So much was wrong with the 2016 Yankees offense that to pinpoint one place would be to miss so many of the tiles that made it an overall mess of a mosaic.
Still, it was difficult to ignore just how unproductive the Yankees outfield was, a bad group that worsened when Carlos Beltran initially began to DH more and then was traded on Aug. 1. As a unit, Yankees outfielders last year produced a slash line of .254/.325/.375 for an OPS of .700, which ranked 27th in the majors and third-worst in the AL.
At the conclusion of the weekend, Yankees outfielders were slashing .277/.370/.490, the .860 OPS ranked as third-best in the majors and leading the AL.
The Yankees had three outfielders with at least 40 plate appearances and an OPS of .835 or better in Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge. The only other team to have that was the Mets, with Jay Bruce, Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto.
Hicks and Conforto are forcing their way into lineups – Hicks’ 1.182 OPS is actually the best of any AL player at any position with at least 40 plate appearances. Brett Gardner has a chance to become the Yankees’ version of Jose Reyes – the guy whom the team wanted leading off, who might have to be dropped from that slot and, perhaps, dropped from the regular lineup. Gardner still brings some on-base skills, speed and superb defense, a skill-set somewhat similar to that of Curtis Granderson.
But the early struggles of those veterans have made them vulnerable to losing time to Hicks and Conforto, respectively.
How a baseball team is made
And now a word on where players come from.
There were 869 players on Opening Day rosters. That includes the DL and, in the case of Jeurys Familia, the suspended list. It does not include Jenrry Mejia, who also is technically on the suspended list. I also did not include Prince Fielder, who technically is on the Rangers’ DL, but had announced his retirement. But I did include reliever Jared Hughes — Milwaukee initially handed in just a 24-man roster to the Commissioner’s Office, but that was to leave a space open for Hughes.
Anyway, of those 869, there were 634 drafted players, 228 international signees and seven undrafted American free agents. Of that group, the team that signed the most players to their original pro contract was the Rangers (40) followed by the Yankees (37) then the Red Sox, Braves and Diamondbacks (34). The Mets were at 33.
Signing the most does not mean signing the best, but it does give some idea which teams get players to the majors. The Orioles and Padres (23) had the fewest, followed by the Astros, Marlins and Tigers (24).
No team had more of its homegrown players on its Opening Day roster than the Mets’ 17 (out of 31 — remember it includes DL and suspended list). This can be a bit misleading because someone like Jose Reyes left and is now back. The Cardinals, with 15 out of 30, were second. The Yanks had 13 of 27. The Braves and Padres, with four apiece, had the fewest.