Possible mid-season bench pickups
By
This is the time of year when we fans have nothing to complain about except the bench. With the additions of CC Sabathia & AJ Burnett, as well as the return of Andy Pettitte, the Yanks’ starting rotation is as set as can be in February. Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Al Aceves provide some Triple-A depth for spot starts. The bullpen is chock full of options, and the additions of Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher fortify the offense. Just about the only part of the team that can use some real improvement is the bench corps.
One problem with being the Yankees is that it can be tough to get those borderline everyday/bench players to come to the Bronx because of a lack of opportunity. Take David Eckstein for example. The little scrapper would have been a solid pickup as a backup middle infielder, providing pesky at-bats of the bench while being capable of playing everyday should Derek Jeter or Robbie Cano hit the DL for a few weeks, but why would he pass up a chance to start and play everyday for the Padres for the opportunity to ride the pine for the Yanks? It just makes sense for him to head to San Diego.
Because of this, the only real way the Yanks can acquire quality players for the bench is by trading for them. Just look at the 1996 team’s bench: Charlie Hayes and Cecil Fielder were both acquired in mid-season trades – Hayes from the Pirates for a PTBNL, Fielder for the disgruntled Ruben Sierra and 1993 first rounder Matt Drews, who was in the process of flaming out because of extreme control issues. Both Hayes and Fielder were available because of unfavorable contract situations, so why can’t the Yanks work a similar scheme thirteen years later?
After the jump is a few potential mid-season trade targets that fit the bill for that oh so terrible bench.
Catchers
It’s the thinnest position in the majors, as quality catchers are few and far between. With Jorge Posada‘s shoulder an unknown and Jose Molina not fit for every day duty, this is the one spot where the Yanks are most likely to need an upgrade midseason. The best possible mid-season fill-in is another Molina, Jose’s older brother Bengie. The Giants’ cleanup hitter is in the final year of a three year pact that pays him $6M in 2009, and if the Giants drop out of the race they could look to move Bengie to make room for uber-prospect Buster Posey. He can handle everyday catching duties and isn’t an embarrasment with the bat, so he’d be an ideal fit. The Giants are likely to contend in a weak NL West, so Molina’s availablility is far from a given.
Another player worth mentioning is the Brewers’ Jason Kendall, who has proven himself to be supremely durable (at least 133 starts behind the plate for nine straight years) and had a tolerable year with the bat in ’08 (.246-.327-.324, .293 wOBP). He’s owed $5M this year and the Crew could look to move him to make room for prospect Angel Salome. Given their current pitching situation, contending is not a given for the upstart Beer Makers. Also keep an eye on Henry Blanco; the Padres will almost assuredly look to the move the veteran backstop for a young player or two at the deadline with Nick Hundley waiting in the wings.
Infielders
Everyone fell in love with Cody Ransom after he knocked two balls out of the park in his first two plate appearances in pinstripes, but it’s not an accident that the 33 year old has been with five different organizations in the last five years. I’m all for given Ransom a shot at the backup infielder spot to start the year, but it’s easy to envision a scenario where a replacement is needed by June. Angel Berroa is known commodity of sucktitude, so I don’t consider him an option.
Two players that could be interesting are Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates and Mark DeRosa of the Indians. Sanchez won the NL batting title in ’06, but has since regressed to replacement level, finishing with a 0.1 VORP last year. However he had an outstanding second half, hitting .353-.383-.495 after July 19th. If he gets back to his .300-.336-.419 career average, he’d be a solid pick up for the bench since he can hanfle second, short and third base in a pinch. I’m sure the Buccos would love to unload his $6.1M salary, not to mention the $8M option for 2010 that could vest based on plate appearances.
The Indians acquired DeRosa this offseason when the Cubs needed to shed salary, and they’ve handed him their starting third base job. The Indians are the perpetually trendy sleeper pick, but after dealing CC Sabathia mid-season last year it’s not hard to see a scenario where GM Mark Shapiro makes DeRosa available for the right price. He’s slated to make $5.5M and become a free agent after the season, and given his strong offense (at least a .349 wOBP the last three years) and extreme versatility (he played everywhere but center field, catcher and pitcher last year) he’d obviously make an excellent bench player for any team. Also keep an eye on the aforementioned Eckstein, who Kevin Towers could flip for a young player much like Blanco.
