Gardner the Lesser of Two Evils

Back from a week at Disney and the news is finally starting to fly.  From Sir Abraham:

Joe Girardi just announced that Brett Gardner will be the center fielder. The plan is for Melky to be on the team, Girardi said. But saying that is the plan is like saying he could be traded. … Melky said he was disappointed but that he would do whatever he could to help the team. Said Girardi: “Both of them played great. Melky had a tough year last year but he came into camp, was ready to go and played very well. Gardy finished up strong (last season) and had a great camp and we’re just going to go with Gardy.” ... Girardi said they liked what Gardner’s speed to do, both offensively and defensively. Cabrera sort of is what he is, a fourth OF type. Gardner may or may not be more than that. But they need to find out. “What happens April 6 doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what’s going to be June 1. As players, you have to perform. But right now we think Gardy has a little bit of an edge,” Girardi said. “It’s not going to be day by day. Gardy is our center fielder.”

This "battle" for center field is like trying to choose between washing the dog or washing the dishes.  Neither is a lot of fun and not all that rewarding in the end. Gardner is probably the smart choice in the end.  Neither player has really proven themselves on the major league level yet.  If anything, their combined performance has disproven that either of them really deserve a fulltime job.  But Gardner does have tremendous speed and his defensive stats are off the charts. Consider this: Over four seasons, Melky Cabrera has 3405.1 defensive innings logged with the Yankees at the major league level.  Brett Gardner has 306 over one season.  According to FanGraphs, Melky's Value Wins totals 1.6.  In less than a tenth of the time, Gardner's Value Wins totals 1.1.   For context, Johnny Damon has 11 Value Wins over that time. Melky is projecting slightly higher in OPS for 2009 than Gardner, a difference that Gardner could easily close and possibly surpass with his defense. The simple fact is, neither player is going to do much for you offensively.  Only Gardner seems to have the potential to post a decent OBP percentage, having a career .389 in the minors.  Melky has shown OBP spurts but doesn't have much in his history to make you believe he could post a .370+ OBP consistently. What the argument needs to come down to is defense, and while Melky has shown some flashes of defensive prowess and a good arm, Gardner's speed and instincts seem to be well above Melky's.  The Yankees will be fielding Johnny Damon in left (slightly above average range/no arm) and Xavier Nady in right (below average range/average to below average arm).  Having a center fielder that can cover the gaps and free the corner outfielders to worry about the lines more will help the Yankees tremendously.  Gardner gives them that advantage. The naming of Gardner as the starting center fielder obviously adds fuel to the trade rumors surrounding Melky.  It seems a bit counter-intuitive to devalue your trade bait by openly telling people he's not good enough to start for you.  Outside of DFAing Melky or placing him on waivers, the Yankees will probably have to carry him on the roster until they find a taker.  He's hardly worth leaving on the bench with Nick Swisher there. All of this reminds me of something Rob Neyer wrote about the White Sox center field situation, which also happened to feature rumors about Melky to the ChiSox:

But it's just irresponsible for a contender to enter spring training without a reasonably viable option at a particular position, particularly a key spot like center field. Yet that's exactly what the White Sox have done. And now, just more than week before Opening Day, they're still doing it.

Admittedly, the ChiSox are dealing with guys who have career OBPs of .321 and lower, but I think the sentiment still applies.  The Yankees had a chance to get Mike Cameron from the Brewers in the off-season (

.243/.331/.477 in 2008) and balked at the money.  Cameron has been up and down defensively the last few seasons but 2008 looked like a bounce back year for the center fielder.  He has never been a great OBP and Yankee Stadium might not help his right-handed power.  At 36 this season, the upside may not have been so high, but at the very least he could have been a useful guy with some pop coming off the bench if the Yankees decided to go with Gardner or Melky.  Cameron may not have solved the problem, but he would have given them options.

(Do you think the Brewers are kicking themselves for picking up Cameron's $10 million option for 2009? With the way the market played out this winter, Cameron is a bit over-paid.  Combine that with the $6 million they're paying Trevor Hoffman and you have some wasted money for a team with an $80 million payroll).

I'm glad the Yankees have decided to go with Gardner and not just because seeing Melky at the plate makes me reach for the Tums.  His speed is truly fun to watch and hopefully his play in center field will remind the Yankees that they need to start caring again about defense.  If he can get his OBP around .350 or above, he'll serve his purpose at the bottom of the order and allow the Yankees to have a little more patience with Austin Jackson.