Castro instead keeps racking up doubles (Michael Barr from Fan Graphs points out that he had more doubles last season than Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez, while playing in only 125 games), then another comparison could be drawn to the former Blue Jay, Tony Fernandez, a four-time gold glove and five-time All-Star shortstop.

Whether he develops more power, more speed or better defense remains to be seen.  At a position that has declined in talent as its stars have aged, the Cubs have to feel good about what they have at the top of their line-up and in the middle of their infield.  It’s fair to speculate on some All-Star appearances, and perhaps a few gold gloves.  Cubs’ fans are hoping he will be one that will help lead the franchise to a title for the first time in over 100 years.  Whatever the future holds, we are all privileged to watch a talented young shortstop develop into the next Starlin Castro.

Matt Wilson covers the NL Central for BaseballDigest.com.  You can follow Matt on Twitter @matwil24

Showalter received his big break when he took over as manager for the New York Yankees in 1992 at the age of 36. With the help of general manager Gene Michael, Showalter was able to help build the Yankees into a modern day dynasty.

Through shrewd drafting, the Yankees obtained the services of both Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams who would be integral to the future dynasty. Michael and Showalter also focused their eyes on opposing players who would help change the culture of the clubhouse and through a trade — Paul O’Neil became the everyday right fielder.

The mixing of veterans and young players helped spark a revival of Yankees baseball, but before Showalter could see his work pay off — he was fired. The reasons behind the move are relatively unknown, but most believe it had to do with wanting more control of organizational moves.

Showalter then was hired by the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998. Yet again he used the same model to build the team from the ground up. In only his second year as a manager, Showalter led the Diamondbacks to 100 wins. However, almost as if he was following a script, he was fired again.

The next season would witness the Diamondbacks become champions of baseball. Two teams, both built from the ground up with Showalter at the helm and they win the title a year after he is fired. Showalter then spent a relatively quiet four years in the Texas heat managing the Rangers, however, he did not meet the standards the organization set forth and was fired again.

Showalter did not manage for a full three seasons until the Orioles called with a little more than a quarter left in their season last year. He accepted the position and promptly began to change the culture of the Orioles.

They became a team that no one wanted to play: they hustled, they stole bases, took chances and had tremendous pride playing the spoiler role. Under Showalter, the Orioles finished 11 games over .500, going 34-23. The effect he had on the team was immediate and the impact was one everyone could see.

However, Showalter would not rest and be happy with those numbers and immediately tried to find ways to help improve the team he inherited. Showalter, following the normal blueprint, wanted veterans who play hard and know how to win.

Entering the fray to man shortstop was new addition J.J. Hardy. Hardy spent his first five seasons in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and last season with the Minnesota Twins. Hardy is known to be a superb defender, committing only 19 combined errors over the past two seasons. Hardy is Showalter’s type of player — one that is not afraid to get dirty and hustle on every play.

Hardy also is dangerous at the plate and has had a career-high of 26 home runs. Now playing home games in the hitter’s park known as Camden Yards, Hardy may once again reach the All-Star level he played at in 2007, knowing he has something to prove after an injury-plagued season last year.

The Orioles continued to add offensive weapons to the team with the additions of Mark Reynolds and Vladimir Guerrero. Reynolds, formerly of the D-backs, will strikeout a lot, but he also will hit over 40 home runs and drive in over a 100. Guerrero was one of the most feared hitters in the game during his prime years, but is now limited by injuries.

Guerrero still has the power he used to — he hit 29 home runs for the Rangers last year — and is a great bad ball hitter. He’s a veteran that knows how to win and one the youngsters will look up to and shape their games after. The Orioles also added a new first baseman to the mix in former Cub Derrek Lee.

At this point in Lee’s career, he is now more of a 20 to 25 home run guy then the 30-homer guy he used to be, but he can still field the ball with the best of them at first. It will be an important addition for a young team that committed plenty of errors last season.

The added offensive firepower will most help the young, but promising starting rotation the Orioles possess. They no longer will act as if the game is over if they give up two runs in the first inning, knowing full well they have an offense that can rival anyone in baseball.

The Orioles will certainly not contend for an A.L. East title this season, but with the addition of veteran role players to an already impressive cast of youngsters, the Orioles are primed to begin their climb to respectability.

Boston Red Sox: Daisuke Matsuzaka has encouraged the Red Sox front office with his latest string of Spring Training outings. Matsuzaka had previously struggled, but had come on as of late especially in his start against the St. Louis Cardinals. He was charged with surrendering two runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched while three of his four strikeouts were of the caught looking variety. Matsuzaka has declared himself ready for the 2011 season and the Sox only hope he is right.

