Well supposedly the Yankees are looking for an inexpensive option to play leftfield. And by inexpensive they don’t just mean Yankee inexpensive, they mean really inexpensive. Apparently even Xavier Nady is out of their price range. Nady only played 29 games last year where he hit .286 with no homeruns. Over his career he’s averaged 21 HRS, with a .280 average and around a .330 obp. Okay, numbers but certainly he’s not the type of player that’s expecting to make a lot of money, at least not anything in the 10 million per year range. I would guess Nady is gettable for about 6 million a year.
Truthfully I doubt the Yankees (the world champions with big pockets) aren’t willing to spend at least 6 million for the only missing piece of their team lineup puzzle. I mean come on. It’s like buying a Porsche only deciding you can’t quite afford the fourth tire so you grab one at a yard sale. (Okay, not really sure who sells tires at a yard sale but you get the main point.) I can’t see the Yankees really going for a lowend leftfielder.
The scary thing is they did pass on Mark DeRosa who the Giants just signed for 2 years at 12 million. DeRosa is a Jersey boy who I’m betting would have been willing to play in the Bronx. He’s a good bet to hit around .275 with 20 homeruns, he can play five positions and is considered a good leader. Yet, the Yankees didn’t seem to express a lot of interest in him. Surely they could have upped the Giants offer if they wanted; but they didn’t.
Could the Yankees really be thinking about starting the season with Brett Gardner in left? He is young, fast and inexpensive. He’d be a great fourth or fifth outfielder and pinch runner. I’m thinking, well hoping this is a bluff, a cover, a snow job and at the last minute the Yankees will swoop in with an offer to Holliday or even Damon. After all this is the Yankees we’re talking about they never shop in the discount bin.
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Note: there is an interesting article on fangraph why the Yanks can get away with an average leftfielder: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-yankees-win-curve/ Still they are the Yanks.