Here are some hot stove items from Peter Gammons in his latest piece for his namesake website, GammonsDaily.com…
- Gammons adds the Phillies to the list of teams who "have taken a run" at acquiring Brett Gardner from the Yankees. Philadelphia is one of "at least a half-dozen teams" who have checked in on Gardner — we've seen the Tigers, Reds, Indians, and Giants also linked to Gardner earlier in the offseason. Both Yankees president Randy Levine and GM Brian Cashman have said they admire Gardner's play and aren't willing to move him, though Gammons feels that Cashman "won’t move [Gardner] until and unless [Cashman] has to for starting pitching." This is just my speculation, but Gammons' phrasing could be a hint that the Yankees could shop Gardner if they fail to land Masahiro Tanaka.
- The Rangers, Red Sox and Rockies are three of "at least a half-dozen teams" who have asked the Padres about Chris Denorfia. Colorado's interest has presumably dried up due to their acquisition of Drew Stubbs. San Diego GM Josh Byrnes isn't willing to discuss trading Denorfia as long as he feels the Padres can be contenders, and Byrnes thinks his club's offseason moves could put them in the playoff mix. The Rangers also showed interest in Denorfia last July before the trade deadline.
- Mets assistant GM J.P. Ricciardi recently claimed that his team was happy with Ruben Tejada as a starting shortstop and that the free agent shortstop market wasn't to the Mets' liking, but Gammons hears otherwise from an NL general manager. The GM believes the Mets are concerned about their inexperience up the middle (Tejada at short, Juan Lagares in center and Travis d'Arnaud behind the plate) and are only seeming disinterested in Stephen Drew as part of negotiations with agent Scott Boras.
- If Drew re-signs with the Red Sox, Gammons doesn't expect Boston to deal Will Middlebrooks, as the team still values his power.
- The offseason's most interesting overlooked deal is the Athletics/Rangers swap that sent Craig Gentry to Oakland and Michael Choice to Texas, Gammons opines. Gentry is a right-handed bat who can spell Coco Crisp in center or replace him in case of injury, and "the A’s think Gentry’s comp is at least Peter Bourjos," Gammons writes. Choice, meanwhile, gives the Rangers a corner outfield bat who can spell Shin-Soo Choo against left-handed pitching.
I wonder what the Phillies would offer for Gardner…
Tough to say. If they want to shop one of their starters like Lee or Hamels which is what they originally said a couple of weeks ago, obviously the Yankees would have to include more than Gardner. But in all likelihood they would also ask the Yankees to probably pay 100% of the salary. Should that be the case, it would take more than Gardner, but probably not A Lot more than Gardner.
Um… The phillies aren’t moving lee or hamels for one year of Gardner and junk.
I never said they were going to, nor should they. Hence the Ifs.
They really can’t expect all great a return if they aren’t paying salary.
Yanks wouldn’t give up Gardner for Lee. No way. Makes too much money. Same goes for Hamels. The Yankees could consider it if PHI is willing to eat some of the money and take only Gardner as a return. But even then I think the Yanks would prefer not to trade Gardner.
If Gardner was under team control, that’s a different story, but he’s a FA after the upcoming season so it’s definitely going to take more than Gardner to get Lee or Hamels, that is If even the Phillies wanted to deal them.
Lee makes a lot of money, as does Hamels, but they are great pitchers and usually it’s the great players that make the big bucks.
Disagree. The Yankees like Gardner and he’s at least as valuable as Hamels, potentially as valuable as Lee ( per WAR ). You don’t jack up your payroll like that to get very little return. No chance the Yankees trade for Lee or Hamels.
Ummmmmm…how is getting Lee or Hamels a “very little return”?
This is why WAR is not a good stat if it’s the only one you are using, I think it has a place in the game but it’s far from the end all be all you’ve made it here. Lee’s worst year in the past 4 seasons is 211 IP, 3.16 ERA, 3.13 FIP, 3.06 xFIP which is by far more valuable to the Yankees in 2013 than Gardner can be in LF. It would allow CC to be a number 2 starter, Kuroda a 3, Nova a 4, and you could patch work or sign a Maholm to be the 5th. Provided you made the playoffs that’s a rotation that could conceivably win it all.
