Right, Chris

On October 8th, I put forth the following (bold) prediction:

This will allow for the following 2009 team:

Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Manny Ramirez RF/DH
Jorge Posada C
Hideki Matsui DH/OF
Xavier Nady LF
Robinson Cano 2B

CC Sabathia LHP
Chien-Ming Wang RHP
A.J. Burnett RHP
Andy Pettitte LHP
Joba Chamberlain RHP

Obviously, I was wrong about Manny and Andy is looking like a no-go. But, I prefaced this projection by saying that Manny was a longshot, so I sort of saved myself there. A.J. got more than I expected him to as well, which threw off the allocation of dollars. Also, although I predicted a 2010 signing of Matt Holliday, I do not think that will happen. While the team needs outfielders, I believe they’ll go another, cheaper route.

Andy probably won’t return to Houston

At this point, I don’t even care. This entire “will he or won’t he” and “where will he go” process is becoming tedious and unnecessary. Go ahead Andy, accept the $9 million or less to pitch in Houston (fool).

Quick Bits: Wells, Nady, Swisher, Dunn

A few quick notes for your midday enjoyment:

1. Buster Olney (ESPN) says that David Wells hasn’t opted for retirement just yet and would be willing to take on a minor-league deal. Wells is about as old as they get (46) and hasn’t shown much of anything over the past few years (not even with the Padres). That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if Cashman signs him to a cheap minor-league deal. Ha, I joke, I joke (I keed, I keed).

2. The Braves are still interested in Swisher and Nady and as David O’Brien notes, Nady seems like the better fit for Atlanta. Of course, he would require giving up something of value. At this point, if I’m Atlanta, why not just sign Adam Dunn? If his salary is dropping as much as reported, then maybe a deal with him would make more sense than trading with the Yanks. With Nady you’re paying maybe $6.55 million anyway, unless we eat some of that (which would not make sense).

(props to MLBTR).

Mark Newman on Gardner

From the Anthony McCarron (Daily News):

“I think he’s innately a confident guy,” said Mark Newman, who runs the farm system as the Yanks’ VP of baseball operations. “He believes he can be a player. He’s never been a high-profile guy. He is a hugely committed player, and guys with that kind of makeup it’s hard to say they’ll never make it.”

Gardner hit .153 in his first 17 games in the majors last year, but hit .294 over his final 25 after a three-week stint in the minors. The scout noted that Gardner’s speed could be a weapon unlike anything the Yankees currently have.

“If he hits the ball on the ground to the right of second base, they’ll have one hell of a time throwing him out,” said the scout, who last season clocked Gardner to first in 3.5 seconds on a bunt. “I’d spend a lot of time with him on bunting, dragging it and pushing it. He could add another 15 hits a year. And even if he doesn’t get a hit, he can cause the infielders, especially the shortstop, to hurry their throws and they’ll screw it up sometimes.”

But Gardner has struggled at times to keep the ball on the ground. “We don’t want him to hit the ball in the air and he doesn’t want to, either,” Newman said. “He’s aware of it. He’s not a little guy who thinks he should hit home runs. The lion’s share of balls he puts in play need to be flat.

“There were a lot of center fielders like him in the majors 20 years ago. There are not many of them now, but that doesn’t mean his skill set doesn’t translate. Mickey Rivers would be the last time we’ve had anybody like this, so it hasn’t been the typical model for the Yankees. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be.”

If Willy Taveras can be a “successful” major-leaguer, then so can Brett Gardner. It’ll be interesting to see if that success comes with the Yankees however, as Newman notes he’s not the prototypical center fielder for this team.

With that said, who would you to see start in CF next year? Melky or Gardner? As a starting point for discussion, Melky’s CHONE projection (.280/.345/.402) is significantly better than Gardner’s (.258/.341/.345), although I must note that Gardner’s minor league numbers indicate an improvement with every second chance given. Maybe that will translate into 2009.

(Props to WW).

The big move

Today, the Yankees will move their stuff into the new Stadium. It’s easy to carry the tangible items into the new park, whether they be desks or Yogi Berra (…). But, it’ll be much harder to move the thousands of distinct memories compiled in that one unique location. I guess, in a way, they can never be moved or duplicated. People live to create new memories, so hopefully we’ll see a lot of that out of our Yankees in 2009.