Bomber Bites With Jumping Joe–Yankees Defense Could be Elite in 2015

After a second straight poor offensive season from the Yankees, the Bombers have made run prevention a priority.  With few realistic options to improve the lineup at the plate this offseason and with few spots open on the diamond due to the long term contracts doled out in years past, GM Brian Cashman is trying to improve the club by giving up less runs instead of scoring more.

The Yankees have overachieved the past two seasons.  Yet that overachievement still resulted in the Bombers playing golf rather than baseball in October.  The Yankees actually became the first team in the history of baseball to finish above .500 two seasons in a row while having a negative run differential both years.

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The moves the Yankees have made this off-season, in addition to return to health of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran, signify the best defense the Yankees have put on the field in years.  Brett Gardner is one of top three defensive left fielders in all of baseball, most likely second only to Alex Gordon of the Royals.  In center, Jacoby Ellsbury is among the best defensive outfielders in the American League.

But it is the infield defense that has seen the most improvement.  Teixeira is a Gold Glove winning first baseman who should be even better next season as he will be further removed from the devastating wrist injury he suffered in 2013.  Both Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela will compete for the second base job in spring training.

Meanwhile, the left side of the infield will be best defensively since Wade Boggs and Tony Fernandez patrolled it nearly two decades ago.  Chase Headley is a terrific defensive third baseman and Didi Gregorius will show range that Derek Jeter never had.

For the first time years, the Yankee defense has a chance to be among the game’s best.  The biggest defensive liabilities appear to be Beltran in right field and second base.  However, when talking about defensive weak points, there is no better spot on the diamond to have one than in right.  Plus, if healthy, there is no reason to think that Beltran will be unable to provide at least serviceable defense in front of the short porch.  At second, neither Refsnyder nor Pirela are known for their glove, but should do an adequate job at the position.

Run prevention is a great tool for the Yankees and it will certainly make a difference in the Yankees record and run differential.  The pitching staff, already a strong point, will only benefit from having a strong defense backing them up.  However, it will remain to be seen as to whether this team will be able to score enough runs to win games.  If not, the Yankees will simply be losing games 2-1 instead of 4-1.