So how do the Yankees bolster their outfield? Because they are going to need to. This current lineup won't be enough to get the Yankees through the rest of the season because at this point, I am just going to assume Hicks won't be back.
I can usually find a trending idea on social media and feel good about it....but so far I am finding nothing.
There's also some fascination on social media right now with Andrew Benintendi who is adjusting after being traded from the Red Sox to the Kansas City Royals in the offseason. April was a rough transition for him but he has been one of the American League's hottest hitters in May with a .356 BA and .844 OPS for the month. It would be nice to get a guy with a hot bat right now but he's also a left fielder and my guess is Kansas City isn't looking to move him. He has one year of arbitration left and any conversation involving Benintendi is going to likely start with Yankees catching prospect Austin Wells since they have plenty of middle infield and pitching propsects. I just don't see it happening.
Then there are other names like Joey Gallo and David Peralta out there that are also recovering from injuries and just don't make sense for the Yankees either.
But the biggest name I don't like in this discussion is our own....Estevan Florial simply because he isn't ready yet. He had a nice home run over the weekend, but after he got off to a hot start in Double-A he has since faded. Some people may not realize he only hit .229 with 9 strikeouts in 25-at bats in nine games this season with Double-A Somerset and now just .172 with 9 strikeouts in 29-at bats with Triple-A. He needed more time in Double-A but he was still promoted. He simply needs more time and he needs to play regularly down in Triple-A. If he hasn't proven that he can hit minor league pitching, how can we expect him to do that in the Majors? We can't. We would be setting him up to fail. I've heard a lot of "it's time to sink or swim" talk from fans....and that idea simply doesn't work. Do we need someone at the major league level? Yes, but we need the right person....and Florial hasn't proven that YET.
I'm not sure what the Yankees are going to do here....but they are in a real pickle especially if they aren't willing to spend a lot of money. I don't know what the solution is here but, something's gotta give. The Yankees only have themselves to blame for this disaster.
Jeana, you are spit on with your assessment on all points. What I can say is that Aaron Boone is now using Tyler Wade as a late game pinch runner & he has appeared in centerfield. In no way shape or form of my suggesting Wade is the answer but he is going to be part of the solution for the foreseeable future along with Brett Gardner. Here are some other thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThomas Milone. He might be Scranton's best batsman right now. He's hitting for average, getting on base and playing very good defense. Milone also hits from the left side. It might make sense to give him a cup of coffee and assess where he is at.
Gregg Allen is a pretty good defender and he might be a useful fifth outfielder in the event that Milone's cup of coffee winds up having too much cream and not enough sugar.
Those are two immediate solutions and all the Yankees would have to do is cut ties with Odor, plug Wade in & bring up.Milone.
Beyond these two realistic internal fallbacks, we are looking at a trade but not anytime soon. I think Cashman will have to wait until we get closer to the deadline and then maybe he makes his move.
Other teams will know the Yankees are desperate and they're going to want the Yankees to overpay.
There may be teams that are beginning to really feel the financial crunch of 20% capacity stadium attendance and some of those teams are close to already being out of contention. That said there might be a bargain to be had as teams tried to offload contracts.
However, the Yankees will have to remove a couple down downed trees fell by Hal Steinbrenner in order to block Cashman from going over the Luxury tax.
More than likely, if a strong enough case is made in a trade partner can be identified, then a memo will go across Hal's desk. Whether he approves the trade or not is anyone's guess. The Yankees might have to get creative and give back a player, perhaps to a third team, so they could remove some salary off the books and fit whoever might be coming in.
One last thought - could the Yankees win a World Series or make a deep playoff run with Brett Gardner in CF? There is a chance he could revert to the back of his baseball card given a larger sample size.
Is at bats actually look pretty good but unfortunately he's not even getting on base. All signs to point towards some type of trade, though Thomas Milone is likely a much better option opposed to anything the Yankees could realistically acquire.
With an eye towards 2022, the Yankees really need to do something about center field and move on from Aaron Hicks. Obviously we're waiting for a Martian invasion but that isn't happening until late 2004-2005 best case scenario.
Spot On Jeanna. Every time I voice text I wind up missing that my phone types the word spit. LOL sorry about that!
ReplyDeleteFirst off as long as Gardner is healthy we don't need a trade.
ReplyDeleteRemember Aaron Judge has played CF in the minors as did Clint Frazier. I understand Wade has the ability to do it but never has.
It would help if the Yankee bats would like score about 10 runs so they can put say Frazier in CF for a couple of innings, or Judge.
Against a tough lefty I could see this lineup.
2B DJ
DH Stanton
CF Judge
3B Gio
SS Torres
1B Voit
RF Frazier
C Sanchez *
LF Andujar
OFGardner
IF/OF Wade
IF Odor
* Higgy who would then bat 9th if Kluber or Cole is scheduled.