Wednesday, January 9, 2013

MICHAEL MORSE & THE YANKEES DILEMMA

Look, right now there is just a bunch of chatter about the Yankees and Michael Morse.  We don't know if the Yankees truly want the DC Beast, but we as Yankee fans know we do need to fill some pretty big holes and we haven't done much but go cheap.  That being said, I found it interesting that as soon as Adam LaRoche signed his 2 year deal with the Nationals (Read HERE), all eyes were on the Yankees to sign Michael Morse, who, if you follow the insiders, was and is expected to be traded "soon."  This in turn had Michael Morse send out a farewell "I need to take a break" note on Twitter probably because he didn't want to read thousands about Tweets about himself. Here is that Tweet:

The big thing we need to understand here is we all kind of jumped on this story today. Partially because it's a Yankee related story and possibly because Morse may actually be a great asset to the Yankees lineup.  One thing that has popped up though is Morse and his hesitation to be a full time Designated Hitter, read HERE.  I mean, you have to respect that. He's 30 years old. Do you really think he wants to go the way of the Designated Hitter so soon? Many players wouldn't at that age and I get it.

My take on this is simple; this is an outfielder and first baseman with power. You play him in both positions and you mix up the DH role as well. This give guys like Mark Teixeira a day off once in a while and you can rotate 4 outfielders. That's a lot of activity happening. He could end up being damn comfortable with that, I know I could.

And think about this for a second; Brian Cashman said this just the other day in reference to losing alittle power when Nick Swisher darted for Cleveland.  He said:  "We lost Swisher and Ichiro doesn’t hit homers like Nick… And we haven’t replaced Martin’s power. Hopefully, we won’t lose that much with [Kevin] Youkilis replacing Alex at third, but we’ll lose some.” (Read the article HERE.) In the end, he cautions, less home runs.  Well, with Morse, you don't lose that power.

While I like Cash a lot… that statement isn’t acceptable to me. We're the Bronx Bombers.  There are guys that teams are dangling with right handed power and we have seen nothing from Yankee brass this off season.  Big power guys that can come in trades... but nothing.

Now you can be honest with me and tell me that my "rooting" for the Yankees to snag a guy like Giancarlo Stanton is unrealistic and guess what... I tend to agree with you.  I would absolutely love Stanton to roam right field at Yankee Stadium, but the percentage of that happening is very low.  Michael Morse is much more realistic, though, he is not a great outfielder.  He is more like a Nick Swisher out there, he will do fine if we platoon him with Ichiro from time to time though.   And sure, a few weeks ago we asked What about Jason Kubel when Raul Ibanez went to Seattle, remember? And hey, what about Justin Upton?

The Diamondbacks have too many outfielders, we could use one. But let's be honest, we haven't heard any rumblings about the Yankees making any calls on either player. Again, the price may be too steep for the Yankees... who knows.  My point is this, when it comes to guys like Upton or Stanton, stop holding onto the minor leaguers we have if you're just going to let them die in Scranton Wilkes-Barre!  I say at least trade them and give them an opportunity for more playing time somewhere else.

(In Photo: Then Yankee Austin Jackson)
But no, Yankee brass has this unusual fetish with keeping out youngsters down until they are just about ready, and, much like Austin Jackson, after all the hype surrounding him is so high... what do they do?  They flip him and we miss out on another kid.  Well, my point is, if that's the way it's going to be, then keep the trend going and go get Stanton.  If not, make the call to the Nationals now!  Make an offer that is cheaper than it would be for snagging those other guys and get Michael Morse in pinstripes!

This isn't a desperation move.  This isn't a move to make a move.  This is a move that could actually be pretty beneficial for the Yankees and Morse.  I believe Morse will become an instant classic in the Bronx.

I believe the Beast will win over us fans. We wouldn't be calling him the DC Beast anymore, it would be the "Bronx Beast" and he'd do what he does best... crank out home runs and get the Yankees on the board.  But my feeling on this is clear, we once again have a decent bat starring us in the face... sooner or later the Yankees need to pull the trigger.  Will it be with Michael Morse? Well, if it is, I'm OK with that. I really am. 



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1 comment:

  1. I say yes pull the trigger but who are the Nats interested in? Thats what matters most most of our top prispects are outfielders. LOL. Heathcott, Williams, Austin, Flores

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