The Yankees Lineup Still Has Questions

At the beginning of the 2014 season, a ground ball to the left side of the infield was an adventure. Yes the living legend, Derek Jeter (hallowed be his name), was over there, but so was Yangervis Solarte (or some reasonable facsimile), and a ground ball was more likely to go through to Brett Gardner in left field than end up in 1B Mark Teixeira’s glove.

In 2015, the adventure is over. With the Yankees signing Chase Headley to play everyday third base and trading for Didi Gregorius to play shortstop, Gardner could likely have the best seat in the house to one of the best defensive left-side infield pairs.

Headley’s signing solidified the Yankee defense, instilling Martin Prado as the everyday second baseman. While Prado is not going to make anyone forget Robinson Cano in any sense, he’s a steady force in the middle infield to help Gregorius learn how to handle New York.

The anchor of the infield, Teixeira, has been declining for years and Headley and Alex Rodriguez can spell him when (not if) he gets hurt. But when he’s healthy, Tex will provide a consistent, excellent defensive target for the suddenly solid defensive quartet.

But how do they line up?

Here’s my projected lineup for opening day:

Brett Gardner LF

Martin Prado 2B

Jacoby Ellsbury CF

Carlos Beltran RF

Brian McCann C

Mark Teixeira 1B

Alex Rodriguez DH

Chase Headley 3B

Didi Gregorius SS

At the top, separating Gardner and Ellsbury seemed the logical place for Prado and hitting Ellsbury third would provide him the protection of Beltran in the role of either right field or DH.   McCann from the left side will front for switch hitter Teixeira, followed by A-Rod (who hopefully comes into the season with some ability to hit, if not then look for Yankee GM Brian Cashman to go DH shopping or for Chris Young to take a larger role in right field).

The lineup closes with the Yanks third regular switch hitter, 3B Chase Headley with lefty Gregorius, a weak hitter, bringing up the rear. Gregorius can see lots of late innings of the bench in favor of Brendan Ryan unless manager Joe Girardi figures out a way to separate Gregorius from the lead off hitter (Gardner or Ellsbury) and make the lineup less vulnerable to a lefty reliever.

Defensively, this infield can potentially be as solid as we’ve seen since the 90s.

The lineup? Filled with AARP recipients and injury question marks, longing for an injection of youth (Robert Refsyder, Jose Pirela).

With about 100 days before pitchers and catchers, we keep checking Twitter, waiting for the big Yankee move, hoping not to be disappointed for a third season in a row.