New York Yankees: The competition for the Yankees back-up catching position will come down to the last few weeks of the Spring Training. After the injury to Francisco Cervelli it was Jesus Montero who was penciled in as the favorite, but Austin Romine may be the victor in this battle. Both Romine and Montero have not produced with the bat thus far on the Spring, but Romine is by far the better receiver of the two and that could give him the leg up when decisions are made.

Tampa Bay Rays: Jeremy Hellickson continues to impress those within the Rays organization with his stellar Spring. Hellickson created buzz last season after he basically shut-down the entire Yankees lineup and he did it again on Sunday night, pitching four scoreless innings while only throwing 49 pitches.

Toronto Blue Jays: Marc Rzepczynski is no longer in the running for the final two rotation spots in the Jays rotation after he was informed of the move on Saturday. Rzepczynski will enter into the bullpen mix and try to earn a spot there while Kyle Drabek, Jesse Litsch and Jo-Jo Reyes compete for rotation jobs.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at lazorm09@bonaventure.edu, follow him on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

Mets outfielder Jason Bay signed a huge contract last season and immediately struggled out of the gate. It didn’t help that the home run hitter had moved to a park with deeper fences either. But the worst came when he hit the outfield wall in Dodger Stadium last summer. A concussion and it’s symptoms followed and Bay’s season was done on July 25. He’s reported to spring training symptom free and is looking forward to a big year. “I just want to get back to the player I know I am,” Bay said yesterday after arriving in camp. “I kind of lost that a little bit last year.”

It’s been a tumultuous off-season for Texas Rangers 3rd baseman Michael Young. Trade rumors came and went, Texas signed free agent 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre and then traded for Mike Napoli to DH, leaving Young wondering what his future held. He then lashed out at management and demanded a trade. Things have settled down now and Young just wants to focus on baseball. ”I’m here to get ready for a baseball season,” Young said during a news conference shortly after his arrival at the Surprise Recreation Campus. ”After all this stuff is done, there’s a season to be played. My job in spring training is to go out and play as well as I possibly can.” You can bet Texas will continue to look for a buyer.

Sources have indicated that Baltimore Orioles reliever Alberto Simon will be cleared of a shooting death that occured in his native Dominican Republic over New Year’s. A ballistics report had shown that the fatal bullet had come from a fun owned by Simon.

Derek Jeter held court over the weekend for the NY media. He talked about his new stance- which is just a subtle change to increase his bat speed. “Right now my mind-set isn’t on ‘well, what’s going to happen if I don’t do my job,’” said Jeter, who is fresh off the worst offensive season of his career. “I think that’s pretty difficult to do. I’ve never prepared for a negative. I think you always have to stay positive and try to do your job.”

Injuries and a bad relationship with Mets manager Jerry Manuel led to John Maine’s exodus from New York. He’ll try to find his game again with the Colorado Rockies.

MLBPA Union head Michael Weiner is hoping Collective Bargaining Agreement talks start sooner rather than later. The current CBA expires in December.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Still, with all traditional items available, the innovative items continue to grab more of the marketplace, especially in the digital world.  One of the companies on the cutting edge of digital collectibles is New York-based Mosaic Legends, one of the latest partners of collectible giant Steiner Sports.  The company takes the centuries old art of the mosaic — hundreds and thousands of images melded into one — and infuses 21st century technology into the mix to come up with a series of both fine art prints and digital apps for some of the biggest stars and moments in baseball history.

Derek Jeter Mosaic

Artist Craig Adam literally goes through thousands of images to assemble the mosaic, and then digitizes each of the high resolution pictures into one image, with every one of the smaller shots holding their own in terms of quality.  The result is the capturing of one moment in time through thousands of others, and the formation of a very unique piece of frameable art.  In addition to the artwork, the company has acquired the technology to turn the prints into a digital app, with each of the thousands of images being embedded with video, text and in some cases with music, songs and video, The app takes the compelling still image and brings it to life.

The first iterations of the mosaics were in music, with artists like David Bowie and the Grateful Dead.  They then built apps for the Museum of Natural History and the Olympics and created their first sports app this summer with the legendary estate of Muhammad Ali.  That was quickly followed with a foray into baseball and the Steiner partnership, which produced a Derek Jeter mosaic in September.  The Jeter mosaic became the hottest selling item at Yankee Stadium this fall, and led to more work with Steiner and a series of mosaics and potential apps, with players like the Bombers Mariano Rivera and Nick Swisher as well as one for the world champion San Francisco Giants.