Outfielders
The Yanks have a crowded outfield already, as they could start the season with as many as five players on their roster capable of playing the outfield every day, plus Hideki Matsui occupying the DH spot. Despite that, it’s possible that the Melky Cabrera-Brett Gardner tag team in center field might not cut it, and Cashman & Co. will need to look outside the organization for a fill-in. The Giants could make Randy Winn available just like Molina, and he’d be a suitable half-season centerfielder.
Other than Winn, you have guys like Endy Chavez (+40.9 [!!!] avg UZR the last three years) and Marlon Byrd who could be made available before they hit free agency. The Mariners owe Endy $2.05M this year, and when it comes to being a backup outfielder in New York, he’s already been there, done that. Byrd’s offense is clearly a product of Texas’ ballpark (.327-.401-.506 in Arlington, .266-.328-.383 everywhere else) but he could still represent an upgrade, and his defense at all three outfield spots is solid. He’s owed $3.06M this season, but there’s a chance he could lose a job to prospect Julio Borbon by June.
Remember, it’s only February. The team that plays in September and October will look quite different than it does right now. There’s no need to rush into upgrading spots that we aren’t even sure need upgrading yet.
Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images
190 Comments»
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I think it’s a bit of a misnomer to characterize Cecil as a bench player on the 96 team. He was the everyday DH after being acquired.
Why not get Griffey now? I keep harping on this, but we can trade an OF easily, and Griffey is said to be “completely healthy” after knee surgery and is open to playing anywhere (MLBR).
Sell him on a good shot at the World Series. 1 yr with option and we have our bench like the old days.
-Scott
We already have a large amount of outfielders, and even if we do trade someone, the return won’t be that good.
A guy like Griffey, for about 1 mil? He’s not better than whoever our bench is? It’s practically flyer, and we have a Chil Davis, Straw, Raines, Cecil Fielder on our bench/backup CF again.
-Scott
No, he is not better than the outfielder on our current bench. (Nady)
Is that set? Nady is the bench player with Swisher/Melky/Damon as the starters?
I would think it would be Swisher/Gardner/Damon with Nady as 4th and Melky as backup CF/5th. Or Melky platoons with Gardner.
If Nady is the starter I’d take Swish over Griffey. The point is the looser of the RF job is better than Griffey, as is Matsui, so there really isn’t a point in getting Griffey
I think you got the wrong buddy on the bench. Nady will start in RF. Swisher will backup for him, and Damon, and play a few games or innings at first and possibly DH and CF.
Either way I love this post and really think if we expect this team to win this year Cashman better be on his J O B and be ready to make some good moves to solidify the bench before or in season.
There are many reasons not to sign Griffey:
Him saying he’s healthy doesn’t mean much, nor does the “medical” opinion of his agent that he will regain power
There’s no reason to think he’ll out produce any of the OF we have
We already have a glut of corner outfielders
He’s said at multiple times in his career he doesn’t want to be a Yankee
He’s show Abreu-ian defense the past couple years.
My question is why would we want to sign him?
Ken Griffey Jr. just turned 39 two months ago, and just put up a .249/.353/.424/.778/.335 (BA/OBP/SLG/OPS/wOBA) with bad defense in both centerfield (-14.4 UZR/150) and rightfield (-24.0)
Since he’s not going to be part of the CF mix, which is still Gardbrera, and he’s not unseating Damon or Swisher in the corners, you’re talking about moving Xavier Nady for him for the 4th outfielder spot. But not only is 39 year old Ken Griffey much, much worse than Xavier Nady, he’s also not going to come with any draft pick compensation come next winter.
Nady is the perfect 4th outfielder: Young, healthy, relatively inexpensive (for us), adequate defense, well above replacement level offense, carries no long term committment, and will turn into draft picks when he leaves. Unless we can trade Nady for significantly more than 2 high draft picks, trading Nady and signing Griffey hurts this team both in the short term and in the long term.
