Sunday, December 17, 2006
Melky Leaving?
Melky Cabrera, one of our most promising youngsters, may fall victim to Steinbrenner's Syndrome. Symptoms of this ailment include trade rumors and possible team switching at the start of a career. Steinbrenner's Syndrom has also affected such stars as Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson. Both have become notable stars for their new teams.
Melky Cabrera has already made a name for himself winning the "This Year in Baseball Awards" for Play of the Year robbing Manny Ramirez of a sure home run in a crucial game. (shown)
Even though Melky is a spare player, he is better than Bernie Williams. Williams is expected to be the back up outfielder in 2007, however, a younger set of legs will do better.
And who do we want for Melky? As I see it, we lose no matter what deal we make. Wether we trade him for a set up reliever or a first baseman. Sadly, we need both.
Our bullpen was awful costing the Yankees many games during the regular season. As for a first baseman, I don't know. We had two, one is now in the DH position, the other we traded off. Jason Giambi could stay at first base and during spring training, groom him for that position and place Williams in the DH role. The Williams retirement will have no effect on the starting roster IF we keep Cabrera. Damon, Matsui, and Abreu roam the outfield and Cabrera could share the DH role with Abreu.
If we lose both Cabrera and Williams, first base would be an issue filled possibly by Adam LaRoche, otherwise we get the Pirates set up man Mike Gonzalez.
Ok, one last scenario, we lose Melky, Williams, and do not get Gonzalez. What now? Just two people in the minors named Josh Phelps (.328, 5, 26) and Andy Philips (.281, 7, 29).
Posted by Steve Kenul at 5:22 PM
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