The company is also working on a series of customizable programs for sponsors and fans, incorporating brands and uploadable images taken at events into a living mosaic for display in arena, as well as for the collectible market. In a sport like baseball, with millions of classic moments and new ones being made every day, the growth potential is endless. We took a few minutes to catch up with Adam and one of the company’s founders, Jon Schweiger, and asked them about the company, the potential and their interest in baseball”

BBD: How much time from start to finish does it take to select photos for a mosaic and how many do you usually go through?
Craig Adam: It can take as little as a few days or as much as a few months — every piece is different. The selection of photos for the Jeter mosaic took a month as we meticulously went through an archive of over 5,000 images that were from his entire professional career.

The photographer, brand or other source provides the imagery and usually request that all the photos make it into the mosaic, so there’s no real time spent selecting the photos for the tiles, there is time spent on making sure all the photographs are of the same aspect ratio.

We typically receive 700-1,500 unique photos per project.  The target photo however, is usually anywhere between 1-10 choices that does take about a week to go through and select the best one.

Mariano Rivera Mosaic

BBD: The San Francisco Giants mosaic had a pretty quick turnaround.  What were the challenges associated with that kind of print?
CA: Creating a print for an event like the World Series or the Olympics is always a challenge because of the time constraint. In the case of the World Series we were accumulating assets for both teams during the series. When the Giants won we immediately started selecting images from the final game. It took a day to create the initial proof and then I worked on it for a few days before it was finished.

BBD: Are there any images embedded in the Jeter mosaic that are favorites of yours and why?
CA: I think the ones at bat are the best, as there is a lot of concentration going on. However, all the images with Jeter wearing the red Yankee cap mean the most to me.  That was the game Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s record and changed the memory of that date (Sept 11, 2009) for me as well as any Yankee fan watching that game.

BBD: Why is baseball a good sport for the mosaic platform as opposed to other sports or music?
CA: Baseball has a large color gamut because of the uniforms, field, close-ups, etc. The infield browns help make up skin tones which goes a long way to turn an iconic player into a great mosaic.

BBD: Are there any players or iconic photos you have on your list to make into mosaics?
CA: We are working on a collection of baseball team and athlete mosaics that Steiner Sports will be distributing and hope to have the opportunity to work with other leagues and athletes in the not too distant future.
BBD: Baseball seems to be growing faster than other sports for the business…why is that?
Jonathan Schweiger: I don’t think you’ll have the same perception a year from now. We decided to more aggressively enter the sports market based on the reaction to the mosaic and digital applications we created of Ali. It was summer when we started discussions with Steiner. Based on the time of year, their strong relationship with the league and exclusive relationships with a number of large market teams it was a natural first step.

BBD: How has Steiner Sports been to work with?
JS: Great! They are exceptionally well positioned, very entrepreneurial and have put together a well thought out strategy for launching and supporting our products. They get it and we plan on having a very long and successful relationship with them.

BBD: The Yankees coming up — Swisher and Rivera — is there any particular reason as to why they were selected?
JS: Both players are very popular but you shouldn’t read too much into it.  We’re working on a number of Yankee mosaics that we hope to have completed and available by spring training.

Muhammad Ali Mosaic

BBD: Do you have the ability to do the Yankee immortals as well?
JS: This is an area we have tremendous interest in and clearly represents a significant market opportunity – for all sports immortals.

BBD: The app is very detailed for Ali.  Will there be apps for the baseball products as well and when?
JS:  We’re working on it. Our goal is to have mobile and web based applications for all of our mosaic prints and merchandise.

BBD: How many mosaics are anticipated as we get closer to spring training?
JS: We are planning on 25-30 of the most popular players.

BBD: Could the mosaic, especially ones embedded with fan images, replace other collectibles at the ballpark?
JS: It all depends upon the resolution of the images, the immediacy to market and the price point.  However as we know technology and innovation are key, and providing added value for sponsors and fans who are paying a high price is also tantamount for success. Because of all those factors, the mosaic platform and its app cousin bear watching, and seem to already be making their ways into the psyche of the fan, even during a long cold winter with baseball on the distant horizon.

Additionally, there could be a vesting option worth $10M for a fourth year in 2014.  Either way it appears a deal could get done before the weekend is over and before Brian Cashman heads to the winter meetings in Orlando.