Does anyone know Nady’s numbers off the bench vs. as an everyday starter?
As a pinch hitter: .255-.397-.426, 58 plate appearances
As a starter: .281-.335-.458, 2376 plate appearances
Insignificant difference, really.
If Nady is strictly the bench player for the Yankees, will he still maintain Type A or B free agent status and return any draft picks to us?
Hello Claudette from Argentina.
Claudette is busy under my desk, but a simple I don’t know would do.
Awesome. He is the 4th outfielder, but I assume injuries will happen. If he hits like his 07 season or something similar, I would think he maintains type A. He is going to be at least a type B unless he does absolutely squadush this year.
I’m not disagreeing, Nady may very well be the 4th OFer, but we should note that we don’t know that yet.
I just think if he hits like his 07 season, he should in no way be the 4th outfielder. He would be our best OF.
Highly doubtful that he would still be a Type A FA after riding the pine for most of 2009.
I think they go by the last 2 seasont to determine Type A or B (or none) status and unless he gets a significant amount of PT, it would be virtually impossible for his stats to say he was in the top 20% of all OF’s.
bad defense in both centerfield (-14.4 UZR/150) and rightfield (-24.0)
How do you manage to pull off being 10 runs worse in right field than in center? That has to be incredibly rare.
Griffey saying he is completely healthy is like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying he is completely sane!
i enjoyed this comment as well
Griffey’s sweet swing + LF’s short porch + one postseason bomb + priceless or about 2% extra payroll…
Just wondering, but what is the highest possible UZR? +40.9 is crazy. As for mid season acquisitions, I could see the Yankees going after a catcher, maybe Ivan stays a free agent and we go after him. Infield I think we are all set pending an injury.
There is no theoretical upper or lower limit to UZR/150. It’s like OPS+ or ERA+, simply a comparison of how much better or worse than average a player is.
But yeah, a +40 is pretty ridonkulous. (Psst… Brett Gardner’s 2008 CF UZR/150 was +40.2…)
psst, 3 years compared to 20 games.
endy only played in 20 games in 3 yrs
Wait a sec, is that Mr. Melvin Croussett himself pulling the “small sample size” card?
Man, you made me do it.
Heh.
I’m a little confused, because it looks to me like he didn’t top 40 in any of the last 3 seasons.
http://www.fangraphs.com/stats.....F#fielding
The past two years, in very limited relief of Beltran, Endy Chavez had CF UZR/150′s of 42.6 and 57.8. The bulk of his work last year was in the corners (32.5 in 197 innings in LF, 21.5 in 400 innings in right) but that’s more a factor of the Mets already having an elite CF than Chavez not being able to hack it.
But yes, I don’t see where the quoted “40.9 avg UZR the last three years” came from. I personally don’t know how to go about compiling and averaging UZR/150′s over multiple years…
Fangraphs provides overall outfield UZR, which I believe is weighted by innings played at each position. That shows Endy consistently being in the +20′s range.
I also noticed that Endy’s wOBA last year was .284. Gardner’s was .282.
Angel Berroa is known commodity of sucktitude
My favorite part of the article
Maybe we can trade Betacanes & Romine for Casey Blake if we need a stopgap player for a stretch run…
Ned Colletti, is that you?
If he could pull off that trade, it still might be less than he gave up…oh Ned Colletti.
Man, your crazy man, your crazy dude, just crazy man, Cashman would never make that trade man, your crazy man.
Is this a quote or something?
why don’t the yankees sign jim edmonds to a minor league contract with an invite to camp…he’d probably win the job…i would of loved to have eckstein and even mentioned him before he signed with padres and we signed berroa…berroa might not be too bad though…he probably is just as good as vizciano and sojo…
why don’t the yankees sign jim edmonds to a minor league contract with an invite to camp?
No good reason not to. Somebody else would probably give him a better deal, though…
he’d probably win the job…
Doubt it.
