Wild Thought: Right On 8th?
Today’s wild thought wraps around the Yankees line-up this season. You know that Damon, Jeter, Tex and A-Rod are the front four. And, I have a strong gut feeling that General Joe wants to play Brett Gardner in center and bat him ninth. That leaves the five-through-eight slots open to debate. Me? I’m thinking there’s little chance that Matsui or Posada will bat lower than sixth. And, this leaves Cano and the survivor of Nady/Swisher for seventh and eighth.
Let’s say that Cano ends up batting eighth – and that’s very possible. If so, due to the circular nature of a line-up, New York will then have Cano-Gardner-Damon batting back-to-back-to-back in the late innings of a game. And, this would allow an opposing manager to use a situational lefty in potential key spots and leave him in for three batters in a row. For the Yankees, this is not ideal.
So, what do you do? Do you have the right fielder – whomever that may be (between Nady and Swisher) – bat eighth? If memory serves correct, the only time the Yankees, in recent history, have ever had a right fielder bat eighth on a semi-regular basis was 2003 – when Raul Mondesi did it. Then again, Dwight Evans played right and batted eighth, most of the time, for the 1979 Red Sox…so, I guess, if it happens for the Yankees in 2009, it won’t be the first time that it’s ever happened in baseball.
How ’bout they just pinch hit for Gardner late in games? Not like he can hit anyway! That’s even assuming he makes the team nevermind starting in CF.
I think Joe wants Gardner’s D in there late in the game, no?
then defensive replace with the melk man?
In the late innings, if Gardner and Damon were both in the (I assume) starting lineup, you would have either Swisher or Nady on the bench, which you could then pinch-hit for Gardner.
The bottom of the lineup isn’t going to be stable anyway, with Matsui and Posada getting regular rest, and cycling in Nady, Melky/Gardner and Swisher. This will surely lead to some more inane PeteAbe complaints about Girardi “screwing” with the lineup.
[...] Wild Thought: Right On 8th? / Bandwagon Nation: Confirmed [...]
Hmm. For some reason, I envisioned Tex as protection for A-Rod, an Swisher preceding A-Rod.
The fact that the Melky for Cameron deal didn’t go through should be a good indication that he’s back to being regarded as good enough to be our everyday CF, at least more so then Gardner should be at this point, until Jackson is ready. I heard that the Yankees still tried to puch the deal through with Swisher instead of Melky. I hope there is very little chance of Gardner earning the starting spot in CF. He didn’t show anything last year to earn that job. Melky being a switch hitter suits him perfectly for the 9th spot between Damon and Cano.
sanair what lineup would u put out there?
you would have swish batting 3rd? I was always fond of having a good hitter vs. a good on base guy in the 3 hole
The fact that the Melky for Cameron deal didn’t go through should be a good indication that he’s back to being regarded as good enough to be our everyday CF
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I don’t actually think it’s a good indication of that at all. At least I hope not. I think it came down to money. If they made that trade, they’d have another 10 mil on payroll, making signing Tex harder. They (correctly) decided to sign Tex instead.
I understand the reservations about Gardner, but Melky put up an OPS+ of 68 last year. Sixty-freaking-eight. Dude sucks and has gotten worse each of the last three years. So it can’t hurt to give Gardner a chance over a player we already know to be terrible. And yes, I know, “Melky’s young and still might put it together!” But couldn’t the same be said of Gardner, who is actually trending up (in a smaller sample size), rather than down?
If they made that trade, they’d have another 10 mil on payroll, making signing Tex harder. They (correctly) decided to sign Tex instead.
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It wasn’t so much that, but the Brewers wanted the Yanks to pick up all of Igawa’s salary (Igawa-Melky for Cameron). Teix had little to nothing to do with the negotiations with the Brewers.
FWIW, Melky posted a 68 OPS+, but Gardner posted a 53. I figure they both project to be 4th OF’ers, but if I had to choose, I’d probably go with Melky, given their MiL track records. But I can be convinced to keep one or the other. I suspect that management will have both shuttling back and forth to SWB.
It wasn’t so much that, but the Brewers wanted the Yanks to pick up all of Igawa’s salary (Igawa-Melky for Cameron). Teix had little to nothing to do with the negotiations with the Brewers.
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The Igawa thing played into it, I’m sure, but they also pretty much abandoned the trade talks altogether, and it seems to me that they were biding their time and waiting to see if something better would come along. And it did, and lo, his name was Teixeira.
FWIW, Melky posted a 68 OPS+, but Gardner posted a 53.
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Stop distorting my facts with more facts!
Gardner’s history shows that he always struggles in his first go-around in a new league, before settling in and becoming productive. And last year was his first go-around in the majors, so he’ll hopefully be decent this year.
And Melky’s minor league numbers don’t look any better to me, aside from one completely out of the blue hot-streak at Columbus in 2006. Granted, he put up all those numbers at a younger age than Gardner did and has also had a modicum of success at the big league level. But Gardner also a has a more interesting skill-set than Melky does.
So I guess it’s something of a toss-up. But Melky really left a sour taste in my mouth last year. So I still vote for Gardner. If nothing else, he’ll steal bases, which is always fun.