Certainly Lee and Hamels make the team better, but do you think they’re willing to take on that much more salary for that kind of improvement? It’s marginal at best, given the uncertainty for both players and the cost involved. They can keep Gardner and spend that $20 million elsewhere and get a better overall result. Or they can trade Gardner and some other chips for a younger, cheaper option.
It’s really not worth going much further if you think it’s a “marginal at best” upgrade, that’s a ridiculous argument you can only make blindly following WAR. You aren’t signing or trading for a better starter than what Lee would be over the next two seasons, which honestly should be the Yankees window to win a WS with the pieces they have gathered on this team.
The Yankees have made it clear they have no intention of trading Gardner and it’s because it’s next to impossible to replace his value, dollar for dollar. He just makes far too little and teams generally hold onto players who have a low cost and above average performance. I’m sure the Yanks would trade for Lee if they had the opportunity, but I’m not so sure they wouldn’t ask the Phillies to eat money by throwing in someone like David Phelps.
The Yankees have made it clear they have no intention of trading Gardner because they want leverage if someone calls them on the phone and asks to talk turkey. I’m on record as saying they won’t trade Gardner but only because no one will value him in trade as much as the Yankees do on the field, once Cliff Lee’s name is on the table that line of thinking dies. There’s also a giant difference in the argument the Yankees would rather trade Gardner and Phelps so the Phils eat some of Lee’s contract than the Yankees simply wouldn’t trade Gardner for Lee when they very likely would. Especially since it would open up the DH spot for Jeter, Beltran, Teixeira, and possibly Arod to do so.
Gardner would have a ton more value if he was’nt in his walk year.
They are the Yankees….
But that 3.16 ERA is not in the AL East pitching half his games in Yankee Stadium.
Citizens Bank Park gave up more home runs than any park in baseball in 2013, it’s an extremely hitter friendly park so that argument doesn’t really dismiss his numbers. True he plays in the NL but are we seriously arguing Cliff Lee isn’t an AL pitcher now? He’s pitched for the Indians, Mariners, and Rangers and been successful with all three teams (hasn’t had an ERA above 3.22 since 2007), especially so with the Rangers in the playoffs. He’s left handed, has good stuff, and great command. That’s exactly how you build a pitcher for Yankee Stadium, I would have zero concerns with Cliff Lee pitching for any team.
You can say their WAR is similar, but in NO WAY is Gardner as valuable as Lee or Hamels….
This is ridiculous Lee is still one of the best pitchers in baseball and even with his contract would be much more valuable than Gardner in 2013 and 2014 at least.
Look at Gardner’s WAR #s and then look at his salary. In his full seasons of play, he has posted WARs of 7.4, 3.9, 4.2. Last two seasons, Hamels posted a 4.6. Lee is an exception, no doubt, posting ridiculously high #s for most recent seasons, but he’s getting older. The Yankees won’t take on that kind of salary and lose a player who is so valuable at such a low cost. PHI would have to eat money or the Yanks wouldn’t consider it. They’d be willing to give up a couple second-tier prospects in addition, but likely only if money was eaten.
Stop using WAR as this flawless end all be all system, I like having it as one tool amongst many but it is very flawed and using it to compare an ace pitcher to a CF is the definition of it’s flaws. Also you do realize Gardner is about to be a free agent and make somewhere in the neighborhood of 4/50 right? The Yankees wouldn’t have a chance to ask for the Phils to eat money since the Phils would never trade Lee for Gardner straight up, they’d be able to get a much better long term return than that from someone else.
They absolutely wouldn’t. Neither team would be interested in the trade for very similar reasons. The Yanks don’t want another ace on the decline and the Phils don’t want a rental. Lee makes the money he makes because he signed when he was younger. At this age, it’s only downhill. (Not that he won’t remain very very good). I’d rather give Tanaka 15-20 mil a year and keep Gardner than lose Gardner and get Hamels or Lee. Or let one of the Yanks younger arms slot into the rotation (like Pineda or Phelps or Banuelos) and spend on the bullpen and infield.
