All Things Bubba

Replacement Level Yankees Weblog has issued their post season report card for the 2006 Yankees. The most valuable Yankee was none other than Derek Jeter, pulling ahead of Jorge Posada, who held the lead in the midterm report.

Here's the entire list, best to worst, contributions on both offense and defense taken into account:

Jeter      43
Mussina    37
Posada     33
Giambi     29
Wang       28
Damon      22
Cano       21
Rivera     21
Johnson    19
Rodriguez  18
Proctor    12
Abreu      11
Farnsworth  5
Smith       5
Karstens    4
Thompson    4
Bruney      3
Matsui      3
Rasner      2
Myers       2
Cairo       1
Guiel       1
Sheffield   1
Veras       1
Wright      0
Cannizaro  -1
Reese      -1
Bean       -1      
Nieves     -2
Villone    -2
Henn       -2
Erickson   -3
Fasano     -4
Lidle      -4
Long       -4
Stinnett   -5
K. Wilson  -6
Sturtze    -6
Green      -6
Ponson     -7
Dotel      -8
Crosby     -8
Beam      -11
Cabrera   -11 
Phillips  -13
C. Wilson -13
Small     -13
Williams  -15
Chacon    -15

Interesting stuff. Wang had a real surge in the second half, but it wasn't quite enough to overcome Moose's hot start. Colter Bean contributed more than TJ Beam. A-Rod's defense was awful. Andy Phillips and Craig Wilson were equally horrible; Guiel would have been a better choice.

And Melky Cabrera's numbers for the season are surprisingly bad. His zone rating is pretty poor, suggesting that moving him to CF might not be a great idea. Though he is young, and may improve on both offense and defense.

Bubba also did poorly in the second half, dropping from -2.6 to -8. Considering that he was only around for a couple of weeks after the All-Star Break, and didn't play every game in that time, that's a pretty big shift. (July was really rough for Bubba. He hit only .152 that month.)

Not one of Bubba's best seasons, alas. But I'm confident he'll bounce back next year. He just needs regular playing time, and perhaps a little job security. He looked a bit anxious to me this year, especially toward the end. He used to be known for his good eye and patience at the plate; he needs to show that again.

Bernie finished the season at -15, the worst for any position player on the team. I fear Torre's love of veterans, and of Bernie in particular, is a real liability. Many believe that Torre's fondness for Bernie kept Lofton from playing regularly, and prevented the Yanks from trading for Carlos Beltran. Last season, his insistence on playing Bernie, Sierra, Lawton, and Womack in the outfield over Bubba came back to bite us in the playoffs. This season, he was supposed to platoon Bernie and Bubba, and then Bernie and Guiel, but instead, it ended up being all Bernie, all the time. That not only hurts the team, it blocks younger players from getting a fair shot.

Melky really lucked out this year, as Wang and Cano did last year. Basically, Joe had no choice but to play him. I suspect if Bubba hadn't been injured, Melky would have been sent back to Columbus. In May, Bubba was hitting better than Melky, for both average and power, plus Joe was putting him in as a LIDR for Melky. Then Melky fell into a month-long slump. I think Joe would have sent him back down to the minors, if he had another outfielder to take his place. But with Bubba, Matsui, and Sheff on the DL, he didn't. When Bubba returned, he wasn't hitting as well, having spent a month on the shelf, while Melky was rebounding from his slump. But once Sheff and Matsui came back, Melky was riding pine.

Bernie, I love you, but you need to retire.

Also worth a look is RLYW's analysis of What Happened? in the postseason. In short...the pitching was bad, the offense was worse, and the defense was worst of all. Just really ugly all around.