Joe Torre has had an amazing run as the manager of the Yankees.  The Yankees have won the division 10 times in Torre’s 11 seasons in NY.  The other season they finished 2nd and made the playoffs.  They have won 4 World Series and won over 100 games 4 times on Torre’s watch.  In his 11 years for the Yanks, Torre has a record of 1,079-699 (.607).  He also has a 75-44 (.630) post season record for the Yanks.   Over his whole career, Torre has a record of 1,973-1,702 (.537) with a post season record of 75-47 (.615). 

The Yankees have added Luis Vizcaino and Chris Britton to an already loaded bullpen.  It was important for the Yankees to add depth to the bullpen because they have a lot of questions in their starting rotation due to age and injury problems.  “The Sandman”  Mariano Rivera is in his free agent walk year so batters had better look out.  Rivera was 5-5 last season with 34 saves.  He had a 1.80 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP in 63 games in 2006.  Batters only hit .223 against Rivera and he only walked 11 batters in 75 innings and 4 of them were intentional!  Rivera hasn’t had an ERA over 2.00 since the 2002 season!  Rivera is still the best closer in baseball as it’s GAME OVER when he comes in the game.  Even more amazing than his career numbers during the regular season is his dominance in the post season over his career.  Rivera is 8-1 with 34 saves in 73 post season games.  In those 73 games he has an ERA of 0.80 with a 0.75 WHIP!  Look for Rivera to have another sub 2.00 ERA with 35-45 saves in 2007.

Soon to be 31 year old Kyle Farnsworth has the strongest pitching arm on the Yankees but he didn’t pitch well for them last season.  He was 3-6 with 19 holds and 6 saves in 72 games.  His ERA 4.36 with a 1.36 WHIP which is hard to believe because batters only hit .243 against him and he whiffed 75 batters in only 66 innings.  Look for him to have a much better season in 2007 for the Yankees.

32 year old righty Luis Vizcaino was acquired in the Randy Johnson trade with the Diamondbacks.  He’s another very strong armed pitcher like Farnsworth is.  He was 4-6 with 25 holds in 70 games with the Diamondbacks last season.  He only allowed 51 hits in 65.1 innings last season and lefty hitters only could muster a .163 batting average against him in 2006.  Look for Vizcaino to pitch late in games for the Yanks and possibly in the 8th inning if Farnsworth falters again this season.

30 year old righty Scott Proctor had a breakout season for the Yanks in 2006.  He was 6-4 with 26 holds in 83 games for the Yankees.  He had a 3.52 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in an amazing 102.1 innings of relief!  Proctor limited the opponents to a .232 batting average against him and he whiffed 89 batters.  Look for Proctor to have another good season for the Yankees in 2007.

37 year old lefty Mike Myers just keeps rolling along.  He was 1-2 with 18 holds in 62 games that only covered 30.2 innings.  The odd thing about Myers is that lefty hitters batted .257 against him while righties only hit .224 against him.  Still, look for Torre to limit Myers innings and pitch him mostly against tough lefty hitters late in the game.  He will have another decent season for the Yanks.

37 year old lefty Ron Villone has been brought back to the Yanks.  He was 3-3 with 6 holds and a 5.04 ERA in 70 games for the Yanks last season.  If the Yanks used Villone the same way that Myers is used, he would probably give them solid results as lefty batters only hit .179 against him last year.  Righties, however, hit .289 against him and Villone continues to walk too many batters (51 in 80.1 innings).  Don’t expect much out of Villone in 2007.

24 year old righty Chris Britton was 0-2 with 6 saves and a 3.35 with a 1.17 WHIP in 52 games for the Baltimore Orioles last season.  The Yankees were pleased to get a pitcher of this caliber for Jaret Wright and they didn’t even care if they had to trade Wright to a team in the division.  Britton dominated righthanded batters as they only hit .186 against him last season.  Look for Britton to be a big part of the Yankees bullpen in the future, but he will likely pitch early in games in 2007.

25 year old righty Brian Bruney was signed by the Yankees on July 19, 2006 after the Diamondbacks released him and boy did that move look good.  Bruney was 1-1 with 4 holds in 19 games for the Yankees.  He had an ERA of 0.87 with a 1.40 WHIP for the Yanks.  Batters only hit .189 against him last season but he walked 15 batters in only 20.2 innings and he will need to improve on that if he want to make the Yanks roster.  Their are no doubts about his arm as he whiffed 25 batters in 20.2 innings. 

