Philly Phavors

Can we start to analyze the trade that brought Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle from Philadelphia yet? It's still early, but they've been in pinstripes for a month and there's a fair sample to check out. Let's see what's happened, and compare the results to "Mad Dog" Chris Russo's doomsday predictions and general whiny Yankee-hater act.

Bobby Abreu
31 games, 120 ABs
.367/.465/.500 for a .965 OPS
10 doubles and 2 home runs
7 for 8 in stolen bases

Cory Lidle
6 GS, 32 IP
3-2 record
3.38 ERA
1.34 WHIP
.225 BAA
.738 OPSA

So, the no-power, lack of intangibles Abreu has a Yankee OPS that would rank him 14th in all of baseball ahead of Vernon Wells, Vladimir Guerrero, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Miguel Tejada just to name a few of the more celebrated players in the sport. He is .001 behind Alfonso Soriano who is closing in on a historical season. How about Lidle?

He's walked far too many batters, and he has had a fair share of shaky moments, but the numbers don't lie. In his short stint with the Yankees, he's posted a .738 OPS which translates to 38th in the Majors if projected over the full season. It's roughly Barry Zito's 2006 season. The .225 BAA is also good for a top 5 spot in the whole sport when projected over a season of work. He's been as unhittable as Carlos Zambrano, Johan Santana, Matt Cain, Chris Young, and Chris Carpenter in his short stay in the Bronx. It's unrealistic to expect him to be that good everytime out, but there's also no disputing the fact that he's locked down the back end of the rotation like a vice.

So much for "Russonomics".

I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez for busting out of his funk in a big way over the last 2 games. If he stays hot in September/October it is possible he could finish with these numbers:

.290/.385/.525 (.910 OPS)
37 home runs
115 runs
125 RBIs
17 stolen bases

Those aren't A-Rod numbers when all is said and done, but they'd be better numbers than any third baseman in the American League. What he does in October is what will define him anyway. A hot finish that carried over into the post-season would leave all shortcomings forgiven and I'm sure would do away with the boo birds next year as well.

See you tomorrow. Go Yanks.