Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
With apologies to the legendary duo of Abbott and Costello, "who" will not be playing third base for the Yankees next season. Someone will have to replace Alex Rodriguez, certainly not in production but at least in terms of filling the position. The Hot Stove League season is fewer than two weeks old, but already several prominent names have been mentioned as hot corner candidates. Let’s consider them one at a time, working our way from best player to worst.
Migel Cabrera
Outside of A-Rod, he’s clearly the best available third baseman in terms of free agents/trade possibilities. The 24-year-old reminds me of Frank Robinson at the plate, a pure right-handed hitter who hits with equal parts efficiency and power. Even with his questionable attitude and lack of hustle, Cabrera projects as no worse than Dick Allen over the next six or seven years. Unfortunately, Cabrera plays like Allen at third base; he is a brutal defensive player who should be playing first base sooner than later. He would also cost the Yankees the most in terms of potential talent—a package of at least three young players/prospects. I can’t imagine the Marlins would let him go without acquiring either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes in return, and that’s just not a smart proposition for the pitching-needy Yankees. If the Yankees can convince the Marlins to take a package of Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and someone like Ross Ohlendorf of Tyler Clippard, then by all means, make the deal. And then be sure to play Cabrera at first, while sliding the quicker and more sure-handed Wilson Betemit over to third base.Miguel Tejada
A poor man’s Cabrera, Tejada would come far cheaper in the trade market. A package of Kyle Farnsworth, outfield prospect Brett Gardner and either Ohlendorf or Clippard might be enough to entice the O’s, assuming the Yankees pick up all of Tejada’s salary. The 31-year-old Tejada is a tough right-handed bat who hits well to all fields, puts the ball in play consistently, and doesn’t shrink from pressure situations. On the flip side, his home run totals have declined for three straight seasons, he doesn’t walk much, and he’s lost loads of range in the field. The latter point won’t matter much since the Yankees would play him at third, where his hands and arm are well suited. A bigger concern might be Tejada’s lack of effort. Consistently failing to run out ground balls and pop-ups, Tejada makes Manny Ramirez look like Charley Hustle. That attitude won’t fly under the microscope that is New York, especially under the watchful eye of a disciplinarian like Joe Girardi. The Yankees would have to hope that Tejada feels rejuvenated playing for a contender after years of stumbling through a zombie-like haze in Baltimore.Mike Lowell
Although he’s a personal favorite of mine, I’m the first to admit that he won’t be the same hitter away from Fenway Park. He’s also 33 and will likely require a four-year contract if the Red Sox don’t reel him back in. Still, there’s plenty to like about Lowell, a first-class individual who works hard and keeps himself well conditioned. He’s also become a much better opposite-field hitter the last two years, especially when it comes to breaking balls on the outer half of the plate. Defensively, Lowell has lost nothing; he has terrific range, good hands, and a reliable throwing arm. If Lowell can hit .280, slug .475, and hit in the vicinity of 20 home runs, that should be good enough, especially given his fielding and leadership skills. There would also be an intangible benefit to adding Lowell. We wouldn’t have to hear fans pining for Scott Brosius anymore.Edwin Encarnacion
There have been whispers of a possible trade that would send Kennedy to the Reds for Encarnacion straight-up, but that won’t happen until the Yankees have fully explored the possibilities with Miguel Cabrera. Like Cabrera, Encarnacion is only 24 and immensely talented, but also carries questions of attitude. Most notably, he angered former Reds manager Jerry Narron by failing to run out batted balls. (Is this the new epidemic in baseball, or what?) Defensively, Encarnacion is better than Cabrera, but his footwork still poses problems from time to time.Mike Lamb
Not an ideal choice because he swings from the left side, Lamb would nonetheless come relatively cheaply as a free agent. At one time, he was considered a candidate to play third base in the Bronx—until the trade for A-Rod. The 32-year-old Lamb is a useful player, but he’s ideally a backup on a good team, a versatile left-handed hitter who can play third or first, and fill in at second on an emergency basis. If the Yankees were to sign Lamb, they’d likely have to acquire someone else to platoon with him. And that could be…Morgan Ensberg
He could become available if the Padres non-tender him this winter. At his peak, Ensberg was a dangerous right-handed power hitter and a solid third baseman with a strong arm. But the 32-year-old has fallen off the map the last two seasons, leading to a trade from the Astros to the Padres. Unfortunately, he appears to be one of those rare players who has become overly passive at the plate—he simply takes too many pitches. A change of scenery could help him, but then again, Death Valley at Yankee Stadium might not be the best medicine for a right-handed pull hitter like Ensberg.Pedro Feliz
If the Yankees are willing to sacrifice offense completely and emphasize defense as a higher priority, Feliz could be an option on the free agent market. The 32-year-old Feliz has consistent power (he’s hit 20-22 home runs over each of the last four seasons), but struggles to reach base (a .290 on-base percentage in 2007). Realistically, the Yankees will need to have a better-balanced offense without A-Rod, and that means securing some production from both first base and third base. There’s simply too much of a drop-off to Feliz, so the Yankees should pass on this possibility.So there you have it, a half-dozen realistic candidates, ranging from good to mediocre, or perhaps even worse. If the Yankees don’t turn to an in-house candidate like Betemit—and assuming that A-Rod doesn’t accept arbitration—one of these men could be your starting third baseman in 2008.
