I believe in Zoilo

The man with the name Zoilo Almonte, the switch hitting outfielder made his debut last year as did so many Yankee rookies and he played very well before a high ankle sprain landed him on the DL and some wisdom teeth kept him there for most of the year. In the end Zoilo played 34 games games for the Yankees and his first 17 games were great, he batted .309/.339/.436 in 59  Plate appearances and it really looked like he could be a contributor to the team but he started to slide in July and then he landed on the DL. When he came back he just wasn't the same when he came back in September managing just 2 hits and both of those came in the last game of the year. However I believe in Zoilo, I believe that he can contribute to the Yankees and I believe he can contribute better than Ichiro Suzuki, can he be a starter for the team? I really don't know but you know how we can find out, by giving him a limited bench role to see how he handle's the majors over a full season because struggling at a new level is something that players do, Brett Gardner's stats when he first came up in 2008 were bad .228/.283/.299 bad, but he turned it around and became a good major leaguer. This is how a team develops young talent that can help the major league club and its what the Yankees don't do, they always side with the veteran over a young player and that's mostly good for a team that is always winning but now the Yankees have gone years without developing a single contributor to their team and Zoilo just might be one of the guys who can help stop that trend. Zoilo is by no means a godsend of a prospect and more than likely he is a 4th outfielder long term but there is a chance that he can become a decent starter and keeping him in AAA behind Ichiro is not the way to have him show what he can do.
Mike Axisa wrote about Zoilo Almonte before last season and said that he might be the Yankees best shot at a home grown outfielder and I think he still might be right. Almonte is a guy who walked at a very good rate in the minors, can be a decent base stealer and play solid defense in the corners. There are a few warts on Zoilo as he did not hit left handed pitching well last season but I expect that to adjust as he is a natural right handed hitter. It is possible that the Yankee brass agrees with me as Brian Cashman said last season that the club has “future everyday right fielder scouting grades”on Almonte and keeping Almonte as a 4th outfielder would be very similar to how the Yankees broke Brett Gardner into the major leagues in 2009 and it is really what they should do for Zoilo in 2014. Spring training is only a short time away so hopefully for Zoilo's sake he can have a good spring training and make the club, I just fear that they will keep Ichiro on the roster over him.