All Yankees team, 1965-2016 position players

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The Yankees have been the most successful franchise in baseball. Having said that, they haven't been quite as successful since 1965. Still, the late George Steinbrenner made sure the Yankees were still a team to be reckoned with, regardless of the cost. The Yankees Aaron Judge could very well be on this team in a couple of years, but for now this is what I have.

Catcher: Thurman Munson This was a close call between Munson and Jorge Posada. I ultimately went with Munson, based primarily on better defensive numbers. While Posada had some nice post season numbers, Munson's were even better. Munson hit .357 in post season play, including .373 in three world series.

First base: Don Mattingly I gave Mattingly the nod over Mark Texiera. Sometimes, when you look at stats after a period of years you're surprised by what you see. There were a few years where Mattingly was a doubles machine. From 1984-84 Donnie Baseball had 44-48-53 doubles. He hit over .300 from 1984-89. He was just a stylish hitter who hit over 30 home runs three times in his career. I was surprised to find his defensive War for his career was -6.8. Still, Don was a great player.

Second base: Robinson Cano This was a pretty easy choice, though Willie Randolph did some nice work for a number of years. Cano spent 9 years with the Yankees, finishing up with an OPS of .860. He also clubbed 204 homers during his time with the Yankees. From 2010-13 Cano hit between 25 and 33 homers. His defensive metrics were also good. Cano's defensive WAR was 7.9. Couple that with his bat, and his overall WAR was 61.4 during his time in New York.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter This was by far the easiest pick. First of all, 20 years as the Yankees shortstop is amazing. Despite defensive metrics that weren't kind to him, Jeter still finished with a WAR of 71.3. As good as Jeter was during the regular season, he was even better in the post season. His battering average for post season play was .308 to go with 20 home runs and an OPS .838. He was the consummate Yankee for a generation of fans.

Third base: Alex Rodriguez You might not like ARod. You may even question how ARod got his numbers, but boy he got some numbers! In 12 years with the Yankees Alex hit 351 home urns and put up an OPS of an even .900. And this included years when he was seriously in decline. ARod's best year with the Yankees was 2007 when he connected for 56 homers while driving in 156 runs. His OPS for that season was 1.067. He even managed to have a plus defensive WAR of .6 for his time with the Yankees. Before ARod, Graig Nettles had a nice run in the 70's. Graig was excellent defensively and was good for 20-37 homers during his prime. A single season stat on Nettles that jumped out at me was his defensive WAR of 3.6 during the 1976 season.

Left field: Dave Winfield This was a tough call for me. Roy White was with the Yankees 15 years and had a solid career. Roy finsihed with a WAR of 46.7 which was pulled down by a defensive WAR of -6.1. Hidecki Matsui provided some power during the 90's, but ultimately I went with Dave Winfield. Winfield didn't spend a lot of his time in New York in left field but I ultimately went with him. Dave's 6 seasons of 100+ RBIs was one of the deciding factors.

Center field: Bernie Williams During the 90's Bernie was a fixture in center field for those great Yankee teams. Bernie was good for about 25 home runs and close to 100 RBIs while hitting over .300. That kind of longevity and production are hard to come by. Of course, if the time frame went back a few years earlier, Mickey Mantle would have been the slam dunk choice. By 1965 Mickey was slowed considerably. After Mickey, Bobby Murcer had a nice run and Mickey Rivers was productive for a few years in the 70's.

Right field: Paul O'Neil Okay, I cheated. Reggie Jackson has to show up somewhere on this team so I bumped him to DH. Paul was good for about 20 homers and 100 RBIs with an OBS of around .360 and an OPS of about .830. Considering the Yankees had O'Neil and Williams side by side in their outfield, it's easy to see why the Yankees were so good.

DH: Reggie Jackson Mr. October had to be on this team somewhere. While Reggie produced during the regular season, it was in the post season where he really shined.

That's my Yankee team, what's yours? Yankee pitchers coming soon.