Bruce Markusen is the author of eight books on baseball and writes "Cooperstown Confidential" for MLB.com. He can be reached at bmark@telenet.net.
Also, I don't think I'd trade IPK for Encarnacion straight up.
The list of options isn't appealing beyond Cabrera- and anyone who objects to Cabrera on reasons of attitude should also shy away from supporting a Tejada Trade. Watching Yanks-Orioles games the last two seasons, the guy has no passion- sure he's on a terrible team, but the guy clearly had no incentive to run hard on ground balls and pop flies.
Anyway, Wilson Betemit is fine, so long as the Yankees improve either first or third base. I am not confident at all in Jason Giambi or Shelley Duncan as full-year options. One of the two positions needs to be improved for the Yankees to compete in the division next year.
Unless they just go ahead and sign Barry Bonds...
Last year's numbers represent a small sample size, since he was out from mid-May until September. What's his health profile? As bad as Chavez's?
Interestingly, the only other parks in which Blalock has been successfull (granted, in small samples -- only interleague play) are the Great American Ballpark, Citizens Bank Park, Dolphins Stadium, Turner Field and RFK. The first two are extreme hitters parks. The last three are pitchers parks in southern climates.
vr, Xei
The last thing this team needs is another lefty bat. The lineup is almost exclusively lefty as it is (Giambi, Cano, Hideki, Damon, likely 1B, Abreu) and switch hitters. The only true right handed bat in the lineup right now is Jeter.
"As for the time where it is in Japan, season ends and fall camp and the like, those where you rest the body for a while were ahead, but when in America schedule ends, simultaneously, all player becomes off.
By your now, just has done training which is light independently, making go to bed completely, will have been the shoulder and the elbow slow. You have lived in New York, but because, during of season was not left over looking at the town, the opportunity which you walk, it enjoys shopping and walking etc..
Looking at the daily necessaries, you just walk, fresh it is hard to be surprised and, you can make that it comes to foreign America. In Halloween day, the person who is disguised as the town having drawn out the multitude, you just see it became pleasant feeling.
And as for New York fall it becomes deep has started feeling cold recently, noticeably. Certainly if in Japan being to be cold of the extent which is not experienced the ginger, it can keep the winter, being accustomed gradually, with you think.
The world series ended. By his does, being not to have the opportunity which is seen with the television, but the Japanese continuing, 3 years to become the member the greatest in the world, it is delightful thought."
(http://tinyurl.com/2lh2c3)
i couldn't have said it better myself.
Would Lamb be an upgrade at 1B? What if you go with the Betemit/Ensberg platoon at 3B and sign Lamb anyway to platoon with Duncan at 1B?
also, i can't guarantee any validity, but it looks like some names were supposedly leaked from the mitchell report.
"Jeremy Affeldt, Aaron Guiel, Roger Clemens, Kaz Matsui. I also don't know if the list was for uppers, HGH, or steroids, just that these were some of the names that would eventually come out on the Mitchell list."
http://tinyurl.com/25qdqh
i was wondering why the sports news sites weren't covering this... that should've been a big red flag.
sorry.
i'll slink away with my tail between my legs now...
my apologies.
But HEY - I have an idea... let's re-sign A-Rod!
And sadly, at this point I'm only sorta-kinda kidding. And he was dead to me only a few days ago. The more I ponder the possibilities, the more I feel like this may be the best option - swallowed pride, lost integrity and all.
