A little attention for PA

by Ed Valentine on Mar 30, 2009 6:00 AM EDT in Miscellaneous Comment 9 comments

We might be new kids on the block around here, but somebody thinks we have a clue what we're talking about.

The folks over at PhillySportsPost.com are doing team-by-team major league previews, and they asked both Travis and I for some input the other day.

Here's a look at one of the questions I was asked, along with my answer.

Please assign a letter grade to the Yankees’ offseason moves?

A-: As everyone knows, and many have whined about, the Yankees spent a ton of money in the off-season. The signings of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett give them front-line starting pitching they didn't have in 2008. Re-signing Andy Pettitte was also huge, as it means they now have depth with Phil Hughes and Alfredo Aceves at AAA. Mark Teixeira was also a great get, especially since the Yankees have no other true, young, in their prime offensive players. Nick Swisher gives them flexibility, and a bat, off the bench they have been missing. Letting Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi go were also smart moves, as it helped the Yankees get more flexible. The only demerit Brian Cashman gets is for not finding a better backup middle infielder than Cody Ransom or Angel Berroa, and the Yanks will pay for that with A-Rod hurt.

Be sure to go check out the full preview.

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Nice read Ed

I completely agree that Cashman should have done better than having Ransom and Berroa as IF backups. The difference between Arod and Ransom will cost us a few games and quite possibly the AL East title. I was also thoroughly surprised that Travis advocated the signing of Manny.

by BigSlim on Mar 30, 2009 9:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It would be nice to have a better backup infielder, but who was realistically available? Nomar Garciappara would have been a good fit on paper, but he’s an injury risk too, and I think he was looking for more playing time anyway.

by 3460kuri on Mar 30, 2009 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nomar

would have been my first choice, and the Yanks didn’t even ask about him apparently. Let’s see, here’s a list of players better than Angel Berroa, at the very least, who were available. Miguel Cairo, David Eckstein, Mark Grudzielanek (still unsigned), Mark Loretta, Nick Punto, Ty Wigginton. There is a long, long list. And it really amazed me that the Yankees didn’t even seem to make an effort to upgrade there.

by Ed Valentine on Mar 30, 2009 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But again

Nomar signed with the A’s. The A’s have a SS (Bobby Crosby) who stinks and a 3B (Eric Chavez) who is always injured. There was an expectation that he was going to be getting 300-350 ABs, at least.

The Phillies also expressed some interest. They have a 3B (Pedro Feliz) who isn’t much of a hitter and is coming off surgery, and Chase Utley at 2B who is also coming off of surgery. He’d get a fair amount of ABs there as well.

There were never going to be those kinds of opportunities on the Yankees. A-Rod, Jeter, and Cano are all fairly versatile and durable players, A-Rod’s hip injury notwithstanding. Even still, once A-Rod is back in May, how many ABs would there really be for Nomar? The team already has 4 corner outfield/DH types, and all 4 infielders are a good bet to start at least 130 games.

by 3460kuri on Mar 30, 2009 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs