New York Yankees

In 2003, the New York Yankees had what Joe Torre called “disappointing, but not unsuccessful year.”

For 29 other teams, coming with in a heartbeat or two of taking a 3-1 lead in the World Series and merely having the best record in baseball (101-61) would have been classified as “wildly successful.” Not these Yankees. Not the Steinbrenner Yankees.

Torre recently told reporters “when you put this uniform on, you better win the world championship.” With those sort of expectations, its downright amazing that Joe has lasted as long as he has. Entering his circuit best eighth year as manager of the Yankees, Torre just might have his most talented team ever.

Who’s gone

RHP Roger Clemens: At season’s end, the worst kept secret in baseball was that Roger Clemens would be playing baseball in 2004. We all thought it would be in Athens. That ticket was left unfulfilled when Team USA got beat in the Olympic qualifier in November, leaving the Rocket with no team for the summer.

Clemens signed in December with the Houston Astros, where he will play out his twilight years in the National League, listening to garbage about hitting in Shea Stadium and pitching inside.

Clemens wasn’t coming back regardless, so the one mistake the Yankees made here was not at least offering him arbitration. If he had been offered arbitration, New York would have received even more scrumptious draft picks from Houston, who also signed . . .

LHP Andy Pettitte: Andy and Rog are a regular Ace and Gary these days…. ambiguously ga, um, great! Ambiguously great!

Pettitte frustrated Yankee fans with his maddening doppelganger “Bad Andy” (formerly of Domino’s Pizza fame). Pettitte mixed great games with horrific ones and pitched his way into the hearts of Yankee fans as one of the better pitchers in team history. Pettitte’s 149 career wins in pinstripes put him ninth all-time behind Waite Hoyt’s 157 and ahead of Allie Reynolds’ 131. He is fifth all time in strikeouts (1275) and sixth in starts (276). Bad Andy also is fifth in team history in homers allowed (143), ninth in hits allowed (1901) and in earned runs allowed (785).

That 143 doesn’t seem to promise success in the launching pad, er, Minute Maid Park.

Overall, Pettitte is a solidly average major league starter, but certainly not the ace the ‘Stros paid for in cash and draft picks.

LHP David Wells: Boomer is fun if nothing else. But gout jokes, loving the Babe and walking next to no one are only good if you can go when it counts. With the series tied at two, Wells bad back resurfaced after just one inning forcing an under worked bullpen to come in and predictably get shelled like Tikrit. Predictably, it was his last inning as a Yankee.

RHP Jeff Weaver: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. In 2002, the Yankees completed a three-way deal with Oakland and Detroit, netting them the man who was supposed to anchor the rotation for years to come. Then he started pitching in pinstripes and let the Ed Whitson comparisons start.

In 2002, Weaver was pedestrian for New York. In 2003, he stunk. Surrendering 211 hits, 113 runs and 16 taters in just 159.1 innings.

Weaver was shipped to Los Angeles, where a pitchers park and a superior infield defense should combine to help him bounce back.

3B Aaron Boone: Never before has someone sacrificed so much so that so many could truly happy. “Hoops” blew out his knee in the offseason, getting him back in good graces with the Yankee faithful. However, being traded for the organization’s last, best pitching prospect should net a team more than the .254/.302/.418 line Boone gave New York in his 54 games. One home run did not make up for Boone’s averageness, but taken for what he is… a league average hitter with a decent glove, he could be an asset when he returns to baseball in late 2004 or 2005.

1B - Nick Johnson: It is just too raw. Go see the Expos preview for a good summary of why I miss Nick already. You had me at ball four, you had me at ball four.

The Amusement Park: The bullpen and right field were merry-go-rounds last season. Wheee! Jeff Nelson, Part II: The Reckoning. Whoa! Armando Benitez (for about an hour). Whooo Hooo! David Dellucci. Whhheeee! Karim Garcia. Yay! Randy Choate. Are you old enough for the ride? Yes, I’m Jesse Orosco. Whoosh! Raul Mondesi. All of these players are gone, and truth be told, the Yankees are better for it.

