Terrible. He would have been starting in LF over Gardner by May (not that that’s a great thing).

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absolutely no way hinske would ever start in the OF for the yankees

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Anyone think Rick Ankiel would be an interesting guy to take a shot on???

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Maybe he wanted a better chance at being a starter.

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Oh also, the Braves clinched the AL East by signing Hinske

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I second signing Ankiel. He had an off year last year, but he has legit 30 HR power. I hope we can grab him for cheap.
If that falls through I’d go after Nady or even try to convert Miranda to LF. Yeah not really a big Gardy fan.

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Ugh, having Hinske back would have been great. Damnit cashmoney.

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at the moment it seems like they’re relying on jamie hoffman to be the 4th outfielder.

not sure how i feel about that or why they wouldn’t at least go for an insurance plan. though they’re in good shape if they get damon at a 1 year deal and hoffman suddenly becomes the 5th outfielder.

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No way that Gardner is going to be a starter on this team. Need an every day LF still. Hinske would have been a nice bench piece, but a starting LF is more important at this point…which I am sure is what Cash is also thinking.

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doesn’t mean you should ignore the bench until everything else is full.

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Gardner is your OF off the bench… just have not found your starting LF yet.

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The tone of this post is silly.

Believe it or not, the Yankees can’t force people to sign with them. It’s possible that Hinske was simply after more playing time and the Braves were offering a better chance at that.

I would imagine that Cashman talks to just about every single free agent available on some level, and the idea that he just “forgot” about the bench or “dropped the ball” is absurd.

The offseason isn’t over. And even when it is over, bench players are easy to pick up during the season.

Do you really think Jaime Hoffman is going to spend the entire season on the roster? It’s as if you guys have never watched a season unfold before. The bullpen and the bench will undergo numerous changes throughout the year. It will be fine.

Cashman is dominating this offseason, relax people.

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Marcus Thames or Reed Johnson could fill Hinske’s role adequately, and carry the benefit of hitting from the right side.

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Believe it or not, the Yankees can’t force people to sign with them. It’s possible that Hinske was simply after more playing time and the Braves were offering a better chance at that.

This. Hinske’s won three pennants and two rings the past three years… I wouldn’t blame him at all for just wanting to play regularly. Winning’s important, but he has a chance to be a bigger contributor on the Braves. These guys do have pride.

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there are plenty of 5th outfielders to be had, Im not stressing another team signing bench players…however I do agree that the bench seems to get ignored during the offseason even though its not really a big deal… I expect, like last year, that cash will fill in the bench holes at some point during the season. There really isnt any urgency in signing bench players, theyre pretty much a dime a dozen.

Rick Ankiel is an interesting player, he has some nice power and plays solid defense. Same with Marcus Thames, I wouldnt mind either of those two. And maybe we can get Ankiel to set up Rivera

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at least melky will know somebody in atlanta, poor guy.

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Ive wanted Ankiel all winter, also Johnny Gomes would add RH power off the bench & could get a few ABs at DH. He also has had success as a PT guy

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I don’t get why everyone is so down on Gardner as the starting left fielder, do they expect a all-star at every position because its the yankees? Probably haha. A great defensive fielder and a number 9 hitter who gets on base with great speed, doesn’t seem terrible to me.

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How much is Ankiel trying to get? Has there been any word on if Damon has come back down to earth yet?

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Thank you Jeff A.
Glad I’m not the only one.

We literally have an All-Star at every other position (Swish’s faux-hawk is All-Star caliber).

Dont you guys think we can afford to give a shot to an organizational player who just Might become a 70-80 SB threat?

He started off slow, then he figured it out and before he got injured had a 2.5 month span with these numbers:
304 .383 .440 .823

Dude had a 5-hit game against the Mets. Let him play and Give Him The Green Light. If he is batting 220 at the break…

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Why do the Yanks need Hinske again? He had 1 AB in the post season and was making over a million bucks. Gardner will be fine playing everyday and before we start moving guys into other positions why don’t we see what this Hoffman kid has before we write him off. Only Yankee fans write off young players and drool to add mediocre 30 somethings to their roster.

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“Dont you guys think we can afford to give a shot to an organizational player who just Might become a 70-80 SB threat?” -Voomo

Right on. I completely agree. Who says Gardner can’t be as good or better than Jacoby Ellsbury? He had a higher OBP last year than Jacoby did in his 50 steal rookie season, albeit a smaller sample size for Brett. Lets give him a chance to play a full year without a competition for his starting role.

This Hinke thing is so overblown Nomaas. The Yankees do NOT need Eric Hinske. 5 of his 7 home runs he hit after we picked him up were in his first 7 games. All 7 of those home runs were in games he started in RF or 1B. He did not have a pinch hit home run with us, and has only had 2 in his whole career. He isn’t some superstar bench player.

There are endless guys who have the potential to give the Yankees what little Hinske gave them. This includes the aforementioned Reed Johnson or Johnny Gomes, or, since this is the year of the lost sheep being brought back into the Bomber fold, what about Marcus Thames? If I recall correctly he had a couple big homers against the Yankees while with Detroit, and he is virtually the same player as Hinske, with a cooler nickname (Slick).

