What the Yanks signing of Angel Berroa really means.

The Yanks recent signing of Berroa isn't really big news. The SS and 2B position for the Pinstriped Ones are not in jeopardy. The role as utility IF, though, is shaping up to be an interesting battle. After bringing in Berroa, it looks like the utility job will be held by some combonation of Berroa, Cody Ransom, or Wilson Betemit. This job is of course, the who gets to back up Cano and Jeter battle.

This is where it gets fun. Jeter's defensive struggles at SS are well documented despite the hardware he has collected. In fact, Chone's defensive projections have Jeter pegged as -13 run defender at SS. So, the Yanks signing of Berroa should represent an increase in fielding savvy. It does, to the tune of 4 runs. That's right, Angel Berroa projects as a -9 defender at SS.

It doesn't end there, however, as the Yanks other two options at SS are even worse. Ransom checks in at a pedestrian -12 runs at SS compared to Betemit's impressive -15. So, in summation the Yanks have 4 options to man the SS position (although we know there is really only one), and of the 121 SS that are projected they rank 91st (Berroa), 103rd (Ransom), 107th (Captain), and 113th (Betemit). If you are keeping track, they have 4 of the 25 worst defensive SS in baseball.

I guess the Tex signing didn't illustrate a newfound belief in defense.

EDIT: Betemit is no longer a Yankee, but it's still funny.