Wheeler or Banuelos? A-Rod or Wright? Best of the...

Wheeler or Banuelos? A-Rod or Wright? Best of the...

Bill Kostrum/AP

Brett Gardner is the best base runner - he swipes 49 bags in 2011 - and boasts the best arm in New York.

In New York, we love the best of everything food, culture, you name it. Sports are no different, especially baseball, so here at the Daily News were pointing out the Best of New York baseball. Theres some skill sets and some fun stuff and ultimately, we hope , an entertaining look at the game. We asked around, getting help from many, including players and other club personnel, scouts, analysts and John Dewan and Rob Burckhard at Baseball Info Solutions, the company that recently released The Fielding Bible, Vol. 3, which evaluates defense based on analytics.

But these calls are all ours. Dont like em? Tell it to Abner Doubleday.

BEST BASE-RUNNER
Brett Gardner
Hes already proven hes one of the games elite basestealers, having tied for the A.L.-lead last year with 49 and snagging 96 bags in 118 attempts over the last two seasons. And hes improving, too. He is the fastest runner and he is continuing to learn to get better jumps and read pitchers moves better, says former pitcher Al Leiter, now an analyst for the MLB Network and YES. He is fearless and he doesnt like to be held up and I like guys like that, says Yanks third-base coach Rob Thomson.

SCOUTING THE 20 12 YANKEES

BEST OUTFIELD ARM
Brett Gardner
In our look at the Best of New York, this is probably the worst of New York. The question generated a variety of answers and some refusals to answer it because there werent any standouts. Gardner, Nick Swisher and Lucas Duda got votes, but well take Gardner, who has 10 runs saved on throws over the last three years, according to The Fielding Bible. Gardy gets rid of the ball really quick and is very accurate and hes what I call a true thrower, so theres not a lot of backspin on his throws, says Thomson. He keeps the ball down and typically throws to the right base. Hey, it aint all glamor in the big city.

BEST FIELDING PITCHER
R.A. Dickey
Dickey had 67 chances last season, third-most in the majors, because, as he puts it, "since I throw knuckleballs, I get a lot of mis-hit balls, so it's paramount I'm able to field my position well. I always expect the ball to be hit to me." But Dickey doesn't just create chances, he converts them - he has 17 runs saved over the past three seasons, according to the Fielding Bible, tops in New York, and that pushes him past other "ninth fielders" Mariano Rivera and Johan Santana.

BEST FACIAL HAIR
Dillon Gee
Every offseason, Gee ditches shaving because he hates it, but his wife, KariAnn, doesn't like him wearing a full beard. "Carlos" the name his sister-in-law gave his beard was a compromise of sorts, a long goatee that "started off as a joke," Gee says. "I just wanted to see how long it would get and I didn't really expect to have it this long, but it's still there. It might end up being one of those things that if I'm pitching well, it stays, but if I'm not, it goes."

BEST CHANGE-UP
Johan Santana
This is how good Santana's money pitch is - he hasn't thrown any kind of pitch in the majors since 2010, but his changeup is so respected it overwhelmed everyone in this category. "His arm speed is fantastic," says John Flaherty, the ex-catcher and current YES analyst. "He jumps at you with his delivery and then has a dead fish of a changeup that never seems to get there. That makes that pitch devastating." Many lefties won't throw their change to left-handed hitters, because they mostly move toward lefties, into their power zones. Santana throws it, he says, "to anybody in any count," making it even more of a weapon." To have a big comeback this year, he needs this pitch. Next best? The Yanks' CC Sabathia, who says he's watched Santana on video for changeup tips and uses his change to get a lot of weak contact off the end of the bat.

BEST SINGLE PITCH
Mariano Rivera's cutter
He knows he's throwing it nearly every time (87.3 of his pitches last year were cutters, according to fangraphs.com) and "every hitter knows what's coming and they sti ll can't hit it," says Dickey. "It's one of the most amazing pitches, ever," says Jim Duquette, the former Mets and Orioles' GM whose now an analyst for mlb.com and Sirius/XM radio. Adds John Flaherty: "It moves so late. Most pitches, hitters can recognize it by the grass-dirt transition on the field, but Mo's cutter doesn't do anything until it gets to the plate. Then it darts and hitters can't do anything about it, even when they know it's coming." Rivera has lost some velocity over the years, but his cutter still averaged 91.6 miles per hour, more than three mph faster than the average cutter, according to fangraphs.

SCOUTING THE 2012 METS

BEST COACH
Kevin Long, Yankees' hitting coach
The title of his autobiography/hitting book ("Cage Rat") might say it all. Long, in his sixth year on the job, loves the mechanical, day-to-day work of a hitting coach. He spends long hours in the batting cage with playe rs from the very top of the Yankee lineup to the depths of the 40-man roster. "K-Long, he's diligent and he's probably the hardest working guy I've ever seen," says Yanks' designated hitter Raul Ibanez, who knows Long from their days in the Royals' organization together. "He sticks with you and sticks with it and stays positive. And he works. He works tirelessly and stays positive and he's been very, very helpful."