Okay, so a few days after I post my post making the case for Nick Swisher, the Yankees trade for him, just proving what we all already knew..............Brian Cashman is a "From The Free Seats" junky, getting all his best ideas from deep inside my mind. Keep reading Brian and I'll make that extension you just got seem like a bargain to the Yanks over the next three years.
But now that the Yanks have brought Swisher on, what does that mean for the future?
Everyone's first reaction was to immediately nix the "Yankees to pursue Teixeira" rumors, suggesting that Nick the Not So Quick will secure first in 2009 and the Bombers will look to spend their money elsewhere. Not so fast my little compadres.
Swisher has played considerable time at both first and in the outfield, spending much of the last year patroling center for the White Sox. Now, Brian Cashman admitted today in a conference call with reporters that Swisher is probably not Willie Mays out in center, but Cash described Swisher as being a "plus defender" at both first and the corner outfield spots. What does that mean? Well, what it means to me is, with a little clever manuvering, the Yanks could easily sign Teixeira and move Swisher to either left or right field, depending on where the team feels Nady is the most comfortable. Of course, that would require the team to send Johnny Damon packing, but it would seem to me that the Yanks could find a team to partner with if they decided that Damon could fetch them something on the open market. That would allow the team to completely revamp, al but ensuring that one of the oldest and most brittle teams in the league would have a full injection of youth, with an under 30 outfield and right side of the infield.
In that scenario, the Yanks would probably go with a lineup such as Gardner, Jeter, Teixeira, A-Rod, Matsui, Swisher, Posada, Nady, Cano. That would be too bad at all. Now, of course, you could play with that, and potential put Jeter as your leadoff guy, move Cano to the 2 hole, and stick Gardner in the 9 hole, but those would be your principal players.
Okay, now I believe that it seems, at least from the reports, that the Angels are IN LOVE with Teixeira, somewhat like the Yankees love affair with CC Sabathia, and I have a feeling that they are going to make Tex an offer that will at the very least be right at the number the Yanks would be willing to go. What does that mean? It means that, unless Tex really didn't like his stay in L.A., I have a hard time seeing hime switch cities, especially when the Angels are gonna be a very good team for a very long time to come. He knows the city, he knows the players, and I have to imagine he enjoyed playing for Mike Scoscia. Maybe the Yanks entice him, and maybe their interest is a little higher than people believe, but, to me the smart money is on the Angels getting Tex to stay.
So that would mean the Yanks would be done with their lineup, right?
Back it up there smoky.............again, to me, if the Yanks are TRULY committed to remaking this team, stopping at Swisher would be a mistake. If the Yanks sign CC, which seems to be a distinct possibility given how much they are willing to give him, and they bring back a healthy Pettitte, the starting rotation should be just fine heading in to next year, even if they don't sign a second starter. That would leave them with their ENTIRE cache of prospects to look for a more formidable bat. You could take Ian Kennedy and package him eiwht some other nice pieces from the minors and perhaps get yourself a good corner/center fielder. I have been promoting Andre Ethier for a while now. He is young, he has terrific skills, and he has the ability to play center. He is like a gazelle out in the field, and the only reason he would be available from the Dodgers is because they have a back-log of outfielders. The team truly believes that Matt Kemp is destined to be a STAR, not just a really, really nice player like Ethier. Or maybe the Yanks look to do something similar to what they just did with Swisher and buy low on a guy like Jeremy Hermida. I think Hermida would be a hard get at this point, with the Marlins just having traded away both Josh Willingham and Mike Jacobs, but they may be inclined to shed another underperforming player in Hermida. Remember, just two years ago Hermida was hitting a robust .296 with 18 homers and 63 RBI in just 123 games. It looked like the youngster was about to take off and then 2008 came and everything turned bad. Could Hermida regain that form and be a up-and-coming star once again? Considering any price for him would conceivably be low, it might not be such a bad idea.
The point is, as much as I like the Swisher deal it should not be an excuse for Cashman to now ignore the rest of the lineup. The outfield should be improved, and if that means trading Damon a year before they plan on letting him go anyway, so be it. Teixeira could still be in the cards for this team, as could a trade for a young, talented outfielder.
Whatever the decision, I do believe it would be a real, real mistake for Cashman to ignore the offense and put all of his hopes on bounce back performances from the likes of Cano, Matsui and Posada.
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