Melky Cabrera

[PlayingWithFire]

So with the Matsui/Damon/Abreu OF and now the resigning of Sheffield. How many games do you think Melky will play in and how many abs will he get. And oh. What kind of production would you expect?

[San D]

I think they will trade Sheffield for pitching and Melky will get plenty of ABs at DH and giving each of the OFs a day off from the field. So, my theory is that he'll get roughly 500 ABs.

[TB13]

Persuming that they trade Shef, I would think that at least the thought of moving Matsui to first base and having Melky be the every day left fielder would be entertained. Someone has to play first base every day, and it should not be Giambi. If Shef is the first baseman, then I expect Melky to find time in the field, while the outfielders get DHed, possibly in a rotation?

I think that they need to find a way to keep him in the outfield, on a virtual every day basis. He is their best outfielder.

[jbauer2485]

Persuming that they trade Shef, I would think that at least the thought of moving Matsui to first base and having Melky be the every day left fielder would be entertained. Someone has to play first base every day, and it should not be Giambi. If Shef is the first baseman, then I expect Melky to find time in the field, while the outfielders get DHed, possibly in a rotation?

I think that they need to find a way to keep him in the outfield, on a virtual every day basis. He is their best outfielder.

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/fil ... _i_see_it/

Left Field

First LastName TEAM GP INN RSpt RS/150
Emil Brown KC 87 719.3 9 17
Carl Crawford TB 148 1252.3 8 8
Scott Podsednk CWS 135 1087.7 7 9
Reed Johnson Tor 100 635.3 5 11
Raul Ibanez Sea 157 1397.7 4 4
Nick Swisher Oak 79 655.7 4 8
Jason Michaels Cle 117 1009.3 3 5
Craig Monroe Det 113 927.3 1 2
Garret Anderson LAA 94 813.7 -1 -1
Frank Catlnotto Tor 101 760.0 -2 -4
Brad Wilkerson Tex 80 664.3 -5 -9
Melky Cabrera NYY 116 999.7 -6 -9
Manny Ramirez Bos 123 1031.3 -32 -42

Based on those stats, Melky isn't that much of a defender...

I really doubt Matsui will move to first base after the Sheffield experiment, and Sheff is most likely being traded based on the lastest news. I could see a sheff deal involving a good defensive first baseman and an average pitcher. So next year would look like:

LF - Matsui
CF - Damon
RF - Abreu
1B - Trade for 1b?\Giambi
DH - Giambi

They really don't want Giambi playing 1b anymore so he's going to be the permanent DH it seems. If this happens I don't think Melky will be seeing enough playing time to make him worthy of a draft pick.

[blankman]

For the billionth time, Matsui is NOT going to play first place. He's a total spaz in the field. No way is he able to play first well enough.

Melky is their best defender but its not worth taking out Damon, Abreu or Matsui to rotate in Melky consistently because he's simply not as good as they are. I don't know what Joe is going to do, but at this point, I don't think we'll be seeing Melky in the field too much.

[buffalobillsrul2002]

I dunno, I think Sheff might be the 1B next year, with Matsui/Damon/Abreu in the OF....

I know what Sheff has said, but he has very few options if he doesn't want to be traded...

1. Play 1b for the Yanks.
2. Retire and lose a ton of money.

Of course, he could try to come back in 2008, but by that time he'll be old and he would have taken a whole year off. Nobody's going to sign him for a huge deal with his shoulder, and then taking a year off.....

Plus, the reality is that I don't think Sheff can play the field anyways. The Yankees would really be best off making him a full-time DH.

[blankman]

Yankees would really be best off making him a full-time DH.

And play Giambi where?

[jbauer2485]

I dunno, I think Sheff might be the 1B next year, with Matsui/Damon/Abreu in the OF....

I know what Sheff has said, but he has very few options if he doesn't want to be traded...

1. Play 1b for the Yanks.
2. Retire and lose a ton of money.

Of course, he could try to come back in 2008, but by that time he'll be old and he would have taken a whole year off. Nobody's going to sign him for a huge deal with his shoulder, and then taking a year off.....

Plus, the reality is that I don't think Sheff can play the field anyways. The Yankees would really be best off making him a full-time DH.

Sheffield would never DH over Giambi unless he absolutely can't learn 1b. Giambi is such a bad fielder though, I'm sure one ST would allow Sheff to at least reach his level. Anyway, there's really no way Melky will be getting much playing time, especially if Sheffield ends up not getting traded. You can't bench Sheffield, Matsui, Giambi for Melky Cabrera except as a late inning defensive replacement.