Midseason Grades

Hey everyone. On the day of the All-Star Game in St. Louis, it is time to hand out grades to the Yankees and Mets for their midseason report cards. Now, the season is a little more than half over for both squads, but it is still close enough to give official grades. We'll break down by the grade and list the players on both squads who deserve that grade and why. Here we go:

Yankees Grades:

A
Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Alfredo Aceves
Explanation: These are the only two that I would consider have been consistently good and have overachieved all season. Jeter was criticized after last year and has since been hitting the ball well and playing much better defense. In a clubhouse with many new faces, he has helped lead and make them feel welcome. Rivera continues to dominate at his age and outside of tie games, has been brilliant. Aceves has been one of the team's best relievers and stabilized a bullpen that was once awful.

A-
CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeira, Phil Hughes
Explanation: Here resides all of the Yanks' big free agent signings. They all have done well, though each has shown some signs of struggling. CC and AJ have been much better after rough starts and the same goes for Teixeira, though he tailed off slightly recently. All have still been impressive and a big part to the team's success. Hughes was rough as a starter which lost him the "A" grade, but he's been the Yanks' best reliever other than Mo.

B+
Alex Rodriguez, Phil Coke, Francisco Cervelli
Explanation: A-Rod missed part of the year, but has come in since and has helped lead the Yanks' offense for the most part. He did have a really bad stretch in there which knocks him down, but part of that can be attributed to not resting him enough. Coke has been very strong out of the bullpen, though he has given up a few too many homers. Cervelli opened eyes with how well he handled the pitching staff behind the plate with Posada and Molina being injured. His bat still needs work, though it was surprisingly decent.

B
Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Ramiro Pena
Explanation: Posada's arm is still weak and his defense has suffered, but he still calls a good game and his bat is vital. Cano has been much better on both sides of the ball this year, but still has struggled mightily with runners on base. Melky has become the team's clutch hitter, but he too had a slump and has been battling with Gardner for the starting spot. Gardner's bat has been up and down but his speed is still important. Needs to make better mental decisions. Pena was a surprise as well, but his defense could use work. All have been good, but not "A" worthy.

B-
Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, David Robertson
Explanation: Swisher was an offensive boost early on, but has fallen off since and his defense is not very good. Still can get some big hits. Matsui's bat is coming on lately, but was bad early, and the fact that he can't play the outfield hurts. Damon's defense is very poor and his bat has slumped of late after starting off very well. Still pretty good though. Robertson has had some strong appearances out of the pen, but he has been roughed up a bit lately.


C
Joba Chamberlain, Andy Pettitte
Explanation: Joba came in with very high expectations after showing positive signs as a starter last year. He has had a lot of trouble attacking the zone and dominating hitters. Too many walks and high pitch counts. Hasn't been flat out awful though. Pettitte has racked up a lot of wins, but that's mainly because of his offense. Pettitte's stuff is not good anymore and he's bene getting hit hard lately. He's not terrible but isn't really helping either.

D
Brian Bruney, Brett Tomko
Explanation: If both pitchers hadn't shown some strong performances here and there, they'd be failing. Bruney had good stuff, but he lied about an injury, has been hurt most of the year, and walks way too many batters. Tomko hasn't been good either and usually comes in for mop-up duty.

F
Chien-Ming Wang, Edwar Ramirez, Damaso Marte
Explanation: Wang has been the biggest disappointment. He had 3 awful starts coming off his injury last year and hasn't impressed since. He then got hurt again. Edwar is no longer with the team because he was awful at the beginning of the year. Marte has been hurt most of the year nad was really, really bad as well early on.

Incomplete
Jose Molina, Cody Ransom, Xavier Nady, Eric Hinske, Mark Melancon, Jonathan Albaladejo
Explanation: Molina, Ransom, and Nady have been injured most of the year, Hinske just got here, Melancon and Albaladejo have barely been here.

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Mets Grades:

A
Johan Santana
Explanation: He has been the only Met who has done his job all season. Sure, he's had a few not-so-stellar starts, but name me an ace who hasn't. He's been the victim of zero offense and still has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.

A-
Francisco Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield
Explanation: K-Rod has been very strong as the closer, but hasn't been brilliant. He's had a few blown saves and near-blown saves, but he's still gotten the job done often and been the best bullpen pitcher. Sheffield has been a very pleasant surprise with his offense and has helped keep this team afloat. He's still not an everyday player though.

B+
Omir Santos, Luis Castillo, Alex Cora, Fernando Nieve
Explanation: Santos, Castillo, and Cora have all been surprisingly decent at the plate. While all of them have gone through slumps this year, they all still have gotten some timely hits and kept this team somewhat respectable. Nieve came in the rotation and started off very strong. He's tailed off a bit since, but he's still pitching fairly well.

B
Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green, Bobby Parnell, Brian Stokes
Explanation: "B" is for bullpen and that's where all four of these guys hail from. Each one has done an average job in the bullpen with some ups and downs along the way. Neither has been dominating, but no one has been downright dreadful. They are an average group that has also kept this team from utter failure.

B-
David Wright, Livan Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey
Explanation: David Wright has been way below average this year. He'd be lower if not for the fact that his presence and high average has given the team some credibility. His power numbers are way down though, and his strikeout totals are way up. Livan had a solid start, but he's been getting roughed up big-time since and has fallen back to where many thought he was. Pelfrey too has been getting beaten up on lately but is still providing the team with some good starting pitching here and there.

C
Brian Schneider, Jeremy Reed, Nick Evans, Elmer Dessens, Pat Misch
Explanation: Schneider was hurt for a while but has since come back and been the same guy. He's got some power but doesn't hit for average. Reed has been okay defensively, but doesn't provide much offensively. Evans also was not good at the plate and was probably rushed up. Dessens and Misch have put up some okay numbers out of the bullpen but neither has been more than a mop-up guy.

D
Tim Redding, Fernando Martinez
Explanation: Redding would be failing if not for a few good starts. Aside from that, he was terrible and hasn't been much better out of the bullpen. F-Mart is hurt now, but before that, he didn't provide the offense the Mets front office and Mets fans were hoping and now is hurt.

F
Fernando Tatis
Explanation: He's a double play machine. He was nowhere near where he was last year. Mets fans wish he wasn't on the team anymore. Yup, that's worth a failing grade.

Incomplete
Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, John Maine, Oliver Perez, JJ Putz, Angel Pagan, Jeff Francoeur, Argenis Reyes, Ramon Martinez
Explanation: All have been injured most of the season, just came on with the team, or have barely been on the team.

Let me know what you think!