Moving Matsui to First

I just wanted to put this out there.  I’ve been begging for some creativity in the Yankees and moving Matsui to first would definitely warrant that.  Giambi can’t play first, nobody wants to see Betemit or Duncan get any form of regular playing time.  Now, Matsui is being thought of as trade bait so…

Why not just try it in the future?  If you can convince the guy that it’ll help him end his career in the Bronx instead of in San Francisco, you might as well give it a try instead of trading him for spare parts.  Mitchell over at MVN seems to agree:

One thought I really like is seeing if Matsui can handle first base. It seems like this is an ideal option defensively as it saves us all from the horrors of Jason Giambi wearing a glove and allows Damon, a clearly superior left-fielder, to bolster the Yankee defense. It should also help save some of the tread left on Godzilla’s tires. I suspect the Yankees will try this in the spring, so here’s hoping it works out.

I understand the Yankees have superstars on their team that may not be too susceptible to position changes, but if an in house fix is so easy, why not try it.  Matsui’s knees may not be up to snuff but when you’re speaking about the comparable other, Jason Giambi, his whole body is out of whack.  Matsui seems like a pretty good team player so he may be okay with it.  It’s so helpful and it alleviates a variety of potential problems that the Yankees are facing while maintaining a tremendous offense.

Who Cares About the Mitchell Report?

 

It seems as though the Mitchell Report is finally becoming a hot topic in baseball.  Finally, after the A-Rod opt-out, Miguel Cabrera, and Johan Santana trades, it has finally been pushed into the forefront because there’s simply nothing else to talk about right now.  However, the news about the Mitchell Report is not all that positive, and I’m not talking about the players involved.  I’m talking about the process in itself.  The Mitchell Report is looking more and more like a poorly constructed and inherently flawed piece that attempted to do something without any real thought put into it.

However, who cares?  Did anyone put any actual stock into this “report”.  Are we going to uncover anything new, other than the names of people who have used steroids before?  We’ll probably see the usual suspects and an occasional no-name here or there.  Either way, this does not solve baseball’s problem.  The names are there for a reason and all this piece appears to be is a validated form of some gossip magazine that you see old women and housewives reading as they wait in line at the grocery store.

Again, who cares what names are in there.  So what?  They’ll get suspensions when it comes out?  We’ll know if steroids are really a problem in baseball?  Come on, we already know this stuff, we’re just waiting for some names.  And, in the end, does this solve anything at all?  No, not really.  Baseball and steroids will be forever engaged in an unending dance where the music never stops, and it wont for a long time.

No report, no matter how good or bad it is, is going to change that.  And don’t worry, once the report is released and there are no big names involved, you can almost guarantee that people will simply fast forward and forget about it.

Igawa for Santana, Straight Up… COME ON MINNY!

Haha.  Yea right.  But, here’s an interesting bit from Minnesota’s Star Tribune:

Meanwhile, the Twins’ talks with the Yankees remained dormant. According to a person close to the talks, Yankees lefthander Kei Igawa was one of several players the sides discussed last week, along with righthander Phil Hughes and center fielder Melky Cabrera.

There’s really nothing new pertaining to the Santana talks.  The same teams that were always interested in him (Red Sox, Mets, etc.) are still interested, while the Yankees are becoming less and less of a player.  I wonder how Kei Igawa came up and what that did to effect the overall dynamic of the conversations.

It was probably something like:

Cashman:    How bout Igawa—
Smith:    A guy who?  A guy who can do what?
Cashman:    No, not a guy who can do something, I’m talking about Igaw—
Smith:    A guy like who?  Why would I want a guy who can’t do anything?
Cashman:    No, no no.  I’m talking about Igawa!
Smith:    You’ve got Wang?  You’re offering me Chien Ming Wang?
Cashman:    NO!  IGAWA!
Smith:   Oooh, Igawa.  Well he sucks.
Cashman:    Oh yea, I don’t know.
Smith:    **Dials Theo Epstein’s number**  Yeah, I think we’re done here.

