The Yankees decided that the right man for the job was Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Didi Gregorius. They acquired him in in a three-team deal, trading right-hander Shane Greene to the Tigers. At the time of the deal, Gregorius was a relatively unknown 24-year-old that had just been traded for the second time in his young career. He came with solid defensive abilities, but fans, among others, were skeptical that his bat would allow him to become the next everyday shortstop for the Yankees.

After a miserable first half in 2015, which saw Gregorius hit .238 in 81 games, Yankee fans had already given up on him and were reminiscing about the the days that Derek Jeter occupied shortstop.

But everything changed in July 2015. Maybe Gregorius struggled because he felt the pressure of replacing a legend. Maybe it was Gregorius making significant adjustments over the All-Star break. Whatever it was, Gregorius has been a completely different hitter at the plate since then.

In the second half of last season, Gregorius posted a .294 batting average with five home runs and 37 RBIs in 72 games. Gregorius’s run to end the season helped him finish fourth among American League shortstops with a 3.1 fWAR. He trailed only Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogaerts, and Carlos Correa. The question still remained: was his performance in the second half an aberration or was it a sign of things to come?

Gregorius has emphatically answered this question with a breakout 2016 campaign. He is slashing .289/.318/.468 this season, which would set a career high with the exception of his on-base percentage. He also has homered 15 times (already a career high) to go along with 52 RBIs (nearing a career high). He has been a top five shortstop in the AL, according to fWAR, over the past two seasons, but will the 26-year-old be able to sustain this success for years to come? Some might be skeptical, but the numbers say yes.

One notable adjustment that Gregorius has made over the past year is improving the percentage of balls hit to the opposite field to a career-best 28.9%, three percentage points above the league average. He’s also increased his line-drive rate each season he has been in the majors and his current 21.6% mark is nearly a full percentage point above the league average.

Gregorius has cut his swinging-strike rate to a career low 9.1% in 2016, which has helped increase his contact rate to yet another career high. And, although he does not walk nearly enough, his current 12.9 strikeout rate certainly helps make up for it.

One might assume that his increase in average this season is an anomaly. However, these improvements help explain why it’s sustainable. Even his batting average on balls in play, which is currently .302 on the season, is nearly identical to his 2015 mark and on-par with the league average.

Gregorius’s power looks legit, too. Although his HR/FB% has significantly increased to 12.1%, it’s still 0.7% lower than the league average. And even though Yankee Stadium can certainly help with the power numbers, too, he’s just the fifth Yankee shortstop in history to crack 15 homers in a season. The last to do this before Gregorius? Well, of course, it was Jeter.

Gregorius has worked hard to help Yankee fans move on from Jeter. And, although Jeter will never be forgotten, Gregorius has certainly made the transition a lot smoother than first imagined.

Photo: Noah K. Murray / USA Today Sports

1 – Earle Combs

Sorry Billy Martin, managers don’t count. Combs, the first Yankee to ever wear number one, just beats out Bobby Murcer, who owned the number for most of his first stint in pinstripes.

2 – Derek Jeter

Now batting, num-bah two. Derek Jetah, numb-bah two.

3 – Babe Ruth

Babe was the first Yankee to wear number three, and it’s safe to say no one better has donned the jersey since.

4 – Lou Gehrig

This is the easiest one on the list because Gehrig is literally the only player in Yankee history to wear number four.

5 – Joe DiMaggio

Let’s pause and consider Frankie Crosetti, who wore number five, then switched to number one when DiMaggio came along, then ended up with number two. He’s one of two players in history to have worn three different single-digit numbers for the Yankees. That does not earn him a spot on this list, but it’s still cool.

6 – Tony Lazzeri 

Here’s the other guy to wear three different single-digit numbers for the Yankees. Lazzeri wore numbers five through seven in his Yankee career but spent the most time in number six. He gets the nod here over another great New York second baseman, Joe Gordon, who wore the number right after Lazzeri.

7 – Mickey Mantle

First person to wear number seven for the Yankees? Future Hall of Fame manager Leo Durocher. Last person to wear number seven for the Yankees? The Mick, of course.

8 – Yogi Berra 

Number eight was worn by a Yankee player in 35 seasons. It was worn by Berra or Bill Dickey in 31 of those seasons.

9 – Graig Nettles

Number nine is retired in honor of Roger Maris, even though four players wore it after he did, including Nettles, who had a better career, a more valuable Yankees tenure, and a longer stint in this jersey than Maris did.

