The Yankees haven’t bothered to address their deficiency at designated hitter since Nick Johnson went down, presumably because they’ve managed to get a .350 wOBA out of the position, tied for fifth-best in the American League. When you rotate the kind of Major League hitters the Yankees boast through the DH slot, you’re bound to produce reasonable-enough results; the problem with the rotating DH of course is that you create a complete offensive void elsewhere in the lineup.
When Alex Rodriguez gets half a game off, Ramiro Pena and his .216 wOBA get to waste three to four at-bats that day. When Pena starts a game that also features Francisco Cervelli and the likes of a Colin Curtis or Chad Huffman, you begin to understand (a) why the Yankees’ offensive production dipped the way it did in June, (b) that the Yankees haven’t sought out a replacement DH is fairly mind-boggling, and (c) why you should be thanking your lucky stars that the lack of punch hasn’t significantly affected the team. Given that all indications are that Nick the Injury will be irrelevant for the remainder of the season, it would behoove the Yankees to shore up the designated hitter slot with a real bat for the stretch run.
Yankeeist took a look at some potential DH options back in May, and one possibility that remains relevant is Carlos Delgado, who is looking to sign by the end of July. Delgado may have some life left in his bat yet, and has reportedly been interested in playing for the Yankees previously, so it should not come as a shock if he winds up in pinstripes. At the very least, Delgado doesn’t cost any players, and if a deal can be worked out relatively cheaply I see no reason not to take a flier, as Marcus Thames does not inspire a ton of confidence, even if he does have a .376 wOBA in relatively limited duty.
Russell Branyan is having a reasonable year, although I imagine the Yankees would be loath to deal with Seattle after last week’s debacle. Other attractive names among non-contenders include Luke Scott (.375 wOBA) and Jose Guillen (.354 wOBA), although there’s no reason to think the Orioles or the Royals wouldn’t hold the Yankees up for a king’s ransom of minor leaguers. Same deal with Jack Cust — cheap and having a very nice year (.374 wOBA) — and Yankeeist favorite Adam Dunn — expensive and having a monster year (.405 wOBA) who would also presumably be too cost-prohibitive to trade for.
It’s actually a shame the Nationals aren’t doing better, given a huge, breakout season from Josh Willingham — who I advocated for a few months ago — and another big year from Ryan Zimmerman. Any of Dunn, Willingham or Zimmerman would be a perfect fill-in at DH (and in Willingham and Zimmerman’s case, could also take reps in the field), but again, there’s almost no trade scenario that will make sense — you have to figure Nats’ GM Mike Rizzo will almost certainly begin and end the conversation with Jesus Montero, and that ain’t happening this time around.
While any of these options would fit nicely into the Yankee lineup and none of these players’ teams have any shot at the postseason, unfortunately the likelihood of Brian Cashman acquiring any of them is slim. Unless your name is Kenny Williams, no rival GM is going to want to hand New York a key player for a bunch of junk — Dayton Moore is probably the most likely candidate to make such a gaffe, but while his free agent signings are generally awful he’s never sold off a big-time player at the trade deadline, unless you count Octavio Dotel in 2007. Ultimately Delgado may end up being the most likely solution.
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17 Responses to Addressing the Yankees’ areas of weakness: The Designated Hitter
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TIQ IQ
Over all good post Slim, but including Zimmerman is fairly silly. He's the Nats' franchise player aside from Strasburg. That would be like saying Pujols would be a nice fit at DH, too bad the Cards would want Jesus Montero in return.
I'm all for a Delgado type deal, where you risk nothing and if he's terrible you release him but maybe you catch a little lightning in a bottle.
Wait. Hold the presses. You think one of the brightest young stars in the game, a future perennial All-Star, would be a good fit at DH for the Yankees? AND may be able to take reps in the field too? Gee whiz gosh darnit dagnabit !!! Slap me happy and call me Oscar, Yankeeist has cracked the code !!
Ha, fair enough — definitely got carried away with Ryan Zimmerman.
Let's remove z pack from this conversation. I do like the idea of Carlos Delgado though, especially if we can get him on the cheap.
Slap ME happy and call me… oh, I don't know… Desmond!
I think they should fill the hole with Delgado – it only costs money. lets keep the prospects… unless we can get an impact reliever. otherwise, I'm happy to DH Posada and catch Cerveli and DH Thames when Posada catches – I doubt Delgado will be that much better than Thames' .376 wOBA
~jamie
Jamie,
Thames has indeed been a pleasant surprise with the stick, although that .376 wOBA has been compiled in fairly limited duty. I'm pretty sure Marcus wouldn't be producing at that level as an everyday DH, which is why bringing Delgado in would also have the added bonus of fortifying the bench with Thames' bat.
Larry,
Yeah, I'd rather have Delgado with Thames on the bench; although I guess that doesn't leave room on the bench for a defensive outfielder, right?
If we're going to use prospects to get somebody, I'd like to use them to get a reliever rather than a DH.
~jamie
Larry,
It just occurred to me that you write my favorite Yankees blog. Keep up the great work!
Lenny
Who cares about the DH – The Yanks have the best record in baseball because they play solid to great D and get timely hits. To much is being made of the numbers in this position. Cervelli is a better catcher than Posada who should be the main DH with the occasional spell of Cervelli and there are quite a few bats in the minors that deserve an extended look at the big league level. Miranda who had a short stint in May. He provided the same amount of HR's, better avg, than Nick the joke Johnson but he was only up for 2 weeks. The Yanks should at least bring these guys up to shop since Jorge Vasquez and Miranda are both heading into their late 20's and taking up roster spots for younger players in the minors.
Ryan Zimnmerman? Are you serious? Do you know who he is and how good he is?
If you offered A-Roid for Zimmerman straight up, and paid all of the ARoid contract, Mike Rizzo would still turn you down. He's a better player than A-Roid.
Lance Berkman.
Derek Lee.
Thoughts?
Um.. why not just promote Montero as the DH?? He was raking in Spring Training. He gets to learn on the job, like Hughes did in the 'pen last year. His catching skills can wait (for good?), especially since we have Cervelli and Romine waiting to take over for Posada very soon. I can't wait until we see all three of these guys on the team at once.
Gotta work on his defense and he hasn't been raking in AAA.
Zimmerman??? Really? No way the Nats even listen on Zimm. the article held my attention until I got to that part. You lost me after that.
I agree with just promoting Jesus Montero. If the kid is destined to be a DH…let him DH!!
Take advantage of Dayton Moore. He has been raked for two and a half years for overpaying for Guillen. The guy is finally producing, since he's a free agent after the season. Let him produce for us. Moore will eat most of Guillen's contract, and the dopey fans in KC will praise him for making room for some AAA bat.
What about giing Jesus Montero a few weeks at DH at the major league level.He is just starting to really hit at AAA