Much Ado About Spring Training Stats

Just when we all thought the center field job was being handed to Brett Gardner, ESPN's Jason Stark throws a monkey wrench in the works.

According to his latest "Rumblings and Grumblings" column, Stark claims that the Yankees are speaking again with the Brewers about Mike Cameron. This should put a little bit of a damper on the Brett Gardner love fest going on in Yankees Universe. Gardner's "gritty, gutty" (read: little white guy) style of play gets rave reviews from fans and writers alike, but the simple fact remains that it does not necessarily translate to the Major League playing field.

Through Spring Training so far, Gardner has put up regoddamneddiculous numbers in 34 at bats: .382/.447/.765. Good for him. That and $2 will get you on the subway. Unfortunately for Li'l Gardy, the Yankees just found out that they have lost the biggest offensive threat in the American League for, what could be, two months of the regular season, and that offense needs to be made up somewhere.

This may come off as a harsh assessment of Brett Gardner's body of work (or lack there of), but I am obviously not the only person that feels this way, nor am I the most important. Brian Cashman is obviously exploring other options for the center field job, and we agree. Actually, we agreed when the Cameron deal was supposedly done back in December. The Yankees are obviously in wait-and-see mode regarding Austin Jackson. To start a young, inexperienced player in center on a championship caliber team is borderline irresponsible. If Gardner does what equates to a solid job in 2009 as the starter, and Jackson tears up AAA like he did Trenton, Gardner will be supplanted by Opening Day of 2010.

At this point in his career, Brett Gardner is a good, young fourth outfielder with a ton of speed coming off of the bench. The move to make, in this instance, is to capitalize on the dominant spring that Kei Igawa has put together, eat some of his contract, and send him to the pitching starved Brewers for Mike Cameron. He will provide the serviceable stopgap that the Yankees are looking for while providing 20-25 home run power and a superior glove.

Winter Meetings: Day 4

Mike Cameron - This trade was off, then on, then off, and is now on again. With Cameron and Melky being the center of the deal, the teams are now haggling over money and possibly another pitching prospect from the Yankees. Brewers GM Doug Melvin said to Brewers beat reporter Tim Hardicourt that there is a "strong possibility" that the trade goes down, which is GM speak for I have no fucking clue what is going on.
Source: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/35999269.html

AJ Burnett - The Yankees are by all accounts the front runners, putting up 5 years and $80-85 million. The Braves are still involved, meaning there is still a chance that this albatross-in-the-making has a chance to fall through (our fingers are crossed).
Source: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081211&content_id=3714587&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy&partnerId=rss_nyy

Derek Lowe - ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the Yankees would not rule out signing Lowe if they agreed to terms with Burnett.
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3762149&type=blogEntry

Manny Ramirez - There has been limited talk linking Ramirez to the Yankees yet. However, we think that if Manny is still ahnging around in January, the Yankees could and (should) throw a big one or two year offer at him.
Source: None, because I made it up.


Mark Teixeira - Apparently, the Yankees have thrown their hat back in the ring on Big Tex, according to John Heyman at SI. We can't see this as anything but an attempt to drive up the price on the Red Sox, but it is fun to dream.
Source: http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/hot_stove/posts/31261-yankees-back-in-teixeira-sweepstakes

Thoughts on the reported Mike Cameron deal

Though we are not doing backflips about it, this is a good trade. The Yankee organization had given up on Melly Cabrera, and Brett Gardner was not going to be the everyday centerfielder.

Cameron adds good defense and pop that could net him 25+ home runs. He strikes out a ton, but he will still put up an OPS+ in the low 100's. Long story short Cameron is an upgrade, but the team cannot be done improving the offense.

So, what should come next, you ask? The next moves to make this team work would be trading Matsui and signing Manny Ramirez. This would allow for a Damon/Manny platoon at LF/DH. We have seen a lot of media outlets endorsing Adam Dunn, but the signing of Cameron as a high strikeout risk negates that point.

So, in short, Cameron is a solid stopgap as the team awaits Austin Jackson but more needs to be done for this team to make a run at the division.

Winter Meetings: Day 3

CC Sabathia - Done. Here's some more details. Source: nypost.com/seven/12102008/sports/yankees/how_the_sabathia_deal_was_made_143549.htm Derek Lowe - Reports of his signing were pre-mature, but the Yankees are continuing in negotiations. Gordon Edes says that Lowe is not, in fact, on the verge of signing. Source: sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ge-loweupdate121008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Mike Cameron - WFAN in New York is reporting that the Yanks have acquired Cameron for Melky Cabrera. Good move defensively, but still leaving some to be desired with the bat. Source: http://www.wfan.com/ AJ Burnett - The Yankees are in active discussions with Burnett also, according to Ken Rosenthal. ESPN radio reported that it was possible that the deal was appraoching $90 million. For a guy that has made 30+ starts twice in his career. TWICE. Wow. Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8922020/Wednesday-MLB-winter-meetings-blog Ben Sheets - No new news here.

Can CC Play Centerfield on Off Days?

Now that theYankees have acquired (arguably) the best pitcher in baseball and appear to be on the verge of signing up to three more pitchers, it's time to turn our attention to what they will do about the offense. It is clear that a Melky/Gardner centerfield is not what championships are built on, so what is the plan? The Fowl Balls wants to hear from you. Who completes the offense? Dunn? Cameron? Teixeira (HA!)? Manny?

Use the comments section to make your suggestions, seeing as though we have already established that the Yankees are reading...