Yanks recall Miranda

April 17, 2009 by Mike Axisa 65 Comments

Via Marc Carig, the Yanks have recalled 1B Juan Miranda, putting David Robertson on the Chris Britton Memorial Shuttle back to Scranton. Miranda makes the most sense as a replacement for Xavier Nady right now, because he can backup Mark Texiera at first while keeping Nick Swisher in the outfield. He’s also a nice bat off the bench, but he won’t help much agaisnt southpaws. Carig also notes that Tex feels “ten times better” following yesterday’s cortisone shot, but that Hideki Matsui has fluid in his left knee that will need to be drained.

http://8thinning.blogspot.com VO

I hope he didn’t take to big of a suitcase.
jon

I’m totally not normally a doom and gloom kind of guy but Matsui has me worried.
- whozat
  
  I agree. I figured he’d hit well enough when healthy, but he really hasn’t. Or, he hasn’t been healthy at all.
- Count Zero
  
  It should have you worried. I knew back in 2008 that Matsui would not be spending any real time in the field in 2009 — the question going into 2009 was would he be making any positive contribution at all.
  
  It pains me to say it because I like Matsui as an individual and as a ballplayer — but I put the odds of him helping this team in any way in 2009 at 50/50 right now. Those knees aren’t going to get better.
  
  I honestly believe he’s just sucking it up and playing through the pain right now. He is very close to being d-o-n-e, but I would love to see him surprise me and be a productive DH for about 350 ABs.
whozat

In PeteAbe’s post about this, he has an X update:

Hopefully for X’s sake it’s something he can rehab. Otherwise he is done for the season and then will be a free agent. It would be a surprise if the Yankees took him back at that point. They’ll need two corner OFs and will probably throw a pile of money at Matt Holliday.

What? Nick Swisher? Hello?

For a beat writer, not realizing that is kind of ridiculous. He was also wrong earlier this morning about Veras’ status wrt options, but that’s more forgivable. Thinking Swish can’t hack it as a corner OF is kinda ridiculous, though.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Benjamin Kabak
  
  Let me offer up a dose of cold reality for just a second: Nick Swisher has made 37 plate appearances this season. We can’t start proclaiming him a starter next year until he shows more over a longer period of time.
  
  I don’t think throwing gobs of money at Matt Holliday is the answer, but for now, we can’t know where anything will end up in six months.
  - Reggie C.
    
    perspective indeed.
    
    Lets see what Holliday does in 500 ABs before quantifying how much “gobs of money” would satisfy Boras.
  - Tampa Yankee
    
    The talk down here in Tampa is that if the Rays fall out of contention the Crawford will be available in a trade. IMO I hope they stay in the race because I don’t see the Rays picking up his $10M option and would love for the Yanks to throw “gobs of money” at him instead of Holliday.
    - Tampa Yankee
      
      I don’t want to sound like some delusional Yankees fans and say they can just throw $ around everywhere but would it be out of the possibility if Crawford hit the market to sign him, resign Damon to a 2 yr deal w/ an option to have:
      
      LF – Crawford
      CF – Gardner/Jackson (depending how this year plays out plus one could play right to keep players rested)
      RF – Swisher
      DH – Damon (could also play LF)
      
      This would give the Yankees more flexibility in the corner OF/DH role since Matsui cannot play in the field and the DH spot will probably needed to be used more by the likes of Posada next year.
      - jsbrendog
        
        matsui is a free agent, dont count him in anything
        
        Tampa Yankee
        
        I’m sorry, I didn’t make that clear enough. We have more flexibility next year than this year because Matusi cannot play the field. Having Matusi as a DH only clogs up that spot to rotate players as a DH to “rest” them.
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Hideki Matsui = spot-clogger
        
        Tampa Yankee
        
        Damn… that’s not what I meant.
      - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Meh, all depends on Damon’s asking price and how much he actually has left in the tank.
        
        He hasn’t looked like a guy worth resigning so far (although it’s early.)
    - Reggie C.
      
