Madden puts an interesting spin on this move.Now that the Wilson Betemit era is over, Yankee legions must come to grips with reality and feel secure in the fact that Brian Cashman is off to a good start in his effort to fix all that was wrong with the Yankees this year.
His .219 batting average notwithstanding, Nick Swisher looks to be a high-upside acquisition in the same mode as Scott Brosius (.203 with the Oakland A's) in 1997 and Paul O'Neill (.246 with the Cincinnati Reds) in 1992. That is, a quality all-around player who, for whatever reasons, had a down year and was in dire need of an environment change. Just as O'Neill had a personality conflict in Cincinnati with Lou Piniella (who wanted him to pull the ball more and hit for more power), Swisher fell into a batting funk early on with the White Sox last season and resisted advice from hitting coach Greg Walker and manager Ozzie Guillen. He was also blocked by Paul Konerko at first base, his best position, and never really was comfortable playing center field.
But what especially convinced the Yankees that he was a reclamation project worth the shot were his 82 walks and .332 on-base percentage despite that dismal batting average. Plus, he brings a grinder's mentality - something that's been lacking on the Yankees in recent years.
I'm sure every Yankees fan would be as thrilled as I would be if this deal worked out as well as the O'Neill or Brosius trade did, but I can't blame those of you who have their doubts, I know I do.
I still think Teixeira, regardless of the money, was the answer for first base.
9 Comments:
Pitching wins World Series. Well, unless your Phillies and you are just hot. Anyways, Teixeria would have looked nice in the order but getting Sabathia, and Peavy need to happen.
Of course pitching wins, nobody is denying that. But as far as first base goes, Tex was the guy.
As for Sabathia and Peavy, I do think they're going to get CC, but Peavy is another story. Even though Rosenthal said the talks have started up again between Towers and Cashman, others are reporting that a deal between the two is very unlikely.
Hey, who knows. Maybe Teixeira's still in the cards.
He better be
i have a feeling we're going to fall in love with swisher and his personality. he may not be the best hitter( avg wise), but he has alot of talent
Some fans probably will, but the bottom line is in the end Yankees fans care about one thing; performance on the field. If they like a player's personality they may give them a little bit longer to prove themselves, but if he if Swisher is hitting .219 in mid June, I wouldn't be surprised if he hears some boos.
So is Tex out?
Mike
It's looking that way Mike.
OK. I was wondering if they got Swisher to turn around and use him as trade bait. Just wishful thinking on my part, I guess....
Mike
I can't say that that won't happen, but as of now with Swisher on the roster it looks like they're just going to focus on pitching.
If they do trade Swisher, that would definitely change things.
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