This has to be one of the most interesting off seasons for the Yankees, the Yankees spent almost half a billion dollars but lost their best player and still have glaring holes on the team. Its hard to narrow this down to the best and worst moves by the Yankee's this off season because as with most new contracts it really depends on how they will play out than on how it looks right now. Look at the Jesus Montero for Michael Pineada trade, that has changed whose won several times and Pineada has not actually pitched for the Yankees yet.
Best Move: Masahiro Tanaka
I said in our offseason podcast that I thought that signing Tanaka was the most important part of the off season and that if it came down to Cano or Tanaka that it was more important for them to sign Tanaka and apparently the Yankees agreed with me because they let Cano walk and signed Tanaka. Tanaka provides the Yankees with what they needed a young pitcher with high upside and while he has a risk of flopping it seems very unlikely as the Yankees have been scouting him for 7 years.We will have to wait and see how Tanaka adjusts to the MLB but it was truly a move that the Yankees needed to make if they want to contend in the very competitive AL East let alone vie for another World Series title.
Worst Move: Carlos Beltran
This is one that everyone seems to love but I really am not enthused about it. They gave Beltran at 36 three years this off season when they could have signed Nick Swisher for his age 32-35 seasons last off season. I know that Swisher did not hit well in the postseason but you have to get to the off season first and we have no idea if Beltran is going to be able to last all season while Swisher has always been a model of consistency.In the end though its crying over spilled milk from a year ago, but there was a better move than Beltran that the Yankees could have done and that was signing Shin-Soo Choo who like Swisher is a high walk guy who can hit 20+ HR a year, he isn't a switch hitter like Beltran or Swisher and his platoon split isn't very good but guys who walk a lot don't stop doing it as they age and that power and patience is exactly what the Yankees look for in a player. instead the Yankees gave three years to Beltran based largely on the fact that he has been great in the postseason, which is significant but I don't know if he will last to the postseason and with an aging roster I do not want the Yankees to have to be trying to get him in the lineup two years from now when his knees are shot but he, Teixeira and McCann all need time at the DH spot. Beltran is a bat only player at this point as his defense has declined due to being old and his walk rate has steadily declined with a career worst 6.3% walk rate last season. Also as great as Beltran has been as a switch hitter last season he hit only .251 against LHP and recorded only 7 walks in 171 PA and so he is unlikely to help a lineup that looks like it will be weak against lefties. Beltran may bust out and have an amazing season but it honestly seems like this deal is likely to be an overpay and leave fans disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment