Yankees In "Serious Discussion" W/ Bill Hall

"Serious" Discussions... Seriously?

The Yankees are said to be in serious discussions with utility player Bill Hall according to Ken Rosenthal on twitter.

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
Sources: #Yankees in serious talks with Bill Hall. Role could be similar to what he had with #RedSox in 2010. Backup IF, RH bat in OF. #MLB

My question is... why? Is Bill Hall any better then current Yankee Brandon Laird? Is Bill Hall any better then most of the current free agent utility players? I would say no personally to both of those questions.

In the last 4 seasons, which is more then enough of a sample size of what his CURRENT production equates to, he has a WAR (wins above a replacement player from AAA like Brandon Laird) of -0.1. If we left out the 2008 campaign of a 0.8 WAR then he has a -1.0 WAR in his last 3 seasons.He also has terrible batting averages in the low to mid .200's for the most part and extremely high BABIP(batting average on ball's in play) in each of those seasons touching in the low .300's. This basically means he has been "lucky" and his batting stats are inflated according to the stat.

Bill Hall does not steal bases. Bill Hall does not take walks. He strikes out a third of his plate appearances. He does not hit for extra bases. He does not hit right handed pitching well at all. Then again he is going to be used much like he was used in Boston last season as a utility infielder and outfielder. At least he defends well right?

Terrible UZR (ultimate zone rating) and UZR/150 (ultimate zone rating in a 150 game "full season") at 2B, LF and RF while he held his own at 3B and was above average at SS.Since 2009, according to Fangraphs.com, Bill Hall has been worth $10 million with the vast majority of it ($7.0 million) being made in 2011 with his two teams.

In closing, Brian Cashman, please Please PLEASE stay away from Bill Hall. Call up Brandon Laird if you must or continue to use Ramiro Pena... just please do not sign Bill Hall