The Yankees have solidified the position of greatest concern to the organization when they signed outfielder Jason Lane to a minor league deal. With Lane in the organization, the Yankees have taken care of the glaring hole at 5th outfielder they had been having trouble filling throughout the offseason.
Lane has played for the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres. His best season was also his first and only complete season where he batted .267 with 26 home runs and 78 RBI's. Injuries have plagued his career and limited his playing time. He's kind of like the Kerry Wood of outfielders.
The Yankees have historically signed an underperforming veteran outfielder to a minor league contract in case one of their own go down. In 2006 it was Terrence Long, and 2007 it was Jose Cruz Jr. I sort of hoped they would have signed Emil Brown recently released by the Kansas City Royals, but I suppose he would be looking for a major league contract.
All in all, the "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog will give this signing a gangster rating of 1. Its about as gangster as a cabbage patch doll hugging a teletubbie.
JASON LANE UPDATE:
According to an article on Yankees.com, Jason Lane will be in the mix for the first base job. Its a solid move for the Yankees considering the lack of right handed firstbasemen on their roster. In situations where there are several players at one position, the idea is either to have one win the position or they can platoon the position. Of course platooning the position would require someone not right handed to be available. I'm in the "Sign Mientkiewicz" camp personally, but with so many options already at first base the chances of that happening are very low.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment