RealGM

Posted: **Wed Jul 2, 2008 4:07 am**

When was the last time we heard "The Melk Man delivers"?
It sure hasn't happened in a while since he has 1 RBI since June 16th

Here's what Pete Abraham wrote earlier which I was waiting to see

At what point - tonight? - do the Yankees admit that Melky Cabrera doesn’t belong in the lineup?
He is at .223/.284/.290 since May 1 with two homers, 20 RBI and 12 runs scored over 213 plate appearances. 12 runs scored in 53 games? That is tough to do.
June (.206/.289/.255) was even worse and for the season he’s hitting .222 with runners in scoring position.
Yet Cabrera has played in 81 games and is a lineup constant, even against left-handers despite his atrocious performance (.198/.289/.255) as a right-handed hitter.
For all the tinkering Joe Girardi does with his lineup, Cabrera is accorded the same respect as A-Rod and Jeter. Three actual good players sat against Oliver Perez the other day. Cabrera played and was 0 for 3.
Cabrera is 0 for his last 15 and has one RBI since June 16.
Yes, he has a fine arm. He also has three assists all season. Playing him on the off chance that he might throw somebody out doesn’t begin to balance out his offensive ineptness.
Joe Torre had the same loyalty to Cabrera that Girardi does. Cabrera, Torre used to invariably say, gives the Yankees energy. In terms of “energy” stats, Cabrera had eight triples last season, none this season. He’s also on pace for fewer doubles, fewer stolen bases and fewer sacrifices.
Now that Brett Gardner is here, there is no compelling reason to continue playing Cabrera every day. Keeping Johnny Damon out of center field is understandable. But the Yankees would be best served with Damon in left and Gardner in center for an extended period of time.
None of us know what Gardner will do. But how much worse can he be at this point?
The second part of this is whether Cabrera has any trade value beyond being a throw-in. He did have market value at some point, but that has faded. This slump goes beyond two months. Cabrera has hit .263 since the start of the 2007 season. That’s not a slump, that’s what he is.

What bothers me more about him is his lack of frustration, sure he is emotional, but I never see him mad at himself. It's a good trait to keep your cool but if you slump for over 2 months and don't show any signs of you getting mad at yourself it bothers me. If you are a Major Leaguer you should be able to adjust your swing. Melky isn't doing that, he is a 4th outfielder and Girardi needs to realize that sooner than later.

Posted: **Wed Jul 2, 2008 2:47 pm**

good post, i completely agree.

Posted: **Wed Jul 2, 2008 3:07 pm**

Part of me thinks the management may have something to do with it. I guess they figured he'd be playing well (or at least improving), so at some point and time they could dangle him as trade bait again.

Posted: **Wed Jul 2, 2008 4:33 pm**

I think Melky's struggles have a lot to do with the team's struggles. A lot of us before discussed how Melky would be a .250 hitter on other teams. The rest of the offense made him look a lot better. Pitchers used to give him something to hit, just so he hit it and got out of the way. They weren't worried about him and they didn't want to waste pitches on him. So he hit the ball pretty well. Then even when he had streaks of just horrible hitting, it didn't matter because the other 8 guys were producing. However, with the rest of the offense sputtering his poor offense is magnified and he isn't getting the help he used to get. It's funny how baseball works because it always seems like the guy who is struggling ends up at the plate in a key situation and then the way NY fans are, they jump on that guy when he doesn't come through. -Jitpal

Posted: **Thu Jul 3, 2008 8:35 pm**

well lets not forget, that he isnt their for offense, he is their for defense...

Posted: **Thu Jul 3, 2008 9:35 pm**

Jitpal wrote:I think Melky's struggles have a lot to do with the team's struggles. A lot of us before discussed how Melky would be a .250 hitter on other teams. The rest of the offense made him look a lot better. Pitchers used to give him something to hit, just so he hit it and got out of the way. They weren't worried about him and they didn't want to waste pitches on him. So he hit the ball pretty well. Then even when he had streaks of just horrible hitting, it didn't matter because the other 8 guys were producing. However, with the rest of the offense sputtering his poor offense is magnified and he isn't getting the help he used to get. It's funny how baseball works because it always seems like the guy who is struggling ends up at the plate in a key situation and then the way NY fans are, they jump on that guy when he doesn't come through. -Jitpal

Melky is just a crappy hitter.. period. It has nothing to do with the team's struggles at all..

Posted: **Fri Jul 4, 2008 2:39 am**

cmaff051 wrote:
Jitpal wrote:I think Melky's struggles have a lot to do with the team's struggles. A lot of us before discussed how Melky would be a .250 hitter on other teams. The rest of the offense made him look a lot better. Pitchers used to give him something to hit, just so he hit it and got out of the way. They weren't worried about him and they didn't want to waste pitches on him. So he hit the ball pretty well. Then even when he had streaks of just horrible hitting, it didn't matter because the other 8 guys were producing. However, with the rest of the offense sputtering his poor offense is magnified and he isn't getting the help he used to get. It's funny how baseball works because it always seems like the guy who is struggling ends up at the plate in a key situation and then the way NY fans are, they jump on that guy when he doesn't come through. -Jitpal

Melky is just a crappy hitter.. period. It has nothing to do with the team's struggles at all..

Obviously Melky isn't a .350 hitter or anything. He is better than his .240 or whatever he is hitting now. If the guys around him were hitting, he would be hitting better. Not absolving him, but the number 9 hitter isn't the reason the team hasn't been producing runs. With that said, if we could DH a second position, I would. We need Melky in the field, but we do need a better hitter in the lineup. -Jitpal

Posted: **Mon Jul 7, 2008 11:38 pm**

Jitpal wrote:Obviously Melky isn't a .350 hitter or anything. He is better than his .240 or whatever he is hitting now. If the guys around him were hitting, he would be hitting better. Not absolving him, but the number 9 hitter isn't the reason the team hasn't been producing runs. With that said, if we could DH a second position, I would. We need Melky in the field, but we do need a better hitter in the lineup. -Jitpal

I agree. I'm no more pleased with his performance than anyone else, but I know he's better than he's been the last couple of months. He and Robbie feed off one another and I'm hoping he'll respond to seeing Cano's rising hot streak. Let's not forget how well he did to start the year, either.

That said, while I like Cabrera, I'm not married to him. I think Gardner has to be a lineup staple going forward and someone is going to end up being the odd man out. I don't like Gardner's arm in center field, but you can tell already that he's going to be something special. I'd move Melky in a package to try to get something decent.

Posted: **Tue Jul 8, 2008 3:02 am**

The injuries to Damon and Matsui buy Melky some more time in the starting lineup. If you remember back to spring training, Cashman stated that Melky has strong competition behind him and he shouldn't feel safe (that competition being Gardner). Since then, Gardner had a great spring, dominated AAA for 3 months, and has had absolutely incredible ABs against major league pitching and a game winning his against the Sox (although his overall numbers so far at the major league level don't show the quality of his ABs). If Gardner can continue the quality at bats while picking up some more hits than he has, Melky will be the odd man out once guys return from injury. If the Yankees are smart, Gardner is here to stay.

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