Win what job? I didn’t know the Yankees needed another veteran bat that can’t really play the field.
Regarding CF, do you think that the Mike Cameron ship has sailed? Isn’t a trade for him something that could be revisited? I mean, I know the Brewers GM was supposedly all pissy about the negotiations, but this is business right?
If Gardner/Melky are flops (distinctly possible) and the Yankees cannot or willnot run Nady-Damon-Swisher out there, Cameron strikes me as a perfectly reasonable trade target.
And hey, why not give Kenny Lofton a call?
Just pick up Kenny Lofton so we can trade him for a catching prospect down the stretch…it worked for the Rangers
Plus, Lofton, Brackman, and AJax can win us the MLB All-Star Weekend Charity 3-on-3 Halfcourt Basketball Tournament. We’d be unstoppable.
CJ Henry might be a good candidate, too.
Would Michael Jordan be interested in another minor league deal?
Quick trade for Mark Hendrickson!
Allen Iverson.
Yeah, this game will be like practice for AI.
Oh wait.
the dodgers would never trade blake if they’re in the running and i don’t see why they wouldn’t be in the weakest division in baseball…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
His price tag is too expensive…maybe at the midway point the yankees could trade for him but just think about edmonds…hit him 3 and tex 5….
damon
jeter
edmonds
arod
tex
matsui
nady
posada
cano
use reply to comment
h/t congressman mondesi
Gracias.
h/t obsessive compulsive disorder
Raúl Mondesí is currently out of baseball and living in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He was fined as a result of stealing electricity in 2006
had to share this
He’s also fat.
Lay off pal. He was part of the 30-30 club once.
Needed some cushioning for the “belly-buster” dives (h/t wiki). He ate for love of the game, hombre.
“This is a layer of courtesy fat. It’s for your benefit.”
-Patton Oswalt
Raúl Mondesí is currently
out of baseball and living in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He was fined as a result of stealing electricity in 2006the Deputy of the Dominican Congress for San Cristobal and a member of the Dominican Revolutionary Party. Which is pretty awesome.My head just exploded.
Yeah, seriously. Not only does he want to add Jim Edmonds, but he’s already handing him the starting CF job and hitting him THIRD and putting Matsui/Nady/Posada/Cano at the bottom of the heap.
My head is spinning.
I know, Edmonds in the THREE HOLE? He would clearly be the cleanup hitter in this lineup. Some people are just silly.
Edmonds couldn’t hit third on the Pirates, let alone the Yanks. He’s more of a back of the lineup kinda’ guy.
edmonds takes pitches as good as abreu…probably will bring same avg as cameron with a little less power…actually hitting in front of arod he probably would see some really good pitches so i see him hitting better than cameron would who would hit at the bottom of the order…
( shakes head )
did anyone see the mlb conversation with orlando hudson…they asked him which teams he’s talking to and he said mets, dodgers, yankees, and can’t remember the 4th team…
he named the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, and Nationals.
-Scott
It was an earlier topic on the blog today:
http://riveraveblues.com/2009/.....dson-7606/
Realistically the Nationals are probably the only team seriously interested
maybe you should sit the next few plays out. you know, not talk for awhile.
Maye you should worry about yourself. I realize he was trying to get a point across, but on the off chance he was serious put the team up there. Don’t be an ass.
-Scott
Scott, jsb’s not complaining about tank’s right to make a point. He’s complaining about tank’s utter inability to either read the posts up at RAB (like the one about Hudson where this point would be more germane and where he would have found the answer to his questions), and on his inability to reply to this comment to keep the discussion clean and readable.
Its guys like tank who make smart-asses like us (well, mostly you TSJC, but I’m always silently nodding in agreement or chuckling to myself at your zingers) so much fun to be around.
Does the “S” stand for sycophant?
OOOOOOOOH, BURN!!!!!!
Sick Burn.
Sheesh, that’s the last time I hand out a compliment to someone on the internet. I hate it when its my turn to arbitrarily be made fun of. The S. is for sucker, apparently.
there’s one born every minute.
