I feel that the ESPN article comparing the Yankees and Rangers position by position failed to use appropriate rigor, and may have even been somewhat biased.   So, this is my more rigorous, but no less biased look at the two teams.   A note on format, I'll first show all the players at each position, but limit the discussion to those who we should expect to see there in the series to come.

 

Catcher:

Texas:

Max Ramirez, 24 games, .224/.349/.358
Taylor Teagarden, 26 games, .155/.259/.338
Bengie Molina, 53 games, .235/.276/.318
Matt Treanor, 73 games, .209/.287/.299
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 1 game, .250/.250/.250

NY:

Jorge Posada, 80 games, .256/.370/.474
Francisco Cervelli, 84 games, .276/.363/.341
Chad Moeller, 6 games, .214/.267/.429

Lets just say that the festering hole that is the Rangers catching position offensively isn't going to get all that much better against the Yankees. Ramirez, Teagarden, and Salty won't be in uniform for these games (though Salty may be in his spiffy Red Sox unis). And though Molina has fared well in the postseason so far, well... he won't be stealing too many more bases. Treanor played only one game and got hit twice. For the Yankees, it appears that they've decided that Posada is fine and will run him out there everyday. which might be to our advantage in that he throws like Julio Borbon. He still hits ok, which is far more than can be said for our guys. Advantage: Yankees

 

First Base

Mitch Moreland, 39 games, .266/.372/.468
Justin Smoak, 68 games, .207/.316/.353
Jorge Cantu, 22 games, .222/.273/.306
Chris Davis, 35 games, .184/.271/.263
Joaquin Arias, 5 games, .231/.286/.231
Ryan Garko, 6 games, .000/.083/.000

NY:

Mark Teixeira, 148 games, .267/.374/.496
Nick Swisher, 4 games, .222/.300/.222
Lance Berkman, 7 games, .120/.290/.160
Nick Johnson, 2 games, .111/.111/.222
Juan Miranda, 8 games, .000/.158/.000

Another festering hole for the Rangers for much of the season, though it now seems to be filled by Mitch Moreland, who wasn't dreadful in the ALDS. Amazingly, Moreland matches up to Mark Teixeira, albiet in a much smaller sample. And in a short series anything can happen, like Teixeira going 4 for 13 with a homer and a double like he did against the Twins. Also note that Cantu might start against either Sabathia or Pettitte, but at this point I doubt it. Advantage: MFY

 

Second Base

Texas:

Ian Kinsler, 102 games, .286/.381/.412
Andres Blanco, 35 games, .307/.345/.416
Joaquin Arias, 21 games, .304/.314/.391
Esteban German, 3 games, .250/.455/.250
Alex Cora, 2 games, .167/.167/.167
Christian Guzman, 9 games, .091/.143/.091
Jorge Cantu, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY:

Robinson Cano, 158 games, .321/.382/.539 
Ramiro Pena, 6 games, .353/.389/.412 
Kevin Russo, 2 games, .000/.000/.000

 

Cano was a viable MVP candidate. Kinsler was hurt most of the year, but is healthy now, and is actually hitting like the Kinsler who was a legit MVP candidate in '08. I'm gonna get roasted for this one, but for this series, I'm gonna call this a push, because Kinsler's health issues are not likely to surface during this series. Advantage: none

 

Third Base

Texas

Mike Young, 155 games, .282/.329/.441
Alex Cora, 1 game, 1.000/1.000/1.000
Andres Blanco, 7 games, .333/.467/.417
Jorge Cantu, 7 games, .304/.333/.435
Chris Davis, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY

Alex Rodriguez, 122 games, .268/.339/.496
Eduardo Nunez, 10 games, .306/.342/.417
Francisco Cervelli, 2 games, .000/.500/.000
Ramiro Pena, 33 games, .183/.214/.204
Kevin Russo, 9 games, .133/.188/.133