Will He Waive?

According to George King, Hideki Matsui could be willing to waive his No-Trade-Clause.  This isn’t really new news, per say, considering that many people writing about Matsui have often stated that if he was approached to waive the clause, he would.

The big question would then be, what are the Yankees trading him for?  If sent to the Giants (maybe with Ian Kennedy) without the return of a Matt Cain or a Tim Lincecum, should the Yankees even do it?  We have to remember that Matsui put up great numbers this season even with his nagging knees.  What if he was completely healthy all season?

There are a variety of questions that one must ask when considering a trade of Matsui:

1. Is Melky Cabrera legitimate?
2. Can Johnny Damon stay healthy?
3. Can Jason Giambi be trusted for anything?
4. Who will play first base regularly, or the most?
5. Who will protect Alex Rodriguez in the lineup?

I feel as though these are all questions one would have to ask themself before making a Matsui trade.  Melky in CF has been nice for the past 2 years, but given a full year’s worth of regular play (as the starting CF), who knows what would happen (his OBP was actually worse this year than last year).  Damon is determined to get in shape for next year so he’ll be engaging in a new offseason routine.  That’s great in theory, but we have yet to see it in practice.  He was injured the entire season and would not sit out early on (which may have hurt the team).  In terms of Giambi, he’s Giambi, let’s be serious.  Who knows what we’ll get from him.  Will he even see time at first with Matsui gone (which would alleviate the DH logjam)?  If not, who plays there (Duncan/Betemit)?  And then, with production, you have to worry about who will protect A-Rod with both power, the ability to get on base, and the ability to simply hit regularly.  That’s Matsui, not Jorge (this year was extraordinary) or Giambi so we’ll see what happens there.

So, without a young arm like Cain or Lincecum, is it worth it?

Obviously

You’ll love this.

 

 Enjoy.

Who’s Left?

Peter Abraham on the Lohud Blog has the following:

If spring training started tomorrow (and thankfully, it does not), here is who the Yankees would have as left-handed relievers:

Kei Igawa
Sean Henn
Chase Wright

Igawa was not ready for prime time last season after coming over from Japan. He seems overmatched and nervous. Henn is a nice kid who tries hard but has a 7.53 career ERA over parts of three seasons. Wright allowed a home run to Mike Lowell in April that just now landed on the Mass Pike. That was the end of him.

So what should they do?

They could overpay and sign Ron Mahay for two years. The Royals, as it turns out, are not all that interested. They could go with all right-handers or they could try and force Igawa into the role and hope all that money on him wasn’t wasted.

Having a lefty for the sake of having a lefty is a waste of money. I’d rather use a power righty against a good lefty hitter than a soft-tossing lefty.

Igawa should be traded to some NL team with a big park (San Diego for instance) before whatever value he has disappears. Henn is at the end of his rope. He was tried as a starter and now as a reliever. This camp could be his last chance.

Wright, who will be 25 when camp starts, is too young to give up on. If he can’t start, they need to see how he does in the bullpen.

I have always thought that the lefty spot is an ultimate waste, especially when you look at pitchers like Mike Myers, who, in the past, has only been usable only in specific situations (David Ortiz anyone?).  I like what PA suggests about using powerful arms to simply outmatch other hitters, regardless of how they’re batting (left or right).

Chase Wright has been mentioned in a variety of reports as an option for left-handed relief.  I actually recommended this idea a long time ago, as Wright could be an effective option out of the pen.  Also, I feel like Igawa or Wright will get the spot in the pen, simply because the Yankees need an experienced long-reliever more than a left-handed specialist in order to bail the kids out when they need it (and no, I doubt Mike Mussina will play this role).

Speaking of Mike Mussina, the Phillies are expressing an interest in his services… He’s relatively cheap and could be an effective pitcher in an NL lineup.