Thursday, November 4, 2010

Sign an Outfielder or Let it Ride?

One of the looming questions this off season is that of free agents Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford. The Yankees managed fairly well with outfielders Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner, but the idea of having an elite player at every position has always appealed to the Yankees, and both Crawford and Werth could fill that role. I for one have enjoyed having Brett Gardner, who is cheap, productive, and fast. But the idea of signing an outfielder could appeal to some. So what do you think? Stick with Gardner or sign either Crawford or Werth?

5 comments:

cheshirecat9 said...

Personally I am a fan of Gardner. I like that he is a young scrappy home grown Yankee. He's a great defensive player, gets on base, steals bags, has a funny shaped head. What's not to like? Save the money and go after the elite pitchers.

Fernando Alejandro said...

Agreed fully. We have a fairly productive outfield. I was surprised to see that Granderson gave us 24 homeruns this season. That was with a prolonged slump and missing time with an injury.

Rob B said...

If anything, sign Werth to be a DH/RF. He can share time with Swisher in the field and spend the rest of the time at DH. He can also fill in when Girard wants to give Gardner or Granderson a day off vs. a lefty.

Werth has better power and OBP numbers than Crawford. Really the only thing that Crawford has over Werth is speed. And with Gardner, that's a wash.

Werth and/or Swisher can spend most of their time at DH. I would say give Posada a complete day off on those days that he doesn't catch. I don't think his bat is good enough to HAVE to keep him in the line up anymore.

Also: Werth will probably demand less money/years than Crawford. About as good as a player, but cheaper? I'll take that. And it's not like he's that much older (2 years).

hunter said...

i agree with cheshirecat.... save the money and go after pitching.
i dont quite understand the idea to get rid of gardner/swisher. gardner played extremely good defense and was pretty good with the bat. and enough cant be said about how swisher worked on his swing in the off season, and then had the best offensive season he has ever had.
our outfield last year was fantastic.
save the money. spend it on pitching.

Fernando Alejandro said...

Rob B, Werth's power is intriguing, but I wonder how much of that is playing in Philadephia. I don't know that he's the same hitter in Yankee stadium.