How is Lee an “ace in decline” he just posted a 222 IP, 2.87 ERA, 2.82 FIP, 2.78 xFIP season? I’d much rather have Lee over the next 2-3 seaons than sign Tanaka for similar money over the next 7 regardless of age.
I can’t blame you for that opinion, especially since Lee is an excellent command pitcher and I expect he’ll continue to age well. But you can’t really expect that his production will continue to be that great. Other pitchers decline when they hit their mid-30s and Lee isn’t a guarantee to defy that trend. I just think the Yankees prefer to keep Gardner and sign Tanaka, whether that’s wise or not is up for debate. I happen to be a big believer in Gardner’s value, especially on defense and the basepaths, as well as at the top of a lineup as a table-setter (takes more pitches than anyone else and makes an obscene amount of contact). EIther way, I don’t think Philly trades Lee to anyone. And I’m fairly certain the Yanks wouldn’t be in on Hamels, either. We’ll see what happens if Tanaka lands with Seattle. Then we’ll have our answer as the trade market picks up. Not many teams are particularly interested in Garza nor Jimenez, anyway.
Regardless of what you think he will be next year, two years from now, whatever you can in no way describe Lee as “an ace in decline”, the numbers simply don’t bare that out all. I like Gardner as much as the next guy but he’s not more valuable than Lee has been the past four years and he’s unlikely to be more valuable to the Yankees over the next two at least.
Just to build on that last sentence, there are very few players that are as valuable or more valuable as Lee has been in the past four years.
But… but… but he only won 6 games in 2012 so he clearly isn’t any good /HaroldReynoldsLogic
If Cashman had the choice to pick among Lee, Hamels, or Tanaka, I would bet you that he would take one of the first two. Lee and Hamels are both proven in this League. Tanaka, for as good as he may become, is going to cost near Lee or Hamels and may not transition.
I’d imagine 90% of GMs in baseball would have them ranked Hamels, Lee, Tanaka in a vacuum. Add in the contracts and maybe some of them rank him above Lee but I can’t see any reasonable person giving Tanaka 6-7/90-100+ for Tanaka over Hamels and his current deal.
Lee’s WAR the past 3 years – 6.5, 4.9, 5.1. While Gardner’s WAR is very high, he’s under contract for only 1 more year. Lee for 3 more years and if the Yankees can get 3 years of 15 WAR total for a pitcher for a 1 year/5 WAR OFer, they’d obviously do it. And you are saying it’s a bad deal for the Yankees??
This must be sarcasm.
Sadly I don’t think he is.
Don’t be sad, smile and the whole world smiles with you. I’d take Lee (if he is willing to go) for 3 years over 1 more year of Gardner.
Ummm I think all of us would except Adam
Well, he only has a year left, but maybe a guy like Asche that can step in and play 3B? He’s also a lefty that could pop 15 HRs in NY. I don’t know I like Gardner a lot, but it doesn’t make much sense to trade valuable pieces for him now…Phillies have like a 2% chance if making playoffs.
It won’t be a guy like Asche either. Not for one year.
My granda can hit 15 home runs in Yankee stadium
I bet she can’t.
You’re assuming he was saying grandma. He very well could have been saying grandpa.
That’s funny I never even noticed the lack of the M or P and just filled in the M in my head, good catch.
An even bigger piece of the puzzle is that @tylerjamesisrael:disqus’s grandpa is Lyle Overbay.
Peds?
Papelbon for Gardner makes some sense
Maybe if the phillies ate a lot of that deal.
As jjs said, unless the Phillies ate a good chunk of that $, I wouldn’t do it if I were the Yankees.
They miss on tanaka or even if they get him, their pen is shaky. Gardner makes about 5 in arb. They wouldn’t have to eat but 2-4mm this season. Yanks don’t care about 15 or 16.
they should care when it comes to papelbon.
I know their bullpen is shaky. I responded before to somebody that I”m more concerned with their pen than their rotation.
So instead of signing balfour on a 1 yr deal they should go after a declining papelbon? Unless the phillies gave a up a prospect i doubt anyone would take that contract.
The Yankees should never get Papelbon under any circumstances!
Yes,perhaps they should check on the status of Sergio Mitre.
