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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Yankees closing in on deal with Travis Hafner

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CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Yankees are close to signing DH Travis Hafner to a one-year, major-league contract.

Hafner, 35, is coming off a season in which he batted .228/.346/.438 in 263 plate appearances. Hafner’s substantial secondary skills (i.e., his ability to draw walks and hit for power) in tandem with his platoon skills (even over the last five seasons—his deep decline phase—he’s hit .269/.371/.457 against right-handed pitching) make him a useful addition, particularly at such a low cost. On the downside, Hafner is injury-prone and has spent significant time on the disabled list in each of the last five seasons.

Repoz Posted: January 31, 2013 at 04:35 PM | 15 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: yankees

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1. jack the seal clubber (on the sidelines of life) Posted: January 31, 2013 at 04:50 PM (#4359455)

The Yankees immediately address their major concerns; age, lack of speed, and injury-prone personnel, by signing one player who has all three qualities.

2. CFBF Hates Hyphens Posted: January 31, 2013 at 04:55 PM (#4359460)

For a few years there Hafner was a ferocious hitter. In 2006 he was as good as any hitter I've seen, non-Bonds division.

2006 was a long time ago, of course.

3. Dan Posted: January 31, 2013 at 05:00 PM (#4359470)

From 2004-2006, Hafner was basically a white David Ortiz. He hasn't held up the same way David has, to say the least.

4. SG Posted: January 31, 2013 at 05:14 PM (#4359479)

He hasn't held up the same way David has, to say the least.

If only there was some anti-aging clinic type thing whose services he could seek out...

5. jack the seal clubber (on the sidelines of life) Posted: January 31, 2013 at 05:20 PM (#4359485)

If only there was some anti-aging clinic type thing whose services he could seek out...

That is incredibly far-fetched. No one would ever accuse someone like Ortiz of taking some mythical youth restoration drug.

6. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: January 31, 2013 at 05:56 PM (#4359529)

Isn't the general thought that Hafner's journey from feared slugger to ineffective muscular dude can be mostly attributed to his shoulder problems years back?

Also, remember when the Indians were getting high praise for locking up core players such as Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner? Admirable approach, but boy, some miscalculations in retrospect.

7. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: January 31, 2013 at 06:00 PM (#4359539)

He hasn't held up the same way David has, to say the least.

Alas, Hafner is milkshake intolerant.

8. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 31, 2013 at 06:14 PM (#4359547)

Also, remember when the Indians were getting high praise for locking up core players such as Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner?

And Fausto Carmona.

9. Greg (U)K Posted: January 31, 2013 at 06:18 PM (#4359554)

Plus they still had Sabathia...since that 2007 playoff run pretty much everything has gone wrong for them.

Well, except Cliff Lee coming out of nowhere...I suppose that was good for a while.

10. cmd600 Posted: January 31, 2013 at 06:20 PM (#4359557)

some miscalculations in retrospect

Or just bad breaks? Was there anything that should have suggested that both Sizemore and Hafner's bodies would completely break down?

11. Heinie Mantush (Krusty) Posted: January 31, 2013 at 06:26 PM (#4359570)

Or just bad breaks? Was there anything that should have suggested that both Sizemore and Hafner's bodies would completely break down?

Hafner was/is really big and really muscular and the CW in baseball was always that those guys are injury prone, especially past 30 or so (as opposed to maybe 34-35 for "normal" players.) There was nothing to suggest Sizemore breaking down, though.

12. RJ in TO Posted: January 31, 2013 at 06:57 PM (#4359603)

Also, remember when the Indians were getting high praise for locking up core players such as Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner? Admirable approach, but boy, some miscalculations in retrospect.

Weren't there a fair amount of negative comments about their locking up of Hafner? When they signed him to the extension, he still had 2 years left on his existing deal, and there were concerns about his late-bloomimg skills, general injury history, and complete uselessness in the field.

Here's the ZIPs thread, and the signing thread. Skimming quickly, the original signing thread was fairly positive, and the ZIPs thread more negative.

13. cmd600 Posted: January 31, 2013 at 08:01 PM (#4359636)

11 - Sure, there were signs for Hafner that he wasn't a great bet going forward, but completely break down immediately? Who came even remotely close to projecting 57 games of a .628 OPS for Hafner in 2008?

For 2008, ZiPs had him at .389/.508 in 508 ABs and PECOTA had him at .383/.490 in 636 PAs.

14. RollingWave Posted: January 31, 2013 at 08:45 PM (#4359671)

Watch him hit 50 HR and credits a "private chat" with Arod

15. Walt Davis Posted: January 31, 2013 at 09:16 PM (#4359691)

ineffective muscular dude

Muscular and dude I'll grant you. Oft-injured is undeniable. But the man's hit for a 125 OPS+ over the last 4 years -- that ain't ineffective. My concerns with the WAR DH penalty aside, they put him at +1 WAA over those last 1500 PA. The Yanks will be quite happy if they can get an average of his 2010-11.

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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Yankees closing in on deal with Travis Hafner

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