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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Safe as Melk: Or as I like to call him…The Zig-Zag Defender
Meanwhile, since coming off the disabled list, Brett Gardner has hit .333 in sporadic playing time and has showed superior range to Cabrera’s. Melky putters on. His season will culminate in something of a draw. He’s not the abject failure that he was last year, when he had to be sent back to the Minor Leagues, but he still hasn’t established himself as more than a placeholder starter. He’s hitting .273/.335/.415 right now. The average centerfielder is hitting .267/.335/.415. Cabrera isn’t hurting the Yankees, but he’s not a major asset. Now that he is 25, it seems clear that any growth he might experience is going to be incremental rather than exponential, if it happens at all. Cabrera’s swing generates too many ground balls for him to add much in the way of real power outside of Yankee Stadium II, where he has hit eight of his 12 home runs.
It would be unrealistic to expect even a team with the financial capabilities of the Yankees to field an All-Star or MVP candidate at every position, but that’s not a reason to keep striving to get better wherever you can, however you can. It is axiomatic that a team that accepts that it is “good enough” at a position will not win consistently, or at all. Complacency will kill a nascent dynasty faster than hamstring pulls and cigarettes combined.
If Cabrera were flanked by Charlie Keller and Tommy Henrich, his neutral nature wouldn’t be so big a deal, but right now, the Yankees’ 2010 outfield is an unknown. If the club retains Johnny Damon, they can’t control for the fact that he’ll be 36—the age will either show in his work or it won’t. The same goes for Hideki Matsui. They also can’t pretend that Nick Swisher will be any more than what he is, which is very good but inconsistent. They can’t make Austin Jackson into more than what he is, which is a guy who, whatever his other qualities, hit only four home runs this season. They also can’t make Gardner more than what he is, which is probably better than Cabrera but only fractionally. Perhaps the one thing they can do is prioritize center field in the offseason.
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1. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: September 22, 2009 at 02:15 PM (#3328796)The Yankees will either get Holliday or bring back Damon to play left. A CF platoon of Gardner and Melky should be an improvement, if Gardner gets 2/3 of the time. His plus defense and speed make him a very nice player. They will also add another OF/DH type.
There are no good CFs available.
I know his UZR is positive for the season, but my eyes tell me he's below average - lumbering after fly balls and often taking poor routes. Who am I supposed to believe, the statistics or my own two eyes? /Chico Marx
Seriously, though, does everyone accept that Swisher is an above average defensive RF?
Arguably, Girardi is doing the same in September, except Gardner is back.....
Melky's game logs, should anybody wish to check them out:
Melky's game logs
Seriously, though, does everyone accept that Swisher is an above average defensive RF?
Believe the statistics, and the managers. Both the A's and CWS gave him significant time in CF. He's not graceful, but he covers the ground out there. He's always been a + in RF/LF in the statistics.
IMO.
why? given 200mm a year, you can average 8mil for every roster spot. toss in a couple rookie contracts, backups, middle relievers, and you're looking at like $180m for 15 roles, or 12m per slot.
Really? is this as silly as it looks?
Simply because of variation - realistic options for above-average performers have bad years/get old/get hurt. Who would have pegged Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui to be offensive sinkholes in 2008?
The guys who can have good or great years back-to-back-to-back are of sufficient scarcity that finances or no, a single team in a market of thirty teams which more or less value the same things won't be able to collect enough of them to have no vulnerabilities.
I mean, look at the OPS+ numbers on the 2009 Yankees. Sure, Melky sticks out like a sore thumb, but everyone else in the lineup has a number between 124 and 145. That's unbelieveable.
Well, the real superstars cost more. $30M for ARod, $22M ea. for Tex and CC, $18M ea. for AJ and Jeter, $15M for Rivera. So that's $125M right there. You've got $75M to fill the remaining 19 spots. High class problem, no doubt, but that's not going to buy 10 more All-Stars.
If all these sportswriters in NYC were genuinely mounting the ledges in panic, I wish the hell they'd all jump off, so the world would be spared this kind of asinine "journalism."
Milton Bradley should be available for the right price!
well Arod = 25mil, Jeter = 20mil, just curious, how much do you think the average post arbitration all star makes?
I think the recent play of the Yankees and the likelihood that at least one team that plays them extremely well lurks elsewhere in the AL playoffs has lowered expectations quite a bit. I can't speak for the pants-pissers, but that's my feel.
I haven't complained that much in the past about the Yankees' payroll or FA acquisitions, but the Sabathia, Burnett, and Tex signings really rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. It just felt wrong somehow. If the Yankees sign Lackey and Holliday this offseason I'm going to be really upset. I don't think baseball needs a salary cap, but it might need a type A FA cap.
He looks to be a different hitter these days and can always play defense.
If there are 14 or fewer Type A or Type B free agents available, no team can sign more than one type A or B player. If there are between 15-38, no team can sign more than two. If there are between 39 and 62, there's a limit of three. However, teams can sign as many Type A or B free agents as they've lost, regardless of the limits above.
I believe the exception is that you can resign as many of your own guys as you want, and you can add to that total for each Type A or B player you do not resign.
I think everyone still doesn't remotely understand how poor an average defensive right fielder actually is. This is a position that Matt Holliday qualifies as a good defensive player (and going by eyes, that is all the evidence I need to understand that the quality of defense at that position isn't that high)
I actually think this is pretty cool.
Not disagreeing, but Abreu as a comparison point is kinda setting low expectations.
They have virtually the same numbers.
What am I missing here?
The 50 extra stolen bases from Ellsbury?
forgot about him, he's hitting 280/.345/.500 post all star game
small sample size and all that, but considering how badly he hit before this is a terrific sign.
And I doubt that the Orioles are going to be willing to send Pie to NY for cheap.
The Yankees have weaknesses going into 2009: pitching. Also, pitching. If they want to upgrade somewhere, they should probably pick the position where they're running out Chad Gaudin every week.
Pearlman hates the Yankees.
Unless the 2010 Yankees project to be one of the greatest teams in the history of baseball, they must have larger problems than their average center fielder, and they should prioritize those problems over finding a new CF. In this case, the Yankees will need to get better pitchers, and I expect that will be their top priority.
Yep. I'm not sure why the bar is average instead of replacement level. This entry just reads like an excuse to complain for complaining's sake.
An average CF is two wins better than replacement level over the course of the season. Considering the dreck the Yankees got out of their fifth starters this year (Wang + Mitre are somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 runs BELOW replacement level), that would be a much more important area to upgrade, whether using someone in the organization (Hughes or Kennedy?) or going out and getting someone.
Yes, clearly the Yankees haven't a clue as to how to win consistently.
If Cabrera were flanked by Charlie Keller and Tommy Henrich, his neutral nature wouldn’t be so big a deal, but right now, the Yankees’ 2010 outfield is an unknown.
Alas, here the logic pretty much goes off the rails. The Yanks' 2010 LF/RF are "unknown" ... so the offseason priority should be replacing your league-average CF?
didn't read the article, but thanks for the laugh. That is an absurd proposition.
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