Monday, November 19, 2012

Opening Day Roster Not Looking So Hot Right Now

(Time for the Ninja GM to start moving in the shadows)

It's still relatively early, the spots are all going to be filled eventually, and I totally get that this is going to be business as usual for the Yankees for the next 2 years as they make their push to get below the self-imposed payroll threshold.  But it's worth nothing that this sluggish start to the offseason comes during a year when there are more holes on the roster to fill than we've seen in the past few offseasons.  Here we are, on the week of Thanksgiving, and the Yankees are in a position where, if the season started tomorrow they would be in a pretty tough spot.  Take a look.

Is Scott Hairston Really The Answer?

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!"

My Realistic Reactions To The AZFL Season


The Arizona Fall League wrapped up its 2012 season this past week, and overall it was a pretty good showing for the Yankee representatives.  Some guys dominated and continued to improve their prospect stock, some guys got to work on their transitions to new roles and positions to hopefully improve their prospect stock, and some guys just got the work in that they needed to get in after losing most of their 2012 seasons to injury.  I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who are jumping for joy at some of the results and whipping themselves into a "ZOMG GUYZ, THE YANKZ SHOULD TOTES LET SLADE HEATHCOTT TAKE OVER IN RIGHT FIELD THIS YEAR!!!!!!" frenzy, but that's just not going to happen.  At the risk of coming off as a Negative Nancy here, allow me to put each player's AZFL performance in the proper context, just so there aren't any crazy expectations based on a few weeks' worth of games.