Even without ARod, isn't our team O probably as good as our 1996-2000 teams?
Even if PhilJoIPK meet our expectations, our BP is still way behind the 1996-2000 boys. I would like to hang on to IPK. While we might think we are 'pitching rich', there is really no such thing, especially when you already have an above average offense.
Are if we really have an abundance of quality pitching (if there is such a thing), we will be able to make good trades in the future, as good pitching is always the most desired commodity in the FA market.
I say continue to develope our pitching, meaning hang on to IPK if possible. Tejada is a good compromise solution, as I believe we can get him for any combination of kids that aren't in our front tier.
I think he will be rejuvinated if he comes to NY. Well above average bat, without too many loses of our youth. That's my formula.
However, I'm not gonna judge him until I see how this comes out. My feeling is everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that has transpired is part of Boras's stategy. The WS announcement, no calls to Cano and friends, NOT meeting with the Yankees, etc. Whatever has happened, I believe it's all part of whatever game Boras is playing.
I don't know if ARod did NOT want to play for the Yanks no matter what... but if that is NOT the case, I think it's still a possibility he will be back, however unlikely.
It sort of reminds me of a great South Park episode when the boys are busted for downloading mp3s. The FBI agent takes them on a tour and shows them how all the rock stars are losing money and now Brittney can only afford the second best private jet and Lars can only get two gold backscratchers or something.
If A-Rod wanted to leave the Yankees that's one thing, but he could have done it with some integrity. He's dead to me, as in the horse I'm likely beating ;).
(OK OK ....)
But the pragmatist in me - especially the one who doesn't want to trade any of "The Three" for a fat non-hustling first baseman, no matter how good a hitter (or god forbid someone like Tejada the juicer) - feels like spending the money in this case really may be the single best option. By far. And I can't believe I'm saying that.
Who's on first.
I don't know's on third.
Pitcher is tomorrow.
Catcher is today.
Left fielder is why.
I don't know how you can say this until you know what their strategy is. Maybe he wants to see if the market will offer him $35m/yr or 10 years. Were the Yanks gonna do that?
Boras is the best. Nothing is an accident. There is no reason for ARod to blow the Yanks off and get all the negative press he has gotten unless there is a bottom line.
Look, both Mo and Po want to be Yankees and retire here. Yet, they are both testing the market. Po especially, if going to find out what he's worth to other teams before he signs with the Yanks. How can we, or they, know what their value is if they accept the Yankees initial bargaining? And with Mo and Po, it is a little easier to establish their market value then it is ARod's.
The only thing I know for sure, is that I don't know anything (about ARod) for sure. So rather then demonize him now, I'll just wait a bit and see what happens.
And I still say this reeks as much of Rodriguez as it does Boras.
He's a really, really tough out, fouls off a lot of pitches, hits to all fields and seems locked in an awful lot of the time.
Perhaps Cabrera is that good too, I've just never seen him for myself.
51 i think they'd give up hughes, and i don't know if it would be a bad idea. depending on who else we'd have to give up and whether we can sign him to an extension. but santana is going to be 29 next season.
the other 3b option we can all hope for is yulieski gourriel, the 23 year old cuban phenom. if he defects, which i'm told is unlikely even though the cuban team is playing in the world cup in taiwan now. we can hope though, he would be a perfect fit.
"Posada and Lowell are the same type of players, second-tier stars who have been paid well over the years but never outrageously so."
what???
Miguel Tejada = 114
It's not even in the same tier.
Past a diving I don't give a darn!
Thankfully, that part does not fit with the Yankees...
Still, that routine has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. I knew the positions by heart :)
Jeter on Rodriguez leaving: "There aren't too many people in the game who can do what he does. But we're trying to win. It takes more than one person to win. We've had teams that have won and not had numbers like that put up."
Via Pete.
:)
Nice.
That being said, I'd rather not trade any of the trinity because the odds are that the Yanks will trade the wrong one.
As for Tejada, I'd like to get him if he can be gotten for Kyle Farnsworth and Clippard. I don't want to trade Gardner or Ohlendorf. NO WAY! You usually have to trade quality to get quality, but this is a salary dump situation like Abreu (Matt Smith + Henry + eat the cash). I hope Cashman just waits until the price falls.
