Sure, Nick Swisher blew it in the postseason, that's a fact, but that’s not Nick. Nick’s a solid athlete, good hitter, and an average outfielder, but the energy and his decent playing ability alone will get him a deal, a good deal somewhere else… but it’s my estimation that the New York Yankees is no longer his home... when it comes to playing baseball of course.
Let me continue being frank… the Yankees would be idiots to
bring him back for any asking price higher than what he was signed at per
season ($5.4 in 2009 to $10 million in 2012.) Why would they? The Yankees, fortunately for them, could use
the postseason as a reference point for them…”You have solid outings but then
you hit the postseason, you shit the bed,” they could say and just show him
his postseason numbers on a sheet of paper (26-154).
This would be followed up with his 2012 batting average of .272 and that
dreaded missed catch in the playoffs that was “lost in the lights”, read
HERE. The Yankees are in the drivers
seat on this one and they should pull out all the stops.
Look, do I welcome Nick Swisher back if he wants to come
back? Sure, but shits about to get real.
I’m not going to sit here and give him what he wants, whatever years and
salary he wants… you want to know why? Because if I'm the Yankees, I can handle it my way. I have Ichiro Suzuki waiting in the
wings. I have a guy like Torii Hunter
out there whom I’m sure the Yanks would ask to play 2 years for them and a few million
cheaper than Nick Swisher is asking… you know what I mean?
I have a guy like Raul Ibanez I could try and snatch up, whom I
can platoon with Ichiro and have an outfielder and a DH. Somone I can also platoon at DH with a guy like Alex Rodriguez, all for the price of about $4
million for 1 year alone for Ichiro and Raul combined. The point is, the Yankees are covered and if
Nick wants to come back cheap knowing all his imperfections, we can work
something out for sure…but I’m not holding my breath, because now it’s business. Nick knows it and the Yankees know it. It's no longer about laughing and cracking jokes and making devil horns to the
fans.
New York Fans are fed up with postseason doom and when guys like Ichiro
and Raul, 2 solid players who performed wonderfully in the playoffs, just want
to play baseball and aren’t looking for a big pay day… guess what I’m doing as a
team GM? I’m going with production and performance. Energy, while great, doesn’t always cut it if
you can’t produce.
So yeah, sorry to get all real on you, but the reality is, I
truly feel like Nick Swisher is finished in the Bronx and sure, while it would
be great to have him return to right field, he’s going to have to take a
discount… a big one. That’s the bottom
line.
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