2B - Alfonso Soriano: Well, in a New York Minute Soriano went from franchise cornerstone to exiled. After two near 40-40 seasons where he slugged over .500 and flirted with .330 on-base averages, the most maddening player in baseball was shipped to Texas for Alex Rodriguez The Rangers would do well to keep him (particularly given what they gave up). If they do, a Texeira-Blalock-Soriano-Young infield could be the greatest one since the ARod-Jeter-Giambi-McNally infield the Yankees could put out this year.

Who’s New:

RF Gary Sheffield: Despite thumb injuries, Sheffieldis a devastating offensive player who won’t embarrass anyone with his glove. Last year, Gary had one of his best seasons ever, posting a 330/.419/.604 line. Over his 16 year career, Sheffield.

RHP Javier Vazquez: In 2003, Vazquez had a breakout year in everything but Joe Morgan’s favorite category, wins. Pitching for the San Juantreal Expos, Javy posted career highs in strikeouts (241), earned run average (3.24) and ERA+ (153).

At 27, it remains whether Vazquez will go “Weaver” on the Yankees, but the larger concern could be the innings his arm has logged – nearly 700 in the last three seasons.

A fly ball pitcher who fans a lot of batters is precisely what the Yankees need – what with their best two middle infielders playing third and basketball to start 2004 (Alex Rodriguez at third and Boone posting up in his free time). I expect the Yankees to get 220ish innings of ace-level work from Vazquez, who has a shot to win 20 games out of the three slot.

Vazquez cost the Yankees Nick Johnson, but they should be rewarded for it.

RHP Kevin Brown: The worst words to hear when talking about a pitcher are “when he’s healthy.”

When he’s healthy, Kevin Brown is one of the top five right-handers in baseball. His sinker is one of the pitches that people should bottle and sell to young aspiring major league hurlers.

In the last six seasons when Brown has been “healthy”, as defined by me as 30+ starts, his ERAs have been 2.39, 2.58, 3.00, 2.38, 2.69 and 1.89. His ERA+ in those years have been: 169, 167, 148, 160, 150 and 214(!).

The encouraging news for Yankee fans is that the last one of those six was 2003, when with Los Angeles he threw 211 innings of 169 ERA+ baseball. The discouraging news is he made just 37 appearances in 2002 and 2001 combined.

An extreme groundball pitcher Brown is a 3-to-2 and pick’em in Vegas to either win 20+ games or beat his middle infielders to death with a fungo.

RHPs Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill: Correctly identifying a weakness is a good way to improve a ballclub. The Yankees bullpen struggled at times in 2003 to get the ball from the hands of their former all-star starter of the day to Mariano Rivera, cyborg reliever. Armando Benitez was brought in and shipped out. Jeff Nelson, Juan Acevedo, Jason Anderson, Antonio Osuna, Chris Hammond and a cast of dozens were all given a shot, but in the end Torre really only felt comfortable in big games getting 21 outs from his starter and letting Mo get the rest.

Gordon and Quantrill should put an end to that. Gordon appeared in 66 games last season, striking out 11 batters per nine innings and roughly three for every walk. He gave up just four dingers and held opposing batters to a combined line of .213/.297/.291. Without a pronounced platoon split, Gordon should be an asset in the Yankee pen.

Quantrill has led his league in appearances for the past three seasons, meaning, the Yankees can at least count on him to answer the bell. In 89 games last year, Quantrill held batters to a .227/.271/.290 line. That line may not be as Dodger Stadium induced as it looks like. Quantrill threw 38.2 innings in Chavez Ravine and 38.2 elsewhere, eerie but true. At home, he gave up fewer hits, but more walks and more runs than on the road. But on the road, hitters rapped him to the tune of a .250 batting average, versus .203 at home.

