These are the 2019 New York Yankees, apparently
The 2002 Stephen Spielberg movie “Catch Me if You Can” was based on the life of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a notorious con artist. Leonardo DiCaprio portrays the main character while his father is played by Christopher Walken. In one of the more memorable scenes, Walken compares grifting to baseball.
Frank Sr.: You know why the Yankees always win?
Frank Jr.: ‘Cause they got Mickey Mantle?
Frank Sr.: No, it’s ’cause people can’t stop staring at those damn pinstripes.
The Yankees don’t have Mickey Mantle anymore. For that matter, they’re currently without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, and about a half dozen other players. They still have those damn pinstripes though, and they just keep winning.
Some of the bigger names are starting to return, such as Gary Sánchez and Miguel Andújar, but the lineup still regularly features Mike Tauchman, Gio Urshela, and Tyler Wade. These are not the high-priced acquisitions for which the Yankees are notorious.
It’s a testament to general manager Brian Cashman and his front office that their depth has weathered absences of their best players. Sometimes building a successful team has more to do with shrewd baseball acumen than deep coffers.
Presented below is a recent Yankee lineup, including a glimpse at how each player was acquired. A link to the box score is at the end. You can scroll down if you want, but just let these names unfold before you. (There is no DH because the game was played in a National League park.)
1. 2B D.J. LeMahieu
D.J. LeMahieu is the sole major league free agent in this lineup. The Yankees signed him to a two year, $24 million deal on January 14, 2019. The long-time Colorado Rockie (Rocky? Rokkee?) Blake Street Bomber has a batting title and four Gold Gloves on his resumé.
He’s arguably been the most consistent Yankee of the season to date, batting .310/.363/.430 as of this writing. Despite playing second base exclusively for the past four years, he’s seen action at third and first.
In spite of his track record, the signing of LeMahieu was panned around the Internet. There were two main reasons for the lack of enthusiasm. 1) He wasn’t Manny Machado, who was still a free agent at the time. 2) With a starting infield of Miguel Andújar, Troy Tulowitzki, and Gleyber Torres, there didn’t appear to be room in the lineup. How naïve we were!
2. 1B Luke Voit
It’s hard to believe that just a month ago, Luke Voit was platooning with Greg Bird. It’s even harder to believe the Yankees acquired him from St. Louis on July 29, 2018 for Giovanny Gallegos and Chasen Shreve. The former is a generic reliever, while the latter is pitching poorly in triple-A.
Voit, however, has been a revelation. Since coming to New York, he has been the fourth best hitter in baseball by wRC+.
| Player | wRC+ (min. 200 PA) |
| Christian Yelich | 205 |
| Mike Trout | 193 |
| Cody Bellinger | 178 |
| Luke Voit | 174 |
3. SS Gleyber Torres
Gleyber Torres is just over a year removed from his acclaimed major league debut. The consensus top five prospect in baseball made the All-Star Team in his rookie year. He’s still only 22-years-old.
The Yankees traded a pretty significant asset to the Cubs for Torres on July 25, 2016: Aroldis Chapman. Then they re-signed Chapman as a free agent the following winter. In a sense, they got Torres for free (to be fair, the Cubs won the World Series with Chapman).
4. 3B Gio Urshela
The Yankees claimed Gio Urshela from the Blue Jays in an afterthought transaction on August 4, 2018. In fragments of MLB seasons from 2015-2018, he batted .225/.274/.315 for Cleveland and Toronto.
Thanks to a swing change and new approach at the plate, Urshela has been exceptional in Andújar’s absence. His 144 wRC+ is fifth in MLB this season among third baseman, following Anthony Rendon, Hunter Dozier, Matt Chapman, and Howie Kendrick (?).
5. RF Cameron Maybin
If Cameron Maybin and his career .691 OPS bats in the heart of the order, the order needs more heart. He’s one of the newest Yankees, having been purchased from Cleveland’s minor league system on April 25, 2019.
The Yankees are his eighth major league team in 13 seasons. He was batting .216/.388/.275 at triple-A Columbus at the time of the acquisition. He’s certainly not an exciting addition at this point in his career, but Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier had just landed on the injured list, leaving the team short on functional outfielders.
6. C Austin Romine
Austin Romine is a perfectly cromulent backup catcher. The Yankees drafted him in the second round of the 2007 draft, making him one of the longest-tenured players in the organization. His career .272 OBP is unimpressive, but catchers are hard to come by; backups even more so.
Gary Sánchez had recently returned from the IL and was active for this game, but it was a scheduled off day. Romine started for about two weeks while Sánchez was hurt, and he reprised that role on this occasion.
7. CF Mike Tauchman
The Yankees snagged Mike Tauchman out of the Rockies’ system on March 23, 2019, when it became apparent that Aaron Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury (lol) wouldn’t be healthy for the start of the season. In return, they sent Phillip Diehl, a minor league lefty reliever, to Colorado.
The 28-year-old outfielder carries an .870 OPS through 1,473 plate appearances in triple-A. However, his major league OPS is just .561. He’s played nearly every day for the Yankees, who lack better outfield options.
8. LF Thairo Estrada
Thairo Estrada is the third example of the Yankees’ desperation in the outfield, especially since he isn’t an outfielder. The franchise signed him as a Venezuelan teenager in 2012 for $50,000. In his minor league career, he has 198 games played at shortstop, 140 at second base, and 50 at third base. This game was his first ever professional appearance in the outfield.
Estrada is a prospect of some note, currently listed as the #19 prospect in the organization by MLB Pipeline. His MLB future is likely that of a utility infielder (and apparently outfielder). He made his MLB debut on April 21 and is 6-20 so far.
9. P James Paxton
As stated above, this was a National League game, so James Paxton had to hit for himself. The lefty starter was traded from the Mariners on November 19, 2018. He’s had a wonderful start to his Yankee career, placing third in MLB in strikeout rate (33.6%) and eighth in swinging strike rate (14.1%).
As this article was being written, Paxton was placed on the injured list with knee inflammation.
The game was in San Francisco on April 26. The Yankees won 7-3. All eight of the starting batters collected at least one hit. The win was the first leg of a three-game sweep of the Giants, part of a stretch in which they won nine out of ten.
In total, this lineup is comprised of four trade acquisitions (two of which were acquired for inconsequential relievers), two minor league purchases, one (unpopular) major league free agent, one international amateur, and one draft pick. Only LeMahieu and Paxton will earn more than $1.8 million this season, and six of them will take home less than $700,000.
It’s hardly a Murderer’s Row, but there’s no arguing with results. They’ve still got those damn pinstripes, after all, no matter who wears them.
