That’s right folks, more best of the decade stuff! If I had any foresight, I would have anticipated all of this and started a category for it, but alas. Today’s feature is the Yanks’ All-Decade team, provided by Scals at The Blue Workhorse. He provides a little blurb on each player, but I’ll trim it down and give you his roster:
C: Jorge Posada
1B: Jason Giambi
2B: Robinson Cano
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Alex Rodriguez
LF: Johnny Damon
CF: Bernie Williams
RF: Bobby Abreu
DH: Hideki MatsuiSP: Andy Pettitte
SP: Mike Mussina
RP: Joba Chamberlain
CL: Mariano Rivera
Four of the everyday positions are obvious. You can make a good case for Alfonso Soriano over Cano at second, though I won’t argue it too much. As for the outfield, I’m going with Gary Sheffield in right over Abreu. In 347 games in pinstripes, Sheff hit .291-.383-.515 with 76 homers and more walks (183) than strikeouts (175). Abreu was “just” a .297-378-.465 hitter with 43 jacks and far more strikeouts (276) than walks (190) in 372 games with the Yanks. Sure, Sheff was a jerk, but he was damn productive jerk.
The two starting pitchers are pretty obvious, ditto Mo at the back end. But Joba as the reliever of the decade? Come on. The guy made just 50 relief appearances (60 IP) for the team, which barely qualifies as a full season’s worth of work for an elite reliever. Tom Gordon, on the other hand, was straight up dirrrty in his time with the Yanks. Two years, 159 appearances, 170.1 IP with a 2.38 ERA and 165 strikeouts. Joba has the wow factor, but Gordon was pretty clearly the team’s best non-Mo reliever during the aughts.
What do you guys think, disagree with anything else? Talk about that, or whatever else you want here. The Knicks, Nets, and Devils are all in action. Have at it.
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