Quantrill, like Brown is a groundball pitcher (Yankee fans saw this when he ended Tampa’s sixth inning on “Opening Day” with three pitches and three groundballs.), so he could be susceptible to the “Jeter-effect” in going from the best defensive infield in baseball to arguably the worst.

Gordon is the “longer” man of the two, keeping hitters at bay up until pitch 31 (after which he gets a tattooed to a “Pedro-on-pitch-115”-like .353/..476/.353). In the first 30 pitches, Gordon keeps batters to an OPS below 592, with pitches number 16-30 being his most effective. Quantrill is far better suited to one-inning assignments, because after his first 15 pitches, opponents numbers go from .211/.280/.526 to .283/.346/.672. Not terrible numbers, but Torre would be best served limiting him short assignments in the seventh and eighth.

CF Kenny Lofton: “WHHHHHYYYY??” Nancy Kerrigan, circa 1992. “WHHHHYYYY??” Sean McNally, circa 2003.

Lofton is a speed merchant who is slowly depleting his inventory. Brought in for his defense mainly, Lofton had a lower fielding percentage and range factor than the incumbent Bernie Williams (who was a really, really bad centerfielder in 2003). Lofton did have a better zone rating. Lofton has stolen at least 25 bags 11 of the last 12 seasons, but he hasn’t scored 100 runs since 2000 and he hasn’t posted an on-base percentage north of .390 since 1999. In addition, among leadoff hitters with 150+ plate appearances, Lofton ranked 13^th in the majors in on-base percentage. All this, plus a snotty attitude already because the Yankees best leadoff hitter batted there in Japan (Derek Jeter) and he hit ninth, all for the low, low price of $6.2 million for the next two seasons.

RF Gary Sheffield: Despite thumb injuries, Sheffield is a devastating offensive player who won’t embarrass anyone with his glove. Last year, Gary had one of his best seasons ever, posting a .330/.419/.604 line. Over his 16 year career, Sheffield has posted a line of .299/.401/.527. He’s hit more than 20 homers in 11 straight seasons, and if fails to do that this year something will have gone terribly wrong. He’s working on six straight years of more than 100 runs created and having a batting average north of .300.

Signed to a three year, $36 million deal, Sheffield should be an asset for New York on his way to Cooperstown."

“3B” Alex Rodriguez: For Valentine’s Day, Steinbrenner gave all of New England the finger and pulled off what the Red Sox could not - heisting the game’s best player who’s not 40 from Texas.

So many superlatives have been lavished on Mr. Rodriguez, I won’t add to them, except to say this. Averaging 44 homers a season, if he plays another 10 average seasons, he’ll be at roughly 780. As 10 seasons will make him “just” 38, it is not beyond the realm of possibility ARod could hit the pair of dingers as a shortstop he needs to be the all-time leader there then hit 510 homers as a third baseman making him the all time leader there as well. OK, maybe its not all that possible, but the fact you had to think about it means this kid is damn good. Batting third in his current lineup, ARod could become the Yankees’ single season home run king for a righty by hitting just 47 homers – exactly what he hit last year.

The Rest: The Yankees break camp with utility man Miguel Cairo, 1B/DHs Tony Clark and Travis Lee and Donovan Osborne as new pinstripers. Lee has played some outfield this spring, but will start the year on the disabled list and Tony Clark is the man on my MVP Baseball 2004 franchise for my XBox, but other than that, there is not much to see here.

Who’s Back:

1B Jason Giambi: Not quite his usual take and rake self, Giambi posted his lowest batting average since 1998 (.250) and was slightly off his career averages in OBA and slugging (.412/.527 vs. 415/.549).

He did however hit 41 homers for the second straight year, drove in 100+ runs for the sixth time and led the league in walks by a lot (129 vs. Carlos Delgado’s 109). Giambi masked a horrid April (.204/.357/.376) and tepid second half (.226/.401/.498) with a June to remember. In the season’s third full month, facing lots o’ D-Rays, Reds and Mets, Jason mashed 11 of his 41 dingers and posted a 1.373 OPS.

