Surgery For Johnson
Well that didn't take long! Nick Johnson is having wrist surgery which will keep him from "baseball activities" for 4-6 weeks. That means he probably won't be back until July 1st at the earliest. But, I think the Yankees have to be realistic here. The fact that he had the cortisone shot only a couple of days ago and his injury history make me believe he won't be back anytime soon, if at all. So the question goes back to, can Juan Miranda hold up the lefty half of a DH platoon?
Neither Baseball Prospectus not Fangraphs projects Miranda to do much of anything. (Both project him to have a sub .400 slugging which isn't going to get it done).Thames has destroyed lefty pitching this year (1.135 OPS) but struggled against RHP (.611 OPS) so you don't want him playing full time (or wearing a glove, but that's a different issue.) Jon Weber could be a thought and he has been hitting very well in May, but I don't know if the Yankees are going to go in that direction.
A more unique way to handle the DH spot would be to call Robby Hammock up from Scranton and use Posada as the DH. Hammock isn't going to hit, but he can play the corners in the infield and outfield plus catch (3 games behind the plate for Scranton so far this year). With Hammock on the bench, you could safely DH Posada and let Cervelli catch most of the time. That would improve the defense and keep Posada fresher. Unless a good trade or solid free agent drops in their lap, I think it is the best way for the Yankees to go right now.
Comments
It's clear they are not getting much out of Golson's spot on the roster. He has speed and is good defensively. But he can't hit.
I'd drop Golson and go with your extra catcher solution or bring up Weber.
Miranda does have the virtue of showing some plate discipline. He will make the pitcher pitch and will take some walks. Hopefully he will show some power.
Pena's speed and hustle impresses me, though he's always going to be primarily a glove man.
Are there any pitchers available for this shaky bullpen? I always thought that a veteran starter would want to extend his career as a reliever, the way Park has (or is trying to). They've got to check the ego and big salary at the door, but who in the heck wouldn't want to play some more ball?
Alternatively, I like the way Francona uses Wakefield out of the bullpen. He completely messes with the players' timing and then they got to face Bard in the 8th. Short of Jim Bouton, isn't there some aging knuckleballer out there who would like to extend his career?
Posted by: Corey | May 18, 2010 10:49 AM |
Corey
I think we will see Golson get sent down when Granderson is healthy. He is really the only guy other than Gardner on the roster who can play CF right now.
Posted by: Peter![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 18, 2010 01:37 PM
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