::looks at his schdule::
hope its not my turn to be arbitrarily made fun of….
I think one of the Steves has you penciled in for Thursday’s open thread lol
You’re a good sport my friend.
Oh don’t worry, I just didn’t have anything funny enough to snap back at you with, so I just joined in on the fun and bashed myself. One day though, UNION YES, one day … I kill you.
Or maybe just, y’know, tease you to return the favor.
someone giving advice telling me to worry about myself isn’t exactly worrying about themselves now are they?
(head expoldes)
Tu quoque all over this biznatch.
not gonna lie, had to google that
“Cashman does a terribly job putting together a bench” is the conventional wisdom in Yankee blogdom. It doesn’t take too much analysis to see that the Yankee bench is commonly weak. Well done pointing out a valid reason. Teams with great starting lineups regularly have weak benches as mediocre+ major leaguers shy away.
Moreover, most teams throughout baseball have crappy benches in general. It’s only an issue here because we’re so obsessed with winning (and nitpicking) that we create a mountain out of a molehill.
As a nice fallback plan, we can probably snag Orlando Cabrera at any point in time before June should we suffer an injury to either Jeter or Cano; good chance nobody touches him with that first round draft pick compensation still attached…
but if we offer him a 1 yr deal in june after the draft someone will offer him better. what do you do, say come with us for the prorated blahbity blah salary and then go back to the free agent pool? just come win a ring and move on? mercenary style?
He would be a great utility infielder but I doubt he would want to come here. He wants a starting gig and if he comes here for 1 year and lets say 3 mill and only has a bench role, that isn’t too good for him. He does not increase his value for next offseason at all and basically turns himself into a backup infielder.
tsjc said orlando would be a good pickup IF an injury to Jeter or Cano happened…so, he’d be coming in as a full-time injury replacement.
O-Cab will be signed by then I would think.
Sure, it’s possible. But there are a lot of teams crying poverty that have a lot of needs to fill. And these are proud guys. Cabrera has a rep for being an egotistic kinda guy, so I could see him cutting off his nose to spite his face and sitting out if the offers are “beneath him”
tsjc said orlando would be a good pickup IF an injury to Jeter or Cano happened…so, he’d be coming in as a full-time injury replacement.
Thank you for your reading comprehension, which apparently Pop and jsb lacked.
I said before June, when the compensation is still attached, if we have an injury, Cabrera may still be there and could serve as a fairly capable replacement.
Of all the remaining unsigned arb-declined Type A’s, O-Cab’s the best bet to remain unsigned until June, IMO. That pick compensation is a poison pill for everybody but us. I wouldn’t sign him before June and give up a pick either, but since it’s only a 4th, if we lose Jeter or Cano and have to scramble, he’s not a bad move.
Na, I didn’t even read your comment. Just jsbrendog’s.
i totally understood your comment. i put my over priced and now basically worthless english degree to work and understood fully. but an injury to them you said. you did not specify severity. that would have to be a season ending injury for him to come sign with us unless he had exactly zero other offers.
and therefore, without a specificity of length, type, and seriousness of injury i feel my point is still valid.
now i must respectfully ask you to gargle my nutsack. (dude, i totally said respectfully)
(been waiting to bust that one out)
now i must respectfully ask you to gargle my nutsack. (dude, i totally said respectfully) (been waiting to bust that one out)
Oh, like how you gargled my nutsack when I beat the snot out of you in the Inaugural RAB Fantasy Football League Playoffs?
OH, YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS OVER? YOU THOUGHT WRONG, PAL. You never know when that name-drop is coming back, baby. You woke the sleeping giant.
The sleeping Champion giant.
[ Fantasy Football Championship Bragging Rights Name Drop #30 of 1000 ]
can i at least get a hat tip for the alley oop?
it’ll take away the sting
I only h/t UWS.
Just FYI – Yesterday in an ESPN.com chat Olney indicated he thinks the A’s wind up signing Orlando Cabrera.
they keep linking the As to cabrera…the As i guess tried to get rid of crosby…he went through waivers and nobody picked him up so he’s still with the As…
Use the Reply to this comment link
(h/t Mondesi)
Mark these words: Yanks will pay dearly this year for lack of legitimate back-up infielder.