With no eye infection, a hopefully repaired and recuperated knee and a new slimmer look, Yankee fans for 2004 to be vintage Giambi, but just wait, the albatross years could be soon approaching on that contract.

“SS” Derek Jeter: By all anecdotal (OK, Mr. Morgan, Mr. McCarver and Mr. Kay) most anecdotal evidence and nearly all statistical measures, Jeter is a terrible defensive shortstop.

I personally like to compare Jeter to another overhyped New York defensive player, Jason Sehorn. Sehorn was a white corner for the Giants in the late 1990s and early 2000s who routinely would get torched like the Brewers’ bullpen by even the most pedestrian receiver. However, on the strength one good season and a few all-time highlight caliber plays, Sehorn is a great defensive corner.

Eventually NFL capanomics and their own eyes during the 2003 NFC Wild Card game versus the 49ers forced the Giants to make Sehorn someone else’s problem (Sorry, Rams fans).

Anyway, Jeter has made enough very good plays (his relay in Game One of the 2000 World Series, the “Giambi flip” in 2001 and the jump toss from the 5-6 hole numerous times) to give him a rep in the general public as a good shortstop with the glove.

He’s not, really. He is however a top-tier offensive shortstop.

Discounting his new teammate, Jeter was in the top three in average, on-base percentage and OPS despite missing significant time with a shoulder injury suffered on opening day.

LF Hideki Matsui: Oversold. Godzilla was more like Minya. After hitting 332 homers for the Yomiuri Giants, Matsui hit groundballs in the states. Lots of them. He posted an insane 2.17 GB/FB ratio and hit into 25 double plays.

Defensively Matsui was solid, making all the plays you want a leftfielder to make, and able to handle center in a pinch.

If he can adjust more to the American League and carry over some of the momentum from the Yanks’ season opener, he could have a fine season.

“CF” Bernie Williams: A knee injury robbed Bernie of a chance for his ninth straight season hitting .300 or better. Over the years, injuries have sapped Williams of his natural speed, which is all he really had going for him defensively, and putting him at DH and in the two-hole is a great move for the team.

Entering his 14^th season in 2004, Bernie should pass the 2,000 hit barrier, with his other major counting stats rolling over some notable milemarkers: 250 homers, 1100 RBIs, 1200 runs.

Looking at his baseball-reference page, Williams does very well on the HOF Monitor and HOF Standards, but equally poorly on the Black/Gray Ink tests.

If he plays another four to five seasons, with all his championship and other assorted hardware, I suspect Williams will be making an acceptance speech in Cooperstown while working on his second or third solo album.

C Jorge Posada Jorge stood like a colossus over his fellow American League backstops last season. Posada switch-hit his way to circuit highs in OPS, slugging, on-base average, homers, RBIs, runs created and walks, and in many categories, it wasn’t even close.

The only catcher in 2003 that could be described as “better” than Posada was Javy Lopez’s “Brady Anderson-esque” season. Even then, among catchers who qualified for the batting title, Posada was the tops (Thank you Greg Maddux for limiting Javy Lopez’s plate appearances).

His defense is improved, he doesn’t have the wear that most 32-year-old catchers have on them, so Yankee fans can look forward to his switch-hitting, batting gloveless ways and appearances by his kid at all-star games for many years to come.

Stuffing: The rest of the roster is pretty bleak. Second base should be manned by a rotation of Cairo and Enrique Wilson, at least until Vidro or one of Baltimore’s second basemen becomes available. Ruben Sierra will still crush flat fastballs from time to time and Bubba Crosby played his rear end off this spring, highlighted by an inside the park grand slam, to make the team as the fourth outfielder.

