The Truest Yankee

It’s clearly time to adjust the lineup. It’s time to admit that A-Rod is no longer who we want him to be, and give Curtis Granderson his due. Egos are going to be quite the issue, but perhaps Posada can serve as motivation to his teammates to take the high road. So here’s what I believe the Yankees should be trotting out:

(1) Brett Gardner, LF- The poor start was just that. He’s back to working counts and getting on base, and there’s no question he’s got the speed to justify this position.

(2) Russel Martin, C- He’s cooled off considerably, but we know that what we saw last month was an accurate representation of his raw talent. Even in the last few years, he’s been a solid OBP guy, and he’s shown the base running ability to be a table-setter.

(3) Curtis Granderson, CF- He’s still prone to the K, but he’s got his OBP up to .350 and is slugging with the best of ’em. He may eventually cool off, but he’s clearly the team’s best hitter right now.

(4) Robinson Cano, 2B- If he recapture his refined approach from last year, he could supplant Granderson in the 3-spot. But for now, he’s their next-best slugger.

(5) Mark Teixeira, 1B- Again, I can see him heating up again at some point in this season. If all is as it should be, I’d like to see it go Cano-Teixeira-Granderson.

(6) Alex Rodriguez- 3B- He’s no longer among the game’s elite sluggers. But he shouldn’t be as terrible as he looks right now.

(7) Eduardo Nunex, DH- Not optimal, but the best option available that doesn’t risk the development of a future cornerstone. It’s time to at least see what the roadblock to Cliff Lee can do in an everyday role.

(8) Nick Swisher, RF- Andruw Jones is old. He is no longer a great fielder, and I don’t think he can handle a daily role. Unless there’s a better answer coming down the pipeline, they’ve got to stick with Swish and hope he comes around.

(9) Derek Jeter, SS- Not because he’s done. It’s because the skills he brings to the ballpark are now represented more impressively by Gardner and Martin. Girardi has been putting Gardner down here to pair with Jeter. It’s time to reverse those roles.

This entry was posted on May 17, 2011 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.