The Swish Needs to Play Everyday

I'm a big believer in Instant Karma. In the case of Nick Swisher, karma may not have played out instantaneously, but it certainly didn't take it's sweet time. It was only a few weeks ago that Joe Girardi announced Xavier Nady would be the Yankees starting right fielder.  The announcement seemed a little misguided, if not for the absurdity of flatout giving Nady the job, then the lack of clarification of what Nick Swisher's role would be on the club. Despite a down year with the White Sox last year, most believe that Swisher has more upside than Nady this season because of past performance and an extra two years of youth.  Add to that superior defensive skills and position flexibility and Swisher obviously has more value. It is that felxibility that Girardi was focusing on when he announced Nady would be the starting right fielder.  Nady is basically a corner outfielder, and with Johnny Damon parked in left and Melky Cabrera parked on the bench, Girardi decided to define Nady as a starter and Swisher as a jack of all trades. That may be the best overall plan, but now Nady has been setup to lose at-bats and innings in right to Swisher.  Swisher is forcing Girardi to get him in the lineup everyday and with Damon and Teixeira daily options as well, those at-bats will come at the expense of DH Hideki Matsui and Nady. Girardi probably would have been better served to define right field as more of a floating option.  Matsui has no business hitting against lefties at this stage, which creates an opportunity to get both Nady and Swisher into the same lineup.  Nady doesn't show extreme differences in his splits against righties, but giving Swisher a few of those starts would give Girardi more flexibility with the bench in later innings, freeing Nady to pinch hit against a left-handed reliever and allowing Swisher to shift to center field in later innings.  Add to this the occasional day off for Teixeira and Swisher should be playing just about everyday. Given all of this, I don't really understand why Girardi felt the need to define a starting right fielder.  I guess players like to have their roles defined but the Yankees have a glut of outfielders and, if he were trying to build Nady up, he ran the risk of knocking Swisher down a peg. In the case of Swisher, that obviously hasn't happened.  And if Girardi is smart, he'll take the hint and work Swisher into the lineup as often as he can.