With
Torii Hunter and
Melky Cabrera already off the board and never really looking like they were serious candidates to end up in pinstripes, it was only a matter of time before
Scott Hairston's name came up. He's been on the offseason wish list for the past couple years, but was never a high priority while the Yankees still had 3 good starting outfielders. Now that they're down to just 2, it was inevitable that he'd be connected to the Yankees and that connection came to light over the weeked
thanks to Dan Martin of The NY Post.
My TYA teammate Mike Eder posted
his thoughts on the Yankee-Hairston connection earlier this morning and while he made some good arguments for why Hairston is a good fit, Mike concluded that the Yankees could do better and that's a sentiment I echo. 2 years ago, I would have been all over bringing Hairston aboard, but now? Not so much.
Yeah, the power is nice, and he's a defensive upgrade over
Andruw Jones, but that's really all there is to like. He doesn't walk, therefore he doesn't get on base; his power is almost exclusively pull power, which doesn't translate as well to YS3 as all-field power does; and he doesn't hit right-handed pitching at all, which means the Yankees will be set up for another outfield platoon setup. Add that to the revolving door at DH and the quasi-platoon situations at third base and shortstop, and the 2013 team would resemble a Little League World Series team where players are constantly being moved into and out of the lineup.
As an emergency insurance option, sure. But as a planned platoon "solution" for right field next season with Ichiro, I would be very much against the Yankees signing Scott Hairston.
P.S.- "Jus-tin Up-ton! Clap, clap, clapclapcap!"
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