Third base - 2009
Love em or hate em, he is most likely the Yankees third baseman for the next 9 years. He is way too expensive to trade and he still brings people to the park so the Yankees will hold onto him. Maybe in 3-4 years when other contracts start reaching 25 million a year he can be traded but by then he will be 36-37.
He is a very good baseball player and easily the best third baseman in the AL. The issue I have is he is not as great as the numbers show. He does not have great baseball instincts. If you watch him every day, he is not a great baseball player. I know that is easy for me to say from my couch but I have watched a lot of baseball in my life.
I researched his numbers in 2006 and he has something like 25 HR’s and 80 RBI’s in the games (about 25) the Yankees won or lost by more than 6 runs. In the other 130 games he played in, he was pretty average. He pads his numbers on bad pitching. Good pitching will get him out most of the time.
I will always root 110% for him because he wears the pinstripes and I hope he has a great year next year. He will be the starting third baseman in 2009 and beyond.
In the minors there again, is not much depth at third base. Eric Duncan, a former first rounder who was rushed has never really developed as a blue chip third baseman. He will be 24 and may still have a chance but he was exposed in the rule 5 draft and no team picked him up which speaks volumes.
Vecchionacci had a great spring in 2007 but then had a so so spring in 2008, got hurt and have a very dissapointing season. He may rebound in 2009 but his time is running short. The Yankees also have a kid Hilligoss who may develop but also had a dissapointing 2008. The Yankees also have the usual young prospects in low ball but you never really know where they may end up 2-3 years down the road.
Final home series for the cathedral. What a sad way to end its run.
