Last season, the average designated hitter batted .266/.341/.430 with 20 home runs. That figure is dragged down by absurdly low production at the position from three-fourths of the AL West. A more appropriate reflection of what the Yankees might want to look for from the position can be found in what they received last year. Despite Jorge Posada’s career-ending battle with the position, almost everyone else who received time there contributed something, such that the Yankees got .251/.336/.450 with a league-leading 30 home runs.
Note 1: Johnny Damon hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 home runs.
Note 2: Carlos Pena hit .255/.388/.504 with 21 home runs against right-handed pitching.
Note 3: Andruw Jones hit .286/.384/.540 with eight home runs against left-handed pitching.
Note 4: Jorge Vazquez, a right-handed hitter, averaged .262/.323/.498 against right-handed pitching at Triple-A, with a strikeout in 35 percent of his at-bats. As a point of comparison, Mark Reynolds of the Orioles, the guy who has struck out between 196 and 223 times the last four years, struck out in 37 percent of his at-bats against right-handed pitching last season.
Still, I suppose you can’t leave any stone unturned lest the quarry think you’re bluffing.