RHP Mike Mussina: Can we please can the “best pitcher not to win 20 games,” “best pitcher not to win a Cy Young Award,” and the “he can’t win the big one, he spits the bit,” talk.

Mussina has been everything the Yankees paid for. He throws strikes. he strikes batters out. When it’s working, his knuckle-curve is one of the two or three best pitches in baseball.

However, Mussina’s two best performances in pinstripes both came in dire postseason circumstances. In Game Three of the 2001 ALDS, Mussina held the A’s scoreless until Rivera came down off the mountain tossing thunderbolts, keeping the Bombers alive in a series they would eventually win. That however paled in comparison to Game Seven. The Game Seven. Down 4-0 to Pedro and the Sox, Mussina threw three innings of scoreless relief in his first appearance out of the bullpen as a professional. That performance gave New York the chance to come back and eventually win the game in the 11th inning.

For that alone, they should hang #35 in left center.

RHP Jose Contreras: At times brilliant (mostly against the Tigers and Devil Rays) and at times horrible (Hello, Boston), Contreras had a spotty introduction to baseball American style.

A look at his final numbers indicates a possible monster year: nearly a strikeout an inning while keeping his walks and hits to about one per inning as well in limited work.

He may not be worth George’s Franklins yet, but there’s a better than average chance he could be.

RHP Jon Lieber: What the hell? The Yankees signed a crippled Lieber to a two-year deal with year two (this year) being the much larger half of the contract and the only one where he is expected to perform.

Lieber is unlikely to recapture the form that won him 20 games in 2001, but he may well be a slightly better than league average starter, and out of the five hole, that’s not bad.

He’ll start the season on the DL with a groin problem.

Bullpen: Outside of the Gordon/Quantrill axis of effectiveness, there is Jorge DePaula, Felix Heredia and Gabe White waiting by the phone with Orlando Hernandez and Steve Karsay waiting in the trainer’s room. DePaula should be soaking up the innings Lieber leaves behind, rather than Osborne, but one of those two played for Torre before and one really hasn’t.

Heredia and White are both miscast LOOGYs who aren’t really any more or less effective on left-handed hitters than they are on righties. On a team with no left-handed starters, this is a major roster weakness.

Relief Ace Mariano Rivera: Simply the best. Last year gave up just 15 runs in 70.2 innings in the regular season, and ZERO (that’s none) in the postseason, including the greatest relief performance of all time – a nine-out stretch against Boston in The Game Seven.

Over the last three seasons Mo has been good against righties, yielding a line of 245/.282/.355 and absolute death on lefties. Southpaws feebly managed just 190/.227/.220.

When its totally on, Mo’s cutter is the most devastating pitch in the game today. Hitters know it’s coming because its all he throws, but they still can’t do anything with it.

When Mo gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, he’ll take his place as the best one-pitch pitcher ever.

Down on the Farm (otherwise known as: Take our Prospects, Please):

C Dioner Navarro: It’s not often a 19-year-old goes from hitting 299/.364./467 in High Class A to mashing Double-A pitching to the tune of .341/.388/.471. But when that precocious teen is a switch-hitting catcher in the Yankees organization the hype machine begins.

Navarro should remain at Double-A for at least a full season, but look for him as the heir apparent to Posada, or as what buys the Yankees whatever shiny object Steinbrenner wants.

INF Brian Myrow: Though he was old for his league, Myrow put up some noteworthy numbers at Double-A Trenton, including an organization leading .447 OBA. He also bashed 18 homers en route to posting a .306 average and a .525 slugging percentage. Poorly regarded defensively, many thought Myrow should have been given a shot to stick with the big club, but he’ll likely bide his time in Columbus. A team in need of a placeholder would be wise to inquire about him.