Absolutely outrageous how Cashman has either ignored this position or miscalculated with the likes of Betemit. Obviously, the odds of either Jeter, A-Rod or Cano going down are theoretically three times the odds of any single player going down. The closest thing we had to a legit back-up was the Atty. General and Cashman couldn’t dump him quickly enough.
My kingdom for a nail? An empire for a back-up infielder?.
Awesome
Obviously, the odds of either Jeter, A-Rod or Cano going down are theoretically three times the odds of any single player going down.
What does this mean? You lost me.
I think it means he flunked his Probability course. But since I flunked mine, it could be me.
Toronto has a few interesting IFs
John McDonald?
HA!
I laughed. (UNION YES. – Please don’t Ryan S. me.)
Hurray, I’ve become a meme!
Milhouse is not a meme.
I used to have a dog named Milhouse.
icwudt
http://riveraveblues.com/2009/.....ent-274070
please read the threads above you before you post.
“Absolutely outrageous how Cashman has either ignored this position or miscalculated with the likes of Betemit”
so what you are saying is that he didnt even try to add any bench help ever. AND miscalculated when he did tyry to add bench help.
::head explodes::
Betemit was a good play. he only gave up torre’s whipping boy ascott (oh shit the bullpen phone’s ringing again) proctor. it didn’t pan out. he was still better than miguel cairo.
I think he was being sarcastic. Maybe? Possibly? Pretty please?
Or else Steve Lombardi is posting under a fake name.
I wouldn’t mind seeing us sign Andrew Jones to a minor league contract. I really don’t see any team giving him a guaranteed major leage deal that he is probably still trying to hold out for.
Would it not be a nice punt to try to throw a couple of extra bucks at him to see if he could join the team by let’s say June? …should be able to work that gut off by then.
Longshot – worth 600-800k?
Then again, one has to wonder if his mystery juice may be gone. The disappearing bat speed that correlates to the end of the steroid era is a reason to think any money is wasted money… then again perhaps really has an extra go in him.
I am completely on board with this idea. If he regains any form at all it would be awesome. He looked like he was in good shape in those videos where he was working with Chipp and McCann(I think it was them), so why not give him a shot. It’s a risk well worth it but he may not take that minor league deal.
Just like Jim Edmonds, I have absolutely no problem giving Andruw a minor league deal and a shot to win a job.
I’m not handing either of them a job, just an opportunity.
that was my point about signing edmonds…give him a shot but i think he would win the job over melky and gardner…then where do you hit him…to me it’s in the 3 hole…other than tex he is probably the best fit there…i guess you @$$’s would rather him at the bottom and i’m ok with that…just think he’s a better option than the above two and or cameron due to $…oh and on the orlando issue i mentioned him in this blog cause it was talking about bench player and he mentioned the yankees not that i think we will sign him but just wanted to note…plus this was the first article i read this morning…i am 4 hrs behind you…you guys make people say how much of @$$es new york fans are…take a sec to think before you open your mouth…
do you know jim edmond’s numbers from the past 3 years? there is no way he hits #3. he is a 7-8-9 hitter at best
Edmonds isn’t a good defender anymore, something the Yankees want in CF. Going by UZR/150 the Yankees would actually be better off putting Damon in center instead of Edmonds.
If he does make the team I don’t see him in the 3 hole, somewhere below the 5 hole since Tex/A-Rod/Matsui will probably be that 3-5 nucleus unless Matsui isn’t healthy.
“take a sec to think before you open your mouth…”
That, my friend, was HILARIOUS. The utter lack of irony is classic.
I just don’t see the fascination with this.
The guy has a career OPS+ of 111, and gets on base at a tad above league average. His slugging pct would take a nose-dive in Yankee Stadium, so tell me again why we’re wasting our time on this?
Cause he could be a significant upgrade and be at a low cost.
