Yankees Season Preview

I thought since the Yankees were off today and there was no news, tonight was a good time to do this mini preview. The Yankees are in the toughest division in baseball and it won't be easy but I think they will win the division winning 97 games. The way I look at it is that even without Arod for probably a month, the additions of Posada and Matsui and having Tex plus the pitching makes up for it. The Yankees won 89 games last year with no Matsui or Posada and Pavano, Ponson, Rasner, Giese making a lot of their starts. I don't know how that team won 89 games. That is enough about last year, lets talk about this year. I am going to project what I think will be the opening day roster and here it is: Starting Pitchers 1.CC Sabathia 2. Ching Ming Wang 3. AJ Burnett 4. Andy Pettitte 5. Joba Chamberlain I think this is the best starting pitching the Yankees have had in years. I can see CC and Wang winning 18-20 games each. Burnett I see winning 16 or 17 games, Andy Pettitte 15 and Joba 12. Ok on to the relievers: Relief Pitchers Closer:MO Setup Man: Brian Bruney Setup Man: Damaso Marte Middle Relief:Jose Veras Middle Relief:Edwar Ramirez All purpose Reliever:Phil Coke Long Man: Alfredo Aceves I love this bullpen, the guys are young and what I love is that if anyone fails they can send them down and replace them with other guys like Albaladejo, Melancon, Claggett, Jackson, JB Cox etc. Starting Lineup: 1b-Mark Teixera 2b-Robinson Cano ss-Derek Jeter 3b-Arod/Cody Ransom for the 1st month C-Jorge Posada LF-Johnny Damon CF-Brett Gardner RF-Nick Swisher DH-Hideki Matsui Bench: Xavier Nady Melky Cabrera Angel Berroa-for the 1st month at least until Arod comes back Jose Molina I dont think you can complain about this lineup, yes without Arod it will hurt but I actually think Cody Ransom is going to do better then people think. He plays good defense and I think he will hit 280 or 290. Mark Teixera is a huge addition to this team in many ways, he is going to bring defense to first base that we haven't seen since Tino left and really Don Mattingly, that is how good this guy is with the glove and hitting well he is just a switch hitting power, high OBP and hits for average. I don't think you can ask for much more. I think Cano will have a bounce back year at second all around, Jeter will be Jeter and Arod when he comes back will go on a tear. I think Posada will be healthy and make that position so much better then last year. I think Damon will have a good year and if Gardner can just slap at the ball and get on base 350+ he will be fine in CF. I think between Nady and Swisher they will have 30-40 combined hrs and 100+rbis and better defense out there then Abreu. I think Matsui will be healthy only being the DH and will be back to hitting around 300 with some power and a good clutch hitter. The bench is better then it has been in years with Swish or Nady on the bench, Melky, Jose Molina and Cody Ransom or for the first month Angel Berroa. I think this team is a cohesive group and Girardi will be better in his second year with more to work with and they have a great shot at getting to the World Series.