2nd, 3rd, etc. All-Time Yankee Teams

[ian2813]

In several sports they select All-whatever teams (All-American, All-conference, All-state, All-league, etc.), and in many cases there are second and third teams in addition to the first. It occurred to me that the Yankees have so much historical depth, and I wondered what the all-time Yankee first team would look like, in addition to the second, third, and possibly even further teams.

Here's what I came up with, weighing factors like longevity and peak value according to my preferences:

1st team:

C: Yogi Berra
1B: Lou Gehrig
2B: Joe Gordon
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Derek Jeter
LF: Charlie Keller
CF: Mickey Mantle
RF: Babe Ruth
P: Whitey Ford

2nd team:

C: Bill Dickey
1B: Don Mattingly
2B: Willie Randolph
3B: Graig Nettles
SS: Phil Rizzuto
LF: Roy White
CF: Joe DiMaggio
RF: Roger Maris
P: Lefty Gomez

3rd team:

C: Thurman Munson
1B: Bill Skowron
2B: Tony Lazzeri
3B: Home Run Baker
SS: Roger Peckinpaugh
LF: Gene Woodling
CF: Earle Combs
RF: Tommy Henrich
P: Red Ruffing

4th team:

C: Jorge Posada
1B: Wally Pipp
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Wade Boggs
SS: Kid Elberfeld
LF: Hideki Matsui
CF: Bernie Williams
RF: Reggie Jackson
P: Ron Guidry

5th team:

C: Elston Howard
1B: Mark Teixeira
2B: Jimmy Williams
3B: Red Rolfe
SS: Tony Kubek
LF: Bob Meusel
CF: Rickey Henderson
RF: Dave Winfield
P: Herb Pennock

Man, even the fifth team ain't too shabby.

Anybody else want to post their teams? Perhaps continue on with further teams?

[GiambiJuice]

Good job. I could be wrong, but Randolph seems too highly ranked to me. Gordon is a HOFer and MVP winner and Cano is better than Randolph ever was (though of course Willie has the longevity advantage).

Also, I don't see any reason to Rank Teixeira ahead of Giambi at this point. Giambi had some bad years but even with those, he averaged 30 HR per year for 7 seasons with the Yankees and had a 143 OPS+. In only 3.5 years with NYY, Tex's OPS+ is 126, and it's bound to decrease from there as he ages. I know Tex is miles better with the glove, but I'm not sure it's enough to offset the hitting and longevity advantage (so far) of Giambi.

[ian2813]

Good job. I could be wrong, but Randolph seems too highly ranked to me. Gordon is a HOFer and MVP winner and Cano is better than Randolph ever was (though of course Willie has the longevity advantage).

Also, I don't see any reason to Rank Teixeira ahead of Giambi at this point. Giambi had some bad years but even with those, he averaged 30 HR per year for 7 seasons with the Yankees and had a 143 OPS+. In only 3.5 years with NYY, Tex's OPS+ is 126, and it's bound to decrease from there as he ages. I know Tex is miles better with the glove, but I'm not sure it's enough to offset the hitting and longevity advantage (so far) of Giambi.

Yeah, looking at the stats again, Giambi could easily take Teixeira's spot on the fifth team. I guess I discounted him a bit because he played so much DH.

Randolph's high ranking, like you said, is mainly based on longevity. If Cano can keep up his current level of play for several more years he'll probably surpass Randolph. I could even see him bumping Gordon off the first team in that situation.