Update 7:30 pm

The speculation is over, if there really was any, Derek Jeter will be a Yankee for at least the next three years.  The two sides finalized a deal that will guarantee Jeter $48M and has a player option worth $8M, with a $3M “gift” if the option isn’t taken.  So in actuality Jeter is guaranteed $51M whether he plays the fourth year or not. The contract also contains $9M in incentives based on MVP voting, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, and ALCS and World Series MVP awards.  All in all Jeter could earn $65M over the life of the contract if he meets all the necessary requirements.

And now Yankees fans can breath and Brian Cashman’s ears can stop burning from what said fans have been saying about him.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Since the beginning of time, we’ve been hearing “Teams should be strong up the middle”. But any team not already strong at 2nd base and/or shortstop won’t get much stronger with the current crop of veteran middle infielders available in this year’s free agent class.

David Eckstein: Mr. Scrappy himself. He played the last two seasons with the San Diego Padres and is a two-time World Series champion with the Angels and Cardinals.  He’s also overrated, posting a terrible .701 career OPS. His two seasons in “America’s finest city” were even weaker. At age 35 he won’t get more than a one year deal, and it may have to be a minor league deal at that.

Christian Guzman: A once-promising star with the Minnesota Twins (acquired from the Yankees in the Chuck Knoblauch trade), Guzman had a career resurgence with the Washington Nationals in 2008. His numbers slid a bit last year and while he was subjected to playing some outfield…  his defense in the outfield wasn’t one of his better subjects. The Nats dealt him to Texas for the stretch run, but he hit just .152.  Still, at only 32, someone will give him a shot at a utility job.

Orlando Hudson: The “O-Dog” has inexplicably spent the last three seasons with three different teams.  It will be four in four years since it’s not likely he’ll be back with the Twins in 2011.  Hudson has always had the defensive rep and has put up decent offensive numbers. Unfortunately for the soon to be 33-yr old, he’s coming off the worst offensive season of his career.  But it’s still hard to imagine that he would have to sign his third straight one year deal. The O-Dog is clearly the top dog among the free agent middle infield class.

Adam Kennedy: Kennedy had arguably the best season of his career in 2009 with Oakland, but struggled with the Nats this past season.  He can still steal 15 bases and has a little power, but teams won’t be knocking down his door for a player with eroding skill sets who turns 35 in January. A minor league contract at best.

Julio Lugo: The 35-yr old (Are you seeing a pattern here?) has decent numbers for a part-time player and should find a job, though he may need to sign a minor league deal.  Lugo still has decent base-stealing capability, but his defense is erratic.

Aaron Miles: Miles showed promise as a 28-yr old rookie with the Colorado Rockies, but his numbers didn’t improve much there or in his time in St. Louis.  As an average defender, there are much better options out there.

Orlando Cabrera: 35 seems to be the age among middle infielders this off-season. Cabrera just completed his 14th big league season with his seventh team (Cincinnati Reds).  He’ll likely be on the move again and is going to have to start playing more of a utility role.  Of Cabrera’s 1,837 games in the field, he’s only played 33 outside of shortstop. Unless there’s a team that wants him to tutor their young shortstop, Cabrera’s weakened offense will force him to start playing some 3rd base and more 2nd base to land a job.

Craig Counsell: He may be 40, but his ability to play three infield positions gives Counsell an opportunity to sign on as a utility man.  He can only be looked at as a defensive replacement these days, since his offense is like a pop gun without the pop.

Jerry Hairston Jr.: Hairston still has some life in his bat and has the ability to play the outfield. Teams love to save money by signing a guy who can play everywhere… and that would be Hairston.  He’s played all seven non-catcher/pitcher positions, including one game at 1st base back in 2006. He’s never going to hit for power and he isn’t the base-stealing threat he once was (You guessed it, he’ll be 35 in May), but he can still be a useful bench player for a contender.

Cesar Izturis: The shortstop just completed two seasons for Baltimore in which he provided absolutely no offense.  How does one get to play 150 games with a .545 OPS? And you wonder why the Orioles are cellar dwellars? Izturis should be no more than a defensive replacement.

Edgar Renteria: Though just 33, Renteria has proven to be an ageless wonder. He helped 2 teams win the title- the Marlins in 1997 and the Giants this past year. He’s expressed an interest in moving to 2nd base if it helps him land a job in 2011. He most certainly will land on his feet.

Ty Wiggington: Though he played most of his games at 1st base in 2010, Wiggington can play 2nd and 3rd base as well. He had a tremendous season in a weak Orioles lineup, though he is better suited for a reserve role. The Orioles, as they often do, screwed up by not dealing him at the deadline. An unrestricted free agent, Wiggington will not bring any draft picks back to Baltimore.

Other utility players available – Miguel Cairo, Felipe Lopez