I’m not sure the Phillies actually have a real interest in Gardner. He’s only signed through 2014 and the Phillies have their outfielders signed for at least the next 2 seasons.
If the Yankees miss out on Tanaka and don’t sign Drew they are going nowhere this year. Since Gardner is a FA after next year and probably not worth a QO the Yankees will get nothing if he leaves, so they might as well trade him. Obviously, that weakens them defensively in LF and offensively at DH, depending on what they get in return, but whats the difference between winning 80 games and winning 85 games?. Besides the obvious 5 games answer, not much.
Yankees don’t need Drew.
Come back to that when Jeter breaks the all time worst UZR record or is on the DL and Ryan is hitting 190 and Roberts is also on the DL forcing Johnson to 2B from 3B and “Who” to 3B.
Jeter’s been a terrible defensive SS his whole career. If they lived with it in years 1-18, they can live with it in year 19. Heck you survived 8 years with Manny Ramirez in LF who is listed as the 2nd worst defensive OFer (yes that’s OFer, not LFer) Of All Time (Jeter for the record is the 24th worst in SS)
Congrats on being an expert on injury predictions. You should have helped out your 2012 Red Sox. Props for 2013 though
Pitching should be their focus, not someone with Boras as their client, has had an OPS+ of above 100 just once in the past 3 years, has not even played in 300 games the last 3 years (under 100 per season) and a career OPS+ of 98.
The problem with this line of thinking is that Jeter can no longer be looked at to start 100-130 games a year at SS anymore. Now I don’t think we need Drew but outside of Appling and Wagner only Omar Vizquel and Barry Larkin managed more than 111 games at SS at age 40, neither of which posted a wRC+ of 91 or better. Add in the fact that Jeter is a notoriously bad fielder, coming off of major leg injuries causing him to rapidly lose speed the best you can hope for at this point is for Jeter to be a DH who occasionally sees the field at SS. It would be more fitting to look at Ryan as the Yankees starting SS at this point over Jeter. I look at Jeff Baker as a must add at this point, he mashes lefties still and while he’s bad defensively he can man just about every position outside of catcher and pitcher for a night. He won’t solve the infield problem but at least he serves a purpose as a good compliment to Johnson. It’s also a little ridiculous to compare Jeter at this stage to Manny in his prime, you can live with awful defense with someone giving you historically awesome offensive production.
Because drew almost never gets hurt.
You are acting like Drew is the best shortstop in MLB, and that his presence alone is a game changer.
And he’s also acting as if Drew plays 150+ games a year. Maybe he’ll feel more silly when he hears Jeter has played more games the past 3 years (combined, not per season) than Drew
2011 – 2013 games played
Jeter – 307
Drew- 289
What was being left out, was Drew reeks vs LH pitching and that’s on top of that injury thing you 2 pointed out.. Tho that was kind of unfair since it was the same broken/shattered ankle.
The flat out can’t hit lefties and teams like to load up with lefties and will be trying to even more now after this off season is reason to stay away. Drew takes some awful looking hacks vs even the worst LH pitchers in the league. Whether he can’t pick up the ball from them, a block mentally, whatever.. he is just terrible and NY would be wise to pass on him knowing they are going to face more than their fair share of LH starters in 2014.
This is all true and I don’t want to give Drew 4-6 years but how much of an upgrade defensively is Drew/Ryan over Jeter at this point? You’re talking about going from well below average to above average to well above average. I think that would more than negate the LHP weakness in terms of overall value. If you don’t want Drew because of the contract that’s fine but the argument that the Yankees wouldn’t be better off with him over Jeter shouldn’t even be broached.
Not trying to slam anyone here, but Drew looked very good at SS last year. He’d be a nice upgrade with the glove at SS, but even if NY was interested, do you think Drew would want to go to a P/T situation and if he did, would it work out with Drew playing vs RH pitching and Jeter playing SS vs lefties and possibly DH vs RH pitchers?
I don’t think Drew has a market myself, or one where 3y with anything neat 12-14m is a hopeful salary. If NY *did* come up with a 2y and say..24m contract and a team option for a 3rd, I think Drew would take it at this point, if it weren’t for having the potential of a platoon thing hanging over his head, which is why NY has stayed away.
