We've been talking a lot about what we'd like to do next season, I thought it might be worthwhile to look at how our players compare to players at the same position on the other AL East teams, using WAR values.
Catcher:
Jorge Posada 3.7
Jason Varitek 1.6
Rod Barajas 1.0
Matt Wieters 0.7
Dioner Navarro 0.0
In case you're interested Victor Marinez, who is catching part time for the Red Sox as well as playing some 1B and DH, is 3.7 and Gregg Zaun, who has pretty much taken the full time job away from Navarro, is 1.6. Rod is right in the middle of the group. No one but the Yankees are getting great production from the catcher's spot. Rod, of course, drives you nuts by being such a streak hitter, when he's hot he's great, when he's cold, he can't hit his way out of a wet paper bag.
So it sort of looks like we match up ok at catcher, but then the Red Sox and the Rays have picked up guys to improve the position and the Orioles have a rookie who is going to be good. Rod is having as good a season as you could expect him to have.
The rest of the positions after the jump.
First Base:
Kevin Youkilis 4.7
Mark Teixeira 4.0
Carlos Pena 2.8
Lyle Overbay 1.9
Aubrey Huff -0.8
Huff is now with the Tigers. Ty Wigginton and others are playing first there now. Kevin Millar is -0.4. Yeah we give up some to the rest of the division there, but if we could pair up Lyle with a right handed bat that hit lefties well we'd be ok.
Second Base:
Ben Zobrist 6.5
Dustin Pedrioa 4.3
Robinson Cano 3.5
Aaron Hill 3.1
Brian Roberts 3.0
We've got some pretty good 2B's in the AL East. I wouldn't expect Zobrist to be as good next year, but then I wonder if Hill will be as good either.
Short Stop:
Derek Jeter 6.0
Marco Scutaro 4.7
Jason Bartlett 4.3
Cesar Izturis 1.0
Nick Green 0.3
The Red Sox have a cast of thousands that have played SS, all right around replacement level. Jeter is amazing, having a season as good as any in his career at 35. I wouldn't expect him or Bartlett to be as good next year. Bartlett's being helped by a .396 BABIP, I wouldn't expect that luck two years in a row. Scoot might fall off some next year too, but wouldn't think he'd fall off more than Jeter or Bartlett.
Third Base:
Evan Longoria 5.3
Alex Rodriguez 3.4
Mike Lowell 1.2
Melvin Mora 0.5
Scott Rolen's at 3.1 so far this season. Encarnacion is -0.6 for the season. Chone Figgins is 5.3 just for the sake of interest.
Right Field:
J.D. Drew 3.6
Nick Swisher 3.1
Nick Markakis 2.3
Gabe Gross 1.5
Travis Snider is at -0.6 but then that's in just a handful of at bats. Alex Rios is 0.2 on the season.
Center Field:
B.J. Upton 2.2
Adam Jones 1.9
Jacoby Ellsbury 1.3
Melky Cabrera 0.9
Vernon Wells -0.9
It is pretty bad when the best of the center fielders is having such a bad year he was moved from 1st to 9th in the batting order. None of the CFers have played all that well this year. Likely each will be some better next year or replaced. Brett Gardner is at 2.0, playing part time for the Yankees. Upton is the only one whose defence is rated at better than replacement. Wells defensive numbers have improved as the season has gone along.
Left Field:
Carl Crawford 4.8
Johnny Damon 3.2
Jason Bay 2.2
Nolan Reimold 1.2
Didn't know who to list here for the Jays. Lind is 3.1 but I'm going to list him with the DHes. Bay loses a lot of value because of his defence. If the Jays were to sign him, I'm not sure who would be better to have at DH, him or Lind. The division, as a whole, looks better in the infield than the outfield.
DH:
Adam Lind 3.1
Hideki Matsui 2.5
Luke Scott 1.0
Pat Burrell 0.4
David Ortiz -0.1
Lind loses a bit for his fielding in left.
I don't really have a conclusion, it just sort of shows that other than a couple of positions we aren't that much worse than the other teams in the division, for everyday players. If Travis plays ok next year and Vernon bounces back. Add a bat and keep Marco. A third basement would be nice.