10 – Phil Rizzuto

Seven players wore number 10 after Rizzuto, but no one in Yankee history donned it as long or as prosperously as the Hall of Fame shortstop.

11 – Lefty Gomez 

Gomez wore pinstriped number 11 in 11 seasons, most of any Yankee. If Brett Gardner is still on the Yankees roster come Opening Day, he’ll move past Fred Stanley and Hector Lopez for second place in that category.

12 – Gil McDougald

Number 12 has been worn by 49 Yankees, including some pretty good players. McDougald donned the number longest (10 season) and most productively (37.9 WARP), beating out Wade Boggs, Alfonso Soriano, and Ron Blomberg.

13 – Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod has made the most of a cursed number, winning two MVPs with 13 on his back. Apologies to Jim Leyritz, but no one else comes close.

14 – Moose Skowron

A real revolving-door number, 14 has been worn by an army of role players and only the occasional contributor. Lou Piniella had it longer than Skowron, but Moose provided more value in it.

15 – Thurman Munson 

Red Ruffing did the number proud back in the ’30s, but 15 will always belong to Munson.

16 – Whitey Ford 

The Chairman of the Board does not have much competition for ownership of number 16.

17 – Mickey Rivers 

Most of the 53 Yankees to wear number 17 are utterly forgettable, but Rivers, Vic Raschi, and Oscar Gamble put in some good time in this jersey.

18 – Johnny Damon 

This is probably the least impressive under-20 number in Yankee history. Damon only hung around the Bronx for four seasons, but that was long enough to beat out Don Larsen, Randy Velarde, and 51 other wearers for most valuable number 18.

19 – Dave Righetti 

The Yankees hope Masahiro Tanaka can make number 19 memorable, but for now it belongs to Rags.

20 – Jorge Posada

Before Posada, number 20 was short on history (though it was on Bucky Dent’s back that fateful day in 1978), but now it’s rightfully retired in honor of the five-time All-Star catcher.

21 – Paul O’Neill

When the Yankees tried to give away number 21 in 2008, seven years after O’Neill’s retirement, fans rebelled, booing poor Morgan Ensberg and LaTroy Hawkins. No one has worn it since.

22 – Allie Reynolds 

Even though Roger Clemens probably pitched a little better in number 22 than Reynolds did, it feels right to give this one to the ace of six World Series championship teams.

23 – Don Mattingly 

Donnie Baseball has no serious rivals for number 23.

24 – Robinson Cano 

Given how unceremoniously Cano skipped town, it will be interesting to see if he eventually gets respect as an all-time great Yankee. Regardless, he’s far and away the best to ever wear number 24 in pinstripes.

25 – Mark Teixeira 

Teixeira gets the slight edge over his 25-wearing predecessor Jason Giambi for contributing to a championship team, becoming the fourth member of the 2009 Yankees infield to crack this list.

26 – Orlando Hernandez

Here’s the list of uniform numbers worn by the most Yankees players:

Number 26 – 69 players

Number 38 – 62 players

Number 39 – 60 players

Number 22 – 60 players

Number 29 – 57 players

No one has ever held onto number 26 for very long, but El Duque, who wore it in six seasons, is a worthy representative.

27 – Elliot Maddux

This is a painfully unimpressive bunch. Maddux gets the nod because someone had to and because Bob Wickman was his closest competition.

28 – Sparky Lyle

Another underwhelming crew is saved by the 1977 Cy Young winner.

29 – Mike Stanton

Stanton wins a toss-up over Jesse Barfield because he played for the Yankees longer. After those two it’s Francisco Cervelli. Seriously.

30 – Willie Randolph

Number 30 is pretty distinguished in Yankee history, from Eddie Lopat to Mel Stottlemyre to Dave Robertson, but Randolph tops them all.

31 – Dave Winfield

Here’s an odd quirk: Number 31 for the Yankees was worn exclusively by coaches between 1930 and 1975. Winfield came along soon after and owned the digits for a decade.

32 – Elston Howard

The Yankees first black player was also the last to wear number 32.

33 – David Wells 

No one has ever consumed more hot dogs (or thrown more perfect games) while wearing number 33 for the Yankees than Wells.

34 – Brian McCann

With a respectable year in 2016, McCann can firmly grab number 34 from A.J. Burnett and Clete Boyer, who both wore it for three seasons.