A-Rod vs Michael Young. Rodriguez is a first ballot hall of famer, who had a bad year at the plate. Young isn't, and his second half was very bad. A-Rod is also better defensively. Unlike Evan Longoria, A-Rod is healthy now, so, we're kinda hosed here. Advantage: Yankees

 

Shortstop

Texas

Elvis Andrus, 146 games, .265/.343/.301
Cristian Guzman, 3 games, .364/.417/.455
Joaquin Arias, 2 games, .333/.333/.500
Andres Blanco, 16 games, .224/.283/.224
Esteban German, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY

Derek Jeter, 151 games, .271/.342/.371
Ramiro Pena, 17 games, .250/.282/.250
Eduardo Nunez, 7 games, .214/.267/.214

Elvis vs Jeter. Yankee fans can't stand to hear that Jeter isn't god. That Jeter isn't going to win the first 4 games of the series all by himself. That Jeter really does suck defensively, so much so that it overcomes the fairly large gap in offense that Jeter is better than Elvis by. Elvis has added a lot of patience this year, which is a great sign of things to come, but he's gonna have to swing at a few first pitches to keep from starting every at bat down 0-1. Advantage: Rangers

 

Left Field

Texas

Josh Hamilton, 92 games, .378/.424/.708
David Murphy, 67 games, .305/.387/.505
Nelson Cruz, 14 games, .261/.292/.391
Esteban German, 1 game, .333/.333/.333
Craig Gentry, 4 games, .200/.182/.200
Jeff Francoeur, 2 games, .167/.167/.167
Vladimir Guerrero, 1 game, .000/.250/.000
Julio Borbon, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY

Brett Gardner, 114 games, .295/.398/.402
Greg Golson, 1 game, .667/.667/1.000
Austin Kearns, 20 games, .250/.338/.367
Randy Winn, 17 games, .250/.351/.354
Marcus Thames, 20 games, .265/.345/.347
Kevin Russo, 11 games, .219/.286/.281
Colin Curtis, 3 games, .143/.250/.286
Chad Huffman, 3 games, .222/.222/.222

With Granderson hitting again, Gardner played all 3 games in left field for the Yankees, and expect him to do so again against the Rangers, unless Girardi actually pays attention and sits Gardner and/or Granderson against CJ. If he doesn't, expect some 0-fers against Wilson and Lee. Wash has reverted to 2009, and fixed Hamilton in centerfield, and with Murphy "healthy", has a platoon where Murphy plays left against righties and Francoeur plays right field against lefties, with Cruz swapping between. Even so, matchups dictate that this will favor the Rangers, as we're likely to have 4 games of the 7 pitched by lefties. Advantage: Rangers

 

Centerfield

Texas

Julio Borbon, 128 games, .276/.309/.341
Josh Hamilton, 38 games, .314/.377/.475
David Murphy, 9 games, .269/.296/.423
Craig Gentry, 7 games, .263/.300/.263

NY

Curtis Granderson, 132 games, .251/.328/.475
Nick Swisher, 1 game, 1.000/1.000/4.000
Brett Gardner, 40 games, .234/.351/.328
Greg Golson, 3 games, .333/.333/.333

Hamilton vs Granderson. Hamilton has been surprisingly good afield this year in center. Granderson will have to overcome the 0 for 8 he's going to get from two games against C.J. Wilson. Advantage: Rangers

 

Right Field

Texas

Nelson Cruz, 94 games, .327/.384/.611
Mitch Moreland, 6 games, .222/.333/.556
Jeff Francoeur, 13 games, .317/.349/.439
Vladimir Guerrero, 16 games, .246/.292/.475
David Murphy, 43 games, .287/.331/.401
Brandon Boggs, 2 games, .000/.143/.000
Craig Gentry, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY

Nick Swisher, 131 games, .295/.368/.526
Marcus Thames, 6 games, .376/.522/.813
Ramiro Pena, 2 games, .667/.667/.667
Austin Kearns, 12 games, .194/.359/.226
Chad Huffman, 3 games, .143/.400/.143
Colin Curtis, 13 games, .158/.220/.184
Randy Winn, 5 games, .083/.083/.083