Chein-Ming Wang has been placed on the disabled list with a pulled right hamstring.  Wang will likely miss the first month of the 2007 season and that will hurt the Yankees.  It appears that young Jeff Karstens will replace Wang until he’s ready to return.  Karstens is having a good spring as he is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 13.1 innings.  The Yankees will likely be able to get by until Wang returns because they have a really deep bullpen and are going to score a lot of runs this season.

Jose Veras was trying to make the bullpen this Spring and he pitched well as he didn’t give up an earned run in 3.1 innings in 4 appearances.  But, he will miss the first 2-3 months of the 2007 season after having bone chips removed from his right elbow.

Even though Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte are getting old they have both continued to pitch well so I would expect that they will be fine.  Chien-Ming Wang has the look of a future star in New York who will be around for a long time.  Kei Igawa (from Japan) and Carl Pavano are huge question marks for the Yankees rotation.  39 year old righty Mike Mussina just keeps rolling along for the Yankees.  Mussina had his best season since 2003 last year as he was 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.  He whiffed 171 batters last season and held them to a .241 batting average which shows the old guy still has plenty left in the tank.  Part of the reason for Mussina’s success is his pinpoint control….he only walked 1.6 batters every nine innings that he pitched.  Look for Mussina to win 15-19 games for the Yankees this season.  I would think he could win 20 but he’s never done that in his 16 years in the majors despite having 239 career wins.

26 year old righty Chien-Ming Wang was the most sought after player on the Yankees roster near the trading deadline last season and the Yanks were smart to keep him.  Wang has a great arm but he doesn’t blow the ball by many hitters as he only whiffed 76 batters in 218 innings last season.  The fact that Wang only walked 2.15 batters per nine innings really helped him as opposing batters hit .277 against him last season.  Look for Wang to again be successful for the Yanks, but he might be hard pressed to repeat the 19-6 record with a 3.63 ERA and 1.31 WHIP of last season.  Expect his ERA to be closer to 4 while winning 15-17 games.

34 year old lefty Andy Pettitte has returned to the Yankees after three seasons in Houston.  Pettitte had an off season for the Astros last year as he was 14-13 with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.  The Yankees didn’t seem to worried about his 2006 season and gave him a 1 year contract for big money.  Being back in pinstripes might reinvigorate Pettitte and having an all-star team lined up behind him on defense will certainly boost his confidence.  Pettitte will be adding on to his 149-78 career record with the Yankees.  Look for him to add 15-17 wins to that total while having an ERA in the low 4’s.

27 year old lefty Kei Igawa was signed for big money to be the Yanks #4 starter this season.  He was 13-9 last season with a 3.11 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  He also whiffed 184 batters in 200 innings despite not having a big arm.  Igawa is a crafty lefty but he could have some problems against major league hitting as they are just better than the Japanese batters.  Igawa has a career record in Japan of 85-60 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.  Look for him to be more Irabu than Nomo.

31 year old righty Carl Pavano will be the likely #5 starter for the Yankees and he will have to have a good season to rebuild his reputation.  He didn’t pitch at all for the Yankees last season as he was injured almost the whole year.  His season consisted of 7 starts in the minor leagues.  He was 2-2 with a 2.20 ERA on his various rehab assignments.  In 2005 Pavano was only 4-6 for the Yankees with a 4.77 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  Pavano is not that good of a pitcher but he pitched great in the World Series in 2003 for the Marlins and he had a super 2004 with a 18-8 record with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP and that made Brian Cashman think Pavano was worth the big bucks and he was WRONG!  Don’t look for Pavano to have over a .500 record for the Yankees this season as the pressure will make him crumble.

24 year old Jeff Karstens has been a steady riser through the Yankees farm system.  He pitched well in 8 games (6 starts) for the Yanks last season as he had a 2-1 record with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.  Look for Karstens to start the season in AAA but he will probably be the first Yankee to get a call.  He also could break camp with the #5 job in the rotation if the Yanks can find a taker for Carl Pavano in a trade.

26 year old righty Darrell Rasner pitched well for the Yankees after they picked him up on waivers from the Washington Nationals in 2006.  He pitched in 6 games (3 starts) and he was 3-1 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  Look for Rasner to be in the same boat as Karstens as they both will be waiting in AAA for a call from the Yanks.