35 – Mike Mussina 

The Moose may not have that spot in Cooperstown quite yet, but he does have a spot on this list!

36 – David Cone 

Cone is the only Yankee to wear number 36 for more than five seasons. His primary competition is late-career Johnny Mize and perpetually injured Nick Johnson.

37 – Gus Niarhos 

Ok, number 37 is weird. It’s retired in honor of Casey Stengel, but since we’re not counting managers here we have to choose between the only two Yankees players to ever wear it: the thoroughly irrelevant Niarhos and someone named Herb Karpel who pitched in two games in his career.

38 – Matt Nokes 

A lot of players have worn number 38 for the Yankees, and none have been any good. Hence Nokes.

39 – Roberto Kelly 

Kelly actually reached the 1992 All-Star game while wearing number 39 for the Yankees, despite a lukewarm .272/.322/.384 slash line that season.

40 – Chien-Ming Wang

Wang was a pretty good pitcher for a minute there, wearing number 40 through his rise and fall.

41 – Randy Johnson 

The pickings are pretty slim down here, so the Big Unit’s solid 2005 campaign alone earns him this spot.

42 – Mariano Rivera

Too easy.

43 – Jeff Nelson

Adam Warren was about one good year from seizing number 43, but now he’s a Cub and Nelson’s spot here is safe.

44 – Reggie Jackson 

Reggie only wore number 44 for five seasons, but that’s two more than any other Yankee has ever held onto it.

45- Danny Tartabull 

Since 2011, a whopping 13 Yankees have worn number 45, including four in 2014 alone. With that in mind, Tartabull’s claim to the number appears safe for now.

46 – Andy Pettitte 

Did you know Don Mattingly wore number 46 at the beginning of his career? His decision to cut the figure in half paved the way for Pettitte.

47 – Ivan Nova 

Believe it or not, Nova is the best Yankee to ever wear number 47. Shane Spencer leads a weak crowd of runners-up.

48 – Roy White

White wore number 48 only at the beginning of his career (he switched to number 6), just long enough to beat out Boone Logan.

49 – Ron Guidry 

Guidry is actually the only Yankee ever to don number 49 in multiple seasons. He wore it in 14.

50 – Jay Howell

It’s no exaggeration to say no one good has ever worn number 50 for the Yankees. Howell did have a 2.69 ERA in 103.2 innings (mostly out of the bullpen) in 1984 though.

51 – Bernie Williams 

Can you name the last guy to wear number 51 for the Yankees before Williams? It was pitcher Chuck Cary.

52 – CC Sabathia

Sabathia is the easy pick at number 52.

53 – Bobby Abreu 

In recent years, number 53 has become a favorite for transient Yankee bench players. But from 2006-08, Abreu wore it pretty well.

54 – Goose Gossage

Impressively, Gossage wore number 54 for nine different MLB teams and never took the field in another number. Unrelated: Only coaches have worn number 54 for the Yankees since the turn of the 21st century.

55 – Hideki Matsui 

Godzilla reigns at number 55. Ramiro Mendoza’s Yankee career would earn him the nod at a lot of these higher numbers but not here.

56 – Jim Bouton

Bouton also wins the award for best book written by someone who wore number 56 for the Yankees.

57 – Steve Howe 

Of the 31 players to wear number 57 for the Yankees, Howe is the only one to stick with it for more than one season, at least until Branden Pinder suits up in 2016.

58 – Dooley Womack 

We’re getting a little desperate down here. Womack wore number 58 from 1966-68, pitching 233.2 innings in that time.

59 – Juan Rivera

Rivera batted 276 times while wearing number 59 for the Yankees and hit .266/.307/.434 with eight home runs. He gets this spot for lack of better options.

60 – Stan Bahnsen

Not a single player in Yankee history has worn number 60 in multiple seasons, which makes this one almost impossible to choose. Bahnsen was the first Yankee to wear number 60, and though he didn’t do much while using that number in 1966, he did have a nice season two years later with 45 on his back.

61 – Shane Greene 

Another number never worn for more than a full season, 61 has hosted a motley crew of mediocre 21st-century pitchers. Greene did more with the number than the rest, however.

62 – Joba Chamberlain

Joba had his ups and downs in pinstripes, but he’ll probably own number 62 for a while.

63 – Jonathan Albaladejo

Albaladejo wore number 63 during three seasons, which is three times as many seasons as any other Yankee ever has.

