On Thursday, the Yankees acquired OF/1B Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Wilson Betamit, Jeffrey Marquez and Johnny Nunez. The Yankees also acquired minor league pitcher Kanekoa Texeira. The question has been asked: was this a good or bad move for the Yankees. Lets break it down:
The Yankees traded for Wilson Betamit on the day of the trading deadline in 2007. The acquired him from the Dodgers in exchange for reliever Scott Procter. At the time, and for pretty much the remainder of the '07 season and parts of '08, it seemed like a good deal. Procter was over-worked by Joe Torre (1 of very few mistakes he made) and never really found himself in L.A. Betamit on the other hand, really hit his stride the first couple days he came to the Big Apple. In his very first at-bat donning pinstripes, Betamit launched a homerun over the center field fence and really showed that he had great power. However, he wasn't much of a defender. He could really only play 3rd or 1st base, with a little short thrown in. But his major problem, was with his eye. Betamit demonstrated terrible plate discipline, frequently striking out and chasing bad pitches. Sure, he had his good moments. However, a lack of hitting from the right side and in general, cost him mightly as he was tagged a liability by the Yankees and on Thursday, traded.
Marquez is a different story. He was labeled one of the Yankees top prospects before 2008. Everyone was predicting him to be the next top Yankees prospect. However, these predictions were off. Marquez was injured for a good chunk of the season and in what time he was healthy, he was busy posting a 4.00+ ERA and thus he never made it out of Triple-A. Sure he might've been better in the furture, but he was clearly over-rated.
Finally we get to Swisher. I like comparing Nick to Jason Giambi. It's pretty easy to tell by the numbers that Swisher is an upgrade from Giambi. The former 1st round draft pick by the A's, Swisher holds an amazing eye and thus picked out by A's GM, Billy Beane (this story is illustrated in the great book "Moneyball"). Swisher quickly rose the ranks and played very well for the A's. Before the 2008 season, he was dealt to the White Sox. There, his numbers slipped a little. His batting AVG dropped mightly as his strikeouts rose, however, I still consider him to be a quality player. Lets compare him to Giambi now. Swisher and Giambi's stats are quite similar. They both have batting AVGs hovering around .250 (Swisher's is a bit lower than Giambi's but he had a down year). Giambi had more HRs than Swisher (Giambi had 32 whereas Swisher had 26), however he also had more ABs. They both hold great eyes at the plate, but both have quite a few K's racked up. And both are great influences in the clubhouse. Swisher is also quite a bit younger than Giambi. However, it's in the field that really sets them apart. We've all seen it and we all hate watching Jason Giambi lumber around 1B. He's no defender and is only there due to the Yankees having to many DH type players (something I would love to see them change). However, Swisher is another story. Nick Swisher can do it all; he can play all the outfield postitions and he can play a solid 1B. Win win for the Yankees.
For now, it looks like Nick Swisher will be the Yankees everyday first basemen, but you never no. 1 of a couple things could happen: The Yankees are expected to offer Mark Teixera about $20 million a year for around 5-6 years instead of the 10 he's asking for. If he accepts, he'll obviously play first base. The other scenerio (one I'm actually quite hopeful for) is that Juan Miranda's name will come into play. He's been tearing it up in the Arizona Fall League and is a great defensive first basemen with a great OBP and average power. He too could play 1B for the Yankees in 2008. If either of the situations happen, it will probably put Nick Swisher in CF replacing Brett Gardner (I personally would love to see the Yankees keep him there but that's a story for a different day). Gardner would probably be used as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement late in games. Here's a look at what the Yankees lineup could look like if either of those situations pan out.
1. Johnny Damon LF/Johnny Damon LF
2. Derek Jeter SS/Derek Jeter SS
3. Mark Texiera 1B/Xavier Nady RF
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B/Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Hideki Matsui DH/Hideki Matsui DH
6. Xavier Nady RF/Jorge Posada C
7. Nick Swisher CF/Nick Swisher CG
8. Jorge Posada C/Robinson Cano 2B
9. Robinson Cano 2B/Juan Miranda 1B
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