2011 Yankees starting line up predictions

We are less then 24 hours away from the start of the 2011 Yankees season. This off season seemed much longer then the past few, in the past the Yanks were coming off a championship and had added high priced free agents. This off season? Neither, the best off season addition was Rafael Soriano, as we know no championship parade and worst of all Andy Pettitte retired and left the Yanks rotation very thin.

But opening day is a time for optimism, along with predictions on how the Yanks will do. So with that here is a break down of my predictions for the 2011 Yanks starting line up and pitchers.

Russell Martin: Last season Martin played very poorly, but part of that was because Joe Torre treated him as if he was Scott Proctor and played him at third during his off days. But will a bad hip and a change from the NL West to the AL East help or hurt Martin?
Best case: .290/12 home runs/ 70 RBI, plays in over 125 games
Worst case: .240/6 /42  and has to go on the DL for any amount of time
My prediction: .276/10/60 Martin stays healthy, other then the occasionally day to day stuff.

Mark Teixeria: Will this be the season that Tex gets off to a decent start? Well everyone sure hopes, I think that Tex wont be as bad as he was the past two seasons, but he will hit around .250 in April, a respectable but still low for Mark. Last year Teixeria was never able to really get hot, and suffered so many nagging injuries, the key this season, would be to just stay healthy and get off to a decent start.
Best case: .300/38/139 Tex manages to get off to a nice start and never looks back, putting up MVP like stats.
Worst case: .250/30/100 85% of big leaguers would love to have this line, but for Tex it indicates a poor season and a slow start. Also fans begin to lose some patients with Tex in this scenario, they start to compare him to the old A-Rod and say hes "not clutch".
My prediction: .280/34/120 Mark gets off to an OK start, and then heats up and has a year similar to 2009.

Robinson Cano: I love to watch Cano play, and that starts with the fact that I have really gotten to see his game grow since 2005. The Yankees are really counting on Cano to have a season similar to 2010, but are the expectations too high?

Best case: .340/35/125 Cano turns into an absolute beast, hitting for a higher average and adds more power to his game

Worst case: .281/22/88 Cano starts to swing at balls over his head and in the dirt, and the famous "lazy" tag comes back out.

My prediction: .324/30/108 I will say right out that Robbie is my favorite  player, but it seems like everyone expects his to improve by alot, I think Cano will be consistent and have a slightly better season then last year.

Derek Jeter: Ah the captain, this is a tough one since not many shortstops have managed to put up a decent season over the age of 35, but Jeter is determined to change that.

Best case: .330/16/70 The man gets his 3,000 hit, and the fans forget about 2010.

Worst case: .250/9/60 Yankee fans watch Jeter declining right in front of their eyes, suddenly rumors are popping up that Jeter will be moving to the out field, since his defense has gotten worse.

My prediction: .296/10/66 Jeter improves from last season, but still hits into the famous double plays, still lacks range and short and we still hear the rumors. But its Derek Jeter! We look past the flaws and love him anyways.

Alex Rodriguez: uh oh its 2011, an odd year, you know what the means right? A big year for A-Rod, or atleast you would think so since he won the MVP in 2003,2005,and 2007 and shut up the critics in 2009 with a postseason for the ages. But does the trend continue?
Best case: .300/45/136 A-Rod stays healthy and has the big season that everyone expects
Worst case .268/25/110 A-Rod struggles with little injuries or is forced to spend a large chunk of time on the DL. His defense declines more and he still cant catch up on fastballs.
My prediction: .278/33/128 It might be an odd year, but that doesn't equal a huge season in my eyes. But the third basemen finds a way to stay healthy and still have a very very good season.

Nick Swisher: Every ones favorite goof ball had his best all around season last year, but was it a mirage or is he for real.

Best case: .300/30/100 Swish still improves, and suddenly a big pay day will be awaiting him.
Worst case: .255/24/73 Last season was based off luck, and the old Swisher comes back.
My prediction: .284/30/93 It was a quiet spring for Swisher, but don't expect him to be so quiet with the bat this season, I expect alot of the same from Swisher, including an increase in RBI's since he will be batting behind Cano.

Curtis Granderson: It was the tale of two seasons for the Grandy man. The first half: awful. The second: amazing. What half held the real Granderson?
Best case: .291/30/90 Kevin Long shows why he is the best at what he does and suddenly the Granderson trade looks like a steal.

Worst case: .244/16/60 Granderson cant hit lefties and is benched while Austin Jackson has a good season with the Tigers.

My prediction: .273/26/78 Granderson will struggle at times, but he is more consistent and has a nice season.

Brett Gardner: Back in 2008 I hated Gardner, and begged for the Yankees to either send him down or just keep his around as a pinch runner. Good thing I'm not a scout, because Gardner has turned into a great all around player.
Best case: .300/10/52 Brett continues to play great defense, and steals alot.
Worst case: .260/4/36 Gardner battles injuries, and struggles. But still steals alot.
My prediction: .283/8/49 Gardy has another impressive season, and steals...alot.

Jorge Posada: We saw the first core four member retire this past winter, could this be the final season of Posada in pinstripes?
Best case: .285/25/80 Posada is healthy, happy and hitting. Girardi even tosses him a bone and lets him catch every now and then.
Worst case: .240/15/48 Posada battles injuries and has a tough time ajusting to DHing full time. To make things worse he complains about it to the media, causing an issue.
My prediction: .255/22/73 Posada will still hit as long as hes healthy, and aside from the occasional grumble he takes DHing well and the Yanks welcome him back in 2012.