Random Link Dump

I may have to run out of the house for most of the evening, so here's some links to keep you busy.

First for a couple articles about something that has not been a bright spot the last few years, but may be taking a turn for the better, the Yankees defense.

- This ESPN Insider article projects the Yankees to have a significant improvement on the defensive end, in fact they picked the Yankees as one of three teams who will improve greatly on the defensive end. (You will need an Insider Subscription for the full article.)

Yankees (2008 FRAA: –26 | 2009 Projection: +9)
First basemen are rarely impact defenders, but two-time Gold Glove winner Mark Teixeira is a significant exception. Plus he replaces Jason Giambi, who had only slightly less range than the Miller Huggins monument at Yankee Stadium. If Jorge Posada has trouble coming back from right shoulder surgery, take note: Backup José Molina, one of the best defensive catchers in the game, threw out 44% of potential basestealers last year.

- Dan Turkenkopf over at Beyond the Box Score posted this graph about the Yankees outfielders. It shows how well Johnny Damon, Brett Gardner, and Xavier Nady cover individual sections of the outfield. He used David Pinto's Defensive Charts based on his Probabilistic Model of Range (PMR).

The greener the better the fielder covers that particular zone, and the redder the worse the fielder covers that zone. Also the only reason the corner outfielders zones are so close to the infield is so it's easier to read the graph.

- Joe Pawlikowski over at River Ave. Blues breaks down Robinson Cano's defense using Bill James' The Fielding Bible–Volume II.

And yesterday he broke down the Captain's defense.

- Speaking of Derek Jeter, Steve Lombardi from WasWatching.com explains what Jeter does well on the defensive side of the ball, He also uses The Fielding Bible - Volume II. What he discusses is that Jeter made the least amount of "defensive misplays" last season. For some more on how Bill James defines defensive misplays let's look at this from Lombardi:

this measure looks at things such as a fielder letting a ball roll under glove or between his legs, juggling or dropping a ball on a smooth play that might have gotten an out, making a poor throw, mishandling a pivot, cutting off a better-positioned fielder and failing to make a play, losing a ball in the sun, hesitating or double-clutching before making a throw and losing the play, having a ball get stuck in their glove, giving away the lead runner to take a play at first (when they clearly could have gotten the lead runner), etc.

So basically, if Jeter gets to a ball he's likely to field it cleanly. More so than any shortstop in the league. Now if only he could figure out how to get to more balls...

- For more on defensive stats and metrics check out this article from ESPN's Eric Neel.

- David Pinto over at Baseball Musings previews the AL East. He thinks the Yankees have a 32% chance of winning the division. He says the Sox have a 30% chance, the Rays have a 28% chance, the Jays a 6% chance, and the O's have a 4% chance. To know why he comes to this conclusion check out the rest of his post here.

- Ken Rosenthal explains just how crazy the upcoming season could be for the Yankees.

- CC Sabathia is this week's cover boy for Sports Illustrated's Baseball Preview. Hopefully there is no SI Jinx. For some stupid reason they predict the Mets will beat the Angels in the World Series.