64 – Rob Refsnyder

Entering 2015, eight players had worn number 64 for the Yankees. In 2015 alone, five more joined the club. Despite only 47 plate appearances, Refsnyder is already the best to have used this jersey, narrowly beating Hector Noesi.

65 – Phil Hughes

Four players wore number 65 for the Yankees in 2015, matching the number of guys who had donned those digits in all of previous franchise history. Hughes is undisputed king of the number, having worn it for almost his entire Yankee career.

66 – John Ryan Murphy

Sincere apologies to Steve Balboni.

67 – James Pazos

Number 67 went unworn by all Yankees from 1988 to 2011 but has been used by exactly one player each year since then, most recently Pazos.

68 – Dellin Betances

Two players in Yankees history have worn number 68, and sorry Dioner Navarro, but Betances has this one locked up.

68-99 – Alfredo Aceves

In Yankee history, 16 players have worn numbers higher than 68. Most of them have played in the last five years, and most of them didn’t stick around long. The best-of-the-rest award goes to Aceves, who donned number 91 in four different season spread over two stints in New York and pitched well enough to make his number proud.

Lead photo courtesy of Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The star power in that 2009 Yankees group leads to an important question: Could that be the best infield of all time? ESPN’s Buster Olney thinks it’s up there—in 2013, he ranked that Yankees group the second-greatest infield ever, behind only the 1976 Reds. The New York Daily News explored the question back in September 2009, quoting Jim Palmer as saying the Tex-Cano-Jeter-Rodriguez quartet belonged in the conversation for best infield in history.

So I decided to compare the total WARP of the four 2009 Yankees infielders with that of other notable infields. Alas, the Big Red Machine core of Perez, Morgan, Concepcion, and Rose topped the ’09 Yanks in both 1975 and 1976. The Philadelphia Athletics’ “$100,000 infield” had the Bombers beat in 1910, 1912, 1913 and 1914.* So did the Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance Cubs in 1906.* And the 1999 Mets. But the ’09 Yankees did have the best infield since… actually they didn’t even have the best infield in their division that season, bested by the Rays. But they did form the top Yankees infield since… no actually the ’07 team, despite playing Doug Mientkiewicz at first base, edged the ’09 squad thanks to a huge year from A-Rod.

*Using Baseball-Reference WAR because WARP doesn’t go back that far

Now I found myself confronting defeat. It was clear the 2009 Yankees were not quite as special as I had remembered. Here’s a partial list of infields I tabulated before giving up.

So I tried moving the goalposts. Since none of the ’09 Yankee infielders graded out particularly well on defense that year, I looked at offense-only metrics. Suddenly they scoot past the ’75 Reds, a couple of the A’s teams and the defensive-focused ’99 Mets. But even in the offense-only category, it’s hard to argue with stats that the ’09 Yanks are in the conversation for best infield of all-time. They’re still behind by the ’76 Reds, several “$100,000 infield” squads, and even those ’07 Yankees.

But even though value stats don’t quite back up my belief that the Yankees infield in 2009 was the greatest of all-time or even the best-hitting of all time, it might not be wrong to say that year (and the following three as well) the Yankees had the best infielders of any team ever.

Because check out what happens when we add together the total career WARP and bWAR of notable groups of starting infielders:

Looking at career value, that Yankees group trails the Big Red Machine in WARP, whose formula is extremely harsh on Jeter and Teixeira. But three of the four Yanks are still playing, and Cano alone could make up the remaining 11 wins over the rest of his career. Per WARP, the 2009-12 Yankees will have the most prolific infield ever by 2017.

And according to bWAR, the contest is already over. The title-winning Yankees quartet tops the mid-70s Reds (Perez, Morgan, Concepcion, Rose) early-10s A’s (McInnis, Collins, Barry, Baker), late-00s Cubs (Chance, Tinker, Evers, Steinfeldt), late-90s Orioles (Palmeiro, Alomar, Ripken, Sufhoff/Bordick), and turn-of-the-century Indians (Thome, Alomar, Vizquel, Fryman).

I’ve racked my brain for other contenders but can’t come up with any. The ’94-95 Indians would have been up there if Eddie Murray had played first as much as he DHed. The Whitaker/Trammell Tigers teams had solid corner infielders but never incredible ones. The Jackie Robinson Dodgers were missing a third baseman. Some strong duos (Bagwell and Biggio, Ripken and Murray, Greenberg and Gehringer) never fit into strong quartets.