Minor League Deal, Invitation to Spring Training. Six awesome words that have zero negatives and nothing but upside. Put the Curacaoian in camp and see if he’s got anything left (or at least if he’s capable of unseating Melky for the 5th outfielder spot.)
7 words, then again ‘to” isn’t that awesome of a word.
That’s why I didn’t capitalize it.
Give him CF and put him in the 3 hole.
Until the all-star break, then Croussett could take over.
The cut-off men would have to wear catcher mitts just to protect their hands, not good for infielders.
Cut off men? He throws right to home with pinpoint accuracy.
Beat me to it…
Catchers can’t cover second or third, and sometimes first.
Why would they need cutoff men? Melvin will just fire it straight to home and no one would dare run on him.
If Nomar doesn’t decide to retire he makes a lot of sense. 303/367/505 and 283/328/371 in ’06 and ’07 in 122 and 121 games respectively isn’t bad. Durability shouldn’t be an issue coming off the bench and he provides a solid right handed bat to pinch hit for Gardner late in games. He would also provide a much better option than a soon-to-be 33-year-old career minor leaguer should an injury keep A-Rod, Jeter, or even Cano out for an extended period of time. I think he could be lured for a one year deal and a chance to play for a World Series, not to mention the opportunity to stick it to Boston.
Weren’t the Phillies rumored to be giving Nomar a deal? Is that dead?
I do like the Nomar idea.
Can he play up the middle?
The problem with Nomar is he doesn’t really play SS or 2B. Over the last three years he has 31 games at SS and no games at 2B. Also, all his games at SS were last season and he couldn’t play it everyday. I’d think the Yankees would want a utility infielder that can play up the middle everyday without injury.
There’s no need to rush into upgrading spots that we aren’t even sure need upgrading yet.
Amen brother, amen.
In case of injury, call Detroit: Carlos Guillen. Fat contract, declining skills, and can play all infield positions. They would get him for nothing…but they would have to pay him through 2011.
I don’t think you could net Guillen for nothing. He is still a solid ballplayer and would probably cost a good prospect or two. I do like him but he might have a bit too much money owed to him tp be our utility guy.
now how did this end up here?
Garciaparra, Edmonds, and Griffey are just names at this point. Why not talk mention Jose Vidro and Rich Aurilia? They can’t help.
I don’t know Marlon Byrd is a figment of Arlington. He hit minor league pitching, but that was mostly in the PCL…a little bit in the IL.
I also don’t know if he’s any better than Gelky. Moreso than the backup infielder or catcher, I worry about the starting CF. I don’t think Gardner can do anything well except run, and I think we know exactly what Cabrera is.
I like the name “Brellky” better.
faceoff:
gelky
gardbrera
brellky
melkner
The Milk Gardener
Its clearly Gelky. Melkner is the only other possibility, but it is nowhere near as memorable.
I like Gardbrera and the way it sounds.
Gelky’s my baby, but I could live with Brelky (but get rid of the second “L,” there’s one “L” in “Melky”). The good thing about “Gelky” is that it combines the two names one thinks of when one thinks of those two players (i.e. when I think of Brett Gardner, I think of him as “Gardner,” and when I think of Melky Cabrera, I think of him as “Melky”). I’m in the anti “Gardbrera” and “Melkner” camp. Quite unpoetic.
Actually, when I think of both of them, I end up with the name Puke-Puke. But that sounds like a Pokemon.
I was about to give you a golf-clap, but Gardner doesn’t deserve the “Puke” moniker at this point.
Alright, so your just not ready for Puk-a-puke yet (i’m refining it). That’s okay, Gardner will grow into it.
At least he can grow into something.
No! It’s “Gelky!” Don’t you try to ruin this for me, Melvin.
(“Brelky” IS pretty good.)
Now, now, Mondesi, look, whichever name is picked, we’ll give you credit. Your genius in creating the portmanteau in the first place is evident. We’re just refining it to the best possible version.
It’s still your baby regardless, even if it’s Brelky or Gardbrera or some other iteration.