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Brett Gardner is not going to do any better than a .340 OBP with no power. He will have to steal 50 bases at a 75% success rate (which he could) in order to be an average LF bat.

It’s not a question of comparing his numbers last year to average. It’s a question of knowing what he’s capable of doing, and last year was basically the best case scenario.

Most people don’t maintain lower K rates in the majors than the minors.

If you really want Gardner to start it should be in CF, where we know his defense is good and his bat will be less of a liability.

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Hey BS, the guy was a rookie last year who started 63 games.
And you’re ready to conclude that that was “basically the best case scenario.”?

here’s Bernie Williams numbers for his first THREE years
(that’s 286 games)
.262 .339 .388 .726

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Also, Gardner was a 2-WAR player last year, and that was in a half-season’s worth of PA. Sure, I doubt he’s a +30 defensive CF, but if he’s even half that good, he’d be a LA player without his bat improving at all.

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I still can’t believe people are lobbying for Brett Gardner to be a starter on the New York Yankees LOL.

It blows my mind. This guy’s job in the playoffs was to come off the bench and steal a bag…or provide heads up base running..and he couldn’t even do that…he made bonehead play after bonehead play. He’s not a smart player at all. His defense is ok, but it’s not worth sacrificing a hole in the lineup…

This guy is a lifetime back up OFer.

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Just don’t see Gardner as the Yankees starting LF. Remember when Brian Cashman said, “Bubba Crosby will be our opening day center fielder?” True, Gardner is faster than Crosby was and a better hitter, but a corner outfielder for the Yankees without power just doesn’t seem that likely. anyway, aforementioned statement sounds a lot like, “Brett Gardner will be our opening day LF,” although I haven’t heard Cashman actually make that statement…

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The Yankess LF in 1998 was Chad Curtis
.243 .355 .360 .714

99 and 00 was Curtis, Ricky Ledee, Clay Bellinger, and a bit of pop from Mr Justice.

It finally fell apart in ’01 with Chuck Knoblauch.
And it wasnt even the fact that Chucky was the left fielder.

It was that Torre PINCH HIT FOR PAUL O’NEILL in O’Neill’s FINAL AT-BAT EVER… because Randy Johnson vs Chuck Knoblauch was Such a better matchup.

When that World Series game came back from commercial and Knoblauch was standing in the batter’s box vs The Unit I knew we were going to lose. Knew it. Full-Body wave of anguish. I actually had the feeling of losing the WS in that moment. 20 minutes later, when LuGo roided that flare over DJ’s head, i was calm. All the anguish crystalized at the sight of Knobbs.

Joe Torre should have been fired in that moment.
How the fuck do you pinch for PAUL FUCKING ONEILL in his final at bat – with an AGGIE who developed 2nd baseman’s retard disease and had to be hidden in LF? Fuck you Joe Torre.

The point is that ANYONE can play LF for the Yankees.
Oh, and fuckyou joetorre.

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ps. – Knobbs struck out on three pitches

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Voomo that was an awesome post. I give it up for that one.

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Knoblauch flew out to RF.

And I’m no Torre fan, but I’m glad he didn’t allow sentimentality to influence what he thought was the best baseball move.

Maybe he was right, maybe not, but the World Series was at stake. If he felt Knoblaugh had a better shot against RJ, it would be insane to not make the move b/c it was a fan favorite’s final AB.

Seriously, terrible argument.

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Steve, my visceral (and accurate) response on that awful night in 2001 is outside of any argument sabermetric or strategic. It was of a metaphysical nature that is perhaps inappropriate for this blog.

But in the interest of proving Joe Torre wrong, here are the fucking numbers:

O’Neill for the 2001 WS
.333 .412 .400 .812

Knobbs
.056 .105 .056 .161

Career vs The Unit:
O’Neill was 0-3 , 2k
Knobbs was 6-41, ops 400

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Well, and there’s the PH penalty, which I’m sure Torre would have blinked at and returned to picking his nose if somebody mentioned it to him.

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I WOULDA HIT THE UNIT!!! *SMASH*

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You’re missing my point, I wasn’t saying Torre was right or wrong. I was just saying that the fact that it was going to be O’Neill’s last AB in pinstripes shouldn’t have swayed his decision. That’s all. That seemed to be the part you were hung up on.

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Problem with Gardner to me is he is not a good base runner,he’s fast but has terrible instincts. Remember he lost his pinch running duties to Guzman in the LCS. Also is Cervelli definitely penciled in as the back up catcher ?

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I CALLED HINSKE ‘PAUL BLART MALL COP’ ALL YEAR!!!! I HOPE WE PLAY IN THE NL!!!! *SMASH*

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Cashman acquired Hinske for Casey Erickson and Eric Fryer.

Cashman acquired Hairston for Chase Weems.

Cashman acquired Molina for Jeff Kennard.

Cashman already has 3/4 of the material for a solid bench in Hoffmann, Pena, and Cervelli.

He is not going to outbid other teams for bench players when he can easily acquire them during the season and has no desperate need for them now.

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he is still out there..clearly the market is drying up…maybe borass and johnny come groveling back to us…2 yrs 19 mil…..or less? love idiot agents…

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