Oh I never said he wouldn’t be an upgrade, but he’s not someone they need as badly as others. Already have 2 SS’s, 3 if you count Nunez (though Nunez and Jeter are very subpar but still). As I mentioned, pitching should be their focus. Drew is going to cost a lot and he’s a player they don’t need right now.
Drew isn’t going to make or break there season and to expect Tanaka to save their rotation in his first year is very unrealistic.
Is their rotation (while not complete of course yet) as bad as people make it out to be? Heck their rotation last year had a 4.08 ERA in one of the most hitter friendly ballparks. Heck that even topped the Mariners rotation ERA and they had 2 Cy Young candidates!
And NO. In no way shape or form am I saying the Yankees rotation is better, but people are really either underrating it, and if not people are really overrating the Mariners rotation. This is, as of now, both without Tanaka of course.
As of now they are just looking for a replacement for Hughes (shouldn’t be difficult) and Pettitte (good but not great last year).
I’m more concerned about their bullpen than their rotation.
They have a potentially great outfield (assuming Gardner and Ellsbury are healthy and Beltran doesn’t regress) and a great catcher. Everything else is either average or below.
Teixeira should be an above average first baseman as long as he’s on the field. He’s been in major regress against RHP but he still posted a wRC+ of 116 in 2012, I don’t see any reason he can’t come close to that number again. To be frank if you could have a great OF, a great C, an above average 1B, and were league average at every other position you’d likely make the playoffs. League average is far from a derogatory adjective in baseball.
The only below average position could be second. Kelly Johnson at third is a very underrated signing because his power numbers should increase in YS. Jeter, if he doesn’t get hurt, would be an average shortstop offensively and so would Tex at first but I’m sure the Yankees aren’t done with their infield situation they will most likely move a few players (one of the many catchers, Nunez) via trade or release and possibly get another cheap infielder
Are you really calling Jeter being above average at SS a lock? I think that is quite delusional, he’s 40 coming off a completely missed year due to major leg injuries. If you look at the historical record Jeter being slightly below league average offensively and massively below average defensively would be a win at this point.
So just about half their line-up is great? Sounds good.
Not having Phil Hughes who lost just about every start in the second half is already a huge bonus. I also read somewhere that the yanks only allowed 15 more runs than the Red Sox did in 2013.
I think it comes down to how each person feels about Sabathia and Nova. If you think Sabathia bounces back to at least something resembling his Yankee averages and Nova stays as good as he was it’s not a bad rotation, if you think CC is never rebounding back to form and you think Nova’s 2013 isn’t his real upside then it’s pretty bad. The likeliest outcome is something in the middle for both which is alright but as of this moment you still have Phelps and Pineda holding the 4/5 spots in the rotation which you simply can’t enter the season with. They need to add something in the neighborhood of 200 innings to feel good about the rotation heading into the season, with that and a couple of breaks they could be good enough.
Agreed.
You are aware that last year the M’s had 32 starts from Joe Saunders, 22 from Aaron Harang, 14 from Brandon Maurer, and 10 combined starts from Bonderman/Beavan/Noesi right? Out side of Felix and ‘Kuma, the M’s rotation last year was horrendous. You shouldn’t want to be comparing your rotation to them last year. This year is promising though with Taijuan Walker and maybe Paxton in the fold.
Wouldn’t Mauer be on track for more starts in 2014 than Paxton regardless of how the Tanaka and Price markets turn out? Genuine question.
No right now Paxton is above Maurer in the depth chart. Until Maurer develops a 3rd pitch, he really shouldn’t start in the majors at all.
lol well of course I knew something in there had to make it horrendous if it was ranked below the Yankees!
I think the M’s have bullpen concerns too much like the Yankees (who’s bullpen did fairly well last year)
Yeah the M’s bullpen is really bad right now. They have alot of nice power arms with potential but no proven guys outside of Furbush. Farquar looked good though.
Michael Bourn got a QO why wouldn’t Gardner? This is probably Gardner’s only chance to look for a long term deal, he should easily get more than 15 million in a 3-5 year deal so I don’t see the risk in extending the QO.
