And I don’t know what you’re talking about re: 2007. I never said I didn’t see how they got to the playoffs with A Rod.

Source: Rheal Cormier was my next-door neighbor during his salad days in the Cardinals’ system in Louisville, KY. He didn’t do too badly for a wrong-sided hockey playin’ Canuck from New Brunswick! I always made fun of him by telling him it was too cold for baseball way the hell up in Moncton, New Brunswick and that he learned the game in and was really from New Brunswick, New Jersey! He would go on to an undistinguished, but profitable $25M plus major league career pitching past his 40th birthday.

LOL @ The Moncton Missile!

I have used a few stats to show that what you have said is NOT true. They don’t cancel out. And Reyes is certainly not an improvement over Arod in any category except steals.

If you don’t see how the Yanks got to the playoffs in 2007 WITH Arod (instead of say, Reyes), then I am really curious to see what stats you use.

I’ll also add that however runs per game your worth, when those runs happen is also important. If that number is weighted towards blowouts in either direction, it loses some of its luster.

Anyway my point was I’d rather Reyes replace A Rod than Jeter and how the former two are high-maintenance, and Jeter’s anything but. So they’d cancel each other out in that regard (with some improvement, actually). Then the question put was how in the world a team could survive without A Rod and I’m saying it could happen. In fact, I’m wondering more how the team survives WITH him, his OPS notwithstanding.

If people are introducing the OPS stat, why not break it down, since OBP is part of the equation?

Post 2003, we’ve had an average ERA+ of 99. I wonder if that explains our PS failures.

It’s a combination of things; the Yanks have failed in all aspects of the game; pitching, offense, defense.

[36] You may also want to add defense to the equation

True, I think we are generally talking about their slugging. Slugging by definition is not limited to home runs. So the 1998 Yanks didn’t need a 50+ homer guy to help them be a good slugging team. They did have four guys who hit 20+ homers and TEN guys who hit 10+ homers. That’s pretty good slugging, if you ask me. That team could hit a homer at any time, especially considering Yankee Stadium’s pitcher friendly park factor.

Plus Tino was a guy who hit 44 homers the year before. Bernie was routinely between 25 and 30. I think they were considered “serious HR threats.”

Still, if your earlier point is that we should get rid of Arod and replace with Jose Reyes, then you should also address where we are going to make up the difference. But how much is the difference?

OPS and Total bases don’t take into account steals and avoid double plays (two things Reyes does better than Arod). So we can use Runs Created which “involves some positive value for things like hits, walks, steals, home runs, etc. and negative values for outs, caught stealing and GIDP.” That stat should portray Reyes in a more positive light than traditional stats.

Still, Arod has 8.3 career Runs Created per Game compared to Reyes’ 5.5. How big is that 2.8 RC/g differential? To put it in context, the dropoff from Arod to Reyes is bigger than the dropoff of 2006 Robinson Cano superstar (6.6) and 2008 Robinson Cano suckfest (4.0).

Making up that difference in offense is hard when this team gets as injured as often as it does as the players age.

To note:
Certainly, we had an awesome team in 1998.
If you give pitching an edge. the 2008 team was better then the 2000 team.
1999 and 2003 were tough years to lose the playoffs.
We don’t mke the PS in 2007 without ARod.
Post 2003, we’ve had an average ERA+ of 99. I wonder if that explains our PS failures.

And Hawk… No, you don’t really NEED an ARod type force on a team with an ERA+ in the 110 range. But with a team ERA+ in the 100 range, he sure is a ahbdy guy to have around.

I mean I know I’m not alone in the world in my view, but if I’m on the other side of some line here that dictates the late 1990s championship Yankees teams were power hitting powerhouses I can deal with that. To me it’s bizarro world if they are considered that. They had no A Rod or A Rod type player, and they succeeded; that’s my point. They didn’t NEED that one or two mashers. A good, balanced team shouldn’t.

And for the love of all that’s holy no one is debating their ability to get on base.

I don’t think there ever was a time the Yanks were “slugger-less.” Bernie, Tino, O’Neill, Strawberry, to name a few slugged over .500 a few times.

FWIW, they led the league in OBP (.362), and were 4th in the league in SLG (.460), finishing behind Seattle (.468), Boston (.463) & Texas (.462).

Second, it just seems like all roads lead to A Rod in these arguments. No matter what is said, it somehow equals absolutely needing him on the team.

In a general sense, the 1998 team had no real power and still had a dominant offense. Their offense had little to do with slugging, but it was about as even a team as you could ask for. Teams with one or two big boppers tend to wait around a lot for someone to go yard. We saw the Yanks do it for years to stagnant effect. And we saw them thrive when slugger-less. Not that that’s the only way to do it, but the idea that they need a player like A Rod, and especially A Rod the walking distraction himself, is without basis.

Year Team Off. OPS+
2008 101
2007 118
2006 112
2005 115
2004 112
2003 115
2002 114
2001 100
2000 104
1999 110
1998 117

pete abe: jeter – no comment on the a-rod comment. damon – funny comment about “showing alex what i can do”, (said w/ a laugh).

kudos to Diana for a KMFDM reference! i’m down with the original meaning for the bands’ acronym, for certain!

Sherman writes that the Yankees have finished up contracts for the 40-man roster, yet I have not seen any contracts reported for Joba, Hughes, Edwar, Aceves, Veras, Coke, Giese, Sanchez or Claggett. In fact, Sherman himself wrote on Feb. 20 that Joba remained unsigned and that the Yankees could renew his $390,000 contract (I presume that means adjusting to the new ML minimum of $400,000) between March 2 and 11.

As for Alex, when he decided that he was going to play in the WBC for the Dominican team (and not team USA), I had a thought that something was going to come up in the last minute which would drive him away from the competition. I tend towards the cynical, but could it all have been staged?