Monday, January 6, 2014

Monday Afternoon Food For Thought: Teix's Backup

The Yankees have built up a pretty solid cadre of platoon pieces for their various positional needs in 2014.  They have options at second and third base, though better and more permanent full-time ones are still desired, they have multiple guys capable of playing shortstop, and they have the outfield and catcher spots stacked with depth on the current 40-man roster.

One position of need they've yet to address is a backup for Mark Teixeira at first base.  According to him he's almost back to 100% physically, and he's still a very important part of the lineup, but he's not expected to be the everyday player he used to be a few years ago.  Because of the continued wrist problems and other health issues over the past 3 seasons, expectations were that Joe would start working in more regular rest and DH days for Teix in 2014.  With the way the roster is present constructed, that's going to be kind of hard to do.

Seriously, look at the 40-man and tell me who his current backup is.  Gun to head I'd have to say it's Brian McCann at the moment and he's never played 1 Major League inning at first.  Other options include everyone's favorite defense botchmaster Eduardo Nunez and possibly Vernon Wells, but those options aren't any more appealing than McCann.  While the rotation, 'pen, and third base remain the higher priorities, the Yankees can't forget about adding a viable option to back Teix up at first.  Mark Reynolds, perhaps...

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