Wednesday, December 12, 2018

What About The Other Side Of The Infield?


This offseason has been all about free agents Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and Patrick Corbin. And to a lesser extent free agents J.A. Happ, Marwin Gonzalez, Josh Harrison, Mike Moustakas, Lance Lynn, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson, and Zach Britton. And then there are trade targets Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Robbie Ray, and Noah Syndergaard.

And I get it.

The focus this offseason, from the mouth of Brian Cashman himself, is solidifying the starting rotation. And not just with anybody, but with top starters. And when it comes to offense, while the Yankees are not hurting in that department, you can't dismiss the young elite talent of Harper and Machado.

Then there's the hole left by Didi Gregorius getting Tommy John surgery, which has naturally led people to wonder how the Yankees could fill that hole.

But one position that has been almost entirely ignored is one that I think is a very big question mark... first base.

Greg Bird still hasn't had anything close to a full season in Major League Baseball so it may not be fair to say he's a bust. But at the same time how much longer can we sit back and wait for the guy to get healthy and possibly produce?

Luke Voit was huge for the Yankees last season and a big reason why they were even able to get to the American League Division Series, but how many Yankees fans can seriously say they are confident that he'd be anything better than average for an entire season?

Which is why I talked about acquiring Justin Bour to at least platoon with Luke Voit at first base. Since his first full season in MLB Bour has averaged 117 games a season, with an OPS+ of 124. And while Citizen's Bank Ballpark is not hard on power hitters, Yankee Stadium is better for left-handed power-hitters, meaning Bour could easily swat 25-30 home runs a season there. My only concern about Justin is that awful batting average he put up last season (.227). But seeing that he'd be a cheap option, then banking on him being able to get that batting average back up to the .260-.270 range would not be that hard to swallow.

You know what, though? I'm not married to the idea of Justin Bour. What about Marwin Gonzalez? Gonzalez has been talked about as a way to fill in on the left side of the infield, but we shouldn't forget that he can play first base as well. Or what about the trade route? For the record, I didn't want to pay the high price for Paul Goldschmidt, especially since he's set to be a free agent after next season. I haven't heard of any trade rumors for first baseman outside of Goldy and Jose Abreu (still too expensive, and also a free agent after next season), but I'm sure there is something out there.

The point is that we can't ignore the question marks at first base, and hopefully Brian Cashman already plans on addressing that position. If not, I firmly believe the Yankees are making a mistake leaning on Bird and/or Voit going into 2019.

3 comments:

  1. It's strange, as long as I've been a Yankee fan, we had a solid 1b locked up. Now, it's this bs piecemeal that they mash together. Throw whatever broken toy we have there, extra bone in his leg, who cares. Really odd. But yea, I'd be down for bour! Platoon and his ba should rise, ya?

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  2. The Yanks stole Luke Voit last season. They wanted him badly.
    His numbers last season, while he contributed, were outstanding.

    And all I've heard since seasons end was Voit can not repeat.
    Really ? And now this guy Bour is going to salvage 2019. Really ?

    What do they know about Voit, that I didn't see him do last year?
    First base is better off today, than last April. Look it up.

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    Replies
    1. Bour signed with LA, so that puts an end to that topic.

      And Patrick, voit put together one of those incredible offensive performances for a few months. But it's just that- several months of incredible performance, aamd what- 5 years of being meh in AAA on a handful of teams. But that's not a knock- he 100% deserves to be the starting 1b... But as we've seen with the pathetic Greg bird, I'm not comfortable going all in on someone like that with no alternatives.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)