Masher Fernando Seguginol: I saw Seguginol play in Columbus while on a business trip and he looked like a varsity player invading a little league game. A man among boys who slugged .617 for the Clippers with 28 homers. Tired of waiting for a real chance in the majors, took his bat to Japan

3B Eric Duncan: The team’s first round pick is a local kid, who like Navarro improved after his promotion. Hit 278/.349/.400 in 180 ABs in the Gulf Coast League before moving up to Low-A Staten Island where he put up a line of 373/.413/.695 in just 59 ABs. Regarded as one of the better high school offensive players taken in 2003, Duncan will likely start the season in Low-A, but could be promoted quickly.

On the whole, the Yankee organization is pretty barren, and it is particularly devoid of real pitching prospects. Guys like Sean Henn (returning from injury) are intermixed with the famous (Chien-Ming Wang) and the potential relief prospect (Colter Bean, Bret Prinz or Scott Proctor).

Most Yankee prospects, if they are give a chance to make it, are given it in another uniform, so with the exception of Navarro, it is likely that most of the guys mentioned won’t ever suit up for the Yankees.

What to watch – Stories for the 2004 Season:

The Left Side: If Jeter struggles defensively, look for mounting pressure on Jeter to move for ARod.

The Right Side: If the team looks to improve itself this year, a left-handed starter and/or a real, devastating, scary LOOGY should be on the shopping list. New York’s chief rival has several very good lefty hitting players in it, and if it’s close, those few at-bats could make the difference.

Who’s next?: If I could buy stock in things like “Enrique Wilson or Miguel Cairo won’t be thought of as primary second baseman for New York,” I would invest every penny I had.

Milwaukee has a couple of options to turn the pivot, so does Montreal and Baltimore. I expect the Yankees to make a deal with for keystone sacker.

Help Wanted?: Talk of a Joe Torre extension has died down, so soon daily pronouncements of his impending firing should start up. Torre probably already has bronze smiths working on his plaque, so it seems it’d be entirely up to him if he wants to come back after his contract expires this season.

Bored: What if you were a hitting coach and had nothing to do? Donnie Baseball will be in uniform this year, but will he really have a lot of work as hitting coach for these guys?

Heir to the throne: Occasionally there is some speculation about when 73-year-old George Steinbrenner might step down. In late December, the Boss fainted and was hospitalized in Florida and another such event could cause him to cede ownership to someone.

This is by no means something to be enthusiastic about, baseball needs more Steinbrenners, but it is something that bears watching.

Take this CBA: … and shove it. The 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreement was supposed to curb spending by large market teams, ok it was supposed to stop the Yankees. They should have just voted 29-1 to call it the Screw Steinbrenner Tax.

However, the Baseball Gods, not being without a sense of irony, inspired Steinbrenner to essentially say “If I’m going to pay a luxury tax anyway, my bill better be big, Yankee sized big.”

That attitude brought Brown, Vazquez, Sheffield and ARod to New York, and promises to bring in more stars to the Bronx.

What it all means

If everything breaks right, the pitching stays healthy, a move is made to bolster the second base situation and more brittle among the team (Williams and Giambi) avoid injuries, the 2004 Yankees could potentially challenge the 2001 M’s record for regular season wins.

While on paper, it looks like it might take the team charter falling out of the sky to keep New York out of the postseason. Things could go bad for the Yankees: Vazquez could go “Weaver,” Brown could get hurt, the fifth rotation slot could remain unusually weak for a Yankee staff, Giambi and Williams could pull up lame, Sheffield’s thumb could need surgery down the line and the team’s defense could cost them some close games, dropping them down to just the low 90s in wins.

Speaking in generalities, I expect a seventh straight division title for New York, their eighth in nine years under Torre. Somewhere north of 100 wins is likely, and above 110 wouldn’t be surprising.