      10 Million isn’t alot of money. And I don’t think there’s anyone in the farm who can come close to replicating Crawford’s defense and offense. Its really a no-brainer imo. The Rays look like a win-now team for the foreseeable future with good pitching locked, both corner guys locked, BJ upton getting healthier, and good role players. Why jettison Crawford?
      - zs190
        
        Huh? What about Desmond Jennings? he’s in AA, a big-time 5-tool guy that’s hit quite well in the minors with good plate discipline. If he hits great this season, I don’t see why he can’t step in for Crawford.
        
        Reggie C.
        
        What about desmond jennings? 85 at-bats last year. Hurt also in 2007. This kid has lost significant development time.
        
        zs190
        
        Sure, I’ll give you that, but I can easily see them decline Crawford’s option if Jennings has a very good season in AA. Tampa’s payroll is 44 million, 10 million is 20+% of their payroll. Crawford is a good player but he’s not a 20% payroll kind of player, especially if Jennings plays well.
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        The Rays’ 2009 payroll is 63M, not 44M.
        
        44M was their payroll last year. You know, the year where they had sucked for 15 straight years before getting good and seeing a spike in attendance.
      - Tampa Yankee
        
        Yeah $10M is not a lot to the Yankees but Tampa was trying to increase payroll about 20% each year but almost doubled in ’08 then ’09 went up a lot too (from Cot’s):
        # 2009: $63,313,034
        # 2008: $43,745,597
        # 2007: $24,123,500
        
        They are at their limit right now. Plus Burrell’s goes up $2M to $9M so does Pena’s (to $10M), Kaz’s (to $8M) and other increases. I think Crawford will be a $ causality.
        
        zs190
        
        Oops, I guess I was looking at 08 payroll number, I guess they are up to 63 now, uh? Still, 10 million is a lot for an above average hitting LF with good defense/speed for Tampa with their loaded farm system.
    - steve (different one)
      
      IMO I hope they stay in the race because I don’t see the Rays picking up his $10M option and would love for the Yanks to throw “gobs of money” at him instead of Holliday.
      
      wait, really? why?
      
      Holliday >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Crawford
      - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Yes, but Holliday probably commands a 22-26M AAV salary.
        
        Crawford could likely be had in the 17-20 range, tops.
        
        I’m not saying one over the other, just pointing that out.
        
        steve (different one)
        
        paying $17-20M for Carl Crawford would just be batshit insane.
        
        is there a more overrated player in baseball?
        
        a corner OFer with a career OPS+ of 101 and a career OBP of .329.
        
        steve (different one)
        
        let me clarify, “overrated” doesn’t mean he’s not good.
        
        i’d still call him a “good” player.
        
        i was just surprised that his pricetag could be in the tier just slightly below “super-duper star” level.
        
        Crawford is not a superstar.
        
        Tampa Yankee
        
        I don’t think Crawford is a superstar either. I just think what he offers at what his price tag might be, is better than what he’d get in Holliday at his price tag.
        
        Tampa Yankee
        
        Yeah didn’t see the OBP that’s a lot lower than I thought… my bad.
      - Tampa Yankee
        
        I’d rather take Crawford because plays better D (covers more field and better arm), would command less, is still a .290 career hitter with decent pop and adds some more speed to the line-up. Plus I am not convinced Holliday will be that much better than Crawford now that he is outside of Coors.
- Tom Zig
  
  Are the Yankees going to throw a pile of money at Holliday?
  - http://heavysoundsandtheabstracttruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/alg_burnett-sabathia-3.jpg Mike Pop
    
    I’m kind of torn, I hope not.
    - Reggie C.
      
      totally understandable. its kind of betraying Swisher to say that otherwise. but there’s always the other corner OF spot to consider. perhaps Yanks could sign Holliday and keep Swish as the RF starter.
      - http://heavysoundsandtheabstracttruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/alg_burnett-sabathia-3.jpg Mike Pop
        
        Well, I care about the 6+ year contract it would probably take to nab him. If it was a 3-4 year deal, I’d be down.
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  Duh, Swish is clearly more valuable as the 4th OF/bat off the bench!
  
