Girardi Implies Rob Refsnyder Is The Regular Second Baseman

In his pregame press conference, Joe Girardi shed some light on the second base situation.

"We have to do something here."

After 81 games with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, in which he put up a batting line of .290/.387/.413 with 7 home runs and 10 stolen bases, the Yankees called up second baseman Rob Refsnyder. Many Yankees fans have been begging to see Rob called up for some time, especially after Stephen Drew hit .182/.257/.372 in the first half of the season.

Since then people have been trying to figure out what the Yankees were going to do once Brendan Ryan and Carlos Beltran came back from the disabled list. The biggest fear has been that Ref would be sent back down, and we'd have to deal with the all-glove/no-bat Drew for the remainder of the season.

But earlier today Girardi said this...

We want [Drew] to be able to play all three positions, second, short and third. We’ve asked our middle infielders to be able to do that if you want to give Headley a day off, if you want to give Didi a day off, obviously he’s going to play some second as well. Those sort of things. He’s prepared to go in anywhere.

That doesn't sound to me like Drew is going to be the everyday second baseman anymore. And something tells me Brendan Ryan is not that guy either. So it looks like Rob Refsnyder will get regular playing time at second base, while Stephen Drew will be the team's utility infielder.

Personally I love this news. Drew has value as a late-inning defensive replacement, has some pop in his bat, and can defend well at second, shortstop, and third base.

So does that mean Brendan Ryan's time in pinstripes is up when Beltran returns? What about the rarely seen Garrett Jones? A reliever? I don't know... stay tuned.