2004 ZiPS Projections

Name               P    AVG   OBP   SPC    G   AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB    K  SB  CS 
Giambi*            1b  .285  .435  .570  155  540  102  154  35   1  39  116  125  119   2   1 
Sheffield          rf  .304  .404  .582  146  533   99  162  41   1  35  113   82   56  13   4 
Rodriguez          ss  .293  .394  .588  162  628  118  184  29   3  50  140   91  124  14   4 
Posada#            c   .273  .389  .481  143  499   75  136  32   0  24   85   88  123   1   4 
Jeter              ss  .313  .388  .448  140  578  103  181  29   2  15   80   61   98  17   4 
Williams#          cf  .287  .382  .472  136  515   81  148  39   1  18   80   75   74   6   3 
Matsui*            lf  .287  .378  .469  155  561   82  161  34   1  22   89   76   93   2   2 
Deardorff          3b  .290  .358  .481  125  472   73  137  26   2  20   76   46  140   8   6 
Myrow*             1b  .274  .374  .438  123  413   73  113  26   3  12   55   65  100   3   2 
Lee*               1b  .275  .355  .437  151  552   69  152  34   2  17   77   67  100   5   3 
Phillips           2b  .270  .335  .469  109  426   65  115  27   2  18   67   38   93   2   3 
Lamb*              3b  .288  .353  .424  122  406   59  117  24   2   9   51   36   56   1   1 
Crosby*            lf  .286  .344  .440  104  384   54  110  21   4  10   49   30   66   8   4 
Boone              3b  .253  .323  .432  154  576   81  146  33   2  22   84   50  100  20   6 
Clark#             1b  .242  .325  .426  116  310   36   75  19   1  12   45   35   78   0   0 
Lofton*            cf  .258  .335  .407  136  519   82  134  38   6   9   57   55   56  22  11 
Almonte            ss  .257  .324  .408   82  292   42   75  15   1   9   38   27   78   3   3 
Sierra#            rf  .253  .299  .414  106  336   35   85  22   1  10   45   22   58   2   0 
Cairo              2b  .253  .310  .380   97  229   34   58  13   2   4   24   15   30   3   1 
Bragg*             lf  .251  .324  .347   95  167   23   42  11   1   1   15   17   41   3   2 
Flaherty           c   .234  .274  .372   66  218   19   51  18   0   4   25   11   35   1   1 
Wilson#            ss  .211  .253  .323   73  161   17   34   7   1   3   16    8   23   2   3 

Name                  ERA   W   L   G  GS     INN    H   ER  HR   BB    K 
Gordon               2.95   7   2  54   0    61.0   44   20   3   24   76 
Rivera               2.96   5   2  62   0    67.0   60   22   4   11   65 
Quantrill            3.00   5   4  86   0    78.0   69   26   3   18   51 
Vazquez              3.59  17   8  33  33   228.0  215   91  23   44  213 
Mussina              3.63  18   9  32  32   218.0  209   88  22   42  196 
Contreras            3.81   7   4  22  13    85.0   73   36   5   36   88 
Karsay               3.89   6   3  76   0    88.0   85   38   6   27   70 
Brown                3.91  12   6  27  26   168.0  166   73  11   48  127 
Lieber               4.26  13   8  28  28   190.0  212   90  23   23  109 
Borrell*             4.59   6   5  17  16    98.0  105   50   7   37   57 
Prinz                4.71   2   1  44   0    42.0   45   22   5   14   30 
White*               4.83   4   3  59   0    54.0   59   29   8   13   37 
Orloski              4.98   3   6  41   0    47.0   47   26   4   25   31 
Graman*              4.99   9   9  27  27   155.0  166   86  17   64  104 
De Paula             5.17   8   8  29  27   169.0  184   97  23   62  116 
Heredia*             5.18   3   3  62   0    66.0   74   38   8   26   36 
Proctor              5.63   7   8  30  17   115.0  121   72  15   62   87 

ZiPS Projections are not playing time predictors; they project a player's performance given playing time in the majors in their accustomed role. As with all projections, specific knowledge of non-statistical attributes of the player should temper what the computer says. ZiPS Projections are computer projections and not generated by the author.