NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees acquired outfielder Matt Lawton from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in exchange for minor league pitcher Justin Berg.
The 33-year-old Lawton batted .268 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs over 120 games this season with Chicago and Pittsburgh. He has played for five teams in parts of 11 major league seasons with a career batting average of .269.
Berg, 21, was 6-1 with a 3.07 ERA at Class A Staten Island.
Lawton was in the Yankees starting lineup Saturday, playing right field and batting eighth against Kansas City. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, the Yankees optioned right-handed pitcher Scott Proctor to Triple-A Columbus. Proctor was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 20 games with New York.
Derek Jeter, SS Hideki Matsui, LF Gary Sheffield, DH Alex Rodriguez, 3B Jason Giambi, 1B Bernie Williams, CF Jorge Posada, C Matt Lawton, RF Robinson Cano, 2B
I dont like when they put matsui in the 2 hole. If i was a pitcher, id pitch around arod every time and face jason.
But if they don't then pitchers would just pitch around Matsui. Lawton's not good enough to hit 2nd and he'd be a hole in the top of the order.
Looks like he did ok there before.
rom espn.com
Hitting
Pitchers try to work Lawton away with fastballs, but he has an interesting theory to combat that. Rather than take those fastballs, Lawton tries to drive them to left-center field. He calls it turning a weakness into a strength. Lawton did an excellent job in the leadoff spot, hitting .299 with 16 homers and a .380 on base percentage. He finds an extra gear of patience at the top of the order and is not afraid to hit deep in the count or walk. Lawton said balance problems with his stance hurt him in the second half.
Derek Jeter, SS Hideki Matsui, LF Gary Sheffield, DH Alex Rodriguez, 3B Jason Giambi, 1B Bernie Williams, CF Jorge Posada, C Matt Lawton, RF Robinson Cano, 2B
I dont like when they put matsui in the 2 hole. If i was a pitcher, id pitch around arod every time and face jason.
But if they don't then pitchers would just pitch around Matsui. Lawton's not good enough to hit 2nd and he'd be a hole in the top of the order.
Looks like he did ok there before.
rom espn.com
Hitting
Pitchers try to work Lawton away with fastballs, but he has an interesting theory to combat that. Rather than take those fastballs, Lawton tries to drive them to left-center field. He calls it turning a weakness into a strength. Lawton did an excellent job in the leadoff spot, hitting .299 with 16 homers and a .380 on base percentage. He finds an extra gear of patience at the top of the order and is not afraid to hit deep in the count or walk. Lawton said balance problems with his stance hurt him in the second half.
Matsui was fine there yes, and he's been fine hitting 2nd. Not hitting him there puts a hole in the lineup. If say Cano gets on, Jeter bunts him over, then what? You want Lawton to be the guy to drive him in? Its a double edged sword though b/c you ask who drives Alex in without Matsui hitting 5th. I just don't think he's good enough that you can afford to give him the extra at bat a game over Matsui and depend on him to keep rallies going.
Derek Jeter, SS Hideki Matsui, LF Gary Sheffield, DH Alex Rodriguez, 3B Jason Giambi, 1B Bernie Williams, CF Jorge Posada, C Matt Lawton, RF Robinson Cano, 2B
I dont like when they put matsui in the 2 hole. If i was a pitcher, id pitch around arod every time and face jason.
But if they don't then pitchers would just pitch around Matsui. Lawton's not good enough to hit 2nd and he'd be a hole in the top of the order.
Looks like he did ok there before.
rom espn.com
Hitting
Pitchers try to work Lawton away with fastballs, but he has an interesting theory to combat that. Rather than take those fastballs, Lawton tries to drive them to left-center field. He calls it turning a weakness into a strength. Lawton did an excellent job in the leadoff spot, hitting .299 with 16 homers and a .380 on base percentage. He finds an extra gear of patience at the top of the order and is not afraid to hit deep in the count or walk. Lawton said balance problems with his stance hurt him in the second half.
Matsui was fine there yes, and he's been fine hitting 2nd. Not hitting him there puts a hole in the lineup. If say Cano gets on, Jeter bunts him over, then what? You want Lawton to be the guy to drive him in? Its a double edged sword though b/c you ask who drives Alex in without Matsui hitting 5th. I just don't think he's good enough that you can afford to give him the extra at bat a game over Matsui and depend on him to keep rallies going.
As long as arod doesnt get pitched around id be fine with matsui there.
Lawton isn't a good top of the order hitter? He's a hole and a rally killer like Cano? Weren't you going crazy over Cano about a month ago, saying how great of a player he was, and that he had the number 2 spot locked up? I guess that changed pretty quickly...
Suggesting Tony Womack should play based on 3 starts is insanity. The guy is terrible. In every facet. He's not near the same player as Matt Lawton or Bernie Williams. He's not in either of their leagues, even with Bernie's declining skill. You're complaining about giving up a single-A pitching prospect that nobody has ever heard of for a guy that can really help the team? Give me a break.
blankman wrote:I personally would rather let Womack play CF though.
Hahahaha this statement had me rolling.
Yeah I hope that was a joke. Womack is bad defensiveing and awful offensively and assuming that the minor leaguer is not a great prospect, this looks like a very solid move to get a stiff like Womack out ogf the lineup and out of the field. Matsui in CF and Lawton in LF is a better ocmbo than anything with Womack. And it also helps to lessen Tino's roll as one would assume Bernie is DHing most of the time and Giambi playing 1b. At the very least it strengths our bench.
I can't see how this would be a bad move for the Yankees, it's an improvement on both Womack and Bernie, although Bernie has been hitting a few homeruns lately.
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by MMoNeY24 » Sat Aug 27, 2005 12:14 pm 
