Yankees Aquire Swisher for Jeff Marquez

[#1knickfan]

Nothing if its the other team that's doing it.

You are aware Ryan Howard strikes out 200 times a year, right?

Are you saying Swisher is equal to Howard?

[#1knickfan]

You can be a low average, low strikeout hitter so long as can compensate in other areas. Namely, it works if you walk a lot (Swisher is one of the best in the league at that) and if you show some power (Swisher hits for a reasonable amount of power). He's not a star, but he's a capable hitter.

He's not a low strike out hitter. He's a high strikeout hitter. Only 17 players in the entire league struck out more than he did. The first Yankee doesn't show up on this list until A-Rod at number 49.

Luck is a huge factor in how players perform from year to year. How do you think a AAAA pitcher like Aaron Small managed to put up a 3.20 ERA with the Yankees in 2005? Every year there are players that perform both better and worse then their overall skills suggest, and this needs to be taken into account when you're evaluating single seasons from a player.

Its not luck when it happens in more than one game. Its called going on a hot streak.

Why do you think the Pirates dealt Nady for peanuts even though he had just made the All-Star Team?

First of all, the deal hinges on Jose Tabata and its waaaaaaaaaay too early to write him off. Secondly, I would never accuse the Pittsburgh Pirates of running their team well.

Swisher strikes out a lot. He doesn't have a good batting average. The problem is these two facts don't make your conclusion about Swisher self-evident. Like I was saying before hitter can still be productive despite these problems so long as he gets on base and (to a somewhat lesser extent) shows some power. Adam Dunn and Pat Burrell are going to see some nice paydays this offseason because every competent front office in the league figured that out a while ago.

Again, Swisher isn't a star. Hell, he probably isn't much better than average if his hitting is coming from first base. But he's still a good guy to be plugging in, all things considered.

I never said Swisher wasn't productive. I just dispute the notion he's a better hitter than Nady. He isn't a better hitter he just hits with a little more power.

[HCYanks]

The low strikeout thing was a typo. Sorry about that.

Its not luck when it happens in more than one game. Its called going on a hot streak.

Luck's a big part of the game. Here's a WSJ article that talks about this without getting too numbery:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115109391791589205.html

First of all, the deal hinges on Jose Tabata and its waaaaaaaaaay too early to write him off. Secondly, I would never accuse the Pittsburgh Pirates of running their team well.

Tabata's a boom or bust lottery ticket at this point. You can't rule out him turning it around, but nevertheless he really hurt his stock last year, before helping himself out with a turnaround toward the end. Either way, he wasn't worth a lot when the Yankees dealt him. And before you blame this all on the Pirates, look at what the Red Sox gave up to get Jason Bay, who had comparable season numbers to Nady but also had a track record of playing well in the past.

I never said Swisher wasn't productive. I just dispute the notion he's a better hitter than Nady. He isn't a better hitter he just hits with a little more power.

If he can get back to his 06-07 form--and I think he will--Swisher is better. Not Albert Pujols vs. Lyle Overbay better, but better. The ability to walk is the difference maker here.

[nykgeneralmanager]

I wouldn't worry about Swisher's low BA, he set a career low in BABIP. He is usually in the .270-.300 range, so this year was abnormally low. At the same time he posted his 2nd lowest GB% and BEST LD%, so its not as if he lost his ability to hit last year. He actually hit better than he has in nearly his entire career, but obviously ran into a lot of bad luck. Also, I think he is here to play primarily 1B and on days when Posada needs a break behind the plate, some OF.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Swisher is pretty much Giambi with a glove. I like the move, but I don't like him more than Nady who is an improving player who has more to his game than a good eye and swinging from his heels. But he gives the team alot of options in the field and he certainly has some power.

Anyone know anything about the kid Texiera the Yanks got looks promising?

Texeira is nothing special but he is somebody worth keeping an eye on. He won't be much of a strikeout pitcher and he absolutely must walk less guys if he wants to be a successful reliever. His fastball is average but he has a very solid slider/sinker type pitch that effectively gets grounders. He can be a solid middle reliever if and only if he walks fewer guys. What is good is that his walk numbers aren't really terrible, so there is reason to believe he can improve it enough to reach the majors.

[sully00]

Swisher is pretty much Giambi with a glove. I like the move, but I don't like him more than Nady who is an improving player who has more to his game than a good eye and swinging from his heels. But he gives the team alot of options in the field and he certainly has some power.

Anyone know anything about the kid Texiera the Yanks got looks promising?

Texeira is nothing special but he is somebody worth keeping an eye on. He won't be much of a strikeout pitcher and he absolutely must walk less guys if he wants to be a successful reliever. His fastball is average but he has a very solid slider/sinker type pitch that effectively gets grounders. He can be a solid middle reliever if and only if he walks fewer guys. What is good is that his walk numbers aren't really terrible, so there is reason to believe he can improve it enough to reach the majors.

I was hoping he was more of power arm than that just without the strike out numbers, he seems to have a lot of closing experience for a guy that the White Sox would just give up on.

Does being a minor league closer mean anything developmental wise at all or is that simply left to the manager to handle?

As for debating BABIP, balls dropping for hits is not simply luck, it is generally approach and that is the concern with Swisher and why he is here. He got into trouble early last season and saw some light pulling everything and then it went dark but he didn't change his approach much. With Giambi the Yanks somewhat encouraged it for whatever reason they wanted him to hit the ball out of the yard and drive in runs and hoped he .250. I always thought they ruined a pretty good all fields hitter in exchange for 5 more home runs a season. That said he was batting clean up and that is expected. In Swishers' case he was supposed to be leading off so his approach was a disaster. He doesn't have to go the opposite way but he has to take the ball back up the middle to be effective especially from the rightside.

Why the Sox thought that Swisher was a good fit as a lead off guy I have no idea, he seems to clearly a 4-6 guy and obviously those slots in the line up in CHI were crowded.

The difference between a hitter like Nady and a slugger like Swisher is Nady is a beast with RISP and clutch and late while Swisher is the same basher no matter the situation. Any team that hopes to win a chamionship needs a hitter or two like Nady.

But I like Swisher, I think he gives this team more dimensions than Giambi and they should be able to rotate Damon and Matsui in DH/LF. Now they just need a real center fielder.

[cmaff051]

Nothing if its the other team that's doing it.

You are aware Ryan Howard strikes out 200 times a year, right?

Are you saying Swisher is equal to Howard?

Wow, my point flew completely over your head. Congrats.