The All-New York Baseball Lineup
Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
October has only just arrived but the New York baseball season has come to an end, which makes this the perfect time to construct an all-New York starting lineup comprised of the best from both the Bronx and Queens.
In order to be eligible, a position player must have played at least 100 games for the team this season, and have played a significant amount of time at the position he is to be assigned on this roster. Starting pitchers will have had to have made 20 starts. Relievers will have a less rigid selection process (but there should be less debate about those, anyway).
Here we go.
First Base: Lucas Duda.
Might as well start with a no brainer. Duda had a career year for the Mets, blasting 30 home runs and driving in 92. His .830 OPS was the best among any New York player that appeared in more than 40 games.
Second Base: Daniel Murphy
Murph had another solid year for the Mets and with the departure of Robinson Cano, the door was opened for him to become the city’s best second baseman. His 172 hits were tops in the Big Apple this year.
Shortstop: Derek Jeter
Jeter was not at his best in his final season in the big leagues, but he was plenty good enough to grab this spot on the all-NY lineup. He batted only .256 and posted a mere .304 OBp this season, but those numbers stacked up favorably to anything the Mets were trotting out to short this season.
Third Base: David Wright
This one is by default. The Yankees did not have a third baseman play more than 75 games for the club this season, so none of their players qualified. Even in a down season, Wright did register 30 doubles for the Mets.
Left Field: Brett Gardner
Gardy had his best year this season in the Bronx, and for a large portion of the year was the Yankees most consistent performer. Gardy’s 17 homers and 58 RBI don’t jump out at you, especially for a corner outfielder, but his play was far better than those numbers would indicate. His .749 OPS lead the Yanks among qualifiers.
Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury
Ellsbury had a very good first season for the Yanks, leading the club in hits, doubles and stolen bases and OBP (among qualifiers) and ranked second in RBI.
Right Field: Curtis Granderson
Right field was another soft position for both New York clubs, but I give the nod to Grandy over Carlos Beltran and Ichiro Suzuki. Beltran may have edged out Granderson, but the fact that he played only 109 games for the Yanks while DHing often suggests that he would have never come close to the 100 game minimum in the National League. Granderson was superior to Ichiro in every major offensive category except batting average this season.
Catcher:Brian McCann
This was the toughest choice I had to make. Ultimately, Travis d’Arnaud‘s atrocious beginning to the season and his demotion swayed me to favor McCann. McCann lead the Yanks in both homers and RBI this year, but was far from the player that the Yankees expected when they signed him in the offseason.
Starting Pitcher: Jacob deGrom
Masahiro Tanaka was rthe only other consideation for this spot, but deGrom’s numbers stack up favorably to the Yanks’ right hander’s. deGrom started more games, pitched more innings, struck out more batters, allowed fewer hits, gave up fewer home runs and pitched to a lower ERA than his pinstriped counterpart.
Set Up Man: Dellin Betances
Betances was dominant as the Yanks eighth inning man and he established himself as one of the premier pitchers in that role.His .78 WHIP in 90 innings borders on ridiculous.
Closer: David Robertson
With the retirement of Mariano Rivera at the end of last season the closer’s role was handed to David Robertson. Following a legend can not be easy, but Robertson was excellent in his first season in the role.