I did find one infield, however, that beats the 2009-12 Yankees in total career value: the 2008 Yankees. That team also had Cano, Jeter and Rodriguez, but manning first base was Jason Giambi, who out-WARPs Teixeira 51.5-38.5. So according to WARP, the most talented infield in baseball history was not the group that led the Yankees to a World Series title while inspiring breathless comparisons to the Big Red Machine, but rather the squad that produced the franchise’s first non-playoff season in more than a decade.

So can we proclaim the 2008 Yankees, in a shocking upset, the best infield of all-time? Nope. Career value doesn’t totally override who the players were at that moment, and in 2008 Giambi was past-prime, Cano had the worst year of his career, and Jeter and Rodriguez were sub-standard as well.

What we can claim, after all the manipulation of stats and changing of definitions, is what I already knew going in: The 2009 Yankees infield was pretty special, whether it was the best of all-time or not.

Lead photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

After 20 seasons of watching Derek Jeter start at shortstop, Yankees fans saw Didi Gregorius try to fill an impossibly large pair of shoes. Gregorius isn’t going to be a worthy successor to Jeter in terms of replicating what he did in his prime, but he should be more than capable of providing more than the future Hall-of-Famer was producing at the end of his career.

Gregorius managed a meager 76 wRC+ last season, virtually identical to Jeter’s 73 mark, meaning the upgrade will be coming on defense. This should not come as a surprise. Regardless of where one stands on the divisive issue of Jeter’s defensive value, replacing a 40-year-old shortstop with a 25-year-old who has a reputation for sterling defense is going to be an upgrade in the field.

It really doesn’t take much statistical analysis to crack that nut, but to hammer the point home the following chart compares the two since 2012 when Gregorius came into the league.

Even though advanced metrics are surprisingly low on Gregorious — a guy with a glove-first profile — it remains clear he will give Yankees fans a glimpse of better defense at the shortstop position than they’ve seen in years.

Once again, all of this is fairly intuitive. What is more interesting than the fact Gregorius will be an upgrade over Jeter in the field is how he will be. FanGraphs’ fielding spray charts — based on Inside Edge fielding data — shed some light on the issue. Below is a visual representation of all the plays Jeter has made since 2012.

What we see here is a lot of green, denoting easier plays and very few difficult plays made far from the second base to Jeter’s right. Unsurprisingly, at his advanced age the Yankees legend was unable to make plays deep in the hole. The difference with Gregorius is subtle, but his range extends farther into the hole, allowing him make more difficult plays.

This point is better illustrated with moving pictures than multi-colored dots, so I’ve picked out some plays Gregorious has made in this area of the field that I think it’s safe to assume that Jeter would not have.

Exhibit A

It should be noted that a pitcher is running here and this play would not be possible against those fleeter of foot. That being said, Andrew Cashner is one of the more athletic pitchers around for whatever that’s worth.

To get this out Gregorius has to go a long way to his right, stop his momentum and make a very strong throw. There are a lot of shortstops that wouldn’t have gotten to that ball in the first place, and  it’s safe to say that most would’ve had to eat it. One could argue the throw was inadvisable, but with a strong arm and a pitcher running it was worth a shot and Gregorious made it happen.

Exhibit B

This throw is incredible. While Justin Turner’s lack of wheels may be an unfortunate nickname killer, he is not especially slow either. The range Gregorius demonstrates here is one thing, but the arm is something different altogether.

Exhibit C

It would seem that Mr. Gregorius just doesn’t like the San Diego Padres. His ability to make a strong throw across the diamond — and across his body — stands out again. It is apparent that he can make spectacular plays on balls where other shortstops would concede singles and not feel remotely guilty about it.

Looking at highlights is always a misleading way of evaluating players because it shows them at their best as opposed to demonstrating what it’s fair to expect from them. However, the clips above show that Gregorius is capable of plays that other players, like late-career Jeter, simply are not. He will not make spectacular plays in the hole on an everyday basis, no one except perhaps Andrelton Simmons can, but he will do it more often than Yankees fans have grown accustomed to seeing. More than anything else, this skill is the biggest differentiator between him and late-career Jeter.

The gift Gregorius has for ranging to his right for remarkable plays isn’t going to make anyone forget a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but it should give Yankees fans something new to remember.
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