If he is going to make $15 million, I highly doubt it will be on the Yankees.
I never said he was… The whole point is that he’s worth the QO if Bourn was. Gardner should end up signing a very similar deal to the 4/48 deal Bourn got, there’s no reason he’d turn that down to accept a 15 million dollar one year deal in the form of a QO he’d likely just get stuck with again a year older. There’s very little risk in offering Gardner a QO.
Gardner is easily worth a QO and will almost certainly receive one. The guy is worth at least 3-5 WAR a year. Do the math and $14 million is a small price to pay for that production (assuming 1 war=5.5-6million).
Why should the Mets help out Boras?
I mean why pass up an Orchid in search of a Rose. At least that’s what my Grand Pappy always told me! =P
I don’t want the mets to sign drew!!
Next year shortstop class is very very strong!
Hanley Rameiz
Yunel Escobar
JJ Hardy
Jed Lowrie
Asubal Cabera
Mike Aviles
Jimmy Rollins
Derek Jeter lol Not leaving new York!
Possibly Drew depending on contract!
Ethier drew settles for a one year deal or don’t sign him at all!
Rollins will not be a FA (unfortunately). His option is almost a guarantee. I think Hanley gets a deal as well. After that, not much there.
Take Hanley off that list most likely and Rollins option will vest by July if he’s healthy.
Lowrie is interesting.
Also, I swear Boras has lost the true meaning of Free Agency in his search of the Almighty Dollar! I mean Free Agency should mean at least to me: Freedom to go to the team, I want to play for and help them win!
That never seems to be the case with Boras and the players that sign up for his services!
Free agency should be about maximizing your value and getting the largest contract you can, doing anything else is a disservice to your client unless he specifically says he wants to take less amount to play with team X.
That is a narrow view. If the player wants the most $ fine. The agents job is to help the player get the best deal for that player. Pedroia’s agent didn’t do a bad job nor did longoria’s. What’s best is not always the max $.
I guess you missed the part about “unless he (as in the player) specifically says he wants to take less amount to play with team X.” Also Longoria doesn’t apply here since he wasn’t even close to free agency and the OP was talking about the “true meaning of free agency”.
No I didn’t. The agent should be looking out for his clients best interests. I would say that getting the most $ is not always in the players best interest and the agent should only look for simply top dollar if that is what the player wants. Signing with a team that fits the players character, that has a use for his skill set, that is in a good location for his family, that the home ballpark supplements the players skill.
An agent who thinks top dollar first (unless asked to) is looking out for himself not his client.
A player chooses an agent to get the most he can when it comes time to getting a new contract. Love him or hate him, Boras has consistently gotten stellar contracts for his clients, and that’s specifically why they seek him out.
Why would a team other than the Red Sox want Drew on a one year deal when they have to give up a pick?
If the mets could trade a 3rd round pick for a first round pick next year it be worth it. Though i’m not sure if you can offer him a qo next year.
Mets only have to give up a 3rd round pick for him at this point and for the Mets its worth it considering they have a need at SS and don’t have to give up a first round pick.
I’d take Drew over Rollins, Aviles, and Jeter for sure.
Hanley really wants to stay with the Dodgers and I think the Dodgers really want Hanley
Hardy is also a year older and will likely command similar money/years in his age 33 season as Drew in his age 31 season. Now obviously Hardy is going to provide more power and has been on the field more but that age difference has to be a concern and Drew is much better against 3/4th of the league.
The Mets need a SS badly and giving Drew a short term 2 year deal wouldn’t be bad thing at all honestly especially now that his asking price has gone down quite a bit.
Everyone is speculating and I’m feeling a bit left out. This Brett Gardner rumor makes me wonder if the Phillies would first sign a top pitcher free agent like M Tanaka. Then turn around and free up some money in a Cliff Lee trade to the Yankees for Brett Gardner and a couple top notch pitching prospects?
What “top notch pitching prospects”? Banuelos hasn’t pitched more than 24 innings since 2011 ended, De Paula just reached A+ and struggled, Betances is in the pen, Clarkin was just drafted and still hasn’t thrown a professional pitch, and Ramirez and Campos are probably not considered “top notch” prospects at the current time. They have some talent but you’d be hard pressed to name any of them top notch at this very moment.
