To The Contrary, Sign Sexson

Many, many, many Yankees fans and bloggers (and media personalities, and scouts, and omnipresent "sources") have railed against the idea of bringing Richie Sexson to The Bronx for the remainder of the season. No one wants anything to do with this "loser" for whom "the Yankees have no need," to borrow a couple of remarks from other commentaries.

However, if I may be so bold (and I may cuz it's my site), this is actually shortsighted resignation on the part of the fans. Let me explain:

First of all, Sexson will play for the league minimum wherever he lands, as Seattle is still on the hook for the remainder of his $15,500,000 salary in 2008 (gulp).

Secondly, to say that the Yankees have no need for a right-handed bat is lunacy. All of their power, with the exception of A-Rod, comes from the left side. Furthermore, at this point, two of those left-handed hitters are on the shelf (Matsui and Damon). Tell me, are you truly comfortable with the menacing presence of Jose Molina, Wilson Betemit, righty-Melky, and an occasional appearance by Justin "God-Fearing" Christian?

No, neither am I. So, please don't tell me that Sexson has no roll. He's an acutal first baseman, with a career Fielding % of .994 (which is more than can be said for Betemit, Jorge Posada, and -- let's face it -- Jason Giambi), and he's a right-handed hitter who, when he connects, hits the ball a long friggin' way. All of these things are currently lacking in Yankees Universe.

And lastly -- and here's where I blow your mind -- for all of Sexson's shittiness this year, he's been insanely good against left-handed pitching. Please observe:

vs. Lefties (in 61 AB): .344 BA / .423 OBP / .623 SLG / 1.046 OPS

Yowzas! Not bad for a dude who just got cut by one of the worst teams in baseball.

Of course, against righties, Sexson is atrocious (.178 / .281 / .304 / .585), but the point here is that the Yankees won't ever, ever, ever need to use him against right-handed pitching! He will play solely against lefties and leave the righties to face the overstocked, lefty-hitting 1B contingent. And, his role as glorified bench player will be made completely palatable by the fact the Mariners are picking up the tab.

So, bring on Richie Sexson for all the reasons stated above.

Those, and the fact that he's got "Sex" in his name, making our job as bloggers much, much easier.
_

Hi! My Name Is: Jorge Posada (C)

Each day, "Piss and Wynegar" will present Yankees "player previews" for the coming 2008 season. In what can only be referred to as a "revelatory" strategy, we will use statistics, as well as opinion, to further our analysis.

Starting in about July of last season, we began to lament the torrid start to which Jorge Posada had gotten off. We believed, as had been demonstrated in the past, that Jorge was destined to “regress to the mean” and finish the year mired in a slump that would see his offensive production fall off the face of the Earth and land him at the usual .275 / .380 / .480. Much to our surprise, though, Jorge not only maintained his performance, he was still improving at the end of September.

If ever evidence is compiled to prove the existence of “contract year magic,” those compilers will look no further than to the 2007 version of Jorge Posada. His OBP (.426) was forty-five points above his career average, while his SLG (.543) and AVG (.338) were both sixty points above his career average. Add in a career-high in hits (171, which demolished his previous personal best by 26) and you can write your own check And, ostensibly, Jorge did just that, as he was able to finagle a fourth year out of an already lucrative deal that has made him the highest paid catcher in history.

As the crow flies, Posada is due for a statistical drop-off in ‘08. No 36-year-old player – a catcher, no less – can be expected to buck his well-established offensive trends for more than a year. And, most likely, by the time 2011 rolls around and Posada is 40, has had two knee replacement surgeries, and is one of four Yankees designated hitters, NY sports radio callers will be cursing the contract, as all long-term deals to aging players are eventually cursed. But, at least, Jorge is our aging superstar. We watched him grow and, by God, we will watch him wither and die.

To read earlier "Hi! My Name Is" entries, click here.

Hi! My Name Is: Jason Giambi (DH / 1B)

Each day, "Piss and Wynegar" will present Yankees "player previews" for the coming 2008 season. In what can only be referred to as a "revelatory" strategy, we will use statistics, as well as opinion, to further our analysis.

Holy shit, is Jason Giambi the starting first baseman?! Spitting in the face of reason, it appears that Mr. Giambi is the first-string option to man the not-so-hot-corner in ’08. Aided by the off-season jettisoning of Andy Phillips and Doug Menkietwiecz, the Bombers don’t appear to have many defensive options, especially with fleet-footed Wilson Betemit as the backup apparent. Why should this frighten Yankees fans? Well, it shouldn’t, as long as Yankees fans find a lack of basic fielding range, butchered ground balls, and sub-Little-League-quality throws to second and home comforting.

Well, at least the Giambino still brings the thunder at the plate, right? Right? Oh, boy.

With every mysterious, season-killing ailment that befalls Jason, we die a little inside. Last year, Giambi’s numbers were stunted by a lingering foot injury and the stats ended up eerily reminiscent of 2004, when a small worm ate away at his insides and a benign tumor infiltrated his pituitary gland. Ah, memories. So, while it might seem like a cop-out, we’re willing to say that it was Jason’s injuries that held him back in ‘07, especially when one considers that his OBP was nearly 60 points off of his career average and his SLG was off by more than 100 points (the only other year in which the numbers were so drastically skewed was the aforementioned ’04).

Meanwhile, the former offensive beast still maintained a finicky eye (40 BB in only 254 AB), but Giambi often looked like a shell of his former, 'roided self; sluggish and overmatched at the plate. Here's hoping that #25 will start playing for a new paycheck and that a little of the ol' WWE-lovin', tattoo-wearin', goatee-shavin' basher will return; however, there is also a distinct chance that Jason will continue to transform from a hitter that "doesn't swing at bad pitches," to a hitter that just, "doesn't swing." In that case, it's going to be a bumpy season.

To read previous "Hi! My Name Is" entries, click here.