clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Are Travis Hafner's days in the Bronx numbered?

With Travis Hafner not hitting, thus resulting in him losing at-bats, is his clock close to striking midnight?

By jessenyy
Jim McIsaac

There are several weak links in the Yankee offensive attack this season: third base, shortstop, left field, catcher, first base, you name it. Anywhere other than second base, center field, and I guess right field, too, is at least a borderline black hole. This also includes DH, specifically Travis Hafner.

Over the span of three months Travis Hafner has gone from middle-of-the-order hero to whipping boy. There are several other candidates on the team that deserve the "whipping boy" tag, but he is one of them, and rightfully so. On the season, Pronk is hitting .209/.304/.390, good for a 90 wRC+. Since May, Hafner is hitting .171/.255/.294 in over 200 plate appearances. Finally, in the last 30 days, he is hitting .188/.257/.281. No matter how you look at it, whether it be the season as a whole, the last three months, or the last 30 days, the man who gets paid to do one job, and that is hit, has not done so.

Hafner has struggled so much that it appears that Joe Girardi is reducing his DH's role. Hafner has been reduced to a pinch-hitting role while Melky Mesa, who had a 36.7% K-rate and 2.7% BB-rate in Triple-A this year, gets time in left and Vernon Wells and his 75 wRC+ in 2013 slides over to DH. It could be a temporary thing to not have Hafner in the lineup, but it could also be a sign of things to come.

With Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Jayson Nix, and maybe even Alex Rodriguez returning from injury, to go along with a potential Alfonso Soriano acquisition, the Yankees are running out of roster spots to keep Hafner on the team. In the end, it may be time to just part ways with Hafner and his $2MM salary and call it a day. Do you think he has anything left, or is it time to cut ties?

More from Pinstriped Bible:

More From Pinstripe Alley