Season Preview: New York Yankees

Last Season: 97-57, 1st in ALManager: Bucky Harris (2nd season in New York, 22nd total)Offseason: With some of their competitors making changes in the offseason, New York could not rest on its laurels. With a crowded outfield, they had no need for Allie Clark and shipped him to Cleveland in December for Red Embree. Embree is a solid starter but will also work out of the bullpen after another addition to the rotation. The Yankees released 40-year-olds Bobo Newsom and Spud Chandler, but there was still no room for Embree as a regular starter after they acquired Ed Lopat from the White Sox. Lopat was 50-49 in four years in Chicago, but that record is misleading as the team had a losing record every single year during that stretch. The only significant player they gave up in the trade was catcher Aaron Robinson.Catcher: Losing an All-Star catcher is never easy but the Yankees made the move to trade Robinson because they believe they have the men to replace him. Rookie Gus Niarhos, who had a brief debut in 1946, will be the Opening Day starter, but he will split time with Yogi Berra, who can also play in the outfield. Niarhos spent all of 1947 in AAA ball, where he hit .321 and also showed great plate discipline. Berra had a great rookie year last season backing up Robinson at catcher and starting some games in in the outfield. He then made history in the World Series by becoming the first pinch hitter ever to hit a home run. Berra is not as good of a fielder as Niarhos, but his bat is too good to just play catcher so Bucky Harris will mix him into the lineup some days in the outfield.Infield: New York rolls out the same infield as last season with no changes. Of the four starters, the only one to miss more than ten games was third baseman Bill Johnson, and he only missed 22 at that. Johnson was still an All-Star and would've eclipsed 100 RBIs had he played in just a few of those games he missed. His absence did give some playing time to young Bobby Brown, who will be the primary backup in 1948 for the entire infield as he can play multiple positions. Veteran George McQuinn finished sixth in MVP voting after a strong comeback season at 37. McQuinn was a solid player on the Browns when they won the pennant in 1944 but played a bigger role for the Yankees last year. Middle infielders Snuffy Stirnweiss and Phil Rizzuto both have amazing gloves and can hold their own at the plate. Stirnweiss was an elite player during the war with many stars serving, but he is still one of the top leadoff hitters in the league. Rizzuto is 30 but missed three prime years in the Navy, so it feels like he still has plenty of room to improve. The man he replaced, Frankie Crosetti, is still on the roster even though he played in just one game last year. He will tie Lou Gehrig at 17 total seasons in pinstripes when he appears in his first game this year.Outfield: With this third MVP award, Joe DiMaggio ties Jimmie Foxx for most in either league in the short history of the award. DiMaggio has not been the same player he was before the war, but he is still unquestionably one of the best players in baseball as evidenced by the honor. He may never have another season like 1941, but only Ted Williams can compete with him at the plate in the American League. Playing alongside him for nearly his entire career is Tommy Henrich, who is coming into his own even at the age of 35. Henrich led the league in triples last year and led the team in RBIs with a career-high of 98. Left field will see a platoon of Charlie Keller and Johnny Lindell. Keller has power and a lot of patience at the plate but has only played in 50 games one time since 1943. He missed most of last season with a back injury and was not able to return after June. Lindell was a pretty good player during the war but would ideally be the backup to Keller except against lefties if Keller could stay healthy. Berra will also see playing time in the outfield and rookie Cliff Mapes is also available on the bench after hitting 21 homers, 117 RBIs, and a .308 average in AAA ball last season.Rotation: Chandler and Newsom are gone, as is Bill Bevens, who is injured and not back on the roster this season. Over a third of the games from last year were started by one of those three last year, leaving plenty of starts up for grabs. Lopat will pick up about half of them as the new number two starter behind Allie Reynolds. Reynolds, himself traded from Cleveland a year ago, won 19 games in his first year in pinstripes. Also in his first season with the team, because he was a rookie, Spec Shea had the best winning percentage of all eligible pitchers in the league and was sent to the All-Star Game. Another rookie last year, Vic Raschi, went 7-2 in 14 starts and will now be a regular starter in the rotation. The seventh pitcher to start at least ten games last year for the Yankees that hasn't been mentioned yet is Karl Drews, who will certainly start some but also work out of the bullpen.Bullpen: The Yankees have a strong rotation, but the strength of their pitching is the bullpen. Specifically, one man: Joe Page. Page was called upon to pitch multiple times a week all season, appearing in 56 games at over two and a half innings per appearance. Page actually had the fourth most innings pitched on the team as the Yankees needed him to finish off games when the starter couldn't make it the whole way. The addition of Embree also allows he and Drews to split starts and work out of the bullpen. The Yankees will also work in Tommy Byrne, who has pitched 45 innings over three short seasons of work.Outlook: It's going to be tough to knock off the champions. Boston in particular is making a strong case for an upset, but the Yankees may very well be at the start of a new dynasty. The road to the pennant runs through the Bronx until someone can prove otherwise.