20 year old Philip Hughes is the Yankees most prized prospect as many scouts are comparing him to a young Roger Clemens.  Hughes started 26 games between A+AA ball and he was 12-6 with a 2.16 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP.  Hughes whiffed 168 batters in 146 innings last season and he only allowed opponents to hit .179 against them.  The Yankees would be smart to let Hughes pitch in AA+AAA ball this season and then bring him up in September, but you never know with the Yanks as they might promote him earlier if they think he can handle it.

23 year old Humberto Sanchez was acquired for Gary Sheffield and it could wind up being a steal for the Yanks.  Sanchez started 20 games last season between AA+AAA ball for the Tigers and he was 10-6 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  Sanchez has a big arm and he’s almost ready for the bigs as he whiffed 129 batters in 123 innings last season.  Sanchez will likely get called up before Hughes as he’s a little more polished and experienced.

33 year old lefty swinging Bobby Abreu is primed to have a monster season for the Yankees this season.  He played in 156 games between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees and he hit .297 with 98 runs scored, 15 homers, 107 RBIs, 30 stolen bases and a .886 OPS.  Bobby Abreu played especially well after getting to New York as he played in 58 games for the Yanks and he hit .330 with 37 runs scored, 7 homers, 42 RBIs, 10 stolen bases and a .926 OPS.  Abreu is an on base machine as he has a career OBP of .412 which is amazing.  In 154 games in RF Abreu made only 3 errors and showed about average range there.  Look for Abreu to hit over .300 with 20-25 homers, 100+ runs scored, 100+ RBI, and 25-30 stolen bases in 2007.

Melky Cabrera will give Abreu a break once in awhile in 2007.  He played 8 games there last season and he made 1 error while showing great range.

29 year old lefty swinging Kevin Reese could get a chance in New York if the Yanks suffer any injuries.  He played in 53 games in AAA ball last season and he hit .283 with 30 runs scored, 5 homers, 21 RBIs with a .765 OPS.  He played in 10 games for the Yanks last season and he was 5 of 12 (.417 avg).

33 year old lefty swinging Johnny Damon is the guy that gets it all started for the Yankees.  He played in 149 games last season and he hit .285 with 115 runs scored, 24 homers, 80 RBIs, 25 stolen bases and a .841 OPS.  He also played in 131 games in CF and he made 3 errors while not showing much range.  His are is also very weak.  But Damon is a special player because of his offensive skills.  He has scored 100+ runs in 9 straight seasons and he’s stole 16+ bases in his last 11 seasons.  He also has surprising power for a leadoff hitter as he’s been in double figures in homers in 8 of his last 9 seasons.

Whenever Damon needs a day off Melky Cabrera will play center field.  Damon doesn’t take much time off but Cabrera has a pretty good skill set.  He shows the range to be able to handle CF even though he only played 4 games there last season.

The Yankees really need to keep Matsui healthy because he’s a very clutch player.  He always seems to get runners in when they’re on base when he comes up.  He only played in 51 games last season after he busted his wrist trying to make a catch in the outfield.  He still scored 32 runs, hit 8 homers, drove in 29 runs in only 51 games.  He hit a solid .302 with a .887 OPS.  Look for Matsui to return to form this season as he will likely produce numbers like he did from 2003-05 when he averaged 99.7 runs scored, 23.3 homers and 110 RBIs.  Matsui also is an outstanding left fielder on defense as he shows outstanding range and he only made 1 error there in 36 games last season.

Matsui never takes a day off as he played in 487 games from 2003-05.  If he gets hurt or DHs look for Melky Cabrera to take his spot.  Cabrera had a solid season for the Yankees as a rookie last season.  The switch hitting 22 year old played in 130 games for the Yanks last season and he hit .280 with 75 runs scored, 7 homers, 50 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a .752 OPS.  He also is an outstanding left fielder as he showed fantastic range in 116 games there and he only made 1 error.  The Yanks really like Cabrera as they resisted a lot of trade offers for him in the off season.  Look for him to have a good season but he won’t get near as much playing time as he did last season.

27 year old Kevin Thompson could also get time in the outfield if the Yanks suffered multiple injuries.  He played in 19 games for the Yankees last season and he went 9 for 30 (.300 avg).  He played in 91 games last season for the Yanks AAA team and he hit .265 with 69 runs scored, 9 homers, 44 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and a .773 OPS.  Don’t expect much from him this season.