This upcoming season the Yankees payroll is locked in at less than last year, around $200 million, and after the Yankees recent trades this offseason they are closing in on that magic number of $200 million. However, compared to last year, the Yankees situation in left field is a little more tenuous then most fans expected going into the season.
As it stands, the Yankees are going into the 2010 season with Brett Gardner as its left fielder, unless they happen to sign Reed Johnson or another second tier player. Since no obvious plan has been put in place, it seems as Yankees fans are getting a little uneasy about having Brett Gardner being their left fielder in 2010.
With 2010 here and spring training slowly encroaching in on us, having Brett Gardner as the Yankees left fielder really isn’t that bad. I will say it, it could be worse. It really could. I know what you’re thinking ‘How could it be worse?’ Easy, lets take a walk down memory lane.
First, Brett Gardner. Last year was his first full year, albeit with injuries in the Major Leagues and his line was: .270 BA in 284 plate appearances with 25 stolen bases and was only caught 5 times.
As recent as a few weeks ago, the Yankees were supposedly talking to Reed Johnson. In 7 professional seasons, he has only hit over .300 twice and hit under .270 four times in the same time span. He also doesn’t fit into the Yankees mold of getting ‘younger and more athletic’, however we move on!
Chad Curtis played for the Yankees for a few years during its ‘Dynasty Era’ from 1997 through 1999. In the only season where he played 130+ games with the Yankees in 1998, Curtis hit .243 and then in the following year he hit .262 in a limited role.
In the early 2000’s, Chuck Knoblauch was unseated from his position at 2B and placed in left field and hoped that no one would hit him the ball, I bet everyone reading this remembers that. While Knoblauch, in his early Yankees years had some decent years, his last year in pinstripes could be characterized as not pretty. He batted a wonderful .250 over 600 plate appearances.
In 2002, in a genius move, the Yankees acquired Raul Mondesi from the Blue Jays mid season and he wasn’t much of a help in 2002 or in his brief time in 2003 with the Pinstripers. In his two shortened years with the Yankees, Mondesi hit .249 with 27 home runs before Cashman traded him to the Diamonbacks.
Finally, we have Rondell White, who was a career National League outfielder up until 2002 when he joined the Yankees. Over his career he was a .284 hitter who could average between 15-22 home runs a season while striking out over 100 times only once in his career. In his only year with the Yankees, he hit .240 in 455 at bat’s and had an on base percentage of .288 which was the lowest of his career at that point.
Considering all of this, I have one singular question to ask of our faithful readers, is Brett Gardner really that bad of an option? True, he may not have the pop of Chad Curtis or Rondell White, but he doesn’t come with the baggage that Raul Mondesi had or the throwing problems that Knoblauch had. Considering all this, is it really a surprise that barring the Hideki Matsui years, left field is more a question mark then an exclamation mark?
M. B. Rozell
Kevin Rozell
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