The New York Yankees are one infielder away from having a refspectable infield once again in the Bronx. No that is not a typo, yes I know
I spelled it wrong, and yes I realize it was probably not my best play on words
but bear with me. The Yankees went into the 2014 season with arguably one of
the worst infield defenses in all of baseball, and maybe ever if you delve deep
enough into the stats, but with the addition of Chase Headley and a healthy
Mark Teixeira the Yankees are one player away from having a good infield once
again. Enter Robert Refsnyder.
Derek Jeter is Derek Jeter, there isn’t much you can do with
him at this point in his career defensively except for putting some guys around
him with great range. Adding Headley and the young legs of Refsnyder allow them
to cheat a step or two in each direction to help alleviate some of the range
problems at shortstop. I know the errors and all are well documented for
Refsnyder but Jeter once had over 100 in a single season and he turned out
okay, even won a Gold Glove Award or two. What Refsnyder and Headley do for
Jeter Teixeira can do for Refsnyder.
I imagine, without looking at the box scores or seeing many
games first hand, that Refsnyder is not playing with many players of Teixeira’s
defensive caliber in the minor leagues but it should not be ignored the
significant drop off in errors once Refsnyder reached Triple-A and started
playing with Kyle Roller. Teixeira can fetch those balls out of the dirt, save
the errant throws, and just allow Refsnyder to take a breath and relax, and
that is something you cannot put a stat on.
I have grown tired of seeing the Yankees, Brian Roberts and
Kelly Johnson specifically, fumble the ball around like the Bad News Bears.
It’s time for a change, Headley was a start, now we just need one more
infielder to be respectable again. Don’t be shy, make the move.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)