MLB SHOWDOWN SET 2019 -- New York Yankees

Start the Star Wars Darth Vader theme, they are finally here, the 2019 New York Yankees. As a baseball fan from afar, what I knew about the Yankees was they had a great bullpen and they hits BOMBS. Other than that and being a great team in the AL East I couldn't tell you as much as our guest writer and New York Yankees fan, you all know him from my league as the owner of Acuna Matata and from twitter as @Gitrekt, so I will turn it over to him for his Yankees analysis.

" The Yankees had an excellent year winning 103 games and making it to the ALCS before falling to those dirty cheats, the Houston Astros. Although it is probably seen as a great season by maybe every other MLB team, the expectations for the Yankees every year is win a World Series or bust. After failing to win this year they are now in a transition year where they are saying bye to a great leader and Yankee CC Sabathia after he decided to retire at the end of the season. Brett Gardner might be gone too and it doesn't look like they will bring back Sir DD. With big free agents available we will see if the Yankees turn to their old ways and do some big fish shopping this off season.

Lineup: This Yankees lineup is DEEP and full of sluggers and thats without two of their best hitters last year Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton. While this lineup hits for lots of power its Achilles heel is it is very slow. They have 7 C speed, 1 B and 1 A in the lineup. For my lineup I would bat DJ LeMahieu as a lead off. I can't say enough about this guy as he had so many hits for this team and is easily my favorite Yankee. He isn't a traditional lead off hitter as he only has a speed C but he gets on base a lot, hit for a high average and drive in a lot of runs as he starts getting singles on a 6. He also has a great doubles range and good pop. This guy will probably be a good number 2 or 3 hitter in a draft type lineup. He can also play 3 positions which gives you tons of flexibility. All rise for the number 2 hitter Aaron Judge. This guy gives you a 10 OB with big power with A 17-20 hr. He also gives you superb outfield defense with a +2 at the corners. Batting 3rd I would have to give it to Mike Tauchman? This guy was acquired from the Rockies for some outfield depth after Stanton went down for an extend period of time and he was just that for the first half of the season. The nsomething happened and this guy went on a tear. I'm curious to see if he can replicate it again next season if they can get him some at bats bur he got a really good card and I think he deserves the number 3 spot in this lineup although he batted mostly 9th in real life. Battingcleanup is Gio Urshella?! This is another guy whp was always known for his glove in Cleveland and Toronto and he got a chance to play after Andujar got injured and he took advantage of the opportunity with a monster year even after going on a huge hitting slump for all of September. What is just as shocking ishe o=is a +0 #B. I thought he was a stud at 3B brcause he ,ade so many impossible plays but i guess the metrics said different. Batting 5th, i would have to go with Luke Voit. He was injured for a good chunk of the season due to core injury and was never the same after he came back but he still produced a very good card. High OB, gets on base on a 4 and good doubles and hr range. Batting 6th is a midseason acquisition that i hated at first because i felt the last thing the yankees needed was another all or nothing power bat but Encarnacion quickly grew on me as he was actually a really clutch hitter and i loved when he “walked the parrot” as he rounded the bases after a hr. Shame it was so hard to find a good picture of him walking the parrot in a yankees uniform. Encarnacion brings an excellent power hitting card with an 8 ob and a 15-20 hr. He also gets ob starting on a roll of a 4 which is very nice. Batting 7th and this might be controversial but also shows you how potent this lineup is, we have Gleyber Torres. Besides DJ i would probably want this guy hitting in a big situation. He is an excellent hitter and i cant wait to see him develop some more and i think he is just getting started. I would play him as my SS with a respectable +2 defense. He also brings some monster power with a 16-20 hr range. Batting 8th i would put Gary passed ball Sanchez. He had a big bounce back year offensively and has a nice card with a 7 ob and huge hr range with a 13-20. Last but not least we have Gardner who had a big year. He brings a 7 on with a nice chart and some much needed speed in this lineup with a 21 to turn over the lineup. Sir DD will sadly sit on the bench with his lowly 6 ob and maybe provide some extra defense in the late innings.

Bench:

Rotation- This rotation is very mediocre and is lacking a true ace. It is led by newly acquired James Paxton. I wouldnt say he was a bust this year but he was a little underwhelming. He had some lights out games but i feel he was very inconsistent all year. In a draft style format i see him being a good number 3 starter. He is followed by who i think was the yankees best pitcher this year but his card does not reflect that at all. His card is actually unusable. 5 control out through 14 with a hr and double on his chart. Ouch. He was the yankees most consistent starter this year but sadly you would have to be crazy to draft this card. Next up we have Masahiro Tanaka. He actually had a deceivingly good year if you look at his starts closely. He gave up 18 runs in 4 innings against the redsox over 2 starts with one being in that ridiculous little league stadium in london. Take those 2 starts away and he has a 3.64 era. Almost a full run lower than his season era. We then have CC. He battled through injuries all year and in his final appearance in the playoffs he dislocated his pitching shoulder and tried pitching through it. Guy is an absolute warrior and i will always cherish his time in NY. Unfortunately his card is unplayable with a 2 control and giving up a double and hr on his chart. I do love his art as he says farewell one last time as he walks off the field. Then we have JA Happ who was atrocious for most of the year. He did catch fire at the end of the year and carrying that momentum into the playoffs where he pitched solidly as well. Overall though his card is awful and not even worth talking about.

Bullpen- Thankfully the yankees rotation is supported by an excellent bullpen. Adam can k babe ruth every time Ottavino had a weird year. He had control problems all year and there were ALWAYS baserunners on but he would somehow find a way to get out of it. This led to a high whip and very good era. That is demonstrated perfectly in this card as his low control can get you into trouble if your dice rolling is not on point. Next up we have Zack with a K Britton. He is a really good card to draft if your focus is on infield defense as he brings a big gb range with that heavy sinker he likes to throw. After that we have Aroldis Chapman. He had a good year but there would be times where he would absolutely just lose the plate out of nowhere. His velocity continues to dip but he is still finding a way to get outs and this year he produced a nice card with the only way to get on on his chart is by walking which is very fitting. Gearin i dont even consider a yankee as he pitched a grand total of 14 innings for them after being acquired from the Mariners in the last week of august and pitched mostly in mop up duty. There are other yankees i feel deserve a spot over this guy. Tommy Kahnle had a huge bounce back year and got a really nice card with a 5 control 1-15 out card. Cessa and Cortes have horrible cards and not even worth mentioning. Draft at your own risk.

Conclusion- Overall this team is very good but it certainly has its holes. The lineup will hit a ton of hrs but they rely too heavily on it as they no team speed. The starting pitching is very bad with only 2 reliable starters. They are supported by a strong bullpen but its not a shutdown pen by any means with several low control high risk high reward pitchers.

The yankees have many draftable players and most of their lineup should be foils. Other than a half their rotation and a few duds in the bullpen, expect most of this team to be drafted."

Matt is back to finish this off, the Yankees come in at 5730 points and with 23 players and an average of 254 points per player. This is a little low for them as the lineup is devastating If dropping a low starter or reliever that average would climb. Thank You again the GitRekt for the indepth write up and all his Yankees knowledge. 

 Astros - 300

 Nationals - 295

 Twins - 293

 Rays - 285

 Cubs - 278

 Red Sox - 269

 Brewers - 268

 Indians - 259 

 Braves - 256

Yankees - 249

 Athletics - 248

 Cardinals - 245

 Reds - 238

 D-Backs - 236

 Padres - 233

 Phillies - 213

 White Sox - 185

 Mariners - 176 

 Blue Jays - 167