Both historically, and presently, the Yankees have had a ton of players that have received a lot of hype (some deserving, some not so). What past and present Yankee players do you think have actually gone underappreciated and under the radar?
Historically I think a couple of second-basemen are underrated - Joe Gordon and Willie Randolph. Gordon should be in the Hall, and probably would be if his career numbers weren't held back from military service during WWII.
Presently, for years I thought Bernie Williams went under the radar for just how good he was and important to the team he was. For years, opposing managers would say first and foremost, they worried about Bernie Williams (not Derek Jeter, not Paul O'Neill, not Tino Martinez, etc.). However, with the present team, it's really tough to find an underrated player (since if the Yanks have one, they'll trade him off for a overrated player). If I had to pick one, I guess I'd pick Posada. Lots of people, including people on these boards, were complaining about Posada last year being washed up. I don't think people realize what an asset Posada still is. He holds his own defensively, he throws out a decent number of base runners, and he's still one of the 3 or 4 best offensive catchers in the game and is a switch-hitter to boot. I don't know who he'd be replaced with if his critics got their way.
Historically I think a couple of second-basemen are underrated - Joe Gordon and Willie Randolph. Gordon should be in the Hall, and probably would be if his career numbers weren't held back from military service during WWII.
Presently, for years I thought Bernie Williams went under the radar for just how good he was and important to the team he was. For years, opposing managers would say first and foremost, they worried about Bernie Williams (not Derek Jeter, not Paul O'Neill, not Tino Martinez, etc.). However, with the present team, it's really tough to find an underrated player (since if the Yanks have one, they'll trade him off for a overrated player). If I had to pick one, I guess I'd pick Posada. Lots of people, including people on these boards, were complaining about Posada last year being washed up. I don't think people realize what an asset Posada still is. He holds his own defensively, he throws out a decent number of base runners, and he's still one of the 3 or 4 best offensive catchers in the game and is a switch-hitter to boot. I don't know who he'd be replaced with if his critics got their way.
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