A Comparison of the Yankees and Rangers

by iblum on Oct 13, 2010 8:57 AM CDT

I feel that the ESPN article comparing the Yankees and Rangers position by position failed to use appropriate rigor, and may have even been somewhat biased. So, this is my more rigorous, but no less biased look at the two teams. A note on format, I'll first show all the players at each position, but limit the discussion to those who we should expect to see there in the series to come.

Catcher:

Texas:

Max Ramirez, 24 games, .224/.349/.358
Taylor Teagarden, 26 games, .155/.259/.338
Bengie Molina, 53 games, .235/.276/.318
Matt Treanor, 73 games, .209/.287/.299
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 1 game, .250/.250/.250

NY:

Jorge Posada, 80 games, .256/.370/.474
Francisco Cervelli, 84 games, .276/.363/.341
Chad Moeller, 6 games, .214/.267/.429

Lets just say that the festering hole that is the Rangers catching position offensively isn't going to get all that much better against the Yankees. Ramirez, Teagarden, and Salty won't be in uniform for these games (though Salty may be in his spiffy Red Sox unis). And though Molina has fared well in the postseason so far, well... he won't be stealing too many more bases. Treanor played only one game and got hit twice. For the Yankees, it appears that they've decided that Posada is fine and will run him out there everyday. which might be to our advantage in that he throws like Julio Borbon. He still hits ok, which is far more than can be said for our guys. Advantage: Yankees

First Base

Mitch Moreland, 39 games, .266/.372/.468
Justin Smoak, 68 games, .207/.316/.353
Jorge Cantu, 22 games, .222/.273/.306
Chris Davis, 35 games, .184/.271/.263
Joaquin Arias, 5 games, .231/.286/.231
Ryan Garko, 6 games, .000/.083/.000

NY:

Mark Teixeira, 148 games, .267/.374/.496
Nick Swisher, 4 games, .222/.300/.222
Lance Berkman, 7 games, .120/.290/.160
Nick Johnson, 2 games, .111/.111/.222
Juan Miranda, 8 games, .000/.158/.000

Another festering hole for the Rangers for much of the season, though it now seems to be filled by Mitch Moreland, who wasn't dreadful in the ALDS. Amazingly, Moreland matches up to Mark Teixeira, albiet in a much smaller sample. And in a short series anything can happen, like Teixeira going 4 for 13 with a homer and a double like he did against the Twins. Also note that Cantu might start against either Sabathia or Pettitte, but at this point I doubt it. Advantage: MFY

Second Base

Texas:

Ian Kinsler, 102 games, .286/.381/.412
Andres Blanco, 35 games, .307/.345/.416
Joaquin Arias, 21 games, .304/.314/.391
Esteban German, 3 games, .250/.455/.250
Alex Cora, 2 games, .167/.167/.167
Christian Guzman, 9 games, .091/.143/.091
Jorge Cantu, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY:

Robinson Cano, 158 games, .321/.382/.539 
Ramiro Pena, 6 games, .353/.389/.412 
Kevin Russo, 2 games, .000/.000/.000

Cano was a viable MVP candidate. Kinsler was hurt most of the year, but is healthy now, and is actually hitting like the Kinsler who was a legit MVP candidate in '08. I'm gonna get roasted for this one, but for this series, I'm gonna call this a push, because Kinsler's health issues are not likely to surface during this series. Advantage: none

Third Base

Texas

Mike Young, 155 games, .282/.329/.441
Alex Cora, 1 game, 1.000/1.000/1.000
Andres Blanco, 7 games, .333/.467/.417
Jorge Cantu, 7 games, .304/.333/.435
Chris Davis, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

Alex Rodriguez, 122 games, .268/.339/.496
Eduardo Nunez, 10 games, .306/.342/.417
Francisco Cervelli, 2 games, .000/.500/.000
Ramiro Pena, 33 games, .183/.214/.204
Kevin Russo, 9 games, .133/.188/.133

A-Rod vs Michael Young. Rodriguez is a first ballot hall of famer, who had a bad year at the plate. Young isn't, and his second half was very bad. A-Rod is also better defensively. Unlike Evan Longoria, A-Rod is healthy now, so, we're kinda hosed here. Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop

Texas

Elvis Andrus, 146 games, .265/.343/.301
Cristian Guzman, 3 games, .364/.417/.455
Joaquin Arias, 2 games, .333/.333/.500
Andres Blanco, 16 games, .224/.283/.224
Esteban German, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