Finally, the option I'd really like is for the Yanks to just dump Igawa for Ensberg and Betemit in a platoon. There's so much talent bubbling in the minors you just don't know who's going to make it. Will Brackman make it or Betances? Will Ajax make it or Tabata? Suttle or Eric Duncan? Maybe none will make it, maybe someone we haven't thought of will make it.
My real point is that the Yanks should just stand pat and not make ANY Deals on the terms of the trading partner. And, speaking of trading partners, I'm tired of the Yanks having to trade IPK or Melky or BOTH to get someone like Gagne, and the Sox get him for the equivalent of Clippard and Sardina. BUT, the Yanks only have themselves to blame for other teams leveraging them.
If the Yankees would just continue to let the talent work it's way up, continue to draft and pay out of slot money, continue to outbid for international talent, they won't NEED to trade for a damn thing because they'll be dominant again. AND, the Yanks can waive bye-bye to the luxury tax and then our former leveraging trading partners will be the ones being leveraged.
In other words, think long term. Try to win in 2008 and 2009, but not at the cost of 2010 and beyond. Keep the powder dry.
As I've said many times here, the 1996-2003 Yanks teams scored (on average) 30+ runs LESS than the 2004-2007 counterparts, but had an average ERA+ of 111 compared to the 97 of the 2004-2007 team. Pitching is much more important than hitting.
Also, I am glad that Pettitte is waiting to decide. The Yanks can't afford to trade any pitchers while they wait for him, so there shouldn't be any panicky moves right now anyway.
Of course you don't know which ones will pan out. Frankly, I'm not expecting a rotation with three rookies to be good enough to contend this year, I don't care how promising the rookies are. But you can't let that paralyze you. I think Kennedy clearly has the lowest ceiling of the three (and if he's the #2 starter, we may well be in trouble anyway). If you have a chance to get a blue-chip player in return, do it.
There's also this idea that the last few years have shown how hard it can be to get a good 4-5 starter. I disagree; the Yankees have had no trouble getting them. The problem is that they've had to use them at the top of the rotation because they haven't had 1-2 starters.
Better yet, let's be patient and let our team develop. Keep those draft picks and intl signings flowing.
How do you know IPK has the lowest ceiling? Hughes has never pitched a complete ceiling without getting hurt and Joba won't be able to pitch more than 140 innings. Also, IPK was picked by the Yankees ahead of Joba and his minor league stats compare well to both of those guys.
Again, I'm not faulting you for wanting to get a third baseman, but let's not trade the damn farm to do it.
And please don't ignore the ERA+ stats because unless Miguel can also pitch, the yanks have more important needs IF they're going to be dominant again.
Who had the best ERA+ this year? Hint: they're world champions.
This "All-Star at every position" thing is another meme that really doesn't apply. Don't look now, but the Yankees don't have an All-Star at every position. In fact, it's entirely possible that next year they won't have a real All-Star at any position. They've got aging players at all but two positions. They have no first baseman or third baseman. Where is this "all-star at every position" thing?
Frankly, I think the starting rotation is the least of the Yankees' problems for next year, even without Kennedy.
As for Kennedy having the lowest ceiling, it's because of his stuff. The fact that Hughes was hurt and Joba's IP will be limited has absolutely nothing to do with their ceiling.
And while we have a farmload of potential talent, there is a great distance between that and SPs who can give 180+ innings of MLB level pitching.
I would trade IPK IF necessary, but I would think hard first. I believe that's where Cashman is at. IPK's 'untouchable' status is a smokescreen but also indicative of the fact that Cashman values him.
Cabrera might be an FA in 2 years. I would prefer to see how he takes care of himself in the next 2 years. Tejada is undervalued now and we might be able to get with without giving up IPK. If so, that's the move I make.
You can never have too much pitching and good pitching beats good hitting. I want the yanks to have 7 starters so they have 1 to keep in the minors (IPK or maybe Joba) and 1 long guy (moose).
And, yes, if you look at the yanks lineup these last few years its been full of all stars. But all that hitting hasn't helped them come October.
The reason that people used to marvel at the 96 to 01 yanks and exclaim -
"how do they do it with only one probable HOFer (Jeter) in the lineup?" - was because those people really didn't understand how the Yankees pitching staff was constructed, particularly 1 through 4.
I repeat, I wouldn't make ANY deals until the sellers were moving players on my terms and if that prevented a deal then so be it. The Yanks
Are better off growing all their players.
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