The New York Yankees have quite a few players hitting free
agency in 2014 including Ichiro Suzuki, Hiroki Kuroda, Stephen Drew, Derek
Jeter (who is obviously retiring), Chris Capuano, and Chase Headley to name a
few. Headley has been long sought after in Pinstripes and while his production
has fell off he still may be the most important free agent that the Yankees
sign this winter.
Headley was advertised as an average defender at third base
by GM Brian Cashman who has proven to be a terrible player evaluator as he
called Masahiro Tanaka a third our fourth starter before the season. Headley
has been fantastic at third base this season defensively but has also filled in
at first base and the outfield in small sample sizes extremely well. With this
team being built on versatility, flexibility, etc. Headley may be the perfect
fit for the Yankees along with Martin Prado.
Headley also helps to balance out the lineup as he is a
switch hitter and a clutch hitter. Headley has already walked off three times
this season as a Yankee and did not arrive until July of this season. Brian
McCann has been in the Bronx all season and has two walk offs while Brett
Gardner, Carlos Beltran, and others only have one each.
Some people can hack it in New York and some people simply
cannot and I think Headley has proven that he can. New York shouldn’t let him
slip away simply because Alex Rodriguez is returning because this guy can play
all over the field and may be the glue that holds this aging team together in
2015 given the opportunity.
Prado and Headley, both will be 31, come May of 2015, which is not a bad age for a two or three year deal at all. As Daniel has said, both give the team flexibility, and better yet, they are better then many regular players wherever one puts them.
ReplyDeleteAs for Talent evaluator, Cashman is not and has never claimed to be a good evaluator of talent. That is the reason GMs' have Talent evaluators on their staff. You want a Talent evaluator, get Buck Showalter as GM, he and Stick are two of the best. Also, sometimes the BOSSES will down play a players talent to have them fit in, without the pressure of having to live up to expectations.
My opinion, for what it is worth!