God the Yankees infield this year was so good. It is honestly up there with like the Big Red Machine of 1975-1976 and the Dodgers of 1951 when you look at OPS+ and all those other stats. I would probably take the Big Red Machine because Joe Morgan sucks at talking about baseball but oh my God he was just insane as a player, plus they were probably overall better defenders and baserunners, but the fact that we can have this be even a reasonable debate is INSANE.
I mean here is OPS+ for respectively, the 1975/1976 Reds, the 1951 Dodgers, and then the 2009 Yankees.
1B (Perez/Hodges/Teixeira) 124/118/138/149
2B (Morgan/Robinson/Cano [heh]) 169/187/154/129
SS (Concepcion/Reese/Jeter) 88/107/104/132
3B (Rose/Cox/Rodriguez) 132/141/98/147
C (Bench/Campanella/Posada) 140/109/159/133
Oh and since Philly fans liked to say that the Yankees' infield wasn't even the best in the World Series and that the Phillies of 2008 were "so much better" than the Yankees of 2009...
1B Teixeira 149/Howard 140 (2008: 124)
2B Cano 129/Utley 136 (2008: 135)
SS Jeter 132/Rollins 86 (2008: 103)
3B Rodriguez 147/Feliz 81 (2008: 81)
C Posada 133/Ruiz 104 (2008: 63 YIKES!)
Don't get me wrong, the 2009 Phillies had a very good infield. But the Yankees had the edge EASILY in SS, 3B, and C; it's very difficult to find offense like Jeter's at SS or Posada's at C. I knew Rollins was having a bad year, but... yikes. It's not an overwhelming advantage, but I easily take the Phillies at 2B because Chase Utley is the best second baseman in baseball, and the Yankees at 1B because Tex doesn't struggle against lefties and he's a slightly better defender.
There are other years where teams had excellent infields. I'm sure you can look them up... but those are the ones that come to mind. Honestly, having a catcher who can give you pretty much elite offensive production - AND HE'S 38!!!!* - is just killer. I know as a Yankee fan I am supposed to whine about how every run our pitchers give up is his fault, but I fucking love Jorge Posada, dammit (and when Yankee pitchers give up big hits, I generally notice that they're shaking him off or they miss badly with the location he asks for, Joba.). I don't need to get into what makes Derek Jeter so great because it's been done by a million people before and you're probably tired of hearing about him.
Yes I will still talk baseball in December. Welcome, Curtis Granderson!
* And yes, I can't help but think "steroids" in this day and age UGH
