Baseball Off-Season
Nov 10, 2008 MLB
We’re going to follow the baseball off-season here pretty heavily. The Eagles will remain the focus, but on days like today baseball talk is going to be a welcome distraction.
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| Minka Kelly, Derek’s current fling |
I’m going to start today with the seemingly inevitable orgy of spending the Yankees are about to embark upon. They are linked with every major pitcher available: Sabathia, Peavy, Burnett, Lowe. It’s amazing how things change in a few short months. To go from (in their mind) immense pitching depth (Kennedy, Hughes) to a desperate spending spree is quite a 180. But hey, this team is run by the Steinbrenners.
But are these the right moves to get this team to the Series? Shouldn’t this team be focusing on defense? I know it’s not glamorous, but this team has some glaring problems right up the middle as currently constructed (Jeter, Cano, Gardner/Damon/Cabrera).
While the stat heads continue to focus on Derek Jeter’s defense, don’t forget that Joe Girardi was pulling Robinson Cano from games in September because he was fed up with his defensive blunders.
You are going to struggle to win games over the long haul if you’ve got liabilities at shortstop, second base, and centerfield. The Yankees shouldn’t have to look far to see evidence of that. In 2007 the Rays were abysmal there. They addressed the shortstop issue by acquiring a gold glove caliber player in Jason Bartlett. They moved Iwamura to second, and made the speedy Upton a permanent fixture in center field.
The results were an incredible improvement in pitching ERA and the overall success of the Rays. Perhaps as much as anything else, the Bartlett/Iwamura combination contributed to the division crown and Series berth for the young team.
The Yankees should follow their example.
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