Swisher, who turns 28 this month, is the first baseman of the moment for the Yankees, who hope his disappointing 2008 season was an aberration.
For the low, low price of Jeff Marquez, Jhonny Nunez, and Wilson Betemit, we've got a 1B/ corner OF.
At 28, Swisher is young, athletic, and a solid bat. His Batting Average on Balls in Play last season was .251, 28 points below his career average. To me, that screams bad luck, especially since his LD% went up from 2007 to 2008.
If Swisher rebounds to 2007 (.262/.381/.455), it's only a slight step down from Giambi's .247/.373/.502.
And better yet would be to sign Teixeira anyways.
While the Blogfather believes that trading corner outfielders would indicate that "Cashman blows it all up," I think trading either Nady or Damon makes more sense than ever IF (note the big if) the Yanks can find a centerfielder. Otherwise, we're looking at Damon in center, Nady and Swisher on the corners, and Melky or Gardner as the fourth outfielder.
The Yankees are a better team than they were this morning. And upgrading offense and defense at the same time rocks.