  How can you be so obtuse, whozat?
  - http://8thinning.blogspot.com VO
    
    4th OF/bat off the bench???? YOU KIDDING ME!! THE 8th INNING MOST IMPORTANT INNING!!!!!
  - usty
    
    Obtuse? You’re forgetting yourself TSJC.
http://heavysoundsandtheabstracttruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/alg_burnett-sabathia-3.jpg Mike Pop

I don’t get this, they should of traded Marte for a bag of balls to clear up the 40 man spot and just kept D-Rob. Marte sucks man, he can perform in Pittsburgh but not in New York. He’s a small market picture!!! We only have 2 good relievers!!!! Ahhhhh, what a we gonna do Will??
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  Ahhhhh, what a we gonna do Will??
  
  I love that this is becoming part of the RAB lexicon.
  
  Oh, and… Applesauce, bitch.
http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

I predict we’ll be seeing a lot of this lineup:

1-SS Jeter (R)
2-LF Damon (L)
3-1B Tex (S)
4-RF Swisher (S)
5-C Posada (S)
6-2B Cano (L)
7-DH Miranda (L)
8-3B Ransom (R)
9-CF Gardner (L)

Bench: Matsui (L)
- Manimal
  
  I’d switch Posada and Cano.
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    I probably would too, but I doubt it happens.
- whozat
  
  Wow, you bring in a decent lefty to face Miranda, and he can get you three pretty easy outs. Not that I have a better solution :-)
  
  Maybe this means we see more Posada at DH, though. Especially against lefty starters. I mean, if I’m gonna add an automatic out to the lineup, at least I’d like to boost my defense at C.
- UWS
  
  I predict we’ll be seeing this kind of lineup for only another 10 days or so. Thank Jebus.
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    Just remember, people:
    
    A month from now, our lineup will look like this:
    
    1-SS Jeter (R)
    2-LF Damon (L)
    3-1B Tex (S)
    4-3B Nails Krzyzewski (R)
    5-C Posada (S)
    6-RF Swisher (S)
    7-2B Cano (L)
    8-DH Matsui (L)
    9-CF Gardner (L)
    
    And we’ll look back at this moment and laugh.
    - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
      
      (although, adding Mike Cameron’s righty bat into CF and the 8 hole and upgrading Gardner/breaking up those lefties would be a nice touch, too…)
      
      1-SS Jeter (R)
      2-2B Cano (L)
      3-1B Tex (S)
      4-3B Nails Krzyzewski (R)
      5-RF Swisher (S)
      6-C Posada (S)
      7-DH Matsui (L)
      8-CF Cameron (R)
      9-LF Damon (L)
      
      Tell me that’s not sexy…
      - Reggie C.
        
        i’d hit that.
        
        i mean …
        
        what?
      - http://heavysoundsandtheabstracttruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/alg_burnett-sabathia-3.jpg Mike Pop
        
        I’d rather have more grit in my lineup.
        
        http://hotjocks.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/0225youk_1024768.jpg
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Wait, that picture is from a website dedicated to “hot jocks”?
        
        That can’t be right…
        
        Jeff
        
        You’d think Youk is hot if you’re attracted to Mr. Clean with an animal living on his chin.
      - zs190
        
        I didn’t realize Brewers are 3-6 even though Cameron has been on fire, but really no reason for Brewers to trade Cameron unless they are 15 games out in July or something.
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Meh, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Brewers were 15 games out by May.
        
        zs190
        
        That could happen I guess, their rotation is so bad after Gallardo and Parra, a lot of good bats though. I don’t think they’ll give up in May even if they are 15 games back.
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Oh, I don’t know if they “give up” in May, but I could see them give up on paying Mike Cameron in May.
        
        Not quite the same thing.
Manimal

Why Robertson? Why not just get rid of Veras.
- http://heavysoundsandtheabstracttruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/alg_burnett-sabathia-3.jpg Mike Pop
  
  Because Veras has had success at the MLB level.
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  Getting rid of Veras by exposing him to waivers would be a foolish overreaction.
  
