Unsung Yankees Heroes

Surprise!  It's not an Olympic blog today.  We're just a week away, so my attention will be completely London-focused soon enough.  Instead, today's blog is going to be about my other favorite team--the New York Yankees.

It's kind of weird to think that the Yankees currently have the best record in baseball.  For those of us who've watched the Yankees all season, it still seems like they haven't played their best baseball yet.  Yet it also seems like all they do is win.  Consider: they're a ridiculous 36-13 since May 21 (when they were 21-21) and they haven't scored fewer than three runs in a game since they were shut out in Anaheim on May 29.  I think part of the reason it seems like they're struggling when they actually aren't is because the "stars" haven't been the ones producing. 

Robinson Cano is having an MVP-like season, but I don't even think he's the Most Valuable Yankee this year.  I've narrowed the field for that award to four guys, none of whom were expected to be big contributors this season.  This quartet of unsung heroes--Rafael Soriano, Andruw Jones, Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez--are the reason why the Yankees are in first place.

Nobody's ever going to debate the greatness of Mariano Rivera.  Without question, he's the best closer in history.  When he went down for the season in early May, it would've been easy to think the Yankees' chances were lost with him.  But that hasn't been the case at all.  One of the reasons they signed Rafael Soriano as a free agent prior to last season was as an insurance policy in case anything ever happened to Rivera.  It's proven to be one of the smartest investments they've ever made.  Because they haven't slipped a beat.  Soriano hasn't made us forget about Rivera by any means (it would be impossible for someone to even try to do that), but he's certainly done more than an admirable job filling in for him.  Mariano wants to come back this year, and thinks he can (a sentiment shared by pretty much nobody else).  Regardless, thanks to Soriano, the Yankees can win this year even if he doesn't make it back.  That's something I never thought I'd say when this season began.

My next two candidates for Yankee MVP are the left field tag team of Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez.  After Jesus Montero was traded to Seattle, the Yankees signed Ibanez to be the starting DH.  They picked him over guys like former Yankees Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui because they wanted somebody who would also be able to play left field a couple times a week.  Andruw Jones was supposed to have exactly the same role he had last year, extra outfielder and right-handed pinch hitter/DH.

Then Brett Gardner got hurt.  As a result, either Ibanez or Jones has been in left field pretty much everyday, with the other usually in the lineup as the DH.  And they're both hitting like they're still in their primes!  Jones will never be a Gold Glove outfielder again, but offensively, he once again looks like the slugger who was bashing 40 home runs in the middle of the Atlanta lineup every year during the 90s-00s.  Meanwhile, all Ibanez seems to do is hit two- or three-run bombs in clutch situations.  An honorable mention could even go to Dwayne Wise, who normally only comes in as a defensive replacement for these two, but seems to have two hits every time he does start.

Finally, we've got Eric Chavez.  I always loved watching Eric Chavez play when he was in Oakland, then his career was completely derailed by injury after injury.  In his two years with the Yankees, Chavez hasn't had to be an everyday player, which has kept him healthy and productive.  Chavez's greatest attribute is that he's an excellent defensive third baseman.  Girardi can put him in the lineup at third and lose nothing defensively.  Putting Chavez at third and DHing A-Rod has helped A-Rod, too.  He's been able to stay healthier by not having to play the field everyday and, strangely, his numbers are better as a DH.

The biggest difference between this year's team and last year's is that the bench is significantly better.  As I've pointed out here, I completely agree.  That bench also includes Wise, Jayson Nix (who's been solid as the utility infielder) and Chris Stewart.  As sad as it was to see Francisco Cervelli get sent down on literally the last day of Spring Training, it turns out bringing Stewart in was the right decision.  It's important to give Russell Martin a break once in a while, especially since Martin hasn't been hitting at all.

Believe it or not, I think the Yankees are better now than they were at the start of the season.  There's no rush for Brett Gardner to come back (they'll likely have to send Wise down when/if he does).  This team looks like one that can win the World Series right now.  That's because of a quartet of guys playing much larger roles this season than anybody thought they ever would.