Derek Jeter, 151 games, .271/.342/.371
Ramiro Pena, 17 games, .250/.282/.250
Eduardo Nunez, 7 games, .214/.267/.214

Elvis vs Jeter. Yankee fans can't stand to hear that Jeter isn't god. That Jeter isn't going to win the first 4 games of the series all by himself. That Jeter really does suck defensively, so much so that it overcomes the fairly large gap in offense that Jeter is better than Elvis by. Elvis has added a lot of patience this year, which is a great sign of things to come, but he's gonna have to swing at a few first pitches to keep from starting every at bat down 0-1. Advantage: Rangers

Left Field

Texas

Josh Hamilton, 92 games, .378/.424/.708
David Murphy, 67 games, .305/.387/.505
Nelson Cruz, 14 games, .261/.292/.391
Esteban German, 1 game, .333/.333/.333
Craig Gentry, 4 games, .200/.182/.200
Jeff Francoeur, 2 games, .167/.167/.167
Vladimir Guerrero, 1 game, .000/.250/.000
Julio Borbon, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

Brett Gardner, 114 games, .295/.398/.402
Greg Golson, 1 game, .667/.667/1.000
Austin Kearns, 20 games, .250/.338/.367
Randy Winn, 17 games, .250/.351/.354
Marcus Thames, 20 games, .265/.345/.347
Kevin Russo, 11 games, .219/.286/.281
Colin Curtis, 3 games, .143/.250/.286
Chad Huffman, 3 games, .222/.222/.222

With Granderson hitting again, Gardner played all 3 games in left field for the Yankees, and expect him to do so again against the Rangers, unless Girardi actually pays attention and sits Gardner and/or Granderson against CJ. If he doesn't, expect some 0-fers against Wilson and Lee. Wash has reverted to 2009, and fixed Hamilton in centerfield, and with Murphy "healthy", has a platoon where Murphy plays left against righties and Francoeur plays right field against lefties, with Cruz swapping between. Even so, matchups dictate that this will favor the Rangers, as we're likely to have 4 games of the 7 pitched by lefties. Advantage: Rangers

Centerfield

Texas

Julio Borbon, 128 games, .276/.309/.341
Josh Hamilton, 38 games, .314/.377/.475
David Murphy, 9 games, .269/.296/.423
Craig Gentry, 7 games, .263/.300/.263

Curtis Granderson, 132 games, .251/.328/.475
Nick Swisher, 1 game, 1.000/1.000/4.000
Brett Gardner, 40 games, .234/.351/.328
Greg Golson, 3 games, .333/.333/.333

Hamilton vs Granderson. Hamilton has been surprisingly good afield this year in center. Granderson will have to overcome the 0 for 8 he's going to get from two games against C.J. Wilson. Advantage: Rangers

Right Field

Texas

Nelson Cruz, 94 games, .327/.384/.611
Mitch Moreland, 6 games, .222/.333/.556
Jeff Francoeur, 13 games, .317/.349/.439
Vladimir Guerrero, 16 games, .246/.292/.475
David Murphy, 43 games, .287/.331/.401
Brandon Boggs, 2 games, .000/.143/.000
Craig Gentry, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

Nick Swisher, 131 games, .295/.368/.526
Marcus Thames, 6 games, .376/.522/.813
Ramiro Pena, 2 games, .667/.667/.667
Austin Kearns, 12 games, .194/.359/.226
Chad Huffman, 3 games, .143/.400/.143
Colin Curtis, 13 games, .158/.220/.184
Randy Winn, 5 games, .083/.083/.083

Nick Swisher vs the other half of the Francoeur/Murphy/Cruz platoon. Francoeur doesn't have much range, but his arm may be a factor in the shallow rightfields of Arlington and the new Yankee stadium. Swisher is good. Cruz is better. and Francoeur has been hot since leaving NY. Also look for a big Frenchy bird to the Met faithful who managed to score tickets in Yankeeville. Advantage: Rangers

Texas

Jeff Francoeur, 1 game, .667/.667/1.167
Mike Young, 2 games, .429/.444/.714
Bengie Molina, 1 game, .500/.500/.500
Vladimir Guerrero, 129 games, .306/.349/.501
Josh Hamilton, 13 games, .306/.357/.469
Nelson Cruz, 3 games, .375/.444/.375
Ryan Garko, 5 games, .111/.158/.111
Matt Treanor, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Max Ramirez, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
David Murphy, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Cristian Guzman, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Esteban German, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Julio Borbon, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

