Monday, November 5, 2018

More Ways To Close The Gap 

The Yankees have several holes we all know. 

The other day I wrote a post detailing what I would do to catch up to the Red Sox and Astros, however as always there is always other ways to do it. Here we will start to look at other ways the Bombers can make up the needed ground, without Manny and Bryce. That being said let’s take a look at what was one of the Yanks biggest holes all season, 1st Base. The Yankees had some of the worst overall production out of the guys manning 1st all season long. Luke Voit stepped in after a late season trade, and torn the cover off the ball. .333 Avg 15 Hrs and 33 RBIs in 132 PA. However no one can be sure he can keep up that production. Greg Bird finally was able to stay on the field and off the DL, but to be nice was horrible. Now I’m not ready to fully give up on Bird just yet. His career numbers albeit over 3 seasons actually add up to one very good season minus the BA. .214 with 97 RBIs and 31 Homers in 569 PA.  The problem for Greg had been staying on the field. So maybe with a full off season of work Bird can turn in to the player everyone expected after his good rookie year. Still with that all being said the Yankees need to close the gap between them and the Top Feeders. (After winning 100 Games, that sounds weird) In Order to do that they need solid and consistent play out of their 1st Baseman all year long. Now we shall take a look at a few options that should be available to them. One thing to keep in mind is the available free agent 1st baseman are not the type of player we would be looking for. Joe Mauer, Matt Adams, Lucas Duda, Chris Carter(yuck), Pedro Alvarez, Tommy Joseph, Chris Parmelee, and Steve Pearce the MVP of the World Series. A real quick look at these guys....Most likely goes like this...... Joe Mauer.....Not leaving Twins unless he retires. Matt Adams.....To inconsistent for me. Lucas Duda, Chris Carter, Pedro Alvarez, Tommy Joesph, Chris Parmelee all big No Thank You!!!! Steve Pearce I would only consider to stick it to the Red Sox other wise I’m also staying say away here. I don’t believe this was some type Of turn around his career type season, rather just him hitting a high. We need more then that. Looks like we need to make a trade stay in house, or have a player switch positions which leads me to the following......

The trade market this is always a crap shoot because who knows how is actually available but the word on the street is Paul Goldschmidt can be had for the right offer. Big Paul has been one of the most productive 1st baseman for sometime now. A career .297 Avg 209 homers and 710 RBIs over 8 seasons.  In 2018 he hit .290 with 33 Jacks and 83 RBIs.  

Goldschmidt Plays a awesome defense as well. He Would add a consistent bat into the Yankees offense, and is only signed for the 2019 season thus the cost shouldn’t be as high. Let’s say one of Luke Voit or Greg Bird, Chance Adams, Kyle Holder, and 1 or 2 lower level prospects? I’d make the deal. Prefer to keep Bird over Voit only because Paul is a Righty as is Voit, so keep Bird who can help keep a balance. Plus as I’ve said I think Bird still has a lot of potential. 

Keeping with the trade market...... Jose Abreu is a player I have always liked and may also be available at a cheep cost. Coming off a season of a .265 avg with 22 bombs and 78 RBIs, is what I view as a down year for him. Would add the production that could help close the GAP.The White Sox totally sucked and looks like they will for a while so they could look to clear house and start anew. I wouldn’t give the farm for this guy, but maybe Chance Adams and a lower level prospect might get the deal done. Cash if you can’t land Big Paul from the Dbacks make a call and see what the White Sox think.  

In house options are sticking with Luke Voit and seeing if we found a diamond in the rough or was this season just another Shane Spencer type years? Going back to Greg Bird who should finally have a normal off seasons and this can show he is what the Yankee’s brass all expected him to be. However the other option is the one I would be interested in seeing. Well that is if we sign Manny and Didi comes back healthy.........Moving Andjuar off the hot corner and seeing if he could play on the other side of the diamond. Thus keeping the doubles Machine in the line up while adding Machado & Then inserting Didi when he is back. That might give the Bombers the best left side of the infield in the majors. The Bronx Bombers could also look at other free agent infielders and see if they would be willing to move to 1st that is if they feel Miguel can get past his defensive struggles at the hot corner. (Again keep in mind for this post we are avoiding Harper and Machado) one name that comes to mind is...... Josh Donaldson – Who turns 33 in December, presents a potential impact bat on a short-term deal maybe only 1 year. Gives him a chance to build up his value again after a up and down season. He’s a late bloomer who played the hot corner and became a star while playing for the A’s in 2013, won the AL MVP award in 2015 after he was traded to the Blue Jays. Josh missed significant time due to a calf injury in 2017, but hit 22 home runs over the final two months of the 2017 season. Donaldson landed on the DL this year in April with right shoulder inflammation and then went on the shelf again May for his calf, that then landed him on the 60-day DL, Donaldson was traded to the Indians before he was activated.  Josh did make a brief but promising return to action late in 2018. With that said, he may be better served to take a one-year pact and re-establish his health and prove he is still the same old Josh. The Yankees should explore this option.   

Also Cash and company could look to another free agent......Mike Moustakas – Royals.  After hitting a Royals-record 38 home runs in 2017, Moustakas’ free agency went terribly for him. Even with a qualifying offer attached, MLBTR predicted a five-year, $85MM contract. That contract never came, instead the third baseman wound up back with the Royals for 1 year at $6.5MM. Moose is a big power low OBP guy, however the OBP May rise in a better lineup. Mike can most likely be had on a 1-2 year deal right now for I’d say 8-10 million per. If all else fails this might just be a guy for the Yanks to look at. Left handed bat power bat in the Bronx could lead to a huge season for the Moose and make Brian Cashman and company look really smart. Anyway you slice it the Bombers need more production from their 1st Baseman in 2019, here’s hoping one way or another they find it.   

As always I can be reached at JamesCPalma@Yahoo.Com 

Let’s G⚾️ Yankees!!