| Team History: Took over the team right before Spring Training and cleaned house. Some for the good, some for the bad. The Good: Defense and Pitching The Bad: Traded Bonds, no offense. Lineup: Lineup has been strong 1-4 but other than Griffey, no consistent run producer. Byrnes has been a pleasant surprise at the top of the order and for a while combined with Kelton for an awesome 1-2 rookie punch. From 5 on down the lineup is about the weakest in the IBC and the Yanks have been shutout regularly over the season's final month. Bench: Should have been decent with Spiezio but he has had a poor year. Matheny is a solid defensive catcher but there is definitely a need for an upgrade on the pine. Defense: Team strength. With Mientkiewicz, Hairston, Jack Wilson, and Molina in the infield there should be some hardware thrown around. Fryman, is a steady stopgap and an upgrade defensively over Kelton. Griffey and Byrnes are excellent defenders in the OF, Lee is a liability and is probably more suited for DH. Rotation: As it stands, should be pretty solid for the 2003 season. Certain things need to happen....Brown stay healthy, Benson continue to progress from TJ surgery, Lohse to SIM better. 16 pitchers made starts for this team, need some consistency. Bullpen: By the end of the year this was rock solid. Julio and Mantei were lights out the last month. Mantei was not scored upon in his last 15 appearances. With the addition of SIM improvements from Vizcaino, Witasick and Cordero and the addition of the youngster German, this bullpen will be the strong point of the 2003 campaign. Minors: Pitching strong. Strong scouting research has assembled some Brave-esque young arms. German, Beltran, Cordero, and Vizcaino are already in the MLB and dominant. Wayne, Zambrano and Franklin also have made their MLB debuts and have a shot at the 2003 rotation. Mlicki and Rupe are grizzled vets that will be there in case Brown and others can't stay healthy. Strengths/Weaknesses: Pretty obvious. Strong in pitching and defense, extremely weak hitting. Over/Under: OVER - Eric Byrnes (30-30 with 40 doubles and 100 runs? Only got 100 at-bats in the MLB) Under - Witasick, Spiezio, Lohse, Vizcaino, Hairston, Mientkiewicz, and Cordero....Jeez! Prescription: Easy on the frivolous trades.....Bonds Trade killed. Offense! Trade some young arms for a bopper to compliment Griffey. Keep Griffey, Brown and Benson healthy. This team could easily contend next year.....could just as easily occupy the cellar again. |
| NEW YORK YANKEES *NOTE - This analysis is strictly the opinion of the Red Sox GM, and was done as objectively as possible and strictly for the fun of it |
| GM Rich Bishop RECORD 67-95 5th AL East |
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| Lineup: Byrnes RF Mientkiewicz 1B Griffey CF C. Lee LF Daubach/Spiezio DH Fryman 3B Matheny/Molina C Hairston 2B Jack Wilson SS Rotation: Kevin Brown Kris Benson Shawn Estes Kyle Lohse Ryan Jensen |
| Bullpen: Julio - closer Mantei Timlin Borbon Witasick Alan Benes Antonio Osuna Bench: Spiezio Matheny Valentin |
| Minors: Franklyn German Hansel Izquierdo Francisco Cordero Francis Beltran Justin Wayne Victor Zambrano Wayne Franklin Dave Mlicki Mike Porzio Luis Vizcaino Ryan Rupe |