Nick Swisher vs the other half of the Francoeur/Murphy/Cruz platoon. Francoeur doesn't have much range, but his arm may be a factor in the shallow rightfields of Arlington and the new Yankee stadium. Swisher is good. Cruz is better. and Francoeur has been hot since leaving NY. Also look for a big Frenchy bird to the Met faithful who managed to score tickets in Yankeeville. Advantage: Rangers

 

DH

Texas

Jeff Francoeur, 1 game, .667/.667/1.167
Mike Young, 2 games, .429/.444/.714
Bengie Molina, 1 game, .500/.500/.500
Vladimir Guerrero, 129 games, .306/.349/.501
Josh Hamilton, 13 games, .306/.357/.469
Nelson Cruz, 3 games, .375/.444/.375
Ryan Garko, 5 games, .111/.158/.111
Matt Treanor, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Max Ramirez, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
David Murphy, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Cristian Guzman, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Esteban German, 1 game, .000/.000/.000
Julio Borbon, 1 game, .000/.000/.000

NY

Austin Kearns, 2 games, .429/.429/.571
Alex Rodriguez, 12 games, .304/.360/.630
Juan Miranda, 13 games, .293/.341/.610
Marcus Thames, 41 games, .291/.326/.530
Lance Berkman, 25 games, .286/.368/.390
Jorge Posada, 30 games, .245/.342/.412
Nick Johnson, 20 games, .177/.414/.323
Nick Swisher, 11 games, .255/.314/.404
Derek Jeter, 5 games, .227/.261/.318
Robinson Cano, 2 games, .222/.300/.222
Mark Teixeira, 9 games, .135/.200/.243
Colin Curtis, 1 games, .000/.000/.000

Joe Girardi used his DH all year to rest people, and therefore, that talk about how wonderful Marcus Thames is, is just that, talk. Thames had fewer than 150 PA's at DH, so, comparing him to Guerrero is like comparing Mitch Moreland to Mark Teixeira. Berkman will play against right handed starters (of which the Yankees won't face too many against us) Advantage: Rangers

 

Will do pitching staffs later.

Chris Davis debuted in 2006 at Spokane.  In 69 games he hit .277/.343/.534 with 15 home runs.  The next year he began the year at Bakersfield and in 99 games hit .298/.340/.573 with 24 homers before being promoted to Frisco.  In Frisco he hit .294/.377/.688 with 12 homers in just 30 games.  This year he went back to Frisco and hit .333/.376/.618 with 13 homers in 46 games.  That earned him a promotion to Oklahoma city, where he hit .333/.402/.685 with 10 homers in just 31 games.   Promoted to the show, he's now hit .290/.333/.699 with 10 homers in 26 games.  

That makes 6 stops so far, and he's had 10 homers in every one of those stops.  That includes 3 levels this year, and 33 homers already.   The American League Home Run leader Carlos Quinten has 27, and the NL leader, Ryan Howard, has 30.   The only two people in the minors with more homers are Dallas McPherson and Nelson Cruz with 38 and 37 respectively.

We knew that Davis has power.   Imagine 2009 lineup with Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Davis hitting 1-4 in it.  especially with Davis a year closer to his prime.

 

(Edited because my head is stuck back 5 years ago)

Ok, raise your hand if you had predicted the following:

>95 RBI for Hamilton on the season

>6 MAJOR LEAGUE home runs for Chris Davis on the season

>10 MAJOR LEAGUE wins from the combination of Eric Hurley, Josh Rupe, Doug Mathis, Warner Madrigal, Luis Mendoza, Matt Harrison, and A.J. Murray this season?  Well, this one we might have, but there are some names we didn't expect to hear from.

Note that we've accomplished all of these by the All Star Break.  Also, we've gotten 80 games of MVP performance from Milton Bradley, we've seen  14 rookies (9 pitchers, 5 hitters), and most importantly, 50 wins!