Austin Kearns, 2 games, .429/.429/.571
Alex Rodriguez, 12 games, .304/.360/.630
Juan Miranda, 13 games, .293/.341/.610
Marcus Thames, 41 games, .291/.326/.530
Lance Berkman, 25 games, .286/.368/.390
Jorge Posada, 30 games, .245/.342/.412
Nick Johnson, 20 games, .177/.414/.323
Nick Swisher, 11 games, .255/.314/.404
Derek Jeter, 5 games, .227/.261/.318
Robinson Cano, 2 games, .222/.300/.222
Mark Teixeira, 9 games, .135/.200/.243
Colin Curtis, 1 games, .000/.000/.000

Joe Girardi used his DH all year to rest people, and therefore, that talk about how wonderful Marcus Thames is, is just that, talk. Thames had fewer than 150 PA's at DH, so, comparing him to Guerrero is like comparing Mitch Moreland to Mark Teixeira. Berkman will play against right handed starters (of which the Yankees won't face too many against us) Advantage: Rangers

Will do pitching staffs later.

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Comments

Awesome

I like how anytime the Rangers player is within 20% of the Yankees you give it to us. Cool.

Though I’d have just had fun and said that every position we’re favored. 1b and 3b too, because while Young and Moreland aren’t ARod and Teixeira; they’re not obnoxious tools either. (besides, Mitch Moreland makes baseball really fun to watch – Teixeira doesn’t – that counts for something)

Go Rice Owls!

by JBImaknee on Oct 13, 2010 9:05 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

Not sure where I did that

Cano vs Kinsler maybe, but Kinsler is hot and healthy, and Cano is going to face a lot of lefties this series. Jeter vs Elvis is defense vs offense. Jeter is Michael Young bad defensively at SS, IMO, and gets no points from me for experience, grittiness, having the good face, post season experience, having hot girlfriends, or any of the other crap that Jeter apologists like to throw at him.

LSJ (on Dallas Braden): I know him, and I think he's a psychotic lowlife.
Braden's grandmother: And I think calling him that is an insult to the psychotic lowlife community.

by iblum on Oct 13, 2010 11:05 AM CDT up reply actions

Nitpick

Salty started 1 game, but he batted in 2 of them.

by Past A Diving Michael Young on Oct 13, 2010 9:23 AM CDT reply actions

Salty had a pinch hit appearance

he only appeared at the plate as a catcher in one game.

LSJ (on Dallas Braden): I know him, and I think he's a psychotic lowlife.
Braden's grandmother: And I think calling him that is an insult to the psychotic lowlife community.

by iblum on Oct 13, 2010 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions

That's what I just said.

by Past A Diving Michael Young on Oct 13, 2010 11:38 AM CDT up reply actions

How about you guys say that..

Texas is better in every positions.
Cano is the best offensive and defensive 2B in the league.
Andrus and Jeter is more of a push, but Jeter has a ton of postseason experience. Adv. Jeter.
Bullpen push, slight advantage to Yanks because of Rivera..
Starting Staff, push, slight advantage to Texas because of Lee.
And OF, Swish is better than any platoon, he’s hit 29 homes in back to back years. And he has great plate discipline.
I’m sorry but your post is biased, as was what I just said. Please don’t say it isn’t.

Let's cut through the crap, Vaughn. I only got one thing to say to you: "Strike this mother f*cker out."

by tclaro on Oct 13, 2010 11:31 AM CDT reply actions

Okay...

a couple of things.

The Yanks ’pen is not better than the Rangers, sorry.

Jeter doesn’t have an edge because of experience, that’s just crap.

The Rangers are obviously not better at every position. The Yanks have a clear edge in the IF while the Rangers have the clear edge in the OF/DH.

Don’t act like you’re not biased too.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Oct 13, 2010 11:45 AM CDT up reply actions

He admitted he was biased also

"I wanted to go out there and punch Julio," Washington said. - After Borbon dropped a fly ball with one out in 9th of the AL West clinching game against Oakland As. 09/25/10

"If I had caught it, the force would have taken me through the fence." -- Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs about a Nelson Cruz line drive.

by NorCalRangersFan on Oct 13, 2010 2:48 PM CDT up reply actions