Results tagged ‘ Melky Cabrera ’
Left Field
With all the moves that were made in the last month of 2009, the Yankees have one last issue to deal with — an issue that really isn’t as monumental as most fans are making it out to be:
Who’s in LF?
By now you probably know that Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are no longer options to man left field in Yankee Stadium. You also may have heard that the man who would likely have been there on Opening Day — Melky Cabrera — was dealt to Atlanta for Javier Vazquez. While there was a rather large uproar over the latter move, Leche was expendable with the acquisition of Curtis Granderson and the pending free agency of Rays LF Carl Crawford after this coming season.
With this in mind, you’re probably wondering who the remaining options are. Let’s take a look:
BRETT GARDNER — Easily the leading in-house candidate. With a 2009 slash line of .270/.345/.379 the man Pete Abraham dubbed “GGBG” showed that he is capable of being an average offensive player. However it is his speed and defense that will pay huge dividends for the 2010 Yankees. With a career 87% SB percentage (39-for-45) he is always a threat to steal a base and can score from 1B on a double or 2B on a single with ease. Defensively Gardner is considered be many to be more fundamentally sound than Melky and also has a penchant for the fantastic play.
CURTIS GRANDERSON — The dark-horse candidate. Although Brian Cashman traded for him to be the starting centerfielder, I would not put it past Girardi to have Granderson in LF and Gardner in CF for this season. He is essentially Gardner with the type of power that translates better to LF than CF. While playing LF isn’t the primary purpose, Girardi can’t go wrong with having Granderson tracking down fly balls in Death Valley.
JAMIE HOFFMANN — The long-shot. A relative unknown, he was acquired from the Nationals for Brian Bruney as the #1 pick in the Rule 5 Draft. Hoffmann is a right-handed bat who can add some pop to the lineup should he make the Opening Day roster in any capacity.
JOHNNY DAMON — The wild-card. Scott Boras overplayed his hand at the start of free agency, almost certainly costing his client a big payday. Now with Bay and Holliday signed Damon is the top position player available, but is scrambling for a suitor. The Yankees, however, have played this very well and could have Damon crawling back to them for an offer significantly lower than what he was originally seeking.
There you have it, boys and girls — your options to play LF for the defending World Series champs. Who would you choose? Is there anyone I’m forgetting? Hopefully we can discuss this further in the comments section.
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I hope that everyone enjoyed a safe and pleasant holiday. Let’s make this new decade a memorable one! OH-TEN, WE GON’ DO IT AGAIN!!!!!
The Grinches Who Stole The Yankees’ Christmas
I don’t generally like doing posts like this, especially on the heels of a World Series championship AND Christmas Eve. But desperate times call for desperate numbers, so here goes:
Stop b*tching, Yankees fans. Brian Cashman knows what he’s doing.
Of everything that has happened since November 4th, the only move I can honestly say I strongly disagreed with was letting World Series MVP Hideki Matsui leave for Los Angeles (see how I dealt with it here). But even that won’t get me down about the team that Ca$hMoney is putting together for 2010. How can anyone not like adding a 28-year-old CF in his prime (Curtis Granderson), a 31-year-old DH who gets on base like Glen Quagmire gets laid (Nick Johnson), and a 33-year-old innings-eater who just might be the best #4 SP in baseball (Javier Vazquez)?
It’s like wanting to date Jessica Alba when you’re married to Gabrielle Union.
All three players have well-publicized flaws — Granderson struggles
vs. LHP, Johnson is injury-prone and Vazquez hasn’t nearly been as
dominant in the AL as he’s been in the NL — but you can’t use these as
crutches when arguing against the moves. It only raises expectations to
unwarranted levels and doesn’t put them in a relaxed scenario to
succeed.
It is perfectly understandable that everyone wanted to keep the team intact, and I would’ve been cool with that. But Johnny Damon let Scott Boras overprice him, Matsui didn’t wait for Damon and jumped on the first offer he got because the Yankees felt his knees were completely shot, and Melky Cabrera was highly expendable with Carl Crawford becoming a free agent after the 2010 season. We just have to face facts: the moves that our GM makes our team younger and more dynamic for when the Yankees start their title defense on April 4th in Boston.
For once in your lives, try not to be such grinches about moves that the Yankees make just because you’re attached to those who will not be back. Give Curtis, Nick and Javy a chance — you won’t regret it.
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Make sure you be safe if you’re traveling and make sure you let your loved ones know how much you love them. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!! I’ll catch y’all in 2010!
Happy Holidays,
Smoov
cjsmoov
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