Some projections for the Yankees, Part 2

3B Alex Rodriguez
Couldn't believe it when I saw that he was coming back, but he's back. I was totally willing to let Betemit play third all year. But hey, a guy who hit 54 home runs wants to come back? At what we'd originally offered? And without his agent? Great. So anyway, here's what I expect from A-Rod.

158 G 700 PA 592 AB 180 H 27 2B 0 3B 45 HR 91 BB 17 HBP 124 K .304/.411/.578

I don't see as many home runs obviously. But essentially I see the same type of year.

LF Johnny Damon
This is going to be an interesting one. Damon, first off, has to show up at spring training in better shape than he was in last year. He was banged up all the time, had to DH, and with the way he was hitting in the first half we would have been better off letting Pettitte and Wang take a few hacks. But anyway, if he shows up healthier, here's what I see out of Damon.

145 G 620 PA 555 AB 158 H 31 2B 1 3B 14 HR 62 BB 3 HBP 78 K .285/.360/.420

Basically 2006 with much less power.

CF Melky Cabrera
This will also be interesting to see. Melky was having a very good year until September rolled around and he went into an awful, automatic out type slump. Let's take a stab at this one.

150 G 620 PA 561 AB 162 H 30 2B 6 3B 9 HR 55 BB 4 HBP 66 K .289/.356/.412

Pretty reasonable. Hopefully in his prime he can be the .300/.360/.450 with 12-15 homers type of guy he shows flashes of.

RF Bobby Abreu
Glad he's back. I knocked him early in the season for looking like he doesn't care, but in all fairness, he looks like that all the time. Really the only knock on him is his fear of the wall. Anyway, despite his awful first two months which may have been due to the oblique strain in spring training, he had a solid year, and from June onward he was very Abreu-esque. So, here goes.

158 G 700 PA 609 AB 178 H 43 2B 2 3B 19 HR 91 BB 3 HBP 121 K .292/.387/.463

Bill James predicts 110 walks. That's a little high. I see 85-90.

Posada, Matsui, and Duncan to come.