…It’s still your baby regardless…
Your ugly, repulsive-looking baby…
/I kid
kid burn!!
There are 2 t’s in Brett, so I went with 2 l’s in Brellky
I like Gelky… kind of remindes me of that downs syndrome kid off the 80s sitcom… Corky was it?
Here’s another name: Brandon Inge.
he’s detroits 3b now isnt he? or catcher? no? wait..laird…guillen..cabrera….YEAH!
sorry, had to work that one out on my own.
Heh, that was good!
Want to go get Inge right now? He’s got 12.9M left on his deal. We could offer them Farnsworth!
Brandon Inge might as well be swinging with a rolled-up newspaper, maybe he can do something. That said, I’d rather have to forfeit an out, than for him to take an AB with the Yanks. He’s considerably worse than Melky Cabrera, Willy Taveras, Jeff Francouer(sp?) and assorted crap.
That said, Inge makes me cringe.
Only if Cash traded for Scutaro when he had the chance. Mo probably ordered him not too.
Rivera and Scutaro–I seem to remember something, but I can’t place it…
Man that one blew… I can still see that ball flying down the left field line way up high on the pole. The worst thing was he almost jacked the pitch before… I hate when you feel it coming and it does.
Tejada’s making $13M this year (final year), and Houston is going nowhere. Anything happens to Jeter, that might be your man.
tejada a good player but getting to old hes close to 40 he really is i noe dis because ma cuzin has a kid with his sister
Speaking of mid-season pickups, do NOT buy MLB Front Office Manager. It’s absolute garbage, borderline-unplayable crap. What a waste of $38.00.
i was thinking of buyin it and den i was like naaa let me wait for mlb 2k9 for ma xbox since xbox doesnt have the show o9
Um… So, I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable or anything… But… Did anyone else notice anything slightly strange about that picture of David Eckstein at the top of the page?
(Shudders)
I did. Was wondering whether it was just my (sick, twisted) imagination. Good to know it wasn’t just me!
That’s where he keeps his grit.
And Derrick Goold loves the DNA in his grit… Thank you, I’ll be here all week.
people at work just looked at me funny when i burst out in laughter at this comment.
well played
It’s a cup. But way to look down there, kiddo. Just let it out, it’s gonna ‘ be alright Mondesi, it’s gonna’ be alright.
OMG, a gay joke. Original, topical, hysterical and not at all bigoted.
(Sorry, I know the gay jokes are popular around here and I’m opening myself up to a ton of them. I just think it’s pretty lame.)
Mike – Delete my comment if you want, that was probably inappropriate. He’s allowed to make any joke he wants and my reaction was a bit harsh, my bad.
i would have gone with ZOMG!11!11!!!1000!1!numbers!1!
listen to mondesi. he sounds like a gay!
(total kid, only for my love of anchorman. you threw it up there)
lol Thanks for breaking the silence, someone had to do it.
http://tinyurl.com/2hv6ru
So you’re in favor of trading valued prospects for old, expensive, aging vets who you can pretty much sign now for free.
Great.
i doubt utility players will realy cost valuable prospects into the season. plus a good amount of “untility” guys we could pickup as backups or insurance plans for us could be salary dumps for other teams.
ie tejada. astros are out of it and ticket sales lag, economy continus to shart the bed. they’d love to ditch tejada for a middling prospect. ok, not a middling prospect since he is type a/b prob, but in this scenario what are the chances they even offer arb anyway…
The point was these are late season contract dumps of the future, therefore one wouldn’t give up real prospects for these players. Just like how the Yankees got Canseco & Molina down the stretch runs
[...] Again with the Jeter standing up for A-Rod thing / Mid-season bench pickups? [...]
Yeah! How dare Cashman not fill the bench with .280 hitters?
Oh wait…because those people are STARTERS.
It’s kind of unreasonable to expect above replacement level production from a player who is DEFINED as replacement level!
In my pessimistic opinion, it’ll be awhile before Yankee fans see a bench player more productive than Betemit was, and while that may be saying something, bench players shouldn’t be expected to be anything more than barely passable.