SWISHER, THE BRONX ELVIS, SHOULD STAY WITH THE YANKEES

The hardest thing to come to grips with is the fact that Nick Swisher will in fact test the Free Agent market after this season and most likely will not come back the the Bronx.  I stand here tall right now and say “Whatever happens to Nick Swisher, let’s not forget...he made it fun in the Bronx.”

The Yankees were a corporate operation for years and I loved it, but there was something that changed when Nick Swisher came to New York. We let our hair down a bit, we stopped being such tight asses. I say that with the utmost respect of course.   I welcomed the “mouth-opened-tongue-out” pictures with the devil horn symbol after an enormous hit.  I appreciate him chatting it up with the media after games. He loves this team and he loves us fans and it translates…we love him too.

I once asked Bergen Record’s Pete Caldera about who he’s seen singing in the clubhouse, Nick Swisher or Rafael Soriano.  Here’s what he said:

BYB: OK...you walk in the Yankee clubhouse, you see both Rafael Soriano and Nick Swisher at their lockers. Who's most likely the one singing?

Pete Caldera: I've heard Swisher sing. I've never heard Soriano sing.

Now, truth be told…I knew the answer and so did you, but that wasn’t the point. I was hoping it WAS Soriano just to see if the guy loosened up with a guy like Swish in the clubhouse.  OK, well, maybe he hadn’t but it just goes to show, Swisher’s happy and when he’s happy, we’re all happy.

But happy could easily turn to sadness at the end of this season.  There is no doubt that a guy like Nick Swisher who’s never tested the Free Agent market before, is going to, after all, he deserves his pay day.  Sadly, the Yankees won’t bring him back if that happens.  I just don’t see it.  For 1, Swish is going to want a deal, 3 or 4 years, alittle stability and he’s going to want to get paid. You can act like that's not the case with Swish, but if you're a player that's never been a free agent, doesn't it intrigue you alittle bit?  I once heard Steve Nash say that the amount of money you’re offered by a team is a respect thing, meaning, if you’re offered a lot of dough by a club, they believe your talent is huge and they’ll invest in you.  Swisher deserves to see what he gets.

Should Swisher stay in the Bronx? I’d love him to finish his career here, but he won’t and it wouldn’ be fair for us fans to want him to do that, unless of course he absolutely loves our Yankees so much, that he’d make sacrifices, a pay cut, and stick around.  It’s a possibility I suppose, but not realistic. Why? The Yankees won’t be paying him big money to stick around.  At the end of the day, this is business and the Yankees no doubt may want a more athletic upgrade in right.  It's a guess, but it's a good one.

So let’s make it easier for Swish…let’s win a championship this year… number 28. That will make walking away alittle easier…like Hideki Matsui…like Johnny Damon before him. Then, it just makes more sense I suppose. Either day, when the day comes, it won't be easy on us fans, that's for sure.

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