Maybe a 3 team deal could be in the making I’m just speculating Chris the Phillies seem a bit to quite right now.
Speculation is fine just adding to it by saying you probably have to go outside the organization to do the deal you are talking about.
If the Phillies decide to deal Lee to the Yankees, why would they want Gardner? He’s only signed for a year and they’ve got their OF spots locked up for at least the next 2 seasons. Doesn’t really make much sense unless they flip Gardner to a 3rd team.
At the end of the day I think all these teams are trying to steal Gardner, which the Yankees should have no interest obliging. He’s a very good player but even now the market still under rates his main skillsets more than it should, I don’t see any team offering enough to make it worth dealing him. He’s more valuable to the Yankees playing great defense in LF and leading off ahead of Ellsbury than any likely return in a trade.
Ellsbury will be leading off not Gardner…
If he does it’s a giant mistake since he’d only be doing so because Jeter is hitting second and Gardner 8 or 9. Ellsbury should be slotted into the 2 hole just like Damon was, you drop Jeter to 6 or 7, and you’ve increased Ellsbury’s power potential and the OBP at the top of the lineup. In fact the Yankees are already thinking this way since I’ve read multiple times about how they like the idea of Gardner and Ellsbury at the top of the order.
But lets be realistic…Jeter is not going to bat 6 or 7. It will be Ellsbury, Jeter, Beltran, Texeira, McCann, Soriano, Johnson, Roberts, Gardner (or something like that but it will be Ells and Jeter at the top on opening day). If Jeter struggles I can see Girardi switch it up.
I think there’s a very good chance Jeter doesn’t even make it out of ST healthy at this point, if he does I think there’s a better chance he looks horrible. So I’m going to hold off on the Yankees being that ignorant of the game at this point. I also highly doubt a team in this day and age is hitting Gardner 9th below Johnson and Robers. There is absolutely no reason for Teixeira to bat ahead of McCann vs RHP. Tex hit .239/.331/.438 against RHP in 2012, McCann was .266/.357/.512 vs RHP this season, that’s your 4 hole hitter against 3/4th of the league. Now vs LHP Teixeira should absolutely hit 3/4, I think Jeter should probably still hit 2nd against LHP himself, but the Yankees have access to all these splits, they should in no way be running out a set lineup vs both types of pitchers at this point.
Gardner at 9 only makes sense if Ellsbury and Jeter are 1-2 (which I believe will be the case). Speed is valuable at the bottom as well since if he gets on you have the top of the order coming up.
There’s not a real match between the Phillies and the Yankees. Gardner is a good outfielder-not great, but good, and the Yankees could do worse than to keep him and do the QO. He’s very much like Drew–a solid player who can be a real asset, not a star. If Gardner goes elsewhere for the big bucks, the Yankees end up with a pick (which they sorely need)
There could be a match between the Phillies and Yankees, but not involving Gardner because it makes no sense on the Phillies end. Someone like Kyle Kendrick or Freddy Galvis could have value to the Yankees, Galvis especially given Cano’s departure and Jeter’s age and uncertain health.
I understand his valueis great and he’s a great player, but people are really overvaluing Gardner if they think Lee and Hamels would have to have some of their salary eaten. Plus, using WAR is a terrible judge of a player when all but last season, half of his WAR per season has been based off his defense.
The A’s think Gentry is Peter Bourjos?!? I liked Gentry here in Texas but they are dreaming.
Is it that lofty an expectation? Bourjos is a career .251/.306/.398, 96 wRC+ player in 1136 PAs. Gentry has had it pretty rough against RHP in his short career but slightly below league average with the bat shouldn’t be out of reach for him overall. Defensively all the metrics love him so it’s safe to assume his defense is at least comparable. Bourjos light with a better bat against LHP isn’t an out of the question goal.
With Spring Training starting next month I believe that they have peaked at inflating Brett Gardner as a baseball player. Deal him now (preferably) or lock him up for a few more years, same with David Robertson.