THE GHOST OF JUSTIN MAXWELL

Close your eyes and imagine that Justin Maxwell was on the New York Yankees right now. Now picture Brett Gardner injured...just like he is currently...see? There would be no worry... there would be no concern. A backup replacement with the same attributes as Gardner in the lineup would have settled me down for sure... but that's a "What if" scenario I guess that will never bee.

Sure, now we know what's wrong with Brett Gardner officially. His second opinion agreed with his first opinion and now after a cortisone shot and alittle rest, in about 4 weeks we should see Brett Gardner back and ready to go. Read HERE. Nice. The question though... will we still stay with what we have for the next month while Brett Gardner finally heals?

Look, it has always been my opinion that Brett Gardner is valuable and I have always been the guy suggesting that if you're going to have a back up to this awesome Yankees outfield, you best get a guy or 2 on the bench that have the same attributes as our starters, speed along with solid defense and power...that's important.

No doubt the Yankees are clicking right now, but I don’t care what you tell me about homers and power and pitching… sure, that’s part of baseball too, but I’m about to tell you something my little league coach said to me to get my confidence up as a kid. He called time out when I was at the plate and called me over. He crouched down and looked at me dead in the eye and said, “Lay one down the third base line and run our little ass off. Once you get on base you’ll score, I guarantee it. Believe in yourself.” I bunted the next pitch where he told me and beat the throw to first. He made me steal second on the next pitch and I stole third right after that. The next batter hit me home…in a matter of minutes. Why do I remember it so vividly? Because that was my introduction to the fundamentals of baseball. My coach gave me something that carried me through high school ball…confidence. I didn’t believe in myself before that at bat, but I damn sure did after it. The point is without a confident Brett Gardner in the box to get on base and score, we need a replacement spark plug that can. Justin Maxwell was riding the confidence train in Spring Training, but the Yankees let him walk, remember that? (read HERE.)

Yeah sure, you know I loved this kid and he gave us a lot in Spring Training. Sure, why am I harping on someone that’s long gone? Because I told you we needed a backup like Maxwell then and it was ignored. Now, we don’t have that reliable backup, someone who’s solid with the leather as well as quick on the base paths…a balance.

(In Photo: Andruw Jones in left field in 2011)

Do you really think Andruw Jones is capable of playing a sound left field? Why do you think Jayson Nix is out there? He’s an infielder that was converted into an outfielder because we didn’t have anyone. Sure, Nix is the closest thing to Brett Gardner…but he’s not too quick and he’s again…AN INFIELDER.

(In Photo: Jayson Nix dropping ball)

The ghost of Justin Maxwell has shown his weary head. He’s laughing because we’ve duct-taped the left field position together and lost speed in our lineup. Meanwhile Maxwell was riding high and available. Justin Maxwell needed a shot like I was given a shot and if he did and succeeded, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Instead, we have uncomfortable outfielder replacements who aren’t comfortable with themselves out there. I’m not saying it can’t improve, I’m just saying we need it to be sound out there, just like GGS, so we didn’t skip a beat.

Sure, Justin Maxwell’s numbers with the Astros aren’t great. He’s batting .226 with 1 stolen base. OK, well, let’s be honest, He’s a part time outfielder and pinch hitter in Houston right now with only 96 At-Bats. I guarantee you though if the Yanks took a chance on this kid and Gardner got hurt, he’d be playing every day and there would be a very different story. He would have just continued where he led off in Spring Training. Why? Because his confidence was high and he knew he had that spot on the Yankees roster…until he didn’t.

Yeah, I’m a believer in Justin Maxwell and I almost felt like he was one of the most reliable backups in the outfield we had at the time. Instead we have a Ringling Brother’s circus out there with Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones, infielder Jayson Nix and DeWayne Wise who can play the outfield, but can’t hit a lick. Put them all together and you have the perfect player. Separate, they’re just baseball players. Even a guy like Chris Dickerson is a better option than all of them put together. But seriously, would Maxwell have been the best option? I’m going to say Yes… younger, confident, quicker and eager to impress. Yes, he’s a better option in the outfield as well as a perfect 9 hitter for my Yankees. I'm going with that... I believe that.

But what the hell am I doing? I guess I’m just doing my best “I wish we had” post….I never like to do that… but I just did. What do you think? Comment.

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