In a recent post, Sky Kalkman said:
[O]ne of the biggest reasons the Yankees have underachieved in the eyes of mainstream fans/analysts is that their fielding has stunk for a while now. fix that. now.
Easy to say, impossible to do. I've been watching the Rays this postseason and what has struck me is that they are good enough hitters and stellar fielders (excepting Upton, who becomes scarier to me by the minute; I like the nickname the announcer gave him last night, though: Cruise Control). But with so much of the Yanks O locked up, it seems like it would take a blockbuster (or two) to straighten out the D.
We have below average defense at 1B, 2B,
Arod ranked around average, and Jeter was above average this year after being the worst in the majors last season.
None of our left fielders qualified, but Melky was apparently the second best CF in the league*. Abreu, on the other hand, was second from worst.
*Interesting side note, Coco Crisp went from best to worst in defense.
So we have the chance to upgrade defense in right and at first. We want more offense from center (cause you'd need to cover LF and CF to make up for a .249/.301/.341 line).
Let's assume that Nady and Damon can be around average in left and right. Following this logic, Tex makes perfect sense and the Yanks throw down the big bucks to bring the switch hitter to the Bronx.
But a run through the top ten defensive CF doesn't show much hope for a trade: Gomez, Cabrera (anybody want him?), Adam Jones, Sizemore, Patterson (Dusty Baker will not let that boy's career die), Victorino, Beltran, Granderson, Mike "Greenie" Cameron, and Chris Young.