Ben Zobrist, often imitated but never duplicated. Zobrist
has been the epitome of money ball for multiple seasons now because he’s a
switch hitter that can get on base and play multiple positions in the field on
defense. Versatile, flexible and you can’t really shift on him or bring in a
specialist relief pitcher against him. Any team would love to have him and
often time’s teams try to acquire or develop talent like him. For the first
time since finally being recognized for what he’s done all along Zobrist hits
the free agency market thus giving teams the opportunity to not trade for a
player like him, to not develop a player in his shadow but to acquire THE Ben
Zobrist. According to recent reports though one of those teams will not be the
New York Yankees and if you ask me, that’s good.
Sure Zobrist adds a lot to any team and would be especially
helpful on this team. As I said he’s a switch hitter so he would help manager
Joe Girardi stack up lefties against right-handed pitching and he could also
help the team’s biggest flaw, hitting left-handed pitching. Zobrist plays good
defense everywhere in the outfield and the infield (with the exception of
catcher) but his natural position is second base, a position the Yankees face
some uncertainty at going forward and Zobrist can hit anywhere and on the
biggest stage, see his performance in the 2015 World Series. Zobrist has a
laundry list of pro’s but the con’s may outweigh them all.
Zobrist is 34-years old and turns 35-years old in May. That
would be fine on a short term deal, one or two years, but Zobrist is likely to
want the final big contract of his career. Zobrist could be in the market for
around four-years and $60 million this offseason after hitting 13 home runs and
posting a .809 OPS between the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. In a
world where the importance of versatility and flexibility are key you may want
to spend $15 million annually for Zobrist’s age 35-39 seasons but thankfully it
looks like the New York Yankees will not.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)