  Wanting to get rid of Veras via a trade is a fine idea with merit. Getting rid of him via a demotion and waiver claim and getting nothing in return is silly.
  - Manimal
    
    Hes out of options? I had no idea. NVM, this was a better idea.
- http://ryanhandt.blogspot.com/ handtius
  
  because he’s out of options. you don’t waste an arm like that on waivers.
  - Rich
    
    Then trade him, because leaving him on the roster to pitch in high level situations risks wasting wins.
    - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
      
      Fine. But you’re not going to make a trade with Veras in 24 hours, so Robertson still has to get demoted, we have games to play every day.
radnom

Hate to say it TSJC…..but yeah.
Not gunna say it.
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  This is related to the newly increased level of doubt regarding Matsui and Teixeira’s ability to play every day.
  
  The situation is not the same as the one we discussed yesterday.
josh

of next year: jeter in left, gardner/ajax in center, swisher/free agent in right. posada dh. need a solid ss and catcher. who will be available?
- Jeff
  
  There isn’t much, or at least not too many players I would consider Yankee Caliber.
  
  For catchers there is Miguel Olivo (31) career .240/.274/.409 and Yorvit Torrealba (31) career .250/.310/.393 both have mutual options with their respective teams. The only other viable option would be FA Brian Schneider (33) career .252/.324/.375 who the Mets just put on the DL with a strained back muscle. None of these guys can really compare to Posada and all three are equally mediocre on offense. Maybe Carvelli can wake up in AA to start hitting and move to AAA in time for a 2010 MLB start, Piazza gave him praise during the WBC so hopefully he can excel. I’d assume Montero and Romine are both at least 2 years from the majors with both playing in A-ball.
  
  The SS market is about as thin as the catching one. The best option would be Orlando Hudson (32) if he can go from 2B to SS (or could we move Cano to SS if O-Dog is signed?) his career .283/.347/.436 is pretty nice. The second best option would be former All Star Felipe Lopez (30) who has played 2B, SS, 3B, and a little OF, but his primary position is SS/2B and his career .263/.331/.398 could be lived with. I’m not sure a 35 year old Orlando Cabrera who hit .274/.322/.399 over his career would be that much of an upgrade over Jeter, maybe a stopgap for a year. Maybe Juan Uribe (31) could platoon or man SS most of the time, over his career he’s hit .253/.295/.422, at least he slugs over .400 which is better than some of his other SS comrades.
  
  From a development standpoint I don’t understand why Ramiro Pena isn’t in AAA Scranton getting regular playing time and learning to hit more. If he is such a highly thought of prospect he should be getting groomed to replace Jeter at SS while Beroa is up with the Yankees.
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Jeff

I like Matsui, but if his knee is too much of a problem and he can’t play regularly I’d say it would it be better for the team to just eat his salary and release him. I think he is a great player and if he is healthy could be the best DH in the league.

If Matsui is DLed what do you guys think the Yankees should do?

I see a couple of options here. I think the best option for primary DH at this point would be Swisher, at the very least he gets a walk or two a game, and his hot hitting to start the year suggests he would be the best for the position since he leads the team in total bases, RBI, HR, 2B, and he’s slugging .914.

There are two options to replace Swisher in RF. Melky and his great arm could patrol RF, his .286/.333/.500 isn’t all that bad in just 14 AB thus far. Then as backup in the OF they can call up John Rodriguez. The 2nd option is to call up Austin Jackson and put him in RF (or shift Gardner to RF and put A-Jax in CF), he is hitting .480/.563/.560 in AAA Scranton. Then Melky would remain the 4th OF. This 2nd option would probably be rushing Jackson a bit too much, he needs to get more at bats in at AAA to show he is mature enough to hit at a major league level and a full year would be ideal. If the Yankees did want to go with this second option to infuse the team with youth and speed then they need to wait until at least May or June so he can get the AAA experience under his belt. Right now it appears to be too early in the season to go out and trade for an OF replacement.