Sox - Yankees, Part 1000

My Sox fan friend Brett just emailed me asking if I thought the Yankees were done। Since I'll surely be asked to address this in class anyway, I figured I may as well put my thoughts on e-paper here.

My vote is no. Here's why:

Besides A Rod, Posada and Jeter, all of the other six ex-All Stars in their lineup are completely underperforming. Johnny Damon, a lifetime .288 hitter, is at .251 (though he has a comparitively high OBP). Bobby Abreu is 40 points below his lifetime average and 50 points beneath his lifetime OBP. He's averaged 22 homers per year; so far he has four. Robinson Cano is 35 points below his lifetime average and a full 70 behind last year's.

The point? All of these guys are well under their lifetime numbers, and that doesn't even include Giambi, Matsui and the overwhelming number of injuries to the pitching staff. I suppose it's possible that all continues to go wrong in New York, but I doubt it. More likely? Jeter and Rodriguez continue to tear it up, Posada comes crashing down to earth -- he's 70 points above his lifetime average right now -- and all the other All Stars start performing again. If they can maintain even average pitching, that offense should carry them.

In short, the Yankees will probably make a run. If you look at the numbers, their record should be much better than it is. Their record has them at a game under .500, but they're outscoring opponents by an almost a run per game. According to baseball-reference.com, their record should be something like 42-31 right now, which would put them a more manageable six games behind the Red Sox instead of 11. Over the course of a season things tend to even out; therefore, EXPECT the Yankees to do well in the second half and don't act as surprised as John Kruk, Steve Phillips and the Baseball Tonight people will want you to.