The Yankee Clipper: The Outfield

As the All-Star break comes to a close, it feels like a good time to review the season so far. We'll try to roll a different one of these out for the next week reviewing the Yankees different positional groups to see how they've performed so far this season. We'll also be reviewing this to see where weaknesses are before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Let's start out with the outfield:

1. Brett Gardner. One of my favorite players coming into this season has rewarded the Yankees' faith in making him an everyday player. He's hitting a robust .309/.396/.415 and at his current pace would finish the season with 10 HR and almost 50 SB. He's 10th in the AL in runs (56), 5th in OBP (.396), and 4th in SB (25). Baseball-Reference has his defense in left rated as tops in the American League. In my opinion, the best thing about his game is the amount of pitches he sees. He averages 4.58 P/PA which would be the highest average since Rickey Henderson had 4.55 in 1997 (and if you want to read up on the correlation of P/PA and production, I found this Hardball Times piece from 2005). Better yet, FanGraphs says that only 5 players in the Majors swing at less balls outside the strike zone than Gardner--then again, he's also swung at the least amount of pitches inside the strike zone in the Majors and overall meaning he only swings 31.3% of the time (but he makes contact at balls inside the strike zone a league-leading 98.1% of the time when he does swing). FanGraphs tracks Gardner's Wins Above Replacement number at 2.3 which already surpasses his 2009 value and puts him in the top 15 among American League outfielders and Baseball-Reference has Gardner's WAR at 3.4 with would be tied for 6th among all AL positional players (with Carl Crawford and Kevin Youkilis). Whether it's "Gardner Planted One" (for his Inside-the-Park home run), "Gardy Goes Yardy" (his regular home run call), or "Brett The Jet" (his stolen base call), Gardner has not only turned into an important Yankee regular, but he may be a reason the Yankees second-guess giving big money to Carl Crawford in the off-season. Best Month: June .383/.472/.533.
2. Nick Swisher. I will repeat: the Yankees acquired Nick Swisher for Wilson Betemit. Wow. Swisher came into camp this year in even better shape than last year and it has showed. The Yankees starting rightfielder is having his best Major League season with career highs at every slash (.298/.377/.524) as well as his Weighted On Base Average (wOBA) of .391 (only Robinson Cano has a better mark. He's projected to have 28 HR, 93 RBI and 72 XBH. And although UZR rates him as a negative defender, he's shown definite improvement in right with both his arm and his glove. His 2.7 WAR in both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference means that he's on pace to greatly surpass last year's output. And as shown by his recent All-Star Final Ballot selection, he's having a lot of fun doing it, bringing a loose atmosphere to the clubhouse that the Yankees needed after guys like Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi left. Swisher has moved around in the lineup a lot, hitting 2nd some games and anywhere from 4th to 8th in others--but wherever he's hit in the lineup, he's produced. Although he hasn't walked as much in 2010 (mostly due to who he's had hitting behind him), Swisher has still taken over 18% of his at bats to a full count and done damage when he's gotten there (.554 OBP). Swish has been extra Swishalicous in 2010 and the Yankees can control him for cheap through 2012 (according to Cot's Contracts, signed for bargains of  $6.75 M this year, $9 M in 2011 and a $10.25 M club option in 2012 with a $1 M buyout). Best Month: May .374/.441/.670 with 7 HR. Picture from the New York Daily News
3. Curtis Granderson. A disappointment so far, especially when compared with his other two outfield mates. The Yankees traded Austin Jackson, Phil Coke and Ian Kennedy for Granderson and while the three players the Yankees traded have been producing, Granderson has been struggling, especially against lefties. Granderson's marks of .240/.309/.409 and .319 wOBA are all career lows for a full season and he's projected to his a paltry 15 HR (compared to 30 last year), 52 RBI and steal only 15. Granderson missed almost the entire month of May as well which put the Yankees in a bit of a bind. Granderson is also signed for two more years and 18.25 M (with a $13 M option or $2 M buyout for 2013). Maybe the most disappointing part is that Granderson is basically a platoon player at this point, repeating his rough righty/lefty splits. In 2010, his OPS vs. lefties is 292 points lower than against righties meaning his basically Ryan Braun against righties and a poor man's Yadier Molina against lefties. Ouch. The best part of Granderson's game (besides his 7 for 7 base stealing)? His fielding which UZR only has Franklin Gutierrez and *gulp* Austin Jackson ahead of him as far as AL CFs go and would represent his highest mark since 2007. The Yankees need to keep their fingers crossed that Granderson can change around his luck in the second half or they may have to find a solid right-handed hitting OF who can platoon with Granderson. Best (full) Month: June .239/.297/.457 with 5 HR.
4. Marcus Thames / Randy Winn. The Yankees acquired these two (as well as Jamie Hoffmann who they had to return to Los Angeles) in the off-season to be Major League outfielders for them. The problem was that Marcus Thames can hit but can't field and Winn was so bad at both that the Yankees released him. Winn's .213/.300/.295 line meant that the Yankees would have Granderson-vs-a-lefty production up there all the time and that was just not going to work with zero power (though his one home run won a game for them). Thames has carried a potent bat hitting .297/.398/.447 .(376 wOBA) so far but his -2.7 UZR at utter lack of any type of mobility or defense ability in the outfield is just not going to cut it for the Yankees. While Nick Johnson is out (which may be the rest of the season), Thames should be installed as the DH. Although he's hit lefties better than righties this season (in small sample sizes), the difference is pretty marginal and he actually has more home runs against righties. If A-Rod or Posada is not getting a day off at DH, Thames should be there (though you worried about him getting exposed if he plays regularly). Unfortunately, his defense means the Yankees can't regularly install him as a platoon partner for Granderson. But for less than a million, Thames was a shrewd signing by Cashman. (Thames) Best Month: April .588/.650/.941.  
5. Kevin Russo / Colin Curtis / Chad Huffman / Greg Golson. Besides Ramiro Pena's 4 innings in the OF, this is the rest of the bunch. Russo has played in 11 games in the OF, Curtis 8, Huffman 7, and Golson 6. Golson was 2/5 with a caught stealing (he's supposed to be really fast) and positive defense before he was sent down (though he's only 24 and may be back up later). Russo started out hitting well but has fallen to .188/.250/.229 in 53 PAs overall which is terrible though UZR likes his defense at 3B or LF (2.9 UZR overall). Curtis has his a little bit more than Russo at .200/.259/.320 but those numbers don't play either. Last up is Huffman who is hitting a Russo-esque .167/.286/.167. The Yankees can keep on cycling through these guys as 5th OF options, but eventually (at least) one of them needs to step up. Russo right now is the most valuable because of his positional versatility (can play 3B and 2B as well). 

So it seems that coming out of the All-Star Break, the Yankees greatest need was their greatest need before the season as well: find a non-defensively challenged, righthanded outfielder. The defense part of things is why I think that Jermaine Dye is still out and guys like David DeJesus, Jayson Werth, Corey Hart, Marlon Byrd, and others may be too expensive for the Yankees' tastes at a position they don't need to upgrade. Jose Bautista is not great defensively but would make a lot of sense as a righty outfielder and a backup for Alex Rodriguez. But the Major League home run leader may cost too much. A player like Austin Kearns (or even Cody Ross) would seem like a good option if the price is right. Let us know in the comments what you think of the Yankees outfield so far and who you think they should go after before the July 31st trade deadline.

Side Note: I've added Baseball-Reference Links to this post